LIVE Tauck: Amsterdam to Budapest 6/29/19-7/15/19

[sharkster77]

As others have said, thanks so much!!  Unfortunately, what keeps reverberating with me is that you weren't allowed to take photos in Melk Abbey because of the moronic idiots who took inappropriate (and perhaps sacrilegious) selfies.  Must be nice to know that being so self-absorbed means that the universe rotates around you.

 

Sorry , but it infuriates me that most have to suffer because of the imbeciles!!!  If it had been because of copyright protections (have seen this in some art museums) I could understand, but................ugh!!!

 

All that said,  5 stars for @HBCcruiser!!!

Edited July 13, 2019 by sharkster77

[mannster]

I, too, want to thank you for posting your trip!  We are doing the same itinerary with Avalon next month, and your posts have me wishing I could blink my eyes and it would be time! Thanks for sharing, and safe travels home!

[OnTheJourney]

Thanks for taking us along on your journey....safe travels home 🙂  

[Daisi]

Thanks for the review, I really enjoyed it.  Your pictures were great and makes me wish our trip was sooner....:)

 

[OnTheJourney]

Agree...the pictures WERE really great quality....makes me want to do another river cruise!!  Sure wish we would have had some of that nice sunny weather during our trip on the Treasures. 

Edited July 14, 2019 by gretschwhtfalcon

[HBCcruiser]

Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments. I will finish up with the last day and trip home. BTW - It was very hard to post on CC due to poor internet/uploading issues. Just be warned. 

 

We had a beautiful time in Budapest. We did the Tauck tour which took us to the Mathias Church with a wonderful view! We shopped after lunch. The walk street had some cute local artist boutiques, but the Market Square had lots of touristy souvenirs and was VERY crowded. 

 

We had a final farewell dinner followed by karaoke fun! We had to get up at 3 AM to get our flight home. 😬 There was an ALL Night (until 5 am) disco party right next to our ship on the dock. My friends told me that it kept everyone awake on the port side of the ship! Luckily I slept with earplugs in which helped. It was super loud, though. Make note of this if in Budapest on a Saturday night! 

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by HBCcruiser

[HBCcruiser]

On board the last night-

[HBCcruiser]

The late night disco - wish I could post the video! 

 

[HBCcruiser]

Our first flight to Vienna on a prop plane!’

 

[HBCcruiser]

We had such a great time on this cruise! Time flew by but we did a ton of stuff and met some great new friends. Tauck really does things first rate. We were driven to the airport and had a Tauck guide show us where to check in and get through security. They really took good care of us! 

 

Thanks for following along! I wish you all safe travels and happy cruising! 

 

[need2travel1]

Everything sounds awesome, so glad you enjoyed it.  Welcome home!  Now you can start planning for next year:)

[AliceSprings]

Thanks I thoroughly enjoyed your posts.  May I ask what the photo is of in Budapest that looks like a crypt. Where is that? And who is it? Thanks 😊

[HBCcruiser]

1 hour ago, AliceSprings said:

Thanks I thoroughly enjoyed your posts.  May I ask what the photo is of in Budapest that looks like a crypt. Where is that? And who is it? Thanks 😊

 

That was taken in the Matthias Church. It contains the remains of the 10th-century King Bela III and his wife. The Turks conquered the area and cut the body parts off past rulers and statues in the church. They turned the church into a mosque. We were told that this King and queen were the only complete remains of past rulers that they could find when Budapest was reclaimed by the Cristians. 

Edited July 16, 2019 by HBCcruiser

[OnTheJourney]

You can sure be glad you weren't over there the past few days with the 100+ temps!!!!  

[HBCcruiser]

On 7/26/2019 at 9:04 AM, gretschwhtfalcon said:

You can sure be glad you weren't over there the past few days with the 100+ temps!!!!  

 

I Agree! We had perfect weather!

[s35flyer]

Thanks for the details.  We did the Rhine last year and just put in our deposits for 2020 for this cruise.  I will admit though I’m thinking maybe we should start In Budapest vs Amsterdam.  We love Amsterdam but spent 3 days there before the Rhine.  Tough decision, we do like Amsterdam.

 

[OnTheJourney]

If you've never been to Budapest, I'd highly suggest starting there and adding a few days ahead of time, or else post-cruise extension. Lots to see in Budapest. We added Tauck's post-cruise package. The hotel we were in was great, and really enjoyed a few days to just walk around and do our own thing. We enjoy group travel, but my favorite parts of most of our trips have been extra pre or post days. 

[Lotusgirl22]

On 7/27/2019 at 9:41 PM, HBCcruiser said:

 

I Agree! We had perfect weather!

HBC - were you satisfied with the activity level of the trip.  Was it too sedentary?  

Thank you for your posts.  Much appreciated.

[HBCcruiser]

21 minutes ago, Lotusgirl22 said:

HBC - were you satisfied with the activity level of the trip.  Was it too sedentary?  

Thank you for your posts.  Much appreciated.

 

No, quite the contrary! We tended to walk 4+ miles each day. They also have bikes and bike tours that you can use/participate in. There were times when my mom grew a bit tired and skipped the tours. You are always able to do that. Tauck is quite accommodating with helping you do whatever you want. 

[Lotusgirl22]

HBC - thank you for your quick response.

[jagoffee]

HBC, I would like to thank you, again for taking the time to provide information on your trip.  As I am taking the exact same trip next month, I found it particularly interesting and helpful.

 

Our arrival  into Amsterdam is much earlier than you, 7 AM.  Did you purchase your Canal Hop on Hop off tickets with Viator in advance.  Do you think we could just purchase them when we arrive?

 

Based on what you did on the Tauck tour on day 2, am I correct in assuming that we will not need to be concerned about visiting something on our first day that is repeated on the Tauck tour?

 

We have 10:15 AM ticket for the Anne Frank museum on our Embarkation day.

 

thanks.

[HBCcruiser]

49 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

HBC, I would like to thank you, again for taking the time to provide information on your trip.  As I am taking the exact same trip next month, I found it particularly interesting and helpful.

 

Our arrival  into Amsterdam is much earlier than you, 7 AM.  Did you purchase your Canal Hop on Hop off tickets with Viator in advance.  Do you think we could just purchase them when we arrive?

 

Based on what you did on the Tauck tour on day 2, am I correct in assuming that we will not need to be concerned about visiting something on our first day that is repeated on the Tauck tour?

 

We have 10:15 AM ticket for the Anne Frank museum on our Embarkation day.

 

thanks.

 

First, HAVE FUN! It is such a great experience! I did use Viator but you really don’t need to. If you are staying at the Intercontinental, you need to either walk or Uber to one of the Hop-on Hop-off locations to buy tickets. It was a 15-20 min walk. Ask the hotel concierge. If you walk be VERY careful of the bikers. They call them “Killer bikes.” They do not yield to pedestrians. 😱

 

You will take a nice lunch canal tour with Tauck, but we enjoyed the hop-on/off experience the day before as well. You can also use the busses. It’s the public transportation there. Grab the map to help you see the stops. That was the only repeat thing we did, but I am glad we did it. Those canals were one of my favorite parts of the trip! 

 

The Anne Frank museum is a great, but sad, experience. The area around there has shops and restaurants. We really enjoyed it. I hope you have great weather and good water levels! Make sure you are outside to experience one of the locks, sailing the Danube and sailing into Budapest. So much to see! Please report back!

 

Happy cruising! ⛴😎

. 

Edited August 2, 2019 by HBCcruiser

[HBCcruiser]

On 7/1/2019 at 12:41 PM, Daisi said:

May I ask what they mean when they say your device(s) have to be scanned for the front desk to get them connected to internet?  

 

Loving your pics, the hotel & your room look really good (and so does the food....).   I love living through others cruises....:)

 

 

I’m not sure I answered this. Tauck staff have to enter codes to get your devices online. It takes only a minute for them to do this. Wi-Fi was slow. I think due to so many folks onboard using it. I took my own hot spot which worked better.

[Daisi]

17 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

 

I’m not sure I answered this. Tauck staff have to enter codes to get your devices online. It takes only a minute for them to do this. Wi-Fi was slow. I think due to so many folks onboard using it. I took my own hot spot which worked better.

 

Thanks.  On Avalon, they just gave us the code, so I wasn't sure if it was just so they could put in the code or if they were looking for something.  I'm not sure I would like someone else accessing my devices.  We only had problems on our last night, and I think that was more due to location (Breisach, looked more like an industrial area than where we were usually docked) than everyone online at once.

 

[jagoffee]

4 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

 

First, HAVE FUN! It is such a great experience! I did use Viator but you really don’t need to. If you are staying at the Intercontinental, you need to either walk or Uber to one of the Hop-on Hop-off locations to buy tickets. It was a 15-20 min walk. Ask the hotel concierge. If you walk be VERY careful of the bikers. They call them “Killer bikes.” They do not yield to pedestrians. 😱

 

You will take a nice lunch canal tour with Tauck, but we enjoyed the hop-on/off experience the day before as well. You can also use the busses. It’s the public transportation there. Grab the map to help you see the stops. That was the only repeat thing we did, but I am glad we did it. Those canals were one of my favorite parts of the trip! 

 

The Anne Frank museum is a great, but sad, experience. The area around there has shops and restaurants. We really enjoyed it. I hope you have great weather and good water levels! Make sure you are outside to experience one of the locks, sailing the Danube and sailing into Budapest. So much to see! Please report back!

 

Happy cruising! ⛴😎

. 

Thank you for the information and the well wishes.

What was the name of the outside restaurant (in your attached photo) where you enjoyed your breakfast on the morning before Embarkation.

 

We are cruising on September 5, so we are hoping that the water levels are still adequate.

 

Do you recall the site name where we can monitor the river levels.

 

i appreciate that you are taking time to,answer my questions.