My husband and I will be taking this tour next May and I'm interested to know if anyone else has taken it. We're hicks from the hills of Virginia and all of this is new to us. We'd love to have anyone's thoughts, impressions, advice, warnings, and overall suggestions for a good trip.

This trip starts with three days in Prague, then a motorcoach ride to Nuremberg, then cruise to Budapest. I'm confused about luggage. I had planned to take my husband's suit, plus my nice dress in the carryons along with a day's change of clothes, toiletries etc. in case the checked luggage got lost. We'll need the fancy clothes for the Captain's dinner in Nuremberg. But the Globus brochure says the carry on is 17" x 14" x 8" max. Yikes! - do they think we're elves? Some people apparently take duffel bags, so, are they really that strict, and should I even be worrying about lost luggage?

Also, has anyone taken a side trip to Terezin? What did you think of it?

The carry on bag that they give you is even smaller than the suggested inches. You don't have to use the one that they supply you. It is a good idea to stay under their maximums but they didn't seem overly strict about it. My carry-on was within limits when we started (the top folded down). . But as we went, I put breakables in it and it grew.

You can take another suitcase for $3 a day (I believe it was). . In retrospect, it might have been worth it just not to worry about fitting things in. I think our tour guide quoted a price of $24 for our 16 day trip. I'm not sure if they only charge for travel days or what but it was cheaper than I thought it would be. He called out how many suitcases each group had on the first day and a number of the groups had an extra . . Even if it was 16 x $3, what's $50 when you are taking a multi-thousand dollar trip.

Actually though we had plenty of room. We took snacks and ate them as we went along. We actually came back with extra room in our suitcases.

Most people seemed to have suitcases that were the maximum size.

If you are worried about things being lost on the flight, here is an idea. Put some of your things in a carryon that can be collapsed like a tote bag. Once you get to Europe, put those things back in to your suitcase and put the tote bag in the suitcase.

I used to always pack a change of clothes in our carry-ons but didn't this trip. We talked to someone on our trip that didn't get their luggage for 4 days (they had gone a few days early and had it by the time the trip started). . On the other hand, coming home one of our suitcases got lost and we didn't get it for until the day after we got home. It kind of brought home the thought that you need to be prepared for such things.

Debbie

Thanks, Debbie. I did not realize I had a reply because the website is showing zero replies. I just happened to click on my question & there you were.

I am going to do what you suggested and carry an additional suitcase at $3.00 a day. I have one that fits the airline's carry on requirements - it's too big to use as a carry on on the motorcoach, but I assume it gets stored with the other big suitcases. I'll put the fancy clothes in it, and that way I don't have to worry about them getting lost. Then I can use either the Globus bag or a tote as the Globus carry on. My totes are all bigger than Globus' maximum, but if I don't stuff them they should fold into acceptable dimensions. Whew!!

I'm going to double check with my travel agent to make sure all this is OK, and also to find out how many days you're charged for. But I agree with you - $3 is minimal considering the whole cost.

Thanks again for all your help.

Nan

I also packed a string type bag. It collapsed down to nothing when I wasn't using it - and I sometimes used it when out sightseeing to hold snacks and the like.

As the trip progresses, I put my breakables into my carry-on. I also carried all my breakables with me on the plane. I'm glad that I did since our luggage got some pretty rough handling on the way back.

Debbie

I have a little nylon knapsack which will work like your string bag. I'll be sure to take it along. Thanks again.