TRIP REPORT – GLOBUS LEGENDARY DANUBE CRUISE

Why we chose this particular trip:
When my husband Ray and I decided that we wanted to vacation in Europe, we knew our time would be limited. We did not want to spend it packing and unpacking every day, struggling with a language barrier, or filling out forms to drive on foreign soil. A cruise seemed the ideal way to go. The Legendary Danube cruise encompasses an area whose history and culture is of interest to both of us. In addition, the trip begins with three days in Prague, a city virtually untouched – at least physically – by World War II.

Getting to Prague:
The British Airways overnight flight to Heathrow was, in a word, horrid. Neither one of us slept. They served dinner around midnight (just when I was hoping to doze off). . The seats were designed by a sadist – no back support and no leg room for anyone taller than a midget. I turned on music in an attempt to relax. The fellow next to me, a burly football player type, tried to sleep with his arms crossed, but every so often his left arm slipped and his elbow hit my volume button, jolting me to full wakefulness. So off with the headphones.

Our flight from Heathrow to Prague was delayed an hour because they had taken on too much fuel and had to dump the excess. But at least the seats were bigger.

Prague and the Czech Republic:
Globus met us at the Prague airport and drove us to the Hilton, where we met Robert, our cruise director, and did a minimum of unpacking for the next day. I decided to take a shower before going to bed. Jet lagged and brain dead, I dislocated my toe trying to figure out how to turn on the shower.

From this point on, our trip took a dramatic turn for the better. I got my toe back where it belonged, figured out the shower, took my shower, and we both slept soundly.

The buffet breakfast at the Hilton is included in the tour, and we enjoyed this excellent meal. We were then taken on a tour of the city of Prague, along with other members of our group. As with most of the tours on this trip, it lasted about three hours and included both walking and being driven in a coach (bus). . Our guide did a superb job of introducing us to this magical city.

Neither Ray nor I are particularly interested in architecture, but this city is visually stunning. A riot of styles, shapes, and colors greeted us at every turn. Narrow cobblestone alleyways huddle in the shadows of soaring, buttressed cathedrals built in the 13th century or earlier. Statues guard municipal buildings, churches, and, most famously, the Charles Bridge which crosses the Vltava River. (The story of one such statue is told in the context of the Nazi occupation of Prague in the powerful novel Mendelssohn is on the Roof, by Jiri Weil.)

Our guide recounted her memories of life under the Communist regime, which ended only 15 years ago. We strolled on Wenceslas Square, where massive, nonviolent demonstrations in 1989 led to a peaceful transition to a democratic government. Here, as everywhere, there was music. It’s easy to see why Mozart, Dvorak and Smetana called this city home.

Seeing Prague’s Jewish Quarter was a must for me, and we did not know whether to buy a block ticket (which allows you to see several sights on your own) or go with the Globus tour (with fewer sights but a good guide). . We chose the Globus tour, which was probably the better choice.

Although the Jews of Prague were ghettoized centuries ago, Hitler had a special plan for the ghetto. He decided to establish a “Museum of an Extinct Race” in Prague’s Jewish Quarter. Artifacts were collected from the liquidated Jewish communities of Europe, even as almost all of Prague’s Jews were shipped to their deaths.

Today the Jewish Museum consists of several synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery. The Pinkas Synagogue is a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The names of 77,297 Czech Jews are handwritten on the walls, and there is an exhibit of children’s drawings from Terezin, the nearby concentration camp. The Cemetery is multi-layered because the Jews were never allowed to expand it, nor were they allowed to bury their dead anywhere else. Today the gravestones are a crowded, crooked jumble, and a sad reminder that discrimination can exist even beyond the end of life.

Our day ended on a joyful note, with an optional concert of Czech and Slovak folk music. The Gypsy violins accompanied singers and dancers in colorful costumes, who entertained us with much leaping, twirling, and foot slapping.

The next morning we took an optional tour to Terezin, about an hour north of Prague. The larger part of this camp served as a ghetto, concentration camp, and transfer station to the death camps for those Jews who did not die from the harsh conditions in Terezin. In addition, Hitler spruced up the camp, shipped off the most pathetic of the inmates, and invited the Red Cross in to make a film showing how kindly he treated the Jews. We took a brief tour of this part of the camp, and a more detailed tour of the “Small Fortress”, which was the Gestapo prison for Jews and other “criminals”. . Here we walked under the infamous “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign, and stood in a room which once held 100 prisoners who slept standing in their own filth because there was no room to lie down.

On the way back to Prague, our guide talked about life under the Communists. People constantly bucked the system in order to get the basic necessities. Yet 20% of the people still vote Communist today, saying they miss the cradle to grave security.

Once back in Prague, we walked to the Charles Bridge and crossed to the Castle District. This was the only time during the entire trip that we felt truly crowded by tourists. We walked back via the back streets, which were quite deserted.

The next morning we had to be out of our rooms by 9:30. The busses were scheduled to pick us up at 1:30 for the drive to Nuremberg, Germany. They took our luggage, but we had to hold onto anything we thought we might need or anything we didn’t want to pack (such as the marionette I had bought). . This put a bit of a damper on any sightseeing we might have done, but we were probably all ready for a break anyway.

The Czech and German countryside was lovely. We passed green, rolling hills, tiny villages with huge onion-dome churches and neat gardens. At the border there was a quick passport check and a bathroom break. As Ray and I had gotten rid of all our Czech crowns, we had to borrow money from another passenger to pay the attendant. The drive took about five hours.

The Poetry:
The ship was docked on the Main-Danube Canal, which connects the Main and Danube Rivers. We were shown immediately to our cabin and our luggage arrived about 10 minutes later. The cabin was small but not cramped. There was plenty of storage space, though I was glad I had brought extra coat hangers. Everything on the ship was spotless – except the windows on the bottom deck (our deck, which we lovingly named the “bilge deck”). . We were occasionally under water level in order to pass under certain bridges, and it was actually kind of fun to peer out into the murky Danube, which is neither beautiful nor blue. They did clean the windows – on our next to last day. However, we spent so little time in the cabin that the window was not an issue.

We left for the safety meeting and Captain’s Dinner with our suitcases and stuff strewn all over the beds. When we returned, the suitcases were stacked in a corner, and everything else was neatly placed on the counter tops. The beds were turned down, there were chocolates on the pillows, and Ray’s crossword puzzle book was next to his chocolate. This thoughtful gesture set the tone for the entire cruise. Every crew member truly walked the extra mile for us. All were fluent in English, and eager to help in any way.

Food was excellent – especially the desserts. Breakfast and lunch are buffet style. Dinner consists of several courses and usually lasts from about 7 to 9 pm. We thought this would take some getting used to, but dinner is light enough that you don’t go to bed with a full stomach. The meals are where you get to know your fellow passengers. Most on our cruise were retired Americans, though there was a good age-nationality mix. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know a number of people. We were among the few who were not seasoned cruisers.

The Poetry has a small workout room with two bikes, a rowing machine, and hot tub. Several of us grumbled that it would have been nice to have a treadmill. The only other amenity that I believe was missing was an elevator, which would have benefited a number of our passengers.



Germany:
The following morning we toured Nuremberg. A chilling sight was the Nazi Party rally grounds, and the podium from which Hitler made his speeches. We then had some free time in the old town, much of which was bombed during the war but has been nicely restored. The medieval castle and stable were not damaged in the war.

That afternoon we set sail and passed through the first of many locks. We stood on deck and watched the whole process, which took about a half hour. Later we attended a lecture in the lounge on the lock system and history of the canal.

Regensburg was our first stop the following morning, and at that point we were off the canal and on the river. One of the things we liked about this cruise was that we visited several small medieval towns that are off the beaten tourist track. Regensburg is such a place. Like Prague, it was virtually untouched in the war. It was originally a Roman camp, established to protect the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. That frontier was the Danube River. It was interesting to look across the river to the “land of the barbarians”, and to view ruins almost 2,000 years old.

That afternoon we headed via coach to Kelheim, where we boarded a boat and cruised through the Danube Gorge to the Weltenburg Abbey, which supports itself in part by brewing and selling beer.

Austria:
We had decided to take the optional day-long trip to Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart. “The Sound of Music” was also filmed here. Salzburg has the highest amount of rainfall of any city in Austria, and not surprisingly it poured while we were there. Umbrellas obscured our views of the lovely old buildings, the mountains were nowhere to be seen, and we could not hear our guide. Lunch was not provided, so Ray and I shared a soggy cheese pretzel from a street vendor. The WC police were out in force, making sure we paid for the use of the bathrooms.

We did, however, pay homage to Mozart by touring his birth house. I wished that my mother could have been with us – she played the piano, and always said that you have not learned to play the piano unless you have learned to play Mozart.

The next day was just as pretty as the Salzburg day had been miserable. It was the perfect day to visit the Melk Abbey, which sits high on a bluff overlooking the river. Melk was probably the most visually stunning of all the religious buildings we visited on the tour. An amazing library containing books hundreds of years old and what I refer to as the world’s first psychedelic ceiling were among the many wonders in the Abbey.

After lunch we sailed through the Wachau Valley, with its terraced hillsides, vineyards, and castles large and small, in ruins and restored, and one with a large sunroom added to the front. Apparently some of the castles are restored and used as vacation homes. Often there are small villages nestled just outside the castle walls. In medieval times, the villagers could make a hasty retreat to the safety of the castle if need be.

That evening we arrived in Vienna and attended the optional Strauss-Mozart concert in the Kursalon, which is where the Strauss family performed its greatest works. The show consisted of a small orchestra, vocal works, ballet and waltzes. Afterwards there was a midnight snack of goulash soup, which is the traditional way goulash is served in Europe.

The next morning we were off to tour Vienna. This was probably our least favorite city. The city suffered heavy damage during the war, and modern buildings sit next to medieval ones. Johann Strauss’ apartment, for example, is above a McDonalds. We spent most of our time in Saint Stephan’s Cathedral, which is typical of most of the cathedrals we saw in that it was built and rebuilt over a period of several centuries. Often a cathedral would suffer fire damage, or need to be enlarged or modernized. The repairs or changes were usually made in the current architectural style, so that the building today represents a mixture of styles.

Slovakia:
From our least favorite city we went on to my favorite city – Bratislava. This is a small, untouristy city with a charming medieval center, the requisite castle on the hill, and, for a change of pace, no huge cathedral to dominate the scene. We also saw here the leftovers of Communism in the form of hundreds of drab, concrete block apartments. The Slovaks are working hard to bring their tiny country into the modern world of democracy and capitalism.

Budapest:
The ship sailed around the Danube Bend on Saturday morning, the last day of our cruise. The views of the city as you approach it from the river are magnificent. After docking, we were face checked by the customs people and then had some free time on shore. Ray and I did a self guided walking tour of the Jewish Quarter. The Dohany Synagogue is still in use after having been desecrated by the Nazis. Eichmann set up his office there and used the synagogue as a holding area for Jews waiting to be shipped out to the death camps. There is a mass grave in an adjacent courtyard holding the bodies of thousands of Jews who died of starvation and disease in the Budapest ghetto. Many others were thrown into the Danube by the Hungarian Nazis, while the Soviets held the city under siege during the last months of the war. As we were there during the Jewish Sabbath, the Quarter was very quiet. It is quite dilapidated, and I am hopeful that someday it will be restored.

Our city tour of Budapest reminded me of Prague – it’s just not quite as big or showy. Many of the Communist era buildings are in varying state of repair or disrepair.

After the Farewell Dinner, we enjoyed some time on the top deck. Lights illuminated the Parliament and Chain Bridge, and a full moon shone on the Danube. A perfect ending to a wonderful cruise.

Sunday morning we were driven to the Budapest Airport, where I encountered some difficulty with the security check. I had followed others’ advice and packed all my souvenirs, together with their receipts, separately. Among my souvenirs was a metal star-shaped Christmas ornament with a picture of Mozart painted on it. The two neo/pseudo/KGB type security guards discovered the ornament, turned it over and over, passed it back and forth, muttered and whispered in a language I could not understand, and glanced at me repeatedly and furtively as I smiled wanly at nothing in particular. The female KGB type pronounced the ornament a “dangerous object” and ordered me to throw it in the box, which I of course did without hesitation.

Our trip back to the States was uneventful. I spent much of the time trying to figure out how one might hijack a plane with a Christmas tree ornament - especially one with a picture of Mozart on it.

What a wonderful trip report !

I loved all the details and really enjoyed reading it. It gives one a good sense of what the tour is really like. Thank you very much.

I enjoyed your trip report very much. I am glad your pleasures were more than your unpleasantries. I am sure it is a trip you will always remember.

Yes, it was a wonderful trip. If anyone has any questions, please ask!

Great reprt, thank you. I do have a few questions: we will be taking this trip in reverse, but on the same ship. I think we are also in the "bilge" deck! Did you ask to have the windows cleaned and they just didn't get around to it until later? What about the use of electrical appliances on the ship? My husband has a breathing machine and we can't seem to get an answer about the current.. .. ..adaptor? How was the food? Did you have choices? What did you do about transfers from the ship to the hotel? Did you purchase them through Globus? We have used our air miles, and are flying British American ( too late to change now!) so I don't know how difficult it is to get from the city to the ship. That's all for now.. .. ..and thanks,
golfmama

My husband asked the Captain about the windows. He said they could not be cleaned until our side of the ship was portside because they had to be cleaned on land. But we were never portside, so I don't know how they managed when they did clean them in Vienna.

I think for any electrical appliances, you will need a 220 volt converter and a wall adapter with two round plugs. I would think a travel agent or Globus would be able to tell you for sure - or contact a travel catalogue company such as Travel Smith or Maggellan. We got ours from a luggage store, and they knew exactly what to sell us.

Food was fabulous. Breakfast and lunch were buffet with many choices. With dinner you got your choice of usually 2 or 3 - appetizers, soups, entree (usually meat, fish or vegetarian) and dessert. You can eat really healthy if you want. Or you can do what I did once at lunch - I had a salad and five desserts!

We booked everything through Globus, so they handled the transfers - all done by bus. No problems there.

Thank you. Your replies are most helpful. Also, your writing is lyrical and effective.. .. .. ..are you a writer by profession? You use such strong verbs and specific details to evoke the landscapes.. .. .. ..thank you for such a detailed, honest assessment of the trip. Oh, yes, when did you take this trip? What about clothing? Is there any opportunity to do a wash? Is there any place on the ship to hang up things to dry? Although we have traveled to Europe several times, we have always stayed in timeshares with laundry facilities, or rented homes (cottages), so this is a whole new challenge for us. Also, what about the cost of these optional trips? I have been trying to get a list from Globus, but no luck so far. Did you do most of them? Are there any that either you took or others took that the general consensus was that they were not worth it? Which one(s) stand out? How about the hotel in Budapest? You mentioned the Hilton in Prague, but said little about the hotel or the actual cities of Buda and Pest. Was language ever a problem? Why were you needing Czech money? Are euros not used in these countries? Did you need much cash? We were planning on mostly relying on Visa. Phew. I didn't realize I still had so many questions. Thank you,
Golfmama

OK, let's see -- no, I am not a professional writer, though I do love to write. If I had to do it for a living, I'd probably hate it!

We took the trip May 11 - 22.

Clothing - the ship will wash & iron for you (no dry cleaning) but it's expensive - I think $4 -5 per item. We took a thin nylon rope which we rigged up in the bathroom & washed underwear, socks & a few shirts in the sink just before we took our showers, then rinsed them in the shower. Worked fine, but anything that's not quick drying takes forever to dry. I used the hairdryer on socks.

Optionals - probably their cost is subject to change & that's why you can't get anything from Globus about this. The cheapest we did was the Jewish tour in Prague ($36) and the most expensive was the all day trip to Salzburg ($87). . We did to most of them. Nobody had any complaints, except the weather in Salzburg. They all stood out, for different reasons - it just depends on what your interests are. But in terms of the overall quality of each tour, they were all quite good.

Budapest - we did not stay in Budapest - we were just there a day & so were on the ship. So we did only what I mentioned in the trip report. I enjoyed it just as much as I did Prague, but wish we had had 2 or 3 more days there.

Language was never a problem. All the locals that we dealt with (waiters & store clerks) spoke enough English to get by.

Money - we also used our credit card as much as possible. We used euros in all countries except Prague. That's because Prague was the only place where we used an ATM, & it dispensed Czech crowns. I'm sure if you use an ATM in Budapest, you'll get forints. We got 2000 crowns in Prague and that was plenty for 3 days.

I read somewhere recently that someone thought that Prague and Budapest were the most beautiful places they'd been - even more beautiful than Paris. Would you agree?

We went to the Holocause Museum this spring and your description of the towns made me think that it would be very sad and depressing to visit those towns. Was that your overall feel?

Let me add that I too really enjoyed your trip report. Thanks so much for taking the time to share it.

Debbie

Prague was probably the prettiest city I've ever been in. It's got a fairy tale quality about it. Budapest has the same stunning architecture, soaring cathedrals, etc. - but many of the buildings are in a state of disrepair and neglect. You see a fair amount of scaffolding as they are trying to beautify the city.

I was more sobered than depressed about going to the Jewish areas. I've read a lot about the Holocaust and so these places seemed very familiar to me once I actually saw them. It's not that I really wanted to go there (after all, you normally go on vacation to have a good time!), but I felt I needed to pay my respects to the memories of the victims.

Then it is settled, I need to put "Prague" on a someday list. I never would have thought about it before I read that other note and your note.

Debbie

Definitely put Prague on your list, Debbie. And the sooner, the better - it's bound to get more & more touristy. Also there are plenty of people now who lived under Communism & have interesting stories to tell, but that will change as they age. Hopefully you can spend several days there.

My wife and I took the Globus "Magnicent Europe" cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest (it was indeed magnificent) on the Symphony. Stayed an extra three days in Budapest -- booked the hotel ourselves over the Internet. From our research and Frommers, we chose the Astra Vendeghaz (www ..hu) 2 blocks from the Danube on the Buda side. We would describe it as a 300 year old gem. Only 12 rooms, quiet, spacious room, minibar/fridge, breakfast included, immaculately clean, lots of storage space, most helpful staff and great location near a transportation hub (HEW railroad, tram, Underground and buses), ATM, a supermarket, restaurants and theater where we attended a wonderful performance of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble. We have added Budapest to our list of favorite European cities. It is at least as picturesque as Paris and should be absolutely stunning when/if its buildings are fully restored. Bratislava also ranks high with us while Vienna was somewhat disappointing.

Found Budapest's public transportation system to be quite good in spite of its age. The ticket booth attendants we encountered spoke virtually no English, but we managed to communicate enough to buy three-day passes and tickets to Szentendre. Similarly, the Funicular ticket agent also spoke no English. As expected, our hotel desk clerks, taxi drivers, shop keepers, and most restaurant wait staff spoke enough English to make communication fairly easy.

We are very happy we booked those glorious three extra days -- gave us time to explore the city more, visit places such as the picturesque Danube Bend village of Szentendre and the Dohany Synagogue, which we couldn't do on the Globus/Amadeus tour, do a little more shopping on the Vaci and in the Great Market Hall, and walk the banks of the Danube, both during the day and at night when the city is lit up. We generally like to explore a city and walk through it to "absorb" its flavor and feel. Since this requires more than a one-day city bus tour, we always try to book several days in a tour's starting or ending city, it we haven't been there before.

Except for public transport, we found that most places took both forints and Euros as did the two taxis we used. Some merchants also took American dollars. Generally, be careful of a possibly poor exchange rate when using anything but forints. Two restaurants took credit cards while one didn't, and the hotel took ONLY cash Euros.

Only negative: Globus subbed the entire tour out to Amadeus Waterways which charters the Symphony and sister ships from the Austrian company that owns them. It was nowhere to be seen during the entire trip. Amadeus bungled all of the pre-boarding, from the Schipol Airport "meet and greet" at about 7AM to the far out-of-the-way Amsterdam luxury hotel where we were temporarily stored on the first day until the ship was ready for us at 4PM. Many passengers stayed in the hotel the entire time, feeling that they couldn't walk into the downtown area because of the distance. We did and figure we easily covered five miles getting in, around and back.

Once aboard the Symphony, however, everything changed. The shipboard experience was great: caring and efficient staff, one of the best tour/cruise directors we ever had, excellent food, spacious cabin (on the middle 200 deck), and well-run in all respects.

Thanks for your very interesting note. Looks like Budapest and Prague will both stay on my "someday" list. It is good to have something to look forward to and plan for.

Debbie

I posted our experiences on the somewhat similar "Magnificent Europe" cruise. We also stayed in Budapest for three days on our own after the cruise and this is included. Let me add that Budapest is now one of our favorite European cities.

Sorry, I forgot to log in. That "Magnificent Europe" post w/Budapest included is under "mbl"

I knew you would enjoy the trip as much as we did. Now looking forward to Douro River Cruise in Spain.

Agnes - thanks again for everything - & have a great trip! Nan

I'm considering taking this trip with my 10 year old niece. Your writeup was very helpful. I will probably try to book an additional day or two in Budapest.

Thanks again for the writeup.

(And, not to boast, but I spent three beautiful days in Salzburg in 1977 with nary a drop of rain.)

Oh, and what did you wear for meals? Would khakis and shirts be too informal?

Khakis and shirts will be fine for breakfast and lunch - we wore jeans for those meals. Dress up a little more for dinner - I wore nice slacks and a blouse. You might check with Globus or your travel agent about taking your neice - I seem to remember that kids were discouraged, if not outright prohibited, from these cruises. I think the reasoning is that kids would be bored or antsy on the tours, & there's nothing kid-specific to do on the ship. Dinner is several courses & usually runs from about 7 - 9 PM. Some kids might do just fine, but Globus may not agree. Let us know what you find out. Nan