Roll Call - Christmas Markets 2009 - all dates, all lines

[cindiedee]

Y'all won't believe this - I got my new snow boots and I bought them in sunny south Florida! Got an email last week from Penneys with their boot sale - had a look through and found some I liked. Put in our zip code and it said they were available in our local JCP store - I had a hard time believing that but off to the mall we went and they had them. They were $100 marked down to $59.99 and just that morning JCP had sent me a $10 coupon for anything in the store - so what a deal - got them for $49.99! :D They are "Mudd" boots and are waterproof, tall, and have the ridged sole I was looking for.

 

Next month - now I can officially say we are cruising next month! Whoo hoo! Actually we are leaving on Nov. 30th and driving to Atlanta to take all the Christmas presents to the family and we are flying out of there. So, really we are 'leaving' this month!

 

Haven't even thought of packing yet - just got back from a long road trip and I think I gained 10 pounds - am working on getting that off so I can gain another 10 pounds eating all the great food over there!

 

Still haven't found a soul going on our particular trip - oh well - I am sure we will meet some once we board.

 

Cheers, Cindie

[RET P3 FE]

Looking forward to the Christmas Markets !!!

Dec 10-18 GCT River Adagio,Nuremberg-Vienna

Couple of quick ??

1.How many Euros to bring with us(just an educated guess),I don't want to be searching all over town for an ATM the first day.

2.Are voltage adapters necessary in order to charge camera batteries.I read somewhere that there was one 110 volt outlet in each cabin

Thanks

Allan

[webfoot]

I'd recommend that you wait until you get to the final airport. ATM's are located (plenty of them) prior to leaving the airport building. If you purchase Euros here, you won't get as good of an exchange rate as you would using your ATM card there.

 

A word of warning ... be sure that your ATM card uses a 4 digit pin. Others will not work there.

 

We purchased our Euros at the ATM's in Amsterdam this year and last year and will purchase them in Paris after arrival.

 

Have a wonderful trip!!!

[jctdlt]

We are on the Uniworld River Countess sailing right before yours (Dec2). From Vienna to Nuremberg. We are really looking forward to it. So far haven't found any one else on the boards on our sailing. Maybe someone out there who is on it will post!!!!!

 

Have Fun!. We are really looking forward to our trip. Just wish someone else would post, just like you are looking for someone too.

 

:)

[cp556]

We booked Vantage's River Odyssey 11/23 9-nt German Holiday Markets cruise in September, when they emailed us an excellent discount. We got a terrific cabin location at what we thought was a good price.

 

Now they continue to send emails, and the prices are down yet again! They're for new bookings only :mad:, but I'm trying to remain mild-spirited and remember that we saved over what the original price was...

[odblnt]

We booked Vantage's River Odyssey 11/23 9-nt German Holiday Markets cruise in September, when they emailed us an excellent discount. We got a terrific cabin location at what we thought was a good price.

 

Now they continue to send emails, and the prices are down yet again! They're for new bookings only :mad:, but I'm trying to remain mild-spirited and remember that we saved over what the original price was...

 

 

Sound just like buying a new computer. :rolleyes:

 

We bought and we haven't even looked. Just gives a person ulcers.

 

Less than a month until the trip!

[namildog]

Hi all

 

Just found this thread so thought I would join in the fun and excitement. DW,DD & DS all coming with me on our short Rhine cruise 6 - 10 December. We are coaching from UK to Rudesheim, then on the Arlene to Strasbourg before returning by coach again.

 

We expect pick up near our home at 3.30am for a cross channel ferry or Eurotrain to Calais approx 7.30am and finally arriving at Rudesheim late afternoon. Our three nights onboard will enable us to visit five different Christmas Market towns: Mainz, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Freiburg, and Strasbourg. However, with sufficient free time we hope to also see Rudesheim and Karlsruhe.

 

We are hoping that after this short but intensive itinerary we will need to sleep most of the long coach journey back home!

 

I wonder if there is anyone here who will be on this same cruise, or whether anyone has advice, info. etc on "not to be missed" features in any of our destinations?

 

Peter

[teach2travel]

Check out this video that has been watched over 13,000 times.

It provides an atmospheric insight in to what to expect at the German Christmas Markets.

 

Watch it here:

 

German Christmas Markets 2009

 

Enjoy.

J.:)

 

What a great video! It got me in to that holiday mood, and I can't wait until I see the markets for myself. I will be cruising on GCTs Christmas Markets of the Rhine, leaving Dec. 11th. Just need to find some warm clothing!!

[AZPam]

This article may get you lucky folks who are doing a Christmas market cruise in the mood.

 

Christmas Markets 2009

 

Enjoy,

 

J.

 

You guys are killing me here! I want to go again this year SO BAD! :D Loved the video!

[cindiedee]

Oh this video brings back many happy memories! We did one a couple of years ago and it snowed every single day/night - it was magical! (I also lived in Germany for almost 5 years back in the 80's)

 

Only about 20 days now til we leave to do it all again! We are just beside ourselves with excitement! Received our 'final' packet from GCT last week with everything in it - including names/locations of all the travelers - looks like there will only be 129 of us on this particular cruise.

 

Just cannot wait!

Cindie

[cruisingmimi]

Hi Everyone,

 

We just booked a GCT Christmas Markets cruise Nuremberg-Vienna 12/1-12/9. We got a fantastic last minute deal and have been wanting to do a river cruise so decided to take the plunge.

 

I have done a lot of research on river cruises but still have lots of questions.

 

I have read the threads and everyone says to wear or bring boots. I want to know if this is really a necessity as we live in New England so expect the weather to be much the same as ours. I was going to wear a comfortable pair of walking shoes and try to eliminate any excess items to pack (boots if necessary). I will bring clothing that I would wear here and dress in layers. I will pack gloves and ear warmers in the event the weather becomes very cold.

 

I would like to know what to bring for dinners on the ship. I usually pack a couple of pair of black dressy slacks and some dressy tops when we cruise but didn't know if that would be too dressy for river cruising. Do the guys wear sports coats, shirts & ties? Or would a long sleeve sport shirt and nice sweater w/ dress pants be acceptable for dinner? We are used to getting very dressed up on ocean cruises.

 

Correct etiquette for tipping onboard? Is it the same as on ocean cruisers - waitstaff, cabin stewards, and cruise directors and approximate amounts to tip?

 

We will be visiting Nuremberg and those "prune people" intrigue me. Sound like some great gifts to bring home. Is this the type of gift that you can keep from year to year? What other items would you suggest for people you want to bring a little souvenir home to. Christmas ornaments, etc. I imagine are always nice gifts. I have to factor in the transportation back home so guess an extra suitcase would be a good idea. Do you pay in euros at the markets or will they also take credit cards?

 

Can you buy wine on shore and bring it aboard for consumption on a river cruise ship or do they hold it til the end of the cruise as they sometimes do on ocean ships?

 

We are very excited about our cruise as my husband has wanted to do a German river cruise for a long time. His ggrandparents were born in Germany so he is anxious to see some of his heritage.

 

It would be nice to meet others that might be going on this cruise.

 

If anyone has any other suggestions for us it would be much appreciated.

 

I plan to do a post of our cruise when we return.

 

Thanks to all for any suggestions.

 

Mary

[theampres]

Have Fun!. We are really looking forward to our trip. Just wish someone else would post, just like you are looking for someone too.

 

:)

 

we are booked on a 5-day Vienna-Nurnberg cruise, also departing Dec. 2 - possibly same cruise as you? this is our first riverboat cruise. just now beginning my pre-trip "homework" and learning about all of the different lines/riverboats, etc. we did not book with Uniworld, but, maybe we're on same boat??? what is name of ship you're on and how long is your cruise? would enjoy meeting some fellow passengers on this trip. our last ocean cruise (Feb. 09, South America) made for great fun with quite a large group of cruise critic members. we shared a lot of pre-cruise info. as well as time onboard. made for a wonderful trip. thank you cruise critic, great forum!

[MikeMac]

We will take the Amacello from Amsterdam to Paris beginning 12 December.

We did the Budapest to Prague tour last year and had a wonderful time. The Christmas markets were magical. If you haven't done a river cruise you are missing a real treat (unless you enjoy vacationing with 2000 people).

[cruisingmimi]

I don't believe we are on the same cruise as our itinerary is from Nuremburg and ends in Vienna. Our cruise is 7 days. We booked our cruise through GCT. Too bad we aren't on the same cruise.

 

Our next adventure may be the South American cruise as that has been on my "wish list".

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Mary

[cruisingmimi]

Hi MikeMac,

 

Your itinerary was also one of the ones that we considered. We ended up w/ GCT because we got such a great deal. We will compare notes post cruises. Have a wonderful cruise. We have not done any river cruising b4 and this will be our first experience. We will see how it compares to ocean cruising.

 

Mary

[Second seating]

I live in NH and found the boots were needed last Dec. I took a pair of shearling lined Dansko and they worked out great. The big difference for me was one day in Cologne it was 40, no problem, good shoes and silk sock liners will work. No, it is a damp cold on the river. Also the cathedral was not heated, after that when I left the boat the boot were on.

 

Second seating

[pacmom]

Am sooo jealous--this time last year we were busy planning for our Christmas market cruise. Wish we were going again. Just this evening we were saying that is one itinerary we would repeat. Maybe a few different markets next time. Will look at my prune people this weekend to see how they faired since January. Enjoy. Pat

[nordski]

Am sooo jealous--this time last year we were busy planning for our Christmas market cruise. Wish we were going again. Just this evening we were saying that is one itinerary we would repeat. Maybe a few different markets next time. Will look at my prune people this weekend to see how they faired since January. Enjoy. Pat

We have exactly the same feelings...Christmas Markets on the rivers are a highlight in anyone's crusing (although our experience is considerably less than pacmom's). Must be repeated.

 

For now we'll have to enjoy it all vicariously.

[KarlS]

We're booked on this Parisian Winter Holiday itinerary on River Baroness departing December 12th.

Soooooooo looking forward to this new Uniworld itinerary. My wife has been shopping and laying out her cruise "stuff" now for weeks and weeks. I guess it's about time for me to start thinking about what I'm taking, too. Can't wait!!

 

...Karl

[AZPam]

Am sooo jealous--this time last year we were busy planning for our Christmas market cruise. Wish we were going again. Just this evening we were saying that is one itinerary we would repeat. Maybe a few different markets next time. Will look at my prune people this weekend to see how they faired since January. Enjoy. Pat

 

Right in there with the jealousy! It's just killing me thinking about all the fun we had last year. I am so ready to do it all over again.

[ChefPeg]

Right in there with the jealousy! It's just killing me thinking about all the fun we had last year. I am so ready to do it all over again.

 

I know just how you feel! I am so wanting to go back.

 

We decided we are definitely going next year. Trier to Paris with AMA. I can't stand it! I want to go so bad!!

[odblnt]

Less than three weeks until our flight. We got silicone spray for our shoes. I even got our Christmas cards to send before we leave (earliest I've ever purchased them). Our friends and family will be absolutely shocked to get early cards from us.

 

Now if DW and I can only get rid of the colds that we're suffering before we leave.

[AZPam]

Now if DW and I can only get rid of the colds that we're suffering before we leave.

 

Hope everyone is getting a flu shot too and taking extra precautions against the H1N1.

[WorldwideTravelerNS]

We are taking this cruise with another couple and can't wait! AMA is wonderful. Anyone else out there on this one?

[pacmom]

Worldwide,

 

The Christmas markets won't be open til after Nov. 26. The are a celebration of the Advent season and are open the 4 weeks of Advent and close on 23 Dec. I think the one on Vienna is open til the new year. Enjoy--it is a great time to cruise. Pat