Uniworld Enchanting Danube, Sept 8 to 15

We are booked on the Sept 8-Sept !5 Uniworld Enchanting Danube Cruise from Budapest to Passau. We will arrive in Budapest 3 days early and do our own thing. We are going to do our own private leisurely transfer with stops from Passau to Prague and spend 3 days in Prague. It is our first river cruise. We have done numerous cruises but our preferred cruise line is Sea Dream Yacht Club which only takes a max of 112 guests. So, Uniworld River Beatrice is actually larger than our preferred cruise line! We would appreciate any tips others can give us about what to expect on this cruise. What shore excursions are really good? Should we consider any of the upgrade excursions? Or should we just see the basics on our first time? Any help would be appreciated. Anyone else joining us on this cruise?

There are lots of reviews on these boards. Just do a search for "Beatrice."

We were there last Sept. and loved it.

cb

We also loved this cruise. Tour guides were excellent and especially enjoyed hearing from them about life under Communism and the transition. Due to rain upriver we had to bypass Vienna (river was rising so much that we wouldn't have been able to pass under some of the bridges) and return by bus for part of a day. Luckily we had planned to fly back there for 3 days after the cruise and found that it's easy to explore on your own by subway and the tram on the Ring Road. So there I would take a Uniworld orientation tour and DYI afterward. Enjoyed Melk Abbey and the day trip to Salzburg. Also liked strolling around where we were docked in small towns after dinner, depending on departure time.

Thanks jlkc!

What time of year were you there? Does the high river level cause problems very often? I would expect it to be an issue after the snow melt in the spring but is it also an issue in September?

When you have to leave due to high water do you normally just get back on the boat the same day? I was not clear on what you did instead of Vienna.

Thanks for your info!

We did this cruise last year (ours was the week before) and we had a wonderful time. We started in Prague and ended in Budapest. I think the only optional excursion we did was the trip to Slovakia. We particularly enjoyed Melk Abbey. We also loved Salzburg. In Passau we skipped the tour and wandered around town and had lunch at an outside restaurant overlooking the Danube. I'd love to do this cruise again. We had no issues with water levels on the Danube during our cruise. We hired private guides for Vienna, Salzburg and Budapest. Tania, the ship concierge, arranged everything for us.

Expect to be pampered and love every moment of your cruise!

Thanks jlkc!

What time of year were you there? Does the high river level cause problems very often? I would expect it to be an issue after the snow melt in the spring but is it also an issue in September?

 

When you have to leave due to high water do you normally just get back on the boat the same day? I was not clear on what you did instead of Vienna.

 

Thanks for your info!

We were there in late May/early June; September should not be an issue with high water (low water can be another story). We sailed past Vienna in the night and docked at Bratislava. We were bused from there back to Vienna and then back to the ship, which had continued even further down river. During the bus ride was when we heard interesting tales of life in the area during the Communist period, etc., as well as from another guide during a day trip from Budapest to Szentendre (a small pretty village mostly of interest for anyone wanted to shop for local wares). Because we had missed a day and a half in Vienna, Uniworld quickly arranged free and optional alternate tours in Budapest as we were were docked there 3 days. Several boats on the river had to dock for a day or two and their passengers were bused port to port, staying on a cruise line boat if one was available or in hotels.

In Vienna we were going to take the optional tours to the Shonbrunn palace and a Mozart concert. We did those on our own when we returned (for less than the price Uniworld would have charged) as well as an interesting practice session of the Lippizaner horses. Also enjoyed the Hofburg Palace and Natural History and Art History Museums. With stops for delicious pastries and coffee, of course.

We were impressed with Uniworld staff and facilities and sailed with them in Russia and hope to take more trips with them. I know you'll have a wonderful time.

Thanks so much for all of your comments. You have answered several of my questions. I'm sure I will have more as I get closer to this trip.

I hope you are still monitoring this, twinkletoes. I'm planning now for October 2013, and was interested in this tour because otherwise, we just sail through Slovakia. Was it worthwhile to you? I've read mixed reviews of the restaurant (Marchfelderhof) listed for it - what did you think of it? Did they force you to eat schnitzel?

 

I hadn't considered that there could be private tours since the itineraries are so detailed and complete. Would you think they would be necessary at all for someone on their first Danube cruise?

 

Of course, I would appreciate anyone with information to share on the subject. I just like typing out "twinkletoes."

We used to call our daughter Twinkletoes when she was a little squirt, so whenever I type it out, it makes me smile. :)

I think our tour must have been different since we stared in Passau (ended in Budapest). We rode a bus to Bratislava, Slovakia (from Vienna). The boat met us at Hainburg after our afternoon in Slovakia. We toured the grounds of the Bratislava Castle, and then were transported to the Old Town area where we were given a guided tour of the area, and then I think we had forty-five minutes to roam around on our own.

We did eat a lot of schnitzel! In fact, we've not had any since we've returned home. lol :) My downfall was the apple strudel. Had a lot of that also!

We enjoyed our day in Slovakia. On our cruise, the boat was sailing at 1:30 for Budapest, so we thought rather than spend time on the boat, we'd do the excursion. It was a pleasant day. Having been there once, I doubt we'd do the excursion again.

The tours Uniworld offered were wonderful. We did quite a few of them and enjoyed the tours. We ended up hiring a private guide for some of the places we visited because I had a knee issue and we wanted to be able go at our own pace. We also wanted to see places in Salzburg that I knew were not part of the tour so that's why we hired a guide for our day in Salzburg.

If I hadn't had the knee issue, we'd probably have done the boat tours, with the exception of the Salzburg trip. I really wanted to see the Sound of Music places, and our guide was able to transport us to places where the tour groups weren't visiting.

We enjoyed this trip so much that we're thinking of doing it again. We'd probably go at a more relaxed pace, but we wanted to see as much as possible when we were there the last time, and we saw a lot.

Enjoy your cruise. If you think of anything else, just post a question. I'll check back. :)

Hi Twink !

I forgot about your private tours for your knee and am now having knee issues too. That is sounding like the right thing to do for us too. We are doing the Rhine and Moselle in Sep. and thinking of Russia for 2014.

cb

Hi Twink !

 

I forgot about your private tours for your knee and am now having knee issues too. That is sounding like the right thing to do for us too. We are doing the Rhine and Moselle in Sep. and thinking of Russia for 2014.

cb

Hi!

Sorry to hear about your knee issues. Normally I don't have that many problems, but I think it was just the amount of walking we did early on. The nice thing about a private guide is they are able to park pretty much anywhere, where the buses are typically restricted to certain areas. That alone cut down on a lot of the walking for us. When we were in Salzburg our guide was able to drive us to Nonnberg Abbey. It was quite a drive, which is most likely the reason no one else was there. I loved the serenity. I could have stayed there all day!

The Rhine is most likely what we'll do next. Uniworld had a tour that started in Paris (a few days) and then picked up on the Rhine ... and ended in Nuremberg with an optional stay in Prague. It's not on the 2014 list of cruises, so I hope they eventually bring it back. I was looking at photos of Russia last night (posted here) and was telling hubby we should think about Russia.

Have a wonderful cruise. Looking forward to hearing about your upcoming cruise.

Danke, Twinkletoes' parent.

 

Yes, we are going the other direction, so we get off the boat in Hainburg, later in the day, and re-board the ship in Vienna after dinner.

Your excursion sounds like it's a bit longer than our excursion lasted. If you do take the excursion, I'd be interested to hear your impressions. If we do this route again, we'd probably switch it up and start from Budapest the next time. :)

Who did you use for your Salzburg guide?

We used to call our daughter Twinkletoes when she was a little squirt, so whenever I type it out, it makes me smile. :)

 

I think our tour must have been different since we stared in Passau (ended in Budapest). We rode a bus to Bratislava, Slovakia (from Vienna). The boat met us at Hainburg after our afternoon in Slovakia. We toured the grounds of the Bratislava Castle, and then were transported to the Old Town area where we were given a guided tour of the area, and then I think we had forty-five minutes to roam around on our own.

 

We did eat a lot of schnitzel! In fact, we've not had any since we've returned home. lol :) My downfall was the apple strudel. Had a lot of that also!

 

We enjoyed our day in Slovakia. On our cruise, the boat was sailing at 1:30 for Budapest, so we thought rather than spend time on the boat, we'd do the excursion. It was a pleasant day. Having been there once, I doubt we'd do the excursion again.

 

The tours Uniworld offered were wonderful. We did quite a few of them and enjoyed the tours. We ended up hiring a private guide for some of the places we visited because I had a knee issue and we wanted to be able go at our own pace. We also wanted to see places in Salzburg that I knew were not part of the tour so that's why we hired a guide for our day in Salzburg.

 

If I hadn't had the knee issue, we'd probably have done the boat tours, with the exception of the Salzburg trip. I really wanted to see the Sound of Music places, and our guide was able to transport us to places where the tour groups weren't visiting.

 

We enjoyed this trip so much that we're thinking of doing it again. We'd probably go at a more relaxed pace, but we wanted to see as much as possible when we were there the last time, and we saw a lot.

 

Enjoy your cruise. If you think of anything else, just post a question. I'll check back. :)

Who did you use for your Salzburg guide?

We used Dkfm F. H. Wolfgang Reinthaller. He picked us up in Linz and returned us at the end of the day. Had a wonderful time. If you Google his name all his info will come up. His phone # ends with 108.

Thank you for the information.

We are booked on the Sept 8-Sept !5 Uniworld Enchanting Danube Cruise from Budapest to Passau. We will arrive in Budapest 3 days early and do our own thing. We are going to do our own private leisurely transfer with stops from Passau to Prague and spend 3 days in Prague. It is our first river cruise. We have done numerous cruises but our preferred cruise line is Sea Dream Yacht Club which only takes a max of 112 guests. So, Uniworld River Beatrice is actually larger than our preferred cruise line! We would appreciate any tips others can give us about what to expect on this cruise. What shore excursions are really good? Should we consider any of the upgrade excursions? Or should we just see the basics on our first time? Any help would be appreciated. Anyone else joining us on this cruise?

Hi whatnot,

My wife and I are booked on this tour too! and we are also heading to Prague from Passau on our own after the cruise. How are you travelling from Passau to Prague? We intend to stop over at Cesky Krumlov. Anyone got any suggestions?

We look forward to meeting you! We are using Prague Airport Transfers. They are picking us up in Passau and we are stopping for 4 hours in Chesky Krumlov before continuing on to Prague. There is a set price for the transfer and then apprx 30 US dollars per hour for the driver to wait for us in Chesky. You can just google the company name and find their website. I thought their prices reasonable. Otherwise the options seemed limited to me since you can not rent a car in Germany and drive it into the Check Republic. I did not book on line. I sent them an email and told them what I wanted to do. Hope this helps.

Thank you for the information.

You're welcome. :)

We look forward to meeting you! We are using Prague Airport Transfers. They are picking us up in Passau and we are stopping for 4 hours in Chesky Krumlov before continuing on to Prague. There is a set price for the transfer and then apprx 30 US dollars per hour for the driver to wait for us in Chesky. You can just google the company name and find their website. I thought their prices reasonable. Otherwise the options seemed limited to me since you can not rent a car in Germany and drive it into the Check Republic. I did not book on line. I sent them an email and told them what I wanted to do. Hope this helps.

Hi whatnot,

Thanks for the information. As I was about to book, I noticed the set price is per vehicle (Skoda sedan or a Mercedes minivan?) for upto 4 persons. So if you are interested to share, you can request a minivan and we can split the fares and saves some money for a great meal! My wife is a teacher and I am an engineer from Sydney. You can contact me at lokery@hotmail.com. No obligation.

I sent you an email.