marlib1951

We have been on two river cruises with Grand Circle and we were pleased with both trips. One cruise was the Rhine Christmas Market from Amsterdam to Basel. It was wonderful but we did get a bit tired of the Christmas Markets. The food on this trip was really good and the wine was free & plentiful with the dinner. Our beds were not that great, they were narrow twins that converted to uncomfortable sofas during the day. The Volga river cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg was a great trip also. Our room was better than the one on the Rhine cruise, we had a double bed and the room seemed a bit bigger. The food was not as good on this cruise as the Rhine cruise. They served a lot of root vegetables and the main courses were not as good or as great a variety. The wine was free but you were limited to one free glass with dinner. Altogether, we had a positive experience though, I mean we didn't go to Russia for the food.
My only complaint with Grand Circle is their plane connections are crazy. (We also did the Australia, New Zealand & Fiji trip with Grand Circle.) On two of their trips we missed connecting flights. It is not unusual for Grand Circle to get cheap tickets and you might have a 30 minute time frame to swap planes in Charles de Gaulle.

southeastern

I have found that if you book your own flight to where you would take off to Europe you get better flights. Ex: We fly from New Orleans on our own to Alanta and Grand Circle from Atlanta. That way it's direct over to Europe usually on Delta or Air France. We have also found it to cost less if we book our own flight to the main hub.

marlib1951

Southeastern, we fly direct from Atlanta, so that has not been the case with us and we have booked with Grand Circle! Maybe it is just the luck of the draw but nevertheless it has been out experience that Grand Circle has some unmanageable connecting flights! Returning from Basel we missed our flight connecting at Charles de Gaulle. Long, long story we missed our flight to Australia, arriving a day late - GCT acknowledged their fault in this case and compensated us -somewhat but nevertheless it was a day missed in Australia! Going to Moscow our flight arrived in Paris (Charles de Gaulle - what a nightmare) and we had something like a six hour stay over there. So, yes, I stand by my initial statement GCT has some crazy flights and buyer beware...otherwise, we have had good experiences with them.

marlib1951

Let me say again, we have liked GCT and would travel with them again. We would like to do the Danube cruise someday.