Back from Tranquility Budapest to Prague

We LOVED our cruise on the Avalon Tranquility. I want to thank you all for all of your help beforehand. I did a review (mostly my notes from the cruise)..... http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=74538

Looking over the review, I should have given it 5 plus, but somehow I missed that option when I did it.

I'll be happy to answer any questions as you were all so helpful to me! I've been feeling not very well since we got back....jetlag combined with a cold, I think! I'm on the upswing now.

Hi Stretchcruz,

What a great review!! I really enjoyed reading it and it brought back fond memories of Prague and Budapest. I've never been to the other ports, but was able to "see" them through your writing. I know what you mean by it all runs together. When we printed our photos from our Rhine/Moselle Rivercruise, we had to look at our itinerary and try to remember which town we were in when we took a photo. It's a good thing the lab didn't mix up the order of the photos. I also had them put them on a CD and now I have the memories forever.

Sheila

Thanks Sheila....

Thank goodness for the digital camera that has the date and time on it....I was looking at the itinerary while I was reviewing my pictures. I deleted 350 of them the past few days....and I still have a ton! This weekend while I'm feeling better I'll go through them again.

Thanks for the kind comments..

We LOVED our cruise on the Avalon Tranquility. I want to thank you all for all of your help beforehand. I did a review (mostly my notes from the cruise)..... http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=74538

Looking over the review, I should have given it 5 plus, but somehow I missed that option when I did it.

 

I'll be happy to answer any questions as you were all so helpful to me! I've been feeling not very well since we got back....jetlag combined with a cold, I think! I'm on the upswing now.

WHAT AN EXCELLENT REVIEW....!!!

It was a GREAT READ.....!!!

I enjoyed it THROUGHLY......!!!

Thank You for sharing all your experiences and thoughts....!!! ;)

It seems like Avalon was just PERFECT......!!!

I have a few questions.

1. Was/is there an optional excursion to Schonbrunn Castle from Vienna?

2. Are there "pre", "post" days for the cruise?

3. Do you have pictures that you would like to share?

I would LOVE to see them......!!!

Your review was just glowing!!!

It is making it hard for me to decide between AMA and Avalon for our Danube Cruise.....!!!

Thanks so much for the great review. I also appreciated your updates on Facebook ... it was great to see how enthusiastic both of you were and how much you seemed to enjoy each new city.

I was just on the Avalon web site and have found that they DO offer an excursion to Schonbrunn Castle. EXCELLENT......!!!

By the way, which airline did you use, you sounded quite unhappy with it.

The optional excursion to the Palace left at 1:30 and got back at 5:00 in Vienna.

The pre and post cruise days were part of our cruise...code WBN...included 2 nights at the Intercontinental in Budapest and 3 nights at the Prague Hilton.

I'm still going through pictures...as I work full time it's taking me a bit of time...I deleted 340 over the weekend. I'll post some when I have a chance, maybe this weekend.

We LOVED Avalon, would do it all again in a heartbeat!!!

We were on Delta/KLM/Czech Airways/Hungarian Malev....all Delta subsidiaries.

The optional excursion to the Palace left at 1:30 and got back at 5:00 in Vienna.

The pre and post cruise days were part of our cruise...code WBN...included 2 nights at the Intercontinental in Budapest and 3 nights at the Prague Hilton.

I'm still going through pictures...as I work full time it's taking me a bit of time...I deleted 340 over the weekend. I'll post some when I have a chance, maybe this weekend.

We LOVED Avalon, would do it all again in a heartbeat!!!

We were on Delta/KLM/Czech Airways/Hungarian Malev....all Delta subsidiaries.

Whenever you get the time to share your pictures, no problem.....

Can you please e-mail me the contact information for your tour guide Jana?

Does she drive? I think that we would like to take a drive out to Karlovy Vary.

Thanks.

The guide was Jana Hronkova....her email is janahronkova@hotmail.com

She charged 600 Czech crowns per hour (about $30).....well worth it! I'm not sure if she does driving tours, you could ask her. I know that Rick Steves went with a guide to Karlovy Vary on public transportation....that may be something that she would do with you. I know she does have a car, but we didn't want a car tour....we wanted to walk and do public transportation. If you are going to be in Prague for any length of time, I would definitely hire her....even instead of the ship tour....so much more personal and informative!! If you do email her, tell her that you heard about her from me (Dobie)...she was so cool!!!

As far as your decision between AMA and Avalon.....when we decided to do a river cruise we narrowed it down to AMA, Avalon, and Uniworld....I certainly can't speak about the other cruise lines as I haven't experienced them, but Avalon was great!!

A few things I forgot to mention in the review:

There is no dress code onboard, which the CD frequently mentioned...a few guys brought sport coats, but most folks wore jeans or slacks and sweaters or shirts to dinner...nothing fancier. I brought too many clothes. Many folks wore the same thing to dinner that they wore all day as they had signed up for optional tours.

Internet is available for 15 Euros for the week for unlimited usage. I got wifi in the cabin, there were also a few computers.

We had REAL chocolate on our pillow each night!

There was an Avalon folder in our room labeled Memories of our Cruise...it had bracket things in it to put papers in it....and every day when we got our daily newsletter and maps and information they were already punched to fit the folder....a very nice touch and souvenir....then papers weren't all over the room and suitcase!

The wine and beer were free flowing at dinner, and there were several nights with champagne available before dinner. We had no reason to buy drinks onboard....we partook of Happy Hour once...so our total onboard bill was 21 Euros...which included the Internet! We tipped the staff in cash at the end.

You can carry wine or spirits onboard to have in your cabin or up on deck...nobody cares.

We are now saving for our next river cruise!!

Hi Stretchcruz,

I have read your postings including your review of the Tranquility. What a great trip and review! Thanks for all the helpful info. We too are very pleased with Avalon and did the Avalon Affinity in early October ( Paris, Vineyards and Windmills) and were everybit as please with our 1st riverboat cruise experience as you. Your cruise Budapest to Prague sounds like one we might want to take also in the future.

I know your cruise goes in both directions ...Budapest to Prague and Prague to Budapest. If you were to do it again, would you cruise it in the same direction or would there be any advantage to cruising from Prague to Budapest as far as pre and post night stays or port stops. My recommendation for the Paris, Vineyards and Windmills tour would be to do it in the opposite direction that we did. Reason being that the scenry from Germany to Amsterdam was not nearly as pretty as our scenry was in the beginning of our trip on the Mosele River and the middle Rhine River. The riverbanks in the Netherlands was very industrial and not as scenic. All of the scenry in Germany was spetacular, esp. the Mosele river. I would personally rather build up in quality as my cruise progressed with the quality of the port towns and scenry then digress. So if I was to do my cruise again, I would start in Amsterdam and end in Paris. Just a little tidbit of info. Thanks again for your info and tour guide recommendation.:)

I'm not sure about which direction is better....our cruise director told us that by sailing upriver we went slower, thus we had more time to savor the sights. She said that the trip downriver was quicker. I know we loved our time in Prague....we were there for 3 nights, and we could have been there for more. I'm not sure if you do it in reverse how many nights are spent in which ports, but I would definitely want more time in Prague than in Budapest. Prague was phenomenal.....

Our end port was Nurnberg, which is pretty industrial, and you can't really walk anywhere from the port. We took the bus to Prague, which was the crowning glory of the trip.

How easy/difficult was it to take the bus from Nuremburg to Prague? How did you get from the ship to the bus, taxi? How much did it cost to do this transfer on your own?

The optional excursion to the Palace left at 1:30 and got back at 5:00 in Vienna.

The pre and post cruise days were part of our cruise...code WBN...included 2 nights at the Intercontinental in Budapest and 3 nights at the Prague Hilton.

I'm still going through pictures...as I work full time it's taking me a bit of time...I deleted 340 over the weekend. I'll post some when I have a chance, maybe this weekend.

We LOVED Avalon, would do it all again in a heartbeat!!!

We were on Delta/KLM/Czech Airways/Hungarian Malev....all Delta subsidiaries.

While KLM and Czech code share with Delta and are members of SkyTeam but are not susidiaries. Malev is neither a member of SkyTeam nor a subsidiary.

Sorry, I obviously don't know what I'm talking about. All I know is that we had a Delta reservation number. Sorry I used the wrong word to describe the airlines we were on...all of the flights were on the same booking number through Delta. Sorry I used the wrong word....but we WERE on Hungarian Malev WITH a Delta booking number.

CasaM, we did the trip through Avalon...the bus was included and they took care of everything....luggage brought out to the bus, up to our room at the Hilton, everything. The bus ride was about 3 and a half hours. Our CD was on our bus and did a commentary. Can't help you with individual arrangements, sorry....I was glad we did it all through Avalon, I know it cost more but it was worth not having to think about anything!!

Stretchcruz - GREAT review! Well written and something for you to read when you get old. :) Too bad about the flight. :( I've had issues with Delta on domestic flights too. I believe Delta is rated as the worse airlines in the US.

Have fun on your Alaska cruise. My wife is anxious to do one of those too.

Paulinda, thanks! I appreciate it.

Believe it or not, I just cancelled the Alaska cruise.....and booked New Zealand/Australia instead! Within the last hour! After the horrid flights I really didn't want to consider long flights again, but it takes less time to get to New Zealand from here than to Europe! So hopefully we'll be able to get flights using our FF miles when the seats open up.

Thanks again for your positive comments.

Paulinda, thanks! I appreciate it.

 

Believe it or not, I just cancelled the Alaska cruise.....and booked New Zealand/Australia instead! Within the last hour! After the horrid flights I really didn't want to consider long flights again, but it takes less time to get to New Zealand from here than to Europe! So hopefully we'll be able to get flights using our FF miles when the seats open up.

 

Thanks again for your positive comments.

You'll love the Aus/NZ cruise. I did one last January (good time weather wise here- and you miss your winter). Mine went from Sydney around NZ and back home (Sydney). I like Diamond Princess too. I went on her to Alaska (which I enjoyed also). But I preferred NZ. Beautiful scenery. I love Napier. Unique little town.

Sayaguru, thanks....we have some Aussie friends that we met on a cruise and cruised with on a few occasions....I've emailed them to see if they might be interested...they are on their way to LA to do Mexico this weekend! I'm sure we'll have a great time.

Hi! To Stretch or anyone who could answer this. We are considering this cruise either on AMA or Avalon, but might have to go with Avalon due to availability. One difference is AMA goes to Bratislava but Avalon doesn't. What happens on the day (day 2) that used to be for Bratislava? Does the Avalon ship arrive in Vienna earlier? What time? Is there time to walk around in Vienna on day 2?

Thank you.

Sorry, I've been working a TON of extra hours, just got back here and I'm on my way to bed. From what I remember, and I would have to go back to my notes, we had an Avalon included tour and took a bus back to the boat. Maybe we had lunch there, don't remember, but I do remember leaving the boat and walking for hours exploring...we also could have stayed in downtown Vienna after the tour (we should have done that). Then I do believe there was an optional tour that evening for some type of concert. From my weak memory I believe that you could have done the morning tour in Vienna (and now I am sure, as our tour guide was particulaly annoying, repeating over and over again that we had to be at the meeting spot at 11 15, 15 minutes past the hour, quarter past the hour, 45 minutes before the 12 o'clock hour, etc, etc......) I could have killed her!!! (just kidding.....)...then go back to the boat for lunch, then explore, as we did. In other words, it was a whole day of exploring.

Thank you!

It is making it hard for me to decide between AMA and Avalon for our Danube Cruise.....!!!

Having done three with Avalon and just back from AMA, for us AMA was a much better overall experience. The demographic was younger, food more interesting with a larger variety and better served, entertainment superior, optional bike tours popular and there were more AMA hosted in town events throughout the cruise. The infotainment system also added to our enjoyment of the cruise.

We have decided on AMA for 2012.

Great review!

Can you share the name of the restaurant you mentioned having lunch at in Prague? We will be there for two days over Christmas and also staying at the Hilton.

Thanks!

Great review!

 

Can you share the name of the restaurant you mentioned having lunch at in Prague? We will be there for two days over Christmas and also staying at the Hilton.

 

Thanks!

Caviargirl, we just got back from extra days in Prague post Avalon cruise and had 2 great meals at a restaurant in very close walking distance to the Hilton. It was called Pivovarsky Klub and was recommended to us by the Concierge at the Hilton. Great local Czech cuisine, huge variety of inexpensive local beers. Casual, good schnitzel, goulash and great sauerkraut pancakes! A Czech local favorite along with the beer and sauerkraut soup. I wrote a good review on trip advisor about this restaurant. It is not very big, pub style and they have great luncheon prices from 11a-3p. We would definitely go back and referred others from our cruise there and they too were pleased. There is another very good restaurant we ate at nearby, I will find the name and post it. Cafe Imperial was great ambiance and service, good schnitzel but don't get mashed potatoes, not very good at all. For price difference of food, Pivovarsky Klub was much better.