Grand Circle Cruises
 

Would appreciate any information/opinions of the Grand Circle river cruises in Europe.<BR>How good are the accomadations? Especially the bathrooms aboard ship. How is the food?<BR>Are stops long enough to see what needs to be seen at each stop? Any additional information or insights would be appreciated.<BR>

Go to the "Cruises" forum, and type in "grand circle" in the Search block. You'll find lots of comments about Grand Circle cruises there, from a quick look most seemed positive.

I have done three river cruises in Europe in the past five years, though none on Grand Circle. But I have walked through their boats as the river cruisers are docked at each site along the Rhone, Danube, Main, Rhine, etc. and the boat for one line is virtually a carbon copy for the other. <BR><BR>On each of my trips (I did KD Lines) we chose the top level cabin, which isi the deluxe model on each boat. The cabins have lovely big picture windows and a double or two single beds, desk, chairs, and bathroom but none of them are huge so don't expect that. The picture windows give a feeling of spaciousness though. The bathrooms are modern but small, and have a shower, no bath. <BR><BR>For persons with mobility problems not all boats have elevators, which may mean climbing upstairs to cabins, the upper deck, or occasionally down to a restarant if the restaurant is at water level. They have excellent large lounges which are comfortable and can accommodate all the passengers on board (depending on ship between perhaps 80 and 120). <BR><BR>There has been a huge increase in the number of boats on the rivers in the handful of years since I did my first cruise (Danube from Nurnberg to Budapest). Virtually all the travellers are Americans, over 70 and many are way over that. On my last trip in Aug./Sept. last year there were 4 Canadians including my mother and 1 and a family of 4 -- grandparents, daughter, granddaughter from Mexico and everyone else was American including one of the fittest people there, a 99-year old former teacher from the US West Coast who sure musta lived right all his life. He was there with his 84 year old girlfriend and the two of them could outdance everyone else on the boat. <BR><BR>If you need more info, just drop me a note.

I have done three river cruises in Europe in the past five years, though none on Grand Circle. But I have walked through their boats as the river cruisers are docked at each site along the Rhone, Danube, Main, Rhine, etc. and the boat for one line is virtually a carbon copy for the other. <BR><BR>On each of my trips (I did KD Lines) we chose the top level cabin, which isi the deluxe model on each boat. The cabins have lovely big picture windows and a double or two single beds, desk, chairs, and bathroom but none of them are huge so don't expect that. The picture windows give a feeling of spaciousness though. The bathrooms are modern but small, and have a shower, no bath. <BR><BR>Food is quite decent. Usually buffet breakfasts that include everything you could dream of wanting, a lunch with several choices plus desserts, and a gourmet dinner. Some of the meals seemed a bit nouvelle cuisine to some people who wanted tonnage over adventure and quality (there were some whiners who kept insisting that they should have hot dogs and hamburgers on the menu), but you will not come back weighing what you left home at -- you will be 5 to 10 pounds heavier if you eat everything including the sauces, cream soups and desserts that are ever present.<BR>For persons with mobility problems not all boats have elevators, which may mean climbing upstairs to cabins, the upper deck, or occasionally down to a restarant if the restaurant is at water level. They have excellent large lounges which are comfortable and can accommodate all the passengers on board (depending on ship between perhaps 80 and 120). <BR><BR>There has been a huge increase in the number of boats on the rivers in the handful of years since I did my first cruise (Danube from Nurnberg to Budapest). Virtually all the travellers are Americans, over 70 and many are way over that. On my last trip in Aug./Sept. last year there were 4 Canadians including my mother and 1 and a family of 4 -- grandparents, daughter, granddaughter from Mexico and everyone else was American including one of the fittest people there, a 99-year old former teacher from the US West Coast who sure musta lived right all his life. He was there with his 84 year old girlfriend and the two of them could outdance everyone else on the boat. <BR><BR>If you need more info, just drop me a note.

My husband and I did Grand Circle's 15 day Rhone River cruise. It was great and we did not have an upper cabin and the bathroom was bigger than we had on the Golden Princess . If you drop your soap in the shower of the Golden you will find yourself in the bedroom picking it up I'm sure the suites must have larger bathrooms. The point is that we have traveled on anumber of cruises in the past 3 years and my hus band was so happy he wrote Grand Circle a letter and we will begoing on other trips with them.