DixieBrit

Just got back from our Baltic cruise.  We used TJ Tours and booked a two day tour in St. Petersburg online for $199.  It was wonderful.  The company immediately replies to all correspondence.  Information emailed before the tour was thorough and we felt at ease with all arrangement.  The transportation was a new Mercedes Benz van with plenty of room.  The guide and driver were personable and knowledgeable.  The tour included the Hermitage, Catherine's Palace, Peterhof gardens and fountains, the church of the Spilled Blood, a canal and river cruise, lunch at a local restaurant on one of the days (the second day we paid for our lunch) and various picture opt stops as we drove through the city.  We also booked a one day tour with them in Rostock, Germany and were just as impressed.  The tours are limited to 20 people, but we only had four on ours so it was as though we had a private tour.  I would definitely use TJ Tours again.

My very first river cruise was with AMA and I did not know what to expect because I had no idea there were any river cruise companies other than Viking--that just goes to show how Viking saturates the U.S. market with advertising. I have since traveled with Viking many times as well as Emerald and Amadeus. Viking and AMA are both excellent, but the earlier post is correct--AMA just seems to have a little more customer detail. For instance, the wines at dinner were generally from the country we were sailing through--not so with Viking. The passengers are mostly international on AMA (heavily from England)--Americans are in the minority. It is just the opposite on Viking. I liked meeting people from other countries. As part of the Christmas celebration, AMA had a crew member dress as Santa while we sang Christmas carols and had our picture taken with Santa. Then we put our shoes outside our stateroom so Krumpas could leave us chocolates (and he did leave quite a bit of Lindt chocolates all festively wrapped). To be fair, Viking had a men's choir from Bratislava come on board and give a Christmas concert, which was exquisite--they ended with Silent Night sung in American, in German, and then in Slovakian.

Itinerary should be your first choice, though. The differences between the two is miniscule. FYI: Budapest has the best Christmas market--spend your money there.

This will be my first river cruise and my first time with the Christmas Markets so I am doubly excited. This whole thing happened very fast--just started considering it last week and then seriously looked Saturday. I found that Viking did not have many lower cabin categories left, but AMA did and I had read a review on RiverCruise Advisor that said to think of AMA as sort of a river version of Oceania. That was enough for me because I love Oceania.

Although I have been to Budapest, Vienna, and Melk Abbey, this will be my first visit in the winter and my first time to all those medieval towns such as Regensberg and Passau.

I loved the suggestions for what to look for at the Budapest CM--any suggestions for the other ports?