shahidsaif

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Do not overlook Lüftner in your research (sometimes spelled Lueftner, or Luftner). They have not made much advertising headway in the U.S., but my recent experience on the Amadeus Elegant proved they are a hidden gem! They offer a variety of days on their transits of the European waterways (for instance, on a 16-day transit from Amsterdam to Budapest, there were folks aboard for only a short leg of that from say, Nürnberg to Vienna, or whatnot).

 

I agree with Nana --read posts with a grain of salt -- not everyone posts who had an acceptable time, so you often read about the extremes of experience. I also learned that there are people in the world who actually seem to enjoy the drama or controversy of complaining, even when offered a solution, so I now take that into account and ask people who go on about a horrible experience what steps were taken to have it corrected to try to judge whether the situation was an actual problem with the service or facility. I have little understanding for "drama queens," but great sympathy for those who find themselves in *actual* pickles.

 

Another thing to consider is that if you book through a different agency, you may have a different experience from someone on exactly the same ship as you, depending on what level of service that agency offers. Likewise, I imagine that level of service would differ even from representative to representative of a given agency, too.

 

For instance, our wonderful Collette tour rep, Ellen, met us at the Amsterdam airport, and shepherded us throughout the entire trip. She got to know each of us, and was instrumental in advocating for the needs of our quite diverse little group. She offered a level of service and caring that I think I have been quite spoiled by -- she even brought along a travel violin that she serenaded those who had birthdays or anniversaries in our group (how cute is that?). Ellen made sure that we all had the excursions lined up that we had paid for, or if we wanted to add on that we could, and she did all of the detail work between us and the ship's tour director, Günther, leaving us free to relax the whole time.

 

By contrast, on the same ship were a pair from the U.S. who had booked via another agency. Their agency did NOT send a tour representative along with them, and they seemed rather displeased by having to do all of the detail work themselves. I would not have had a problem with that, since I have travelled a fair bit, speak a few languages, and am rather independent, but these two wanted the level of service the Collette folks were given.

 

I think this would be a big consideration and where you would have to know yourself: you may be able to get the same passage cheaper, so what level of service are you willing to pay for? Do you want all the excursions included, or would you rather self-tour? Do you want to book your airline and your ship cabin and excursions yourself, or do you want all the arrangements handled for you?

 

On the one hand, having someone handle all the details for you means you don't have to think very much, just go where you are told. On the other hand, you may chafe under that level of herding and want to strike out on your own (which we still did on occasion when there was something we wanted to do or see that wasn't on the package excursion, but if you have already paid ahead of time for a package, there is no reimbursement for parts that you don't choose to participate in -- however, the rest of the package may be such a good deal that you can easily justify skipping one or two things here and there...)

 

I posted a basic review of my trip already, but I do hope to get the time soon to post more details about each of the excursions, perhaps with photos. But suffice it to say, the Amsterdam to Budapest trip gave us bridges and locks a-plenty, and many lovely little towns to stroll around in. The Collette tour management was completely worry-free, and the Lüftner service was superb. I'm confident there are other combinations out there that produce equally lovely trips. Just be honest with yourself in what you are looking for.