Boarding today Avalon Illumination Amsterdam to Budapest

[gentlemancruiser]

great, Budapest is a wonderful city to see from the water.

[Got2Cruise]

Oh Captain my captain!!!!! Our wonderful Captain has made a run for Budapest and we arrive by Boat (not bus) at 8:15am this morning! They slide notes under the door last night and said he was not not going to miss Budapest!!! Yes :)

 

 

Yay! Wow. So glad!

[JVilleGal]

Sitting on the bow of the Illumination just almost under the Chain Bridge enjoy a glass of wine! Packing 95% done and fabulous day in the gorgeous city.

[Hydrokitty]

Sitting on the bow of the Illumination just almost under the Chain Bridge enjoy a glass of wine! Packing 95% done and fabulous day in the gorgeous city.

 

 

FANTASTIC!!!! Now tonight, get yourself and DH, with camera up on top deck at dusk for lighting of the city....it is absolutely not to be missed!!! One of the most beautiful cities in the world at night....even prettier than Paris, IMHO.

[JVilleGal]

Unbelievable, they are throwing us off the ship! What will I do without room service, my cabin attendant and my morning coffee!!!

[Rebel54]

Unbelievable, they are throwing us off the ship! What will I do without room service, my cabin attendant and my morning coffee!!!

 

Noooooo that's quite unfair :(.

 

I'm glad you had a good time. I'm really looking forward to mine even more.

 

Thank you for taking us with you.

[JVilleGal]

Great news (no we can't hide in the closet) but IT'S RAINING, buckets and rain is forecast for a couple days.... Hope we can believe the weatherman ;)

[jpalbny]

Unbelievable, they are throwing us off the ship! What will I do without room service, my cabin attendant and my morning coffee!!!

 

Say it isn't so... Safe travels home and glad you had a great cruise!

[JVilleGal]

Rained all day! Good for the Danube, bad for seeing the city.

[Hydrokitty]

Rained all day! Good for the Danube, bad for seeing the city.

 

Sounds like you had a wonderful time!! Maybe we'll run into each other on a future cruise. :D

[DrivesLikeMario]

Good to hear about the rain for future cruisers.

 

Fly safely home!

[Got2Cruise]

I loved your reports. You hoped for the best and prepared for the worst, and it all works out in the end. I think future River cruisers can learn a lesson. It's not going to be perfect, but the alternative is to stay home. Life is too short to stay home for me.

[JVilleGal]

FANTASTIC!!!! Now tonight, get yourself and DH, with camera up on top deck at dusk for lighting of the city....it is absolutely not to be missed!!! One of the most beautiful cities in the world at night....even prettier than Paris, IMHO.

 

 

Hydrokitty you are so right! That first night the sites of Budapest lit up at night, nothing short of stunning!

 

Thank you all for following along, a special shout out for all you rain dancers, it worked! I had hoped to provide a more complete description of each port, but sadly (happily) I was having too much fun!

 

When I get home next week and gather my wits together I will post some parting thoughts.

 

For anyone concerned about Refugees and any impact on our cruise or here in Budapest, there has been Zero impact. Have seen no hoards roaming the streets of Budapest or any other town or city.

 

Until next week, Rain Dancers carry on!:)

[minnie mommie]

I enjoyed your report and pictures. I'm still trying to figure out what river cruise line to take and what destination.

[JVilleGal]

I enjoyed your report and pictures. I'm still trying to figure out what river cruise line to take and what destination.

 

You will likely be happy with any of them (with the exception of the company I bash too often ;) )

Order up brochures so you can turn everyone's page to the same itinerary. At one point I had 5 big glossy brochure books open to the same trip, spread out on the floor so I could compare all the details and look at each boat that company sailed and how the cabin details compared. There is so many little things between companies that differ. I found it difficult to do this on the computer.

On each website you should also sign up for e-mail specials, an experienced TA is super helpful too.

 

I still plan to post a review later this week! Avalon was excellent and would not hesitate to sail them again. However, I'm going to try someone else next time just because I can!

Edited October 12, 2015 by JVilleGal

[caviargal]

I would spend time reading the various reviews and threads that compare the various lines. I wrote detailed reviews on each of my cruises and they are posted on CC.

 

IMO, the devil is in the details and even with similar itineraries, there are quite a few differences between the lines, and even between boats within the same line. We really enjoy active level tours and diverse (and sometimes energetic) evening entertainment. We enjoy theme cruises that focus on what we enjoy (wine!) and we really appreciate quality food.

 

For us, AMA and Uniworld were our best experiences (with AMA having an edge for excursions, entertainment and staff and Uniworld for to-die for bedding and true open seating dining) and we will happily sail with both lines in the future.

[minnie mommie]

I like your idea of looking at all the brochures at once, and signing up for e-mail specials.

Thank you very much.

[JVilleGal]

Have fun planning! And read everything on Cruise Critic, so much good stuff here!

[YoungDubFan]

I second getting the brochures. This helped me to do my comparisons better than flipping back and forth between internet sites. The brochures also give the specifics of size of room, what's included, etc.

[JVilleGal]

Will be posting my review of this trip later this week :)

My thanks to everyone who came along and shared our adventure!