Budapest to the Black Sea - July 12, 2018

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  JSchultz

  August 2018

  Just returned and wanted to tell everyone what a wonderful tour this has been. Tauck will forever be on the top of my list for first class tours. We arrived in Budapest early morning and were met at the airport by a very nice Tauck representative. Our bus ride to the hotel tood about 20 minutes. Fortunately our rooms were all ready. Very nice rooms might I add. Since we were there a day early and had been to Budapest before, we just did our own thing. Breakfast was included the next morning. We did the HOHO bus around town.
  First official Tauck dinner was wonderful. We boarded busses to Festetics Palace (7 min. bus ride) - dress was smart casual.
  Day 2 - breakfast at hotel, 8:45 departure Walk/bus tour do Pesh side return at noon dinner on your own.
  Day3 - breakfast - have bags packed by 9:30 depart on coach for tour of parliament building tour of Buda side. Arrived at MS Joy around 4:00.
  Heard all cabins were very nice but I recommend getting a suite if possible. Walk in closet a a large bathroom.
  On ship - mandatory safety briefing, then sale away Nd dinner starting at 7:00.
  Day 4 - breakfast, walking tour of Pécs, coach to winery for lunch & wine tasting, happy hour on ship and dinner followed by a documentary in the lounge
  Day 5- breakfast, lecturer on Croatia, walking tour of Vukovar then bus ride to a local’s home for a treat & coffee. Back to the ship, lunch ship leaves for Novi Sad Serbia. After dinner on board we had our choice of ice cream or a beer (on Tauck) in town. Town does not take any currency except their own.
  In port late. Many disco/bars with music along the shores. Very colorful with lights (and loud).
  Day 6 - breakfast, tour of Belgrade leaves at 9:15. Back on ship for lunch andSerbian Folklore Show. Dinner at the Whit Palace.
  Day 7- day on the river cruising thru thr Iron Gate.
  Day 8 - cruising river until 2:00 - arrive in Ruse, Bulgaria. Choice between visiting Ivanovo Rock Church or Ruse City walking tour. Both were good. BBQ dinner outside was planned but rain forced us to have dinner in the Compass Rose
  Day 9- Entering the locks with commentary. Arrived in Constanta at 2:00. Took busses for tour of town plus sweet treat at a hotel and got to dip our feet In the Black Sea. Farewell dinner and party in the lounge.
  Day 10- after breakfast, we boarded busses to Bucharest (3 hours or less with a comfort stop), checked into the Marriott with a few minutes of free time. Boarded busses for a tour of the 1000 room palace/parliament building where we had dinner.
  Day 11- 6:15 breakfast, depart for either Bran Castle, Peles Castle or Targoviste.
  Day12 - early flight home
  I just have to say the BEST part of the entire tour are the people we met - staff, guests and locals. Wonderful!
  For the ladies, I wore some dresses but others didn’t and everyone was comfortable. Booze is included on the ship only. Tour guides were wonderful.
  All tips are included but we tipped our special servers and guide. Ship does not exchange any currency except Euros. We had Hungarian Forints before arriving and used an ATM in Romania for their currency. Not much shopping opportunities in most places.
  Again, an excellent tour. Well done Tauck!
  

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