1st River Cruise -- Cost

That sounds like a great price, don't you usually travel GCT? I see where they have a Seine 13 day cruise, but $4000 p/p is the cheapest I see on their site for 2016 sailings.

 

Yep, that's the line we usually use. We leave in less than a week and when we booked, cruises in April and beyond, which may be all that shows on the website, were higher than March. We also got an airfare special, that was really a special.

Well, I went and contacted that TA. The $399 pp cruise wound up pricing out at much more than double that (no air).

 

It still might have been a good deal, but they kept pushing for my cc number as a requirement to get important trip details. Their website was even worse, wanted cc info before providing trip confirmation details. Then there was the BBB rating . . . And a really rotten bunch of on-line complaints.

 

I used to think CC was overly protective in censoring posts mentioning TAs, now I understand why.

 

ETA: A wise man once said, "if something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is."

 

 

You need to give your CC information just to get important details before booking? Definitely a red flag. I would also want to know more about Emerald in comparison to other lines.

I'm feeling a little dense here or it could be a senior moment, is this a fully chartered cruise that just happens to be on an Emerald ship or has the TA just pre-booked a number of cabins. The need for CC details is the same as any hotel requires when you book with them and what is a river cruise but an hotel on water, that moves.

Happy cruising CA

I'm feeling a little dense here or it could be a senior moment, is this a fully chartered cruise that just happens to be on an Emerald ship or has the TA just pre-booked a number of cabins. The need for CC details is the same as any hotel requires when you book with them and what is a river cruise but an hotel on water, that moves.

Happy cruising CA

 

Cruise lines and TAs (whether on line or live) don't typically ask for cc info before they give you the details of the booking . . . cabin number or category, pricing, etc. In this case I was asked for billing information before we talked about cruise details and price. I only got that info after I balked at providing billing info.

Edited March 23, 2016 by CPT Trips

Your right very strange, security with your CC is paramount and I have not seen anywhere on Cruise Critic this mentioned before in conjunction with any river cruise company. Scenic the parent company certainly doesn't, well not in the UK I can't think it would be different elsewhere. Was it the TA?

CA

Your right very strange, security with your CC is paramount and I have not seen anywhere on Cruise Critic this mentioned before in conjunction with any river cruise company. Scenic the parent company certainly doesn't, well not in the UK I can't think it would be different elsewhere. Was it the TA?

CA

 

It was a TA, not the cruise line. It seemed to be either a full or partial charter. I happened to get the link before the previous posts were pulled.

Edited March 23, 2016 by CPT Trips

I am not surprised that you were wary, what a strange way to do business. Whether it's a full or partial charter I don't think Emerald would be very impressed as it may reflect on them as a company.

Do enjoy whatever cruise you take with whatever company. CA

Wow, great deal! I thought I had a good deal for our Rhine/Moselle trip last year but boy, not compared to this :) Which cruise line?

Vantage. Not as good as the close out they were running two weeks ago - 7 nights Amsterdam to Basel for $1499pp (plus port and tips, but still a great price) including air and European transfers from any of their US gateways - good for 28 Mar ONLY. Unfortunately I'll be on the Douro; haven't figured out how to be on two different boats in two different countries at the same time:rolleyes:

Cruise lines and TAs (whether on line or live) don't typically ask for cc info before they give you the details of the booking . . . cabin number or category, pricing, etc. In this case I was asked for billing information before we talked about cruise details and price. I only got that info after I balked at providing billing info.

 

 

The cruise details and itinerary is listed on their website for all to see. Don't know what else you want to know. For the special price you get no choice of cabin or category and the pricing is clearly listed. It's a great deal no matter how much you try to reason otherwise.

 

Sorry to say I'm probably going to cancel this cruise though due to the increased terrorism warnings around this region. I just don't feel like we would be able to enjoy it as much wondering what could happen at any time and constantly being on guard. Grateful that I took out travel insurance one week earlier that has a 30 day terrorism clause.

We (retirees) are currently planning on our 1st river cruise after many ocean cruises.

 

Reviewed info from Avalon, AMA, Viking, Uniworld, etc.. Also, we studied the various itineraries plus read comments on cruise critic from fellow cruisers. Finally, we chose the AMA Romantic Danube (3 nights Prague then cruise) in September 2017. (One city on this itinerary is on my buck list - Bratislava) Cat. C - French Balcony.

 

Now I'm trying to come up with a "ball park" figure on cost - cruise fare, port fees, air, insurance, optional tours, tips, etc.. Need to look air fares next year when fares are posted versus AMA. For two persons -- I figure between $14k to $20k.

Does this sound about right? Comments would be appreciated.

 

Because of a AMA sale we need to make a deposit by the end March to take advantage of early booking rates. I'm wondering what we're looking at far as overall cost.

 

John

 

Have you priced Scenic Cruises, I just today booked Amsterdam to Budapest, their price beat all the other river cruiselines.

Marlster