We have booked the Eastern Europe to the Black Sea cruise with Grand Circle Tours for late May, including an extension to Prague and Budapest. I'd love to hear from someone who's done this cruise. My first with this company and I'm a little aprehensive.

you might try the cruise critic message boards. Go down to river cruises and click on.

Though not with GCT, we did Bucharest-Budapest rivercruise with Tauck Tours...We've done alot of travel, this was our second rivercruise, the first was Sept. 05 and the latter, Sept. 06. Alot of Romania/Bulgaria look like Third World countries, lots of Communist-style buildings, in disrepair and grey. Croatia/Serbia are in the throes of rebuilding, lots of hope and the countryside is beautiful. It was a really interesting trip and we're glad we did it! Most of the riverboats look pretty much alike, so you can't go wrong that way. Most of our friends travel with GCT, but we're set to go on our tenth Tauck tour and will probably continue with this company. It is very enjoyable to be able to unpack once, get off most days, for half or full day tours. Just try and take in everything you can visually, alot of old world, donkey carts, gypsies washing in rivers, etc.

cheri.

We took a Grand Circle cruise of the Danube about 3 years ago, on an itinerary that is no longer offers. We started outside of Munich and finished in Budapest, with a couple of nights in a hotel in Budapest an an extension in Prague. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The ship that we were on was the River Symphony. It was very comfortable and the food was great. The stops along the river were wonderful and well paced. I don't know if you've traveled with Grand Circle before, but they put great emphasis on the local culture and people, with all of their program directors natives of the visited countries. The bus ride between Prague and Budapest can be a bit long, but it may be a bit better now with the countries now in the EU. The border crossings were tedious. Avoid the front seats on the bus, as the leg room is tight for such a long ride. The home hosted lunch in Bratislava was quite a pleasant experience. Both Prague and Budapest have excellent public transportation and the old town in Prague is a great walking city. In Prague the clock in city hall is a big attraction. Our program director brought us to an ice cream shop upstairs across the street, which was a great place to watch the show, without having to deal with the crowds in the square. Anytime that you get crowds like that, you can get pickpockets. Both cities have problems with them, but you just have to use common sense. Both cities have plenty of sidewalk cafes. You pay more to eat outside, but it is worth it for the ambiance. At that time both cities were very reasonable, but membership in the EU may have driven the prices up. One thing that we found that was not worth it in Prague was a Don Giovanni puppet show. We did this on our own. The optional Hungarian horse show and lunch from Budapest was well worth it. Take a look at this thread for Prague http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34536971. Amyb is a friend of ours and writes a great trip report, and is a consummate foodie and museum lover.

We would be glad to answer any specific questions. We are a little fuzzy on the details right now, as we got in from China at two this morning, another Grand Circle trip.

Jack and Ann

I hope all goes well with you. We had a very bad experience with Grand Circle, which others have discussed at great length here and on other travel forums, and would not, under any circumstances, travel with them again. Seems that when all goes well, it is very, very good, and when things go wrong, they entirely have dropped the 'ball' and have some very deceptive business practices. We heard from some other folks, who began a class action suit against GCT, that the court ordered compensation to a large group of travellers who did not, in any way, receive what was advertised. Only thing I would advise is to 'get in in writing'.

What problems have you had with GCT? We have done 3 river cruises with them and have enjoyed them very much. Their program directors have been exceptional. The hotels are nice on pre and post trips. These cruises were 2007, 2006 and 2004...all good.

Actually the BBB has a long list of complaints about GCT and so have other posters on the forum. Just do a search here to see. It seems they either do very well or the reverse.

If anyone cares to research this, you will find (google on Complaints against GCT) the good and the bad...when they are good they are very good, but when they are bad,...hm....