Trip Report Westbound Cruise, June 20, 2024 sailing
Additional comments added.
Background: My husband and I did the Budapest to Amsterdam RBC with Tauck in 2007. We had always wanted to do the lower half of the Danube.
Flights: We flew Turkish Air (TA) from Dulles, with a change in Istanbul, and then on to Bucharest. We were ridiculously happy with the space, service and food (!) on TA. Although it is a bit of a walk (20 minutes) from the A terminal where we landed to the TA business class lounge, it is well worth the walk. The lounge is large, and comfortable and has excellent food and drink. There is a golf simulator room and several play areas for children. We did not have to go through passport control in Istanbul or any type of security to change planes there. Conversely, on the way home, there was additional security and an hour long wait at the gate for the extra security check that the USA requires for flights landing in the USA. This extra security step included carry on visual inspection, swiping for explosives and gender specific pat – downs. The lines were gender based.
Tauck Guests: The idea of mingling with other guests and “making vacation friends” has been a topic of discussion on the forum before. Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, the presence of other guests does affect your trip. From all of the trips we have taken with Tauck (7 continents), the guests on this cruise were the most widely traveled from any Tauck group we have been with before. Everyone (except for an 18 year old traveling with her aunt as a high school graduation gift), had done multiple Tauck trips, so we immediately all had a lot to talk about. We started off all having shared experiences even though we didn’t know each other. People were very low key, and interested in this off the beaten track itinerary without any real preconceived notions. This turned out to be a good thing because some of the stops in Romania were less than glamorous (bathrooms in a shopping mall).
Trip Overview: The theme of this trip is observing the effects of communism on European countries, and their varying recovery rates upon entry into the western European world. It is most marked in Romania, and they are still struggling to overcome the Ceausescu years. Interestingly, they have made sights associated with him very important tourist attractions. Given that he existed and Dracula is a fictional character, that is probably wise. Romania has some beautiful architecture sitting next to buildings with trees growing out of the windows. There is just an “umkempt” look to all of it, aside from a few isolated spots. I kept looking to find the charm, and it was there, albeit very isolated. Communist block housing was everywhere. Understanding that between the Russians and Ceausescu all of their homes had been knocked down, property seized and everyone placed into these types of centralized housing explains a lot of it. There was an unbelievable amount of traffic, which is apparently just the way it is. Everyone drives everywhere. Given the state of the housing, it was surprising to see all of the high end cars on the road. Bulgaria was more of the same with Communist block housing, but seemed to have a certain charm all it’s own. Perhaps it was because of the topography with hills and greenery, whereas the vast portion of Romania we saw was plains. By the time we arrived in Belgrade/Serbia there was much less obvious communist detritus, and the vibe was distinctly that of a European City. Hungary, with Pecs and Budapest, felt much more like Vienna.
Hotels: JW Marriott in Bucharest was a large, lovely, sterile hotel. Our rooms were comfortable, and the food was OK. The location was a bit far from the old town, but was close to the Parliament. The Ritz Carlton was gorgeous and the food was excellent. Food on this trip in hotels was very reasonably priced, we were happily surprised.
The Ship (Esprit): We were in Cabin 210 which was Category 6, 225 square feet. We LOVED our cabin. The size was perfect, the storage was good and the bathroom was spacious and beautiful. Everything about the ship was perfect – the room, the dining room, the décor, the staff, the food - wonderful. I even used the gym, which was a huge upgrade from the Swiss Emerald in 2007 with just an outdoor stationary bike in the back of the ship! Unfortunately, the air-conditioning broke on the port side of the ship on the last night. The ship officers tried to blame the passengers for not having their drapes drawn during the day – people were really mad. They should have just been honest about it and told people that they were working on it. We were fine on the starboard side, luckily.
Tauck Crew, etc: The cruise director was excellent. The tour directors (3) were variable. It was probably a cultural thing, but we found communication to be lacking in 2 of the 3. One of them was fabulous. One in particular sort of muttered and we missed important things we should have known. Being science people, we like a “high yield” style of communication with bullet points, not a word salad. It was frustrating that we were given day by day itineraries rather than an up – front whole trip outline with all of the times, sights, distances, etc. Some people were frustrated that we were not adequately informed about the distances and terrain that would be required. Given the impossible temperatures (94 + with high humidity), this kind of information was important to a lot of people. In addition, you had to know yourself how to hydrate under those conditions.
Highlights:
Bucharest: Ceausescu mansion (on own); Peles Castle ( reminiscent of interior of Neuschwanstein, actually on a grander scale); entertainment at Welcome dinner (violin concerto on a Stradavarius violin); sitting in a lovely chaise on a Black Sea beach before we boarded the ship.
Bulgaria: Rock churches . There was a choice of two – one involved what was described as a “vigorous 20 minute uphill hike” , while the other was described as an “easily accessible chapel”. Given the 95 + degree heat that day we chose the easy one. This visit required a steep climb up a set of uneven stairs carved into the rocks. It was at least a 4 story climb on a narrow, steep staircase with a rickety, hot banister. Given the extreme heat and the condition of many of the people who chose the “easy” itinerary, I was waiting for a domino – like stream of fallers climbing both up and down. Help was not really provided, nor was there room for it on those stairs.
Serbia: Cruising through the Iron Gate; visit and dinner in the White palace. A lagniappe on the west bound itinerary is a visit to “Lepenski Vir” which is on the shore of the Iron Gates Gorge. Lepenski Vir is a remarkable museum with the remains of the oldest human settlement in Europe. The remains span settlements established between 9500/7200 – 5500 BC and are arranged under a huge glass dome-like structure. The settlements span changes from hunter gatherers to farmers. This was the site of the earliest European prehistoric culture.
Hungary: The Pécs walking tour was lovely. The "Rock Hospital" was fascinating! It was in a system of natural caves along the Danube River. This is an incredible place where countless people were treated during multiple wars. There is original medical equipment and mannequin staging of procedures, etc. Amazing. The visits to Parliament and St. Stephens were very much worth the long walk to get there (bus parking is restricted in the immediate vicinity of Parliament). We absolutely loved the performance of Rigoletto that we saw at the Budapest opera house. The opera house is a “do not miss” for its beauty and grandeur, but it is something you will have to arrange on your own ( or through the Ritz Carlton concierge.)
Summary: We really enjoyed this trip. It was not full of “wow” moments but was very interesting in terms of the less traveled large and important part of Europe.
Comments
MotherOfPoodles - I agree with your comments about Turkish Air. I have flown Turkish and Qatar, but not Emirates.
I found the airplane space, service, etc on Turkish to be about equal (in business class) to that on Qatar.
I liked the business class lounge in Istanbul better than the business class lounge in Doha, but both were nice.
That said, I don’t think people would be disappointed in either airlines experience.
We are currently on this trip eastbound and currently on the last day of the ship journey. This morning we are off to Bucharest. We will do a report with our opinions upon our return.
MotherOfPoodles, thank you so much for this comprehensive report. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts. We are just off the Blue Danube (Prague to Budapest), and had considered this one as well. Thanks again!
MotherofPoodles - great report, I went on this cruise a few years ago and loved it.