Tarheel72

On ‎2‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 9:15 AM, go2bch said:

Tarheel72. Did you use Prague Airport Transfer? Were you happy with them.  We are thinking of using them for the exact trip.  Thanks! 

Yes, I think that was who we used.  I read your other posts and yes a train or bus to Salzburg and 4-5 hours there is more than enough in my opinion.  We had about 3.5 hours in CK and saw everything and never felt rushed.  Great photo ops there and the castle is the main attraction.  The rest is mostly wandering the streets and taking photos.  Beautiful city but compact and easy to navigate on foot.

Interesting side story.  Our driver told us the Germans liked to stop nice cars with Cech license plates when they crossed the boarder, to check the car for drugs.  Sure enough, about 5 minutes after we crossed the boarder into Germany, an unmarked German police car pulled us over.  We had to turn off the road and park, and they had everyone get out of the car and show our documents, and then they looked in all the luggage.  We stood there for about 15 minutes and waited for them to finish.  We loved it, it gave us a good story to tell on the ship. 

57 minutes ago, go2bch said:

We are trying to decide what to do on our River Cruise.  Since we are extending (on our own) from Passau to Prague we can stop and see Cesky Krumlov then.  This would mean we would do Salzburg (on our own) the day everyone from the ship is Inc Cesky Krumlov.   We are in our 50’s and are not afraid of taking trains by ourselves.  Would you recommend this as opposed to doing Cesky Krumlov with the ship and missing Salzburg? Thank you! So happy to see that someone else did what I am thinking we should do! 

That should work fine for you.  And you can easily travel to Salzburg by bus, there are multiple tours offered that you can book in advance.  Although I cannot comment on the train option to CK.  I have no idea how easy it is to get to the train station in Passau, but it is a fair distance to the downtown area.  And CK is a smallish town, I never saw a train station and it is certainly not in the older area, where you will be walking and spending your time.  Seriously, it is much easier to hire a driver.  Just use a local service, we found ours on the Internet under tour companies.  They will be waiting for you at the dock and then give you several hours in CK, before dropping you off at your hotel in Prague.  Quick, convenient, and safe.  Our driver contacted us and asked if he could bring his girlfriend to keep him company and we said fine.  It was a nice roomy sedan and they gave us great commentary while we drove.  And the cost was not bad at all.  While it is probably more than a train, you have to also factor in the cost of going to or from the train station four times.  Plus what to do with your luggage while in CK.  Its a vacation and I don't worry about a few extra dollars, not too mention the time you save.  Good luck!

Thanks!  Looking forward to smooth sailing and a Cuban rum!

thanks everyone. I wasn't aware of it and there are quite a number of posts about taking box wine aboard ships. I did not realize HAL did not allow it and thought it might be a new rule or one that was not enforced. Guess she will have to make other arrangements. Consider the thread closed.

I have read several posts about box wine but the 2018 Know Before You Go pages on HAL's website have this statement: "Guests are not allowed to bring beer, boxed wine, or other liquors and spirits onboard." Is this new? Has anyone had success boarding with a box wine this year? My wife likes them and was planning on taking that instead of a bottle. Now not so sure if she can do that. Thanks

Zuiderdam, 11 days, 10/24 - 11/03, Panama Canal, 2nd time on the Z (2009 Med cruise)

If you have AT&T you can check the Cruise Package. Most of the large HAL ships are compatible and you can also use the phone in most Caribbean ports, Canada and Mexico. They have two packages, one that includes talk/text and one that includes talk/text/data. $50 and $100, respectively, for a 30 day period. The $50 includes 50 minutes of talk, then $2 a minute and unlimited text. The $100 plan includes unlimited talk and text, and 200MB of data before you incur any additional charges.

We have been looking at these for several years and will probably take the plunge in the future. Interested to see reviews of anyone who has done this or will complete a cruise in the near future. European Waterways and French Country Waterways are the two we targeted. A few years ago French Country had a sale where they would give you a discount equal to your number of years of marriage if you sailed on your anniversay. Now that could be a good deal if the timing is right and they do it again.

Obviously I do know that Prague is not on the Danube but since it is a point that many of the river companies use as an embarkation or disembarkation point, I listed it as they do. There is transportation between Prague and the actual river port. I'm sorry, I should have been more specific for you but it seemed that others who have been on this river and experienced Prague knew what I was saying.

No, I underswtood what you ment and I wasn't trying to sound like a smarta$$. With most of the cruises Prague is an add on at the beginning or the end of the trip and you can opt out of it and make your own arrangements. I assumed you knew Prague was not a port city. I was just suggesting that, in case you had not considered it, you could visit Prague on your own and then start your cruise somewhere else downriver, like Vienna or Budapest. The bus ride from Prague can be anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours or more, depending on where you cruise from. We actually did Prague on our own and hired a private car to take us to our embarkation point on the Danube, stopping in Chesky Krumlov for several hours on the way. But you could fly from Prague if you wanted to start the cruise further downstream and not be dependent on the cruise lines for your visit to Prague.

Just a suggestion, sorry if I upset you.

We are starting to research our next river boat cruise on the Danube. We are not sure which cities it should include. Do we want to go from Prague to Budapest or Budapest to Bucharest or Vienna to Bucharest. We would love to hear your opinions, particularly if you have sailed the Danube. Our last river cruise was on the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel and we enjoyed that.

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Jane

Not trying to be picky but technically Prague is not on the Danube. It is quite possible to go to Prague and on to some other city by plane. For instance you could fly to Prague and then to Budapest to start your river cruise quite easily. Prague is included in many river cruise itenararies but you have to get there by bus and it is usually the first or last city on the trip. It also usually means you visit Passau or some other German port city on tne Danube. If you want to start your trip in, say, Vienna, then you could easily fly there from Prague and sail to Bucharest.

We enjoyed Durnstein very much and strolled it after dark when the streets were empty. So everyone has their own experiences and likes.

We have been to all three. We did CK on our own and Salzburg and Passau as part of a Uniworld tour. CK is the best as far as we are concerned. Salzburg is OK as well but a notch below CK. We did not find Passau all that wonderful. Just OK. The church there is nice, as it is a lot of white plaster which is much different from the others we saw in Europe. Of couse this is just an opinion and YMMV.

If you are going to stay over in Prague you can drive to CK on your own, either on the way to Prague after the cruise or when you leave Prague to catch the cruise. That is what we did. That way maybe you can take both the CK and the Salzburg excursions. We used a private car service and it worked out fine. We stopped on our way to the ship in Passau and had about three and one half hours in CK which was plenty of time.

Thanks Jester. I have rearranged the trip to include a 2 hour stop over in CK. We will plan on lunch while we are there and probable a self guided walking tour.

We have booked through Prague Airport Transfers. They seem to have gotten good reviews. Has anyone on here used them? We booked online, both our airport to hotel upon arrival and our Prague to Passau transfer. They are less expensive then Mike or Martin, you pay the driver and they allow a stop for lunch at no extra on the trip to Passau. Sedan for up to 4 people is one price. We plan on stopping in Ceskey Krumlov for an hour or so and the wait time is only an extra $13 an hour, which is pretty cheap I think.