We just completed Globus' "Magnificent Europe" river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest on the "Symphony" and offer anyone interested in a similar cruise the following information.

When we arrived at Schipol Airport we discovered that Globus has absolutely nothing to do with this cruise tour and had no staff on it. They subbed the whole thing out to Amadeus Waterways who pretty well botched the "meet and greet" at the airport leaving us to find their bus pickup area ourselves.

As a point of interest, we were told that the Symphony was built in the Netherlands; is owned by Lueftner Cruises, an Austrian Company; flies the German flag; and is under essentially permanent charter to Amadeus Waterways, an American company headquartered in Los Angeles. Our tour was booked by Globus through its Avalon Waterways subsidiary. Wonder how much of a slice of our money each of these entities got.

From the airport we were bussed to an out-of-the-way luxury hotel, the Okura. There we were met by a very inexperienced staff member that didn't know how to handle the people, available courtesy "refreshing rooms", baggage, etc. He was supposedly assisted by two other staff members who spent most of their time gabbing with each other instead of helping us. There wasn't even any courtesy tea and coffee, a minimum amenity that should have been supplied. We were instead directed to the hotel's coffee shop where "we could buy anything we wanted". .

The hotel's location precluded exploring Amsterdam on foot for many people because of its location far from the center of town. This was most inconsiderate of the tour operator since many of us arrived at about 9 AM and the ship was not to be ready until 4 PM. My wife and I are walkers so we left the hotel and walked downtown anyway. There we explored, shopped, antiqued, bought an etching in an art market, had brunch -- must have covered 5 miles or more even though it rained intermittently.

Once on the Symphony, everything changed. The staff was friendly, knowledgeable, efficient, and most courteous. The meals were excellent, plenty of variety and well-prepared. Red and white wines (bottomless glasses) were served with dinner every night on a three-day rotation -- you got the same wines every three days. This didn't bother us since they were generally good an went well with the dinners. Our Amadeus Cruise Director, Wade Korzan, was one of the best we ever had -- knowledgeable, considerate and well-organized.

Our second deck (200-level) cabin was spacious and had ample storage space. The electric shaver outlet in the bathroom has switchable 110/220 sockets. No adapter of any kind is needed. A hairdryer was in the top drawer of the desk in our cabin. We chose the second deck cabin with its relatively large window and higher elevation to afford us a good view of the countryside as we cruised by and were glad we did. We often watched the scenery go by before going to breakfast.

Ship-board dress was casual, jeans and shirts. There was only one "formal" Captain's Dinner and that came about half-way through the cruise. It was requested that men wear jackets and ties, but this was not mandatory. People wore what they had and there were a lot of slacks and shirts visible. The farewell dinner was NOT formal at all. The only other night people got dressed up was for the optional concert in Vienna.

One negative was the inconsistent quality of the local guides. A few of those that we had were good, knowledgeable, understandable, considerate of their patrons, etc. Others were plain awful -- hard to understand and/or treated people poorly and/or talked too much about insignificant trivia that you couldn't wait to forget. When we got one of these on a walking tour we and other similarly-minded people usually left to explore on our own after making sure we knew the way back to the ship.

The departure at the end of the cruise was handled very efficiently and unlike other cruises we have been on, you didn't have to leave your cabin until 9 AM on the day of departure. For those not given transportation to the airport, a taxi sign-up sheet was available the day before. You listed your name, cabin number and desired pick up time. Sure enough, our taxi was waiting for us at the appointed time and the crew carried our bags out to it.

Re: gratuities: You were allowed to charge a gratuity for the cruise director to a credit card and give him the receipt which he would then cash in. That was fine, but you couldn't do that with any of the crew members. The only choice you had was a blanket tip for the whole crew which would be divided up among them in some manner which was not divulged to us. We disagreed with this since we feel tips are for exemplary personal service and we only received this from several people. We feel that the captain and deckhands, among others, work for a salary and should not be tipped. Since there was no way around this, we charged about 2/3 of the recommended amount and gave our waiter, wine server and cabin housekeeper an appropriate cash tip, explaining how we felt about tipping to each.

My wife and I had booked three nights at a small Frommers-recommended hotel on the Buda side of the Danube in the Castle Hill district, the Astra Vendeghaz (www ..hu), and we went there directly from the ship. The hotel was great -- small, very quiet, refurbished 300 year old gem located 2 short blocks from the Danube, near restaurants and a theater where we attended a wonderful performance of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, 2 1/2 short blocks to a supermarket and transportation hub where you could catch trams, busses, underground and HEV railroad trains. Our room was spacious with a 10' ceiling, lots of storage space and a minibar/fridge. One day we took the train to the small picturesque town of Szentendre on the Danube Bend section of the river -- definitely worthwhile.

Officially, Budapest's currency is the forint (HUF) and public transport takes only that. Our hotel insisted on being paid in cash Euros, which we found were pretty much accepted all over the city and in Szentendre. Several places accepted American dollars. Some of the restaurants we dined in accepted credit cards and some did not. When buying relatively big ticket items you have to closely monitor the exchange rate that you're given if you’re paying in other than forints. Vendors tend to use a low conversion rate when figuring their prices in alternative currencies.

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.

Budapest has been added 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.

If we were to do this over, we would do it in the Budapest to Amsterdam direction because our last three stops were at three capital cities and were much more hectic than the rest of the stops. Doing these first would allow us to relax during the more leisurely pace of the rest of the trip. Overall, the pace of the trip was good and the sights fascinating. It was well worth taking and we enjoyed it immensely.

Hope this helps people contemplating this cruise.

WoW Unbelievable, You actually told us about Bad stuff AND the Good stuff, usually the Bad reviews are ALL NEGATIVE. I really Appreciate your post, as it is clearly an Honest (and well written) review. Seldom are vacations "Perfect" and You took a great prespective of this fact by telling us about what we should be aware of that was "Bad" and what to take advantage of that is "Good". . THANKS (Really) as now when we take the cruise, We will be even better prepared, which will lessen any "Disappointments" and highten the Excitment! Great Post Thanks Again!

Dear mbl,

Thank you so very much for your detailed and honest account about your experience aboard the Amadeus Symphony! I also thank you for the comment about the cruise director, for it is me who is now replying! Honestly, your feedback is so important to those of us who actually run the cruise and to all others thinking about taking this cruise or a similar one. Your comments are very honest and are truly and greatly appreciated! I hope we see you back some day on another cruise, and hopefully the pre-cruise experience will be much better next time! Best regards, WK

I definetly agree with MBL.The satff and crew on the Amadeus Symphony was the best.It was a wonderful trip and i would highly recommend this company.
We just returned from the Ultimate River Cruise from Paris to Budapest yesterday.Wow what a great trip with some exciting challenges with the river rising.Other river cruises did not get through and under the bridges in time with the water levels and flooding.We were so fortunate that we had an excellent captain and a fast thinking cruise director in Wade so we got to see most everything that was schedule on our trip.
The food was excellent except for the desserts. They cost me an extra 4 lbs which I did not need. No really they were delicious and fattening.

We met some nice people onboard but there were 6 0f us [4 Canadians and 2 Aussies]who were joined at the hip most of the time who really appreciate all the work and all the smiles from the crew of the Amadeus Symphony.
Wade we miss you!Good luck in Vienna and say hi to Leo,Danielle and Jose from the 6 in the corner.
Victoria,BC

To WK: I hope that what I wrote helps Amadeus/Globus make this cruise even better -- for example, an extra day or two in Budapest with an optional to the folk dance performance would have been very nice. I also hope this helps those contemplating taking one of these European river cruises.

The tour director plays a large role in determining how well the passengers enjoy the trip. A knowledgeable, caring, warm, and positive thinking leader that goes the extra mile to accommodate his/her passengers fosters much the same attitude in the passengers which contributes significantly to the overall harmony and enjoyment. We have been very lucky in that we got several outstanding directors during our various tours and as a result enjoyed them immensely. As I've said before, you rank right up there among the best!

We are trying to finish a journal of our trip so that we will have a narrative to go with our photos and will insure that we don't forget most of the details. It is now some 20 pages long and will likely go at least a little longer. Wade, if you would like a copy, e-mail your e-mail address to me at mbl_ejl@hotmail.com

Hope you enjoy living in Vienna and tour directing. Regards from EJL.

MBL

I did a google search for Wade Korzan and came upon this site. We took the Heartland cruise in July, 2004 and it was truly a memorable experience. The ship's crew were friendly and hospitable, the food and wine was excellent and well served and of course, the desserts were delightful. the highlight of the trip was our cruise director, Wade Korzan who was organized, personable and solicitous to the needs of the guest. The pace of the cruise and tours were designed for the age group of the average guests on board. We were in a slightly younger age group and although we enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere would like to suggest that cruises be added or delineated for a younger crowd.