A Danube River Cruise, plus Prague and Budapest

[artnbarb]

Posting this mini trip report in response to @Sharon J 's request for more info.

We chose to cruise with Gate1 because their ships are smaller than the Viking ships - I think most Viking ships hold 190 passengers, while our ship, The Monarch Governess, held only 130. As luck would have it, we had only 100 on our cruise, so I was hopeful we'd get to meet almost everyone. In the end, going back to our cabin after dinner and not participating in the evenings festivities probably hurt us in that regard. If you like to socialize in the evening, this would be a guaranteed way to meet more people.

Our cruise was structured several ways, and you can also choose which direction you want to cruise. The options were: 7 day cruise only, pre-cruise day(s) in Munich or Prague, then the option to spend 2 extra night in Budapest. We chose to cruise south, because we booked the cheapest cabin on the lower level, and weren't sure how much enfine noise we would hear/feel. (Answer: None, except when they used the side thrusters to push us away from the dock). Anyway, we thought perhaps cruising downdstream would require less work by the engines. I don't know if this was true or not!

We'd been to Prague back in 2004, but knew it was so beautiful we wouldn't mind a second visit. We also wanted to arrive one day early to help with our jetlag. We contacted our hotel directly, confirmed that our Gare1 group was staying there, and booked the extra night on our own - Gate1 will book it for you, but they charge a higher rate. We also arranged with the hotel for transportation from the airport. Again, Gate1 will book this, but will charge you 50% more. The hotel chosen by Gate1 was beautiful and the breakfast was a treat. Buffet OR table service, tablecloths and waiters bustling around with silver coffeepots.

We had our first afternoon, and the next day until 6 p.m. free to sightsee. We took a classic car tour of the city, booked through our hotel, and then climbed the astronomical tower in the Clementinum. I had a list of restaurants to try and we hit a traditional Czech restaurant, a Mexican restaurant, and an Italian restaurant. We wandered the streets and stopped for drinks, but never did try the famous chimney cake. I was afraid it would just be a sugar bomb without much flavor, so I stuck to the tried and true: chocolate. (There's a Belgium chocolate shop in the center of town.)

There were about 40 of us who'd come to Prague before the cruise, and there was a general city tour organized, as well as 2 optional tours, one of the castle complex, and another of the lesser town. We enjoyed all the tours - Prague is simply beautiful!

I'll stop for now, but I'll post more details tomorrow.

 

[artnbarb]

Gate1 is more affordable than other cruise lines, but often those other lines include all tips and every excursion, making comparisons difficult. We chose the optional excursions that suited us, but sometimes that "optional" tour takes time away from something else you could have done. If we had it to do over I'd skip the optional visit to the Schoenbrunn Palace just to have more free time to spend in Vienna itself. Our ship was docked quite a ways from the city center - it took a good 20 minutes by bus to get to the center, so this city doesn't have as good a location as other cities.

We skipped the optional tours to the concentration camp, and also to Salzburg. We've been to Salzburg several times, but what made us decide not to go was the 2 1/2 hour bus ride to and from the ship - yes, I guess the scenery might be pretty, but that was just way too much time on a but - 5 hours total!

Our cabin was smaller than the inside cabin we usually get on a cruise ship, but for the time we were there it was fine. Plenty of storage space, typical bathroom (with lots of L'Occitane brand toiletries). Our cabin was at the lowest level, and we had a window at eye level, but not much of a view. The cabins on the 2 decks above us had French balconies, but I think they were all the same size. Other (larger) ships might have a few larger cabins, and/or balconies.

There was plenty of public space on the ship and we never felt cramped. Lunch was always a buffet, and dinner was table service with a varying menu. Dinner included beer and wine. but there was a bar in the lounge if you wanted a cocktail with dinner, or an alcoholic beverage for lunch or throughout the day. Coffee and cookies were always available. You could sit wherever you liked at both lunch and dinner, and we tried to move around, hoping to meet different people. The food was beautifully presented, and was usually good. Being a foodie and a cook I'm usually a little more critical of the food, but I will say that they did an outstanding job with the pork!

In the evening there was entertainment in the lounge - at 2 differnt ports we had local entertainment, and other nights there were trivia contests, and a ship-wide talent show for those who wanted to participate.

We found all the crew to be friendly and helpful, and our tour director was super friendly, patient and organized. As @Andrew mentioned in his description of a differnt cruise/line, the one thing we missed was having more free time in each location, but that's the way it's been with every tour we've been on. I think these tours are great to give you an overview of various places, and maybe help you decide which ones you might like to re-visit and explore at greater length. We were glad we had extra time in both Prague and Budapest.

 

[devarae]

Thank you for sharing this and also your detailed trip report! I've always been curious about these sort of cruises and this is really helpful to hear!