Terry. We did the trip in the direction from Prague to Budapest and the decision was made on the cruise dates. Both directions have the same great experiences. My guess is it won’t take too long before all the dates are fully booked.
We're booked on a May 2019 Westbound cruise. We notice the Eastbound cruises are much more fully booked. Anyone know why they seem to be more popular?
Terry
I think its because of the way the Tauck website (and books) lists cruises - they default to a particular direction - usually eastbound and not everyone realizes that there is an option. We noticed this on the Amsterdam Budapest cruise - in fact it's in the name. Last year the southbound (east) direction was sold out early but northbound had lots of space.
And it may be because people would rather have a longer flight at the end of the cruise than going. I know I'm not looking forward to that additional hop from Amsterdam to Budapest to start out next cruise but it is what it is. I wanted to end in Amsterdam to have some extra non-jetlagged days there
I think its because of the way the Tauck website (and books) lists cruises - they default to a particular direction - usually eastbound and not everyone realizes that there is an option.
You may well be right, Claudia. We did look first at the eastbound cruises because that's what comes up by default, and only went to the westbound page when we saw how well booked the eastbound ones were.
We went east on our Danube cruise because of the dates. We actually wanted to do a Rhine cruise first but the dates we wanted were sold out. Looking at this objectively, there is no one better way to sail on the Danube. End at Prague or end at Budapest, what a choice to have to make! You will love your cruise. We are now heading out for Rhine cruise with Tauck.
We went east on our Danube cruise because of the dates. We actually wanted to do a Rhine cruise first but the dates we wanted were sold out. Looking at this objectively, there is no one better way to sail on the Danube. End at Prague or end at Budapest, what a choice to have to make! You will love your cruise. We are now heading out for Rhine cruise with Tauck.
Which Rhine cruise? We did the Rhine/Moselle a couple of years ago.
Romantic Rhine, Sept. 27, from Amsterdam to Basel. I have compiled a Tauck bucket list for the future:
1. Small Ship Baltic Cruise
2. Danube from Budapest to Black Sea
3. Small Ship Scotland
4. Small Ship Ireland and England
5. Small Ship Norway
6. Rhone River
7. Small Ship Alaska
Someone else was asking questions about the Romantic Rhine yesterday - WWII sites. We saw alot of them on our cruise but this one doesn't seem like it has the same focus. It does have Strasbourg and Heidelberg which we really enjoyed. Definitely Strasbourg over Baden Baden which was boring unless you wanted to go to the spa.
The Rhone was our first and still favorite. All the stops were great and so many right in the towns your were visiting so you could just walk on/off the ship without much bus time. The Danube looks to have many of the same sort of stops so we're really looking forward to it next year.
Small ship Scotland is on my bucket list too but not sure about the sea sickness element. I so want to see the islands.
Also want to do the Canadian Rockies but having trouble convincing Mr Sails that I don't want to take the RV up there instead.
We had no choice since we were joining friends. But we probably would have chosen eastbound because we wanted to see both Salzburg and Cesky Krumlov and thought a pre-tour vs post-tour excursion to CK would be better. In hindsight, a post tour excursion actually would have been better, because we went on Day 1 and didn't have as much time as we would have liked since we had to be back in Prague for the welcome dinner. I probably had some other reasons, like the tour builds to a grand finale, etc., but none of them really held up to any sort of rigorous analysis. I'm sure folks can come up with various reasons for each direction, but regardless, it is a wonderful cruise.
If you are looking for WWII sites and history the Seine is the trip to take. It was our first river cruise several years ago and still what we consider to be the best. That being said, subsequent cruises on the Danube and Rhone were still quite wonderful. Looking forward to Rhine Enchantment this coming May.
When we cruised in the U.S., a more seasoned cruiser advised us to book the trip going downstream, all else being equal. Downstream has the current working with you, so the ship gets between point A and point B more quickly. This would usually result in slightly longer port calls, but I recall seeing one cruise where it actually allowed the downbound ship to book one more port than its upbound sister could accommodate.
When we cruised in the U.S., a more seasoned cruiser advised us to book the trip going downstream, all else being equal. Downstream has the current working with you, so the ship gets between point A and point B more quickly. This would usually result in slightly longer port calls, but I recall seeing one cruise where it actually allowed the downbound ship to book one more port than its upbound sister could accommodate.
Interesting theory. I know it's quieter going down stream. If the ship is moving ports over night when you're trying to sleep that can be an issue especially if you're near the main engines (aft).
That makes sense, Fred. I wonder if many people booking actually consider it, but there is a clear bias in the number of cabins booked downstream on the Danube cruises. I've not looked at other rivers to see if it's the same.
Your point was actually my wife's theory, Claudia. She will be glad to hear you validate it. Fortunately, our cabin is well forward so I suppose we will feel little impact, not that we would know the difference anyway.
As to your point in your earlier post, we did consciously choose the westbound direction because it was more lightly booked, in hopes that it might result in a less than full cruise.
One little detail about the eastbound trip. When the riverboat sails into Budapest, it does so in the evening. This is the last night of the sailing part of the trip and ends with the elegant farewell dinner. The boat cruises around a bend in the river and behold--Budapest is lit up like a Christmas tree. The travelers gather on the top deck with drinks in hand to toast the city. The lights of Parliament and the rest of the city are supposed to be magical to see. Or so it looks in the pictures. We were on the westbound itinerary. I wanted to go eastbound to see the Budapest lights, but the dates that worked for us would have put us in Passau on a Sunday, making it impossible to attend the organ concert. There is an organ concert at noon every day except Sundays, because of Masses. The cathedral at Passau has the largest pipe organ in Europe, and I definitely did not want to miss the concert. It was indeed glorious; surely it is the way Heaven sounds.
Passau is no longer on the Blue Danube itinerary, a big mistake if you ask me. But they didn't. However, Passau is on the Amsterdam to Budapest trip, so checking the dates would be something to consider. I promise, the concert is worth it.
By the way, we adored the Blue Danube trip. We chose Salzburg over Cesky Klumlov. We went to Schonnbrun Palace in the morning and still had time that afternoon to see Sisi's imperial apartments and other things in the afternoon.
Nancy
That makes sense, Fred. I wonder if many people booking actually consider it, but there is a clear bias in the number of cabins booked downstream on the Danube cruises. I've not looked at other rivers to see if it's the same.
Your point was actually my wife's theory, Claudia. She will be glad to hear you validate it. Fortunately, our cabin is well forward so I suppose we will feel little impact, not that we would know the difference anyway.
As to your point in your earlier post, we did consciously choose the westbound direction because it was more lightly booked, in hopes that it might result in a less than full cruise.
Terry
Our last cruise in a cat 6 cabin (207) of the newly redesigned MS Sapphire I noticed the wall between the bed and bath occasionally had this weird squeaky noise. I assume something to do with the wall construction. On the night we traversed back up stream to Paris it was so bad I had trouble sleeping and even my husband noticed it. I guess the motion of the ship was enough to cause it.
Claudia Sails, I had the same experience on the MS Grace on the Rhine (223) last summer. The day we arrived (early), they told us our room wasn't ready yet. About five hours later, it still wasn't ready. We later found out it was because they were trying to fix the squeak, but didn't tell us. We found it on the first night when we were going to bed. They sent some workmen to our cabin to see if they could fix it. They took part of the ceiling apart but couldn't find anything. They told us they didn't have an equivalent cabin to move us to, so they put us up in a Cat 5 cabin for the night. Our eyes were closing as we waited. We hadn't slept for about 36 hours and were exhausted and had to move down the hall in our pjs. It was so disturbing and disruptive. The next day, they got some workmen from onshore who finally found that the builders had left some nails in the beams which were used to hang plumb lines during construction and never removed them, so, when the boat was moving the nails would squeak against something. They said they had someone from Scylla already check it out on their previous trip, but they couldn't figure it out.
When we returned, I wrote to Tauck to complain, but the only satisfaction I got was an apology. Very disappointed in a company that is so customer-oriented. I got no satisfaction.
We're on the Treasure next in the same cabin as we had on the Sapphire, so hopefully they've solved the issue. Most of the time is was hardly noticeable, just that one night trying to make time upstream. We're doing the Budapest to Amsterdam run so we'll have a chance to check it out both upstream (Danube) and downstream (the Rhine). Packing ear plugs just in case.
As for the theory that upstream is noisier, our experience didn't support that. We were on a west-bound cruise and were never aware that the ship had engines, but we were in the forward-most cat 7 cabin. Those located elsewhere may well have had a different experience.
Fred_PA, August 2018 edited August 2018, Terry; When we cruised in the U.S., a more seasoned cruiser advised us to book the trip going downstream, all else being equal. Downstream has the current working with you, so the ship gets between point A and point B more quickly. This would usually result in slightly longer port calls, but I recall seeing one cruise where it actually allowed the downbound ship to book one more port than its upbound sister could accommodate.
I just saw this post from last year. Docking (and lock transit times) are all pre-determined and pre-approved by the River Authority, lock master, harbor master or the city- whoever has jurisdiction. Many boats will speed up or slow down to arrive at the pre-determined time, however, since there is so much river traffic, there are also speed limits on most European rivers. The ship companies will sometimes request docking times so the ship has a daytime arrival at a particularly picturesque town.
There is definitely some flexibility in the scheduled lock and docking times though. Our recent cruise, when we came to a halt because a Viking ship had hit and damaged a lock on the Main Danube canal, is a case in point. Our schedule was off for several days. First two days the ship was stuck in Kelheim, then we back tracked toward Budapest so we could dock somewhere suitable for loading/unloading passengers and baggage for the ship swap, then another few days making up time to get us back on schedule. The river authorities must have been scrambling wildly trying to get all this worked out for multiple ships.
On the downstream noise level, I still think it's quieter but if the ship is really hustling (see above) then it can still be noisy especially if your stateroom is low and aft near the engines.
Comments
I think its because of the way the Tauck website (and books) lists cruises - they default to a particular direction - usually eastbound and not everyone realizes that there is an option. We noticed this on the Amsterdam Budapest cruise - in fact it's in the name. Last year the southbound (east) direction was sold out early but northbound had lots of space.
And it may be because people would rather have a longer flight at the end of the cruise than going. I know I'm not looking forward to that additional hop from Amsterdam to Budapest to start out next cruise but it is what it is. I wanted to end in Amsterdam to have some extra non-jetlagged days there
You may well be right, Claudia. We did look first at the eastbound cruises because that's what comes up by default, and only went to the westbound page when we saw how well booked the eastbound ones were.
Terry
Which Rhine cruise? We did the Rhine/Moselle a couple of years ago.
1. Small Ship Baltic Cruise
2. Danube from Budapest to Black Sea
3. Small Ship Scotland
4. Small Ship Ireland and England
5. Small Ship Norway
6. Rhone River
7. Small Ship Alaska
Hopefully, Mekong River someday.
The Rhone was our first and still favorite. All the stops were great and so many right in the towns your were visiting so you could just walk on/off the ship without much bus time. The Danube looks to have many of the same sort of stops so we're really looking forward to it next year.
Small ship Scotland is on my bucket list too but not sure about the sea sickness element. I so want to see the islands.
Also want to do the Canadian Rockies but having trouble convincing Mr Sails that I don't want to take the RV up there instead.
Claudia,
We took the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Jasper via Kamloops several years ago and it was marvelous. I'd highly recommend it.
Terry
When we cruised in the U.S., a more seasoned cruiser advised us to book the trip going downstream, all else being equal. Downstream has the current working with you, so the ship gets between point A and point B more quickly. This would usually result in slightly longer port calls, but I recall seeing one cruise where it actually allowed the downbound ship to book one more port than its upbound sister could accommodate.
Interesting theory. I know it's quieter going down stream. If the ship is moving ports over night when you're trying to sleep that can be an issue especially if you're near the main engines (aft).
Your point was actually my wife's theory, Claudia. She will be glad to hear you validate it. Fortunately, our cabin is well forward so I suppose we will feel little impact, not that we would know the difference anyway.
As to your point in your earlier post, we did consciously choose the westbound direction because it was more lightly booked, in hopes that it might result in a less than full cruise.
Terry
Passau is no longer on the Blue Danube itinerary, a big mistake if you ask me. But they didn't. However, Passau is on the Amsterdam to Budapest trip, so checking the dates would be something to consider. I promise, the concert is worth it.
By the way, we adored the Blue Danube trip. We chose Salzburg over Cesky Klumlov. We went to Schonnbrun Palace in the morning and still had time that afternoon to see Sisi's imperial apartments and other things in the afternoon.
Nancy
Our last cruise in a cat 6 cabin (207) of the newly redesigned MS Sapphire I noticed the wall between the bed and bath occasionally had this weird squeaky noise. I assume something to do with the wall construction. On the night we traversed back up stream to Paris it was so bad I had trouble sleeping and even my husband noticed it. I guess the motion of the ship was enough to cause it.
When we returned, I wrote to Tauck to complain, but the only satisfaction I got was an apology. Very disappointed in a company that is so customer-oriented. I got no satisfaction.
As for the theory that upstream is noisier, our experience didn't support that. We were on a west-bound cruise and were never aware that the ship had engines, but we were in the forward-most cat 7 cabin. Those located elsewhere may well have had a different experience.
You mean you could see people had bigger noses 😀
Maybe not. Correction made. Thanks.
I just saw this post from last year. Docking (and lock transit times) are all pre-determined and pre-approved by the River Authority, lock master, harbor master or the city- whoever has jurisdiction. Many boats will speed up or slow down to arrive at the pre-determined time, however, since there is so much river traffic, there are also speed limits on most European rivers. The ship companies will sometimes request docking times so the ship has a daytime arrival at a particularly picturesque town.
There is definitely some flexibility in the scheduled lock and docking times though. Our recent cruise, when we came to a halt because a Viking ship had hit and damaged a lock on the Main Danube canal, is a case in point. Our schedule was off for several days. First two days the ship was stuck in Kelheim, then we back tracked toward Budapest so we could dock somewhere suitable for loading/unloading passengers and baggage for the ship swap, then another few days making up time to get us back on schedule. The river authorities must have been scrambling wildly trying to get all this worked out for multiple ships.
On the downstream noise level, I still think it's quieter but if the ship is really hustling (see above) then it can still be noisy especially if your stateroom is low and aft near the engines.