Review Scenic Tour Danube

[Specs]

Review: Danube River with Scenic Tours

Today, I am a little bit nostalgic because last year, March 30th 2009, was the date that we booked our first River Cruise with Scenic Tours.

So, I decide to do a review to relive and to share with you my memories of those fabulous moments!

Usually, I (54 years old) travel with my husband. But this time was very special because I travelled with my mother (76 years old) who, for a long time, was dreaming to visit Prague. Did I tell you that I am a cruise addict? How nice it will be to combine a cruise to our visit of Prague! We called our travel agent and she informed us about a promotion with Scenic Tours for Canadians. The price was excellent. The only disappointment: there were no more balconies available at the time. The departure date was June 15th 2009 for “11 day Gems of the Danube ” on the MS Scenic Ruby.

The excitation really begun with the receipt of our travel documents. We received a very nice travel wallet, a very practical backpack for excursions, and a 271page travel booklet. The latter included all information and maps about the places we would visit and see along the Danube River including Prague and more, edited by Scenic Tours. How nice it was! Thanks to this little book, there was no need to bring all our travel books with us!

DAY ONE: June15th, 2009

We were met at Budapest Airport and transferred to our luxury Scenic Tours River cruise ship.

Our cabin was D108 Moselle Deck/standard stateroom no balcony (sniff! sniff!), but with a very large and long window. If you have the opportunity to reserve a balcony go for it because it is a plus! However, to spend time outside and admire the beautiful landscapes of the Danube shore, we went wither on the terrace in front of the ship or on the top, where you can relax on a lounge chair under canopy or not. So we were very happy with the arrangements! The stateroom was very modern, luxury boutique hotel style. It had a very comfortable bed with a crispy white fluffy duvet, two bathrobes nicely folded on top, and a flat large screen television (this becomes the computer screen and I used it every day for e-mails and was not charged for it)! The bathroom had a large square sink, a shower with multi-shower heads and they give you bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body cream, soap and shower cap from l’Occitane en Provence, France. There is also a very good hairdryer. It is more chic than the standard veranda stateroom on Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean or Holland America Cruise Line. We unpacked our luggage and we had plenty of space available. Onboard electricity is 220v and you need an Australian plug adaptor. We put our precious things and passport in the in-room safe.

After, we went to relax in the Ruby lounge, accompanied by live-music and a delicious cappuccino. Indeed, they have a big coffee machine that you can use all day long and it prepares for you an expresso, café latté, cappuccino, hot chocolate etc. or you can make a variety of tea and tisane. All free of charge. Beside it, you always have an assortment of very yummy cookies! We used it a lot because it was so good!

At 7:00pm, we had our dinner at the Crystal Dining Room and we had a table for two so we can speak French quietly... The chef made local dishes from this part of Europe. It was different and very delicious. We also had quality wine at each lunch and dinner from the region we visited.

For our first night in Budapest, they had invited a group of Hungarian Folk musicians and dancers. Very entertaining! After a late snack, it was time to go to bed!

And the week goes on...

How nice it is to begin the day to have a complete buffet breakfast which you can choose from any fruits, cheese, your choice of eggs, omelettes. You could also be seated at your table and have an À la Carte breakfast and why not a delicious waffle with berries and cream! Miam! Miam!

In Budapest and Vienna, we were ready for our “City Tour”, partly by luxury coach and partly on foot. They gave us a box receiver with earphone and the guide had a microphone. Very well organised! We were divided in small group. And we had free time to go shopping or visit some more...

In Vienna, we had Scenic Free Choice: Shönbrunn Palace that we already saw in a previous trip and the other choice was “The elegance of Vienna” our choice. We spent some time in the morning in a chic café “Café Oper Wien” ( Café de l’Opéra) near the Hotel Sacher. When the city tour was done, we had free time to browse on our own. We ate lunch at the nice café DEMEL, where Elisabeth, the Empress of Vienna, bought her viennoiseries, or pastries. After, we visited the Imperial Apartment, the museum and silver collection at Hofburg Palace. We returned at the ship by using the subway (1,70€). It was very easy because the guide explained it to us very clearly. We ate early dinner (5:45pm) because that evening we had to attend a concert at Wiener Konzerthaus. How royal an evening it was! Upon returning to the ship, Goulash and Sausages were ready for a special lunch with live dance music. Why was my husband not with me? Next, river cruise, he has to be with me because this style of cruise is so cosy and romantic!

Day four, we visited one of the most enchanting villages, Dürnstein. We arrived so early that we were alone in the little streets and in the very nice boutiques. At this point, if you want, you can continue to visit the Wachau wine region by bike. Here again, why was my husband not with me? We would surely have appreciated to visit by bike. However, my mother and I were seated on a lounge chair on the top of the ship with our camera to immortalize the nice landscape of the spectacular Wachau valley, as the ship sailed on the Danuble heading to Melk where those who chose to bike would meet back with the ship.

In the afternoon, we arrived at Melk. They gave us a box receiver with earphone and the guide had the microphone. After a short ride on a coach to the top of the mountain where the monastery was built, we began our tour of the impressive Melk Benedictine Abbey. So beautiful! At the end of the visit, we were spoiled by an exclusive organ recital inside the Basilica organised by Scenic. We had the choice to return by coach to the ship or walk down by a nice garden pathway to the picturesque village. We chose the latter and it took us 25 minutes. We visited the boutiques on our way to the ship and sat on a terrace for ice cream. The ship set sail only at 21:00pm so after dinner, we had the chance to take a walk along the Danube.

Day five, at Linz, our choice of excursions are 1) guided tour of Passau; 2) visit Mozart’s Salzburg not our choice because we saw and loved it in a previous trip; and 3) a full day excursion in Czech Republic to explore the Town of Cesky Krumlov, a Unesco World Heritage site, our choice! Although the rainy day, we enjoyed it so much! Most of the architecture of the old town and castle dates from the 14th through 17th centuries; the town's structures are mostly in Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque styles. We had a traditional lunch at the Brewery Eggenberg Restaurant, (http://www.eggenberg.cz), had the chance to taste the typical Czech food in an historic building. Such a nice tour! We returned to the ship which was already at Passau.

 

Saturday, June 20th, we arrived at Regensburg, followed by a guided tour and a visit of the Thurn & Taxis castle. We returned to the ship for lunch and had a Cuckoo clock making demonstration before we sailed to Nuremburg.

During our adventure on the Danube, we passed through fifteen locks with depth from 18 feet to 62 feet. It was fascinating to observe all the process of going up and down these locks.

Tonight, instead of going to the dining room, we went to the Portobello Restaurant for a very special Italian dinner with a tasting of different wines with delicious dishes and accompanied by an accordion musician playing Italian songs. We had a blast and a succulent meal! How divine!

After a visit of Nuremberg, we sailed to Bamberg, before disembarking for the last time and taking our bus to Prague.

We stayed at Radisson SAS Hotel, which is well situated near Wenceslas Place and not very far from the historic quarter (20 minutes slow walking) and 10 minutes walk to take the tramway 22 to go to the Prague castle. Very convenient!

The first day, we walked to the old city and browsed through cute boutiques. We walked on the Charles Bridge to see the 31 statues. It was raining so nobody was on the bridge, it was special and I was impressed by the beauty and the emotion they evocated...

The second day, Scenic tour organised a tour at Prague Castle (unfortunately, under the rain) to see the beautiful cathedral. Because of the rain and not travelling during high season, there were not many people and we could appreciate the tour. So it was perfect! They escorted us to the Grand Café Orient http://www.grandcafeorient.cz/ where we had a ”café au lait“ with a pastry. Delicious! The rest of the day was free time. We decided to visit Mucha Museum, Alphonse Mucha (1860 – 1939) a famous Czech artist of Art Nouveau period. We bought souvenirs like calendars, postcards and elegant scarves. http://www.mucha.cz/index.phtml?S=home&Lang=EN

For the supper, we were invited by Scenic Tour in a typical Czech restaurant, http://www.umodrekachnicky.cz/en/original/photos . We enjoyed it very much!

The third day, in the rain, we left the hotel and took the tramway to Prague Castle to visit more. We liked browsing through the little houses of the Golden Lane. I bought a gorgeous puppet, an old magician who brings luck. My mother purchased such a nice porcelain plate designed by a Czech artist.

In the afternoon, we walked down the hill to go to Notre-Dame-de-la-Victoire to see the wax Little Jesus of Prague. Jesus of Prague makes miracles since 1628. We continued our journey in the old city, Prague is a fantastic city to discover and before returning to our hotel, we stopped at a pastry shop and bought sandwiches with pastries and had a picnic in our room. It was so inexpensive and so delicious!

We packed to get ready to leave early in the morning. Transfer to the Airport was included with Scenic Tour package.

IT WAS A PERFECT AND MEMORABLE TRIP!

[Pugwash123]

Hello Specs,

 

Thankyou for the review it brought back happy memories of our Scenic cruise; Budapest to Amsterdam September 2009. We enjoyed it so much that we have booked the Black Sea to Amsterdam cruise next year.

 

Regards,

 

Pugwash123

[Westaussie]

Thanks Specs for your review and whetting my appetite for our upcoming Vienna to Amsterdam cruise (with Uniworld) in June. I'm reading all I can about the different stops on the way. This is our second river cruise and so looking forward to it!

 

Vera

[franski]

Vera - You really must try the Lebkuchen in Nuremberg - just amazing!!!

 

Fran

[Westaussie]

Vera - You really must try the Lebkuchen in Nuremberg - just amazing!!!

 

Fran

My reminder is in bold print so I won't miss it!! I'll have one for you too!

 

Vera