I'm taking my 80 year old father on a Danube river cruise this fall. I had a few questions I'm hoping others can help with:
1) we're going to start in Prague on our own and then make our way to meet the ship and embark in nuremberg. Is there really only one train per day and is that the best way to get between the two cities?
2) it seems as if uniworld and AMA are somewhat interchangeable. I like the idea that AMA starts in Nuremberg and you go over the continental divide and through the locks. Is this worth (seems as if uniworld starts further downstream).
3) AMA seems to split shore excursions for active and less active people. Does uniworld do this as my father isn't a great walker.
Appreciate any other thoughts on the lines and itinerary (Nuremberg to Budapest) as food/service as well as ship comfort matters to me. I was also looking at the castles on the Rhine cruise from Basel to Amsterdam but the itinerary seemed a little boring. This will be our first river cruise so appreciate any thoughts.
European river cruise advice on land, logistics and lines
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by
Amy_D
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49 responses; most recent on May 4, 13 at 05:46 PM
We did the Uniworld Danube cruise from Passau to Budapest (also did the pre-trip to Prague) this past fall and loved it. We were very happy with Uniworld and plan to do the Rhine Cruise from Amsterdam to Basel on another Uniworld ship this fall. I highly recommend Uniworld.
We did the Prague to Budapest Danube cruise on AMA in September. Our TA had thoroughly researched the different lines and decided that AMA was the one to go with and she escorted the cruise with about 30 of us. Take a look at her discussion of several different lines by going to this site http://www.brownandkeenetravel.com and clicking on River Cruises. Although Uniworld isn't listed, it is one of lines that she evaluated before narrowing the field.
As you mentioned, AMA usually has one group for most excursions that allows for those desiring a slower pace. With regard to the locks, we went through almost all of them during the night, so I wouldn't let this be an important factor.
We took the AMA bus transfer from Prague to embarkation even though we didn't take their pre-cruise program. That worked out extremely well.
Spot on comments Cali and Dreps. Really appreciate it (don't always get your questions answered). Cali - we'll keep Uniworld on our list since the locks doesn't appear to be a differentiator and Dreps - exactly what we were hoping to do in that I'd like to do Prague on our own but catch the bus from Prague to the ship. May let price drive as they both appear to be great lines but price is a factor since we're both paying the single supplement. Love my Dad but 7 days in a tight cabin - no thanks (one of us would likely be thrown overboard by day 5 if we shared).
Uniworld also had excursions for those desiring a lower pace. We also took the bus transfer from Prague but we did do the pre-cruise program. Loved it. I agree that the locks were no problem at all. We went through at least 11 of them and some were during the day and many at night. If we weren't on deck watching we would not even have known we were going through the locks. Our Tour Manager was fabulous - would love to get her on the Rhine Cruise also.