happy taveler

I visited the National Quilt Museum in Paducah and really enjoyed it. I understand that they change the display from time to time.

I really enjoyed your review and the  pictures and descriptions were just great.  It brought back so many memories having traveled this route two time by ship and a couple of times by car.  I loved the photos of the food as they made me hungry just looking at them and remembering the tastes from them.  A very professional job.

Dan

Interesting town to visit as I have stayed overnight there several times while driving myself on a vacation but that was many years ago.  On a GCT cruise several years ago I skipped the optioned trip to Luxembourg and stayed on the ship to enjoy the time cruising which stopped at Traben Trarbach for a couple of hours to wait for the bus that took some of the people to Luxembourg so I got to revisit again.

I took a cruise from Antwerp Belgium to Basil that went up the Moslle River and enjoyed it  with GCT but that was back in 2006.  Before that my nephew lived in Traben-Trarbac many years ago and I was able to visit him several times.  I liked that the towns were smaller and not so crowded. But that may have changed by now

I had a cruise cancelled on me last November because of low water with GCT.  We were on the way to put our dog in a kennel on a Friday (Kennel closed Saturday & Sunday ) and we were to leave on Monday when I received a call on my cell phone that the cruise was cancelled.  We were disappointed but it is what it is. They offered us a discount for another cruise this year but we could make it happen. 

I number of years ago I had my bag not arrive when I got to Europe.  I do not even remember which airline it was with.  I was to fly from Philadelphia to Washington DC then on to Brussels.  The flight from Philadelphia to Washington DC was cancelled which meant they put us on a later flight that afternoon.  I missed my flight but they booked me to London then on to Brussels as I kept asking about my luggage each step and was told it is with you.  Well no luggage when I arrived so the bus took us to Antwerp where the ship was.  I had a change in my carry on so I was able to shower on the ship and change.  The next day just as the ship was about to leave the dock so it would make an appointment with one of the Locks on the river my luggage arrived.  They were suppose to take it to my room but it went somewhere else and it took over 3 hours on the ship for them to find the crew member to received and ask him what he did with it. 

The Kappele a church on a hill facing the Marionburg Fortress is interesting to see but it is a long way up to it.

I am enjoying reading this post and will look forward to the next section of it.

I have taken 4 river cruises with Grand Circle as a solo with 3 times being matched up with somebody and the fourth time the other person had passed away before the trip so I got the cabin to myself with no extra charge  I never had any problems with sharing a cabin but then maybe i was just lucky.  I enjoyed all the trips with them but then that was about 10 years ago and I understand that river cruising has become much more crowded now.  I had a trip planned with then last fall but it was cancelled because of the low water problem.

I took this cruise with another company back in 2004 so I guess a lot has changed since then. I started out in Bucharest and ended up in Budapest. I took the 3 day pre-trip and stayed in Sinaia and remember Peles Castle on one of the side trips. Veliko Tarbivi Bulgaria was a good stop along the way.

I enjoyed the transportation museum and also Panorama museum which I think was near the Lion monument.

I am talking of a time frame 1971-1972 then in the late 80's. They had the cheapest airfare that I could find around $400.00 round trip. I took the 24 hour stop over in Reykjavik one time which was nice then caught the middle of the night plane the next day. It was so nice as the airport in Luxembourg was small back then and it was a very short walk to the rental car offices. The location was nice as you could head right over to Germany. I remember one time I then took the train down to Switzerland for a week and used the Swiss Rail Pass. After a week I took the train back to Luxembourg to pick up a rental car and to my surprise at 5:00pm the offices were all closed. I managed to find a room for the night and picked up the car the next morning and headed for Brugge Belgium then up to Delft in Holland. It was a different world back then where there were no GPS and you had to read a map to get around.

I think Traben-Trarbach is one of the nicest towns on the Moselle River. My nephew taught collage classes at Hahn Air Force Base back in 1980 (which I understand is now Frankfurt- Hahn Airport) and lived in Traben-Trarbach so I got a chance to go over and visit him. I also stayed there for the last night of some of my trips as I was using Icelandic Air from New York to Luxembourg.

JPalbny There is a misspelling for my name as when I signed up for Cruise Critic I misspelled it. I went back to try to correct it but then found out that someone else was already using that name so I just left it the way it was. I enjoyed looking at your pictures as they make a lot of good memories of the times that I have visited those places. I will try to post a picture I took inside of the Library in 2005 as no one said that we could not take pictures then. I sent it in before but I never saw it post so maybe I have to brush up on how to do it in a reply.

This is a photo of the Library in Melk I took in 2005 when there were no restrictions on photos.

I have taken two trips on the River Aira with GCT the first one in 2002 from Passau to Budapest and the second one in 2004 from Bucharest to Budapest. I found that the ship was well kept and very comfortable. The fold down beds were not a problem for me being six feet tall as I was in Room 300 one time and Room 325 on the second trip. The food was good and I enjoyed the people on the ship and the crew. Although these trips were some time ago I my information may be out dated as it could have been refurnished since then. It was put in service in 2001. I have always been pleased with the GCT trips that I have taken. I took the Great Rivers of Europe in 2005 from Vienna to Amsterdam only this time it was on the MS Bizet and that was my all time favorite trip of the four I have taken with GCT. The last one was in 2006 The Romance of the Rhine & Mosel Rivers from Antwerp to Basel on the MS Debussy which was also a nice ship although smaller then the River Aria.

I have just gone in at different times and sat as an empty table then let it fill up around me.

What was the name of the show? Was the title of it European Christmas Markets? I just notices a 2 hour Rick Steves show on PBS called Rick Steves European Christmas last night.

Great photos nice and sharp and clear. Looking forward to seeing more.

Great pictures. It brought back a lot of memories

We are taking the Grand Circle Travel River Cruise The Great Rivers of Europe in June on the River Aria. Is anyone familiar with this ship? We are starting the trip with the pre-trip to Vienna. Any suggestions? Thanks.

I have taken two trips on the River Aira with GCT the first one in 2002 from Passau to Budapest and the second one in 2004 from Bucharest to Budapest. I found that the ship was well kept and very comfortable. The bed were not a problem for me as I was in Room 300 one time and Room 325 on the second trip. The food was good and I enjoyed the people on the ship and the crew. Although these trips were some time ago I have always been pleased with the GCT trips that I have taken. I took the Great Rivers of Europe in 2005 that you are taking from Vienna to Amsterdam only this time it was on the MS Bizet and that was my all time favorite trip of the four I have taken with GCT. The last one was in 2006 The Romance of the Rhine & Mosel Rivers from Antwerp to Basel on the MS Debussy which was also a nice ship although smaller then the River Aria.

Last year I was supposed to fly from Philadelphia to Washington DC then on to Brussels and be taken to the ship in Antwerp for the Romance of the Rhine & Mosel River Cruise with GCT. I had not been feeling well as I was having some stomach problems but after visiting with my doctor decided to go anyway as things would clear up once I was under way. I arrived at the Airport in Philadelphia in at 12:15 to catch a 2:35 flight to Washington DC but after waiting around for an hour. United Airlines cancelled the flight from Philadelphia to Washington DC. We were then told they would take us to Washington by bus and to get out luggage and go down stairs to wait. After another hour we were told to check out luggage again and they would get another plane to fly us to Washington. I called GCT 2 times saying I would not make my connection but they could not help and told me to try to get on another flight if possible but being 4th of July weekend everything was booked up. I arrived at my departing gate in Washington 10 minutes before takeoff but United had given my seat away and said that I was a no show. There were 3 people there from GCT who took me under their wing and one of them stood in line for me for over an hour at the United Desk to get me booked on a flight to Heathrow Airport in London then a flight to Brussels. They were able to get me compensation for being an involuntary bump and I was on my way.

I arrived in Brussels with out my luggage but there was someone there to take me to the ship in Antwerp. This was the first time I ever had to use the change of clothes I always put in my carry on luggage. The next day just as the ship was to leave Antwerp my luggage arrived and a GCT Program Director ran across a big square to get it for me. To shorten the story my stomach problems did not go away and the last day of the trip in Basel They took me to the hospital in an ambulance to get checked out. My Program Director instanced on going with me and stayed with me the whole time while I saw the doctor. She also went to a pharmacy to get the prescriptions that I was given. When we arrived in Lucerne for the post trip my room was not ready so she told the hotel staff to give me her room and she would take mine when it was ready so I could go up and rest. Needless to say I remembered her with a good tip for going out of her way to look after me. In all my years of travel this is the first time so many things have went wrong and none of it was the fault of GCT. I felt everyone on the ship looked after me and went out of their way to comfort me. The trip had a happy ending as I was bumped up to Business Class on the flight home when a Lufthanas gate agent found out I was traveling my myself. I would travel with GCT again.