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Disappointed - Budapest to Amsterdam river cruise


Alyson18
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You get what you pay for, and Travel Marvel is definitely adown market cruise line.

The B class Cabin was good, but the rest of the boat was notappointed well, the food was not cooked well, and the boat’s moorings werealways the furthest away (see embarkation issue below).

We explored Budapest under our own auspices, and travelledto the boat by taxi. It took over an hour to find where the boat was berthed,with a very patient taxi driver who did several u-turns and stopped many timesto ask local riverside workers for help. When we eventually found the boat, we had to cross a small park and embarkdown a long and incredibly steep ramp. It was moored quite a distance from othercruise boats, and certainly not in the position ‘between Bridge X and Bridge Y’,as described that morning on their website.

In general, the food was poor quality, the dining room wasmuch too hot in the evenings, and the tables too tightly packed for comfort ofserving. Requesting seats for a group of people was not offered which resulted in dinner time queues and a scrambleto find a table to share.

Breakfasts and lunch menus provided unremarkable content. Therewere mediocre sandwiches, salads laden with a cream coloured dressing (presumemayonnaise), poorly prepared toasted sandwiches, soups which I didn’t like, andfresh salad ingredients but no vinaigrette to go with. They provided balsamicvinegar and a sad bottle of oil with green things inside it, I tried these oncebut the taste was stale. I asked for ordinary vinegar and some fresh EVOO butthey denied having such things.

The Dinner menus were extremely disappointing. Theappetisers were more ‘design’ on a plate rather than quality, or even quantityof content. The soup at the evening meal was no more than rehydrated stockcubes, and not palatable. The mains were often tasteless and lacking freshvegetables, or even any quantity of vegetable. The ubiquitous Roast Chicken,always a daily alternate to the main menu, was inedible due to the high saltcontent of the gravy poured over it. The one time I ate cake for dessert it wasdry and I wasn’t tempted to repeat it. If you wanted a cheese plate, it wasself-serve but you couldn’t get out of your seat without interrupting theentire table (the dining room being cramped as previously mentioned), and so wenever bothered.

The wine served at mealtimes was nearly always an unpleasantchardonnay, or a thin red. Alternatives were given if you argued strongly, buthaving fought for better tasting wine, your glass was often topped up with thewrong wine. The staff were always polite and worked extremely hard, but theirEnglish was not good enough when you needed, or wanted to give, informationabout food or wine.

Less than a third of the roof deck was shaded, and we had avery cloudless, sunny fortnight, so shade was much sought after but often unavailable.We resorted to using the rain umbrellas provided as a shade cover, not easy ifyou wanted to read at the same time. The seating was minimalist ‘directors’chairs’, canvas deckchairs, or flat bed loungers. There was no waiter serviceon the roof deck. Coffees had to be carried up 2 flights of stairs. The roofdeck was closed for days at a time, due to low bridges. When closed, the Loungewas the only communal area to meet for conversation or coffee/drinks. If theentertainment was not to your liking, there was nowhere to go. The Bar was alsoinside the Lounge. The constant unavailability of the roof deck was notmentioned in any of the brochures or documents prior to boarding.

Our boat suffered from a respiratory infectionwhich spread rapidly in the first few days. This resulted in most having anasty cough by the end of the trip, mine lasted another 2 weeks. It was notedthe previous contingent of passengers travelling up from Amsterdam had beensimilarly afflicted. Cruising is well known to attract infectious healthissues. I don't know how this particular infection should have been dealt with,but I felt more action could have been taken.

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I believe it's an Australian company. We cruised on this trip which was chartered by GCT while their own ship was being repaired. Physically, it was fine. GCT sent executive staff (captain, HD, DR manager, and chef) to oversee services. Sounds like they also may have stocked the wine too.

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Less than a third of the roof deck was shaded, and we had avery cloudless, sunny fortnight, so shade was much sought after but often unavailable.We resorted to using the rain umbrellas provided as a shade cover, not easy ifyou wanted to read at the same time. The seating was minimalist ‘directors’chairs’, canvas deckchairs, or flat bed loungers. There was no waiter serviceon the roof deck. Coffees had to be carried up 2 flights of stairs. The roofdeck was closed for days at a time, due to low bridges. When closed, the Loungewas the only communal area to meet for conversation or coffee/drinks. If theentertainment was not to your liking, there was nowhere to go. The Bar was alsoinside the Lounge. The constant unavailability of the roof deck was notmentioned in any of the brochures or documents prior to boarding.

 

Live and learn. What you have described in this paragraph is common to many riverboats. River cruising is not for everyone and you may just be one of those people.

  • limited shade on the sun deck
  • "minimalist" seating
  • no waiter service on the sun deck
  • carrying coffee up two decks of stairs
  • sun deck closed because of low clearance (all ships experience this at one point or another.
  • one lounge/bar
  • limited entertainment

These things are not going to be spelled out in a sales brochure or even "documentation." They are too common to river cruising for any line to feel that they must point them out or explain them.

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It´s an Australian travel company operating (full charter)

 

 

 

Travelmarvel Jewel - former Avalon Tranquility (2007 - 2013), owened by Premicon, operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd.

 

Travelmarvel Diamond - former Avalon Imagery (2007 - 2013), owened by Premicon, operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd.

 

Travelmarvel Sapphire - former Avalon Tapestry (2006 - 2012, 2013 - 2014 Vienna I), owened by Premicon, operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd.

 

 

 

All three ships are twin cruisers consisting of a hotel barge and a tow boat.

 

 

steamboats

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No idea what EVOO is ? Do you mean extra virgin olive oil ? Was there anything you liked ? Your review is extremely negative.

 

It is extra virgin olive oil :D

 

I am sorry you didn't enjoy your holiday, it is such a downer for so long. Whether you pay high or low, it really is a drag when you loathe every day.

 

I have never sailed on a ship taking more than 140 pax, so I have no oceean-hotel type experience. I have sailed from Platinum (AMA/APT) and has an abysmal time, a suite and regular cabins on Uniworld, and the 'cheapest' was a charter of a Croisi vessel in France. I select my cruises on cruise itinerary first, and then examine the quality.

 

I had such a low expectation of the Croisi/lease vessel! It now ranks as one of my best food experiences ever! The ship was a la Ikea, freshly and simply decor'ed, and I had the tiniest cabin I have even seen for a single! It was a strange thing going from the very expensive, the last platinum was an appalling experience in every way, to ordering in dinner on a card at breakfast! There was so many special diets (including me) I have no idea how they produced dinner dishes that excelled most of my small cruise experiences. Admittedly it was France, and the food was amazing. The decor cheap, the room tiny, I actually had no complaints as I knew it was a budget cruise.

 

I was nearly talked into a Travel Marvel product, and my husband said, no, you'll regret it. By your experience, he was probably right. There is however no excuse for rancid oil, naked salads etc, and I often wonder if it is just the luck of the draw!

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I am sorry you didn't enjoy your river cruise. Your experience was very different to my own on Travelmarvel Sapphire in July 2015. The food on my cruise was great at all meal times and the white wine served was very pleasant. The crew all spoke excellent English and I received the best service from them that I have received on any ocean or river cruise that I have been on. As others have replied the things such as only one lounge/bar, limited entertainment, not a lot of shade on the sundeck and the sundeck closing for a number of days to go under low bridges, is common to many river cruises. Hopefully your cruise was not typical of Travelmarvel as I had a great cruise and would happily cruise with them again.

 

Sent from my A1601 using Forums mobile app

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I just would like to add, that I have found when comparing various RC brands you get what you pay for. For some, it’s all about the ports and the actual cruise experience is not so important. Then a value line would be most appropriate. Look at Host Jazz’s stickies comparing various brands

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I believe it's an Australian company. We cruised on this trip which was chartered by GCT while their own ship was being repaired. Physically, it was fine. GCT sent executive staff (captain, HD, DR manager, and chef) to oversee services. Sounds like they also may have stocked the wine too.

Travel Marvel is a travel agency, in Australia. It offers many types of travel, many ship classes and many different ships from different cruise lines to choose from. You pick the price and they try and match you up.

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I just would like to add, that I have found when comparing various RC brands you get what you pay for. For some, it’s all about the ports and the actual cruise experience is not so important. Then a value line would be most appropriate. Look at Host Jazz’s stickies comparing various brands

 

Very true! I never socialise at night, so for me immaterial if there is anything to do. We all have our own "must have's"

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It´s an Australian travel company operating (full charter)

 

 

 

Travelmarvel Jewel - former Avalon Tranquility (2007 - 2013), owened by Premicon, operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd.

 

Travelmarvel Diamond - former Avalon Imagery (2007 - 2013), owened by Premicon, operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd.

 

Travelmarvel Sapphire - former Avalon Tapestry (2006 - 2012, 2013 - 2014 Vienna I), owened by Premicon, operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd.

 

 

 

All three ships are twin cruisers consisting of a hotel barge and a tow boat.

 

 

steamboats

 

I think that TravelMarvel just sells space on other cruiselines. In this case the Jewel, Diamond and Sapphire operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd matches with with Scenic ships. Which is also Australian based.

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KD also operates the Scenic Ships.

 

https://www.kd-cy.com/en/fleet/

 

 

However, I was able to find that at least the Scenic Sapphire and TM Sapphire are different ships, built 3 years a part.

 

Kind of strange for one company to operate ships with the same name for different companies.

 

TravelMarvel is owned by APT Travel Group

Edited by RDC1
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Kind of strange for one company to operate ships with the same name for different companies.

When you think about it, all they're doing is the sailing and the physical maintenance for the tour companies. They don't own the ships, they don't design the cruises. My guess is the tour companies chose the names, and independently chose KD to do the driving.

 

Sterling

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I am loving my scenic jade and jasper

Water level low so we changed ships

Scenic is top notch. It's great service anywhere

On Sun deck there is always someone to bring drinks

I like the fact that all is included. No extra trips to pay for and all booze all the time

I'm thrilled with our choice

Scenic is for me

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I think that TravelMarvel just sells space on other cruiselines. In this case the Jewel, Diamond and Sapphire operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd matches with with Scenic ships. Which is also Australian based.

 

Nope, those are newer and completely different ships.

 

steamboats

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It´s an Australian travel company operating (full charter)

 

 

 

Travelmarvel Jewel - former Avalon Tranquility (2007 - 2013), owened by Premicon, operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd.

 

Travelmarvel Diamond - former Avalon Imagery (2007 - 2013), owened by Premicon, operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd.

 

Travelmarvel Sapphire - former Avalon Tapestry (2006 - 2012, 2013 - 2014 Vienna I), owened by Premicon, operated by KD Cruise Services Ltd.

 

 

 

All three ships are twin cruisers consisting of a hotel barge and a tow boat.

 

 

steamboats

 

Those are all old Avalon ships that were sold off when they upgraded to an all new fleet over the past couple of years.

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Those are all old Avalon ships that were sold off when they upgraded to an all new fleet over the past couple of years.

 

The ships were never sold ;). Avalon had a full charter. The ships were always owned by Premicon.

 

steamboats

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