Globus Danube River Tours - Shipboard Attire

[Nan]

We're jeans and T shirts type people who are planning a Danube cruise next May. We want to be comfortable, and we know we have to pack light, but all of the people in the travel brochures are dressed like they're going to a wedding or a funeral. How do people dress at dinner -- should my husband wear a coat and tie, and should I wear dresses? Are nice slacks and a blouse OK for me at dinner? What should we wear at breakfast and lunch? And just sitting around the ship -- does anybody wear jeans? Coolmax shirts? Any advice will be appreciated.

[Guest]

I see you haven't had any replies yet. The only cruise I ever went on was one of the 3 night Big Red Boat cruises in the Caribean in conjunction with a Disney World trip. No doubt it was less formal than the type that you are talking about. And it was 12 years ago.

Good luck getting answers. If worse comes to worse, I can ask a friend who has been on more recent and longer cruises - albeit not in Europe. Or maybe you could ask your travel agent.

Debbie

[Nan]

Thanks for offering to help. I'll see what, if anything, shows up on the messge board. And I'll also ask my travel agent.

[JimC]

If Globus is using Peter Diehlmann cruises, then what you saw in the photo is what you'll get. On that line dinner time is dress up time. While we didn't take a Diehlmann cruise, we were docked next to one of their ships on the Danube several nights and it was definitely dressy with men in suits and ties. We took Uniworld and kakhi pants and a polo shirt were fine every night. We saw no one in jeans.

[JimC]

I should clarify that during the day, including breakfast, anything is fine, although I'm sure on the Diehlmann cruises (with an older clientle) there were those who wore ties to breakfast.

[Nan]

Thanks for the info, Jim. We are not on a Deilmann tour - it's Avalon Waterways/Amadeus Waterways. I feel certain they are less formal than Deilmann. We'll probably take along jeans & running shoes for touring in town, and dress up a little on the ship.

[agnesd]

Just returned Aug 1 from Legendary Danube. Casual is just fine for dinner. A blouse and pants OK. A little dressier for last night. Tried posting before but it didn't seem to go through. Hope this one does.

[agnesd]

Food was a little disappointing. Once you learn when to eat, what to eat and how much to eat, you are OK. Some odd choices, Other than that everything absolutely wonderful. If you want more info on optional tours or Prague. Give a yell.

[nursesue]

My parents went on a cruise, and depending on which one you go on, it can be very dressy or semi casual.for the most prt, I think it is casuzal, with one dinner where you dress up.

[nanray]

Many thanks to nursesue for checking on why I was not able to post messages or replies – just two days before she left for her trip! I know she is having a wonderful time.

I am still having trouble with the board and have changed my username from Nan to nanray. Let's see if this goes through.

Agnes – Yes, I would very much like to know anything you would care to tell me about Prague or the optionals. What did you do in Prague? We are especially interested in Jewish history, and I want to see the cemetery and Terezin. Did you do the Salzburg tour? The Vienna concert? What about your free time in Budapest? I’ve heard there’s a cemetery of Holocaust victims there, as well as a Communist Statue Park. I’ll be grateful for anything you, or anyone else, can tell me about his trip.

[agnesd]

We went the Terezin and it was powerful and well worth the visit. We were 1 of 4 couples. Three couples went to another castle tour in Prague and felt it was definitely not worth it. You must go to the UPrince Hotel across from the astromical clock. The restaurant on the roof is unreal. Unfortunately, we could only view it since we could not get a table for 8. I think if their are only 2 of you and you get there at 6pm, it will be OK, since you can't make reservations and they take reservations from hotel guests first. Not at all expensive. We, also, like Thai food so we went to the Orange Moon. Great!! We really went on our own, other than the tour included, and went across the Charles bridge early in the AM before the traffic. We went July 21 and, of course, it was the height of the season. Prague was unreal. Really, great. The buffet breakfast at the Prague Renaissence was one of the best I've ever had. We went to Saltzberg. It was great. Opera good but not what I expected, but the return to ship by night was more that I expected. Anything else?

[ray]

I think blue jeans would be just fine on a cruise like this. I would certainly hope so, since that's what I generally live in.

[nanray]

Thanks, Agnes - that's a lot of useful info. Was the return to ship by night that you mentioned from Salzburg or Vienna, and in what way was it more than you expected? Did you have any free time in Vienna - if so, any suggesions on what to do?

Money -- I understand you tip the crew and tour director at the end. Do you know if you can charge that? I'm trying to figure out how much cash to take. I'll probably get some euros before we leave. Did you use any other currency (i.e. for the countries that are not part of the EU?

Did you -- or anybody else -- by chance lay over in Heathrow? We have a five hour layover & are trying to figure out what to do with our time. Gotta try to stay awake.

Finally, is there anything about the trip that you would do differently if you could?

Many thanks again for all your help. I'm so excited about this trip that I'm having dreams about it.

[agnesd]

Hi, I'll just address the air issue now. We went with Globus and Lufthansa. The Travel agent booked us with them because of the good flights (short layover). . My friends booked with Brendan (same exact tour) and they had Bristish Air or some airline with the 5 hour layover in Heathrow. They called their agent and were changed to our flights. I'm sure you can do the same since we went with Globus. They have a choice between the 2. The plane was a bit of a cramped configuration but, worth the superior conections. I'll tell you about money later. Have to make dinner. I'm just as excited talking about since I know how you feel. It was one of the greatest trips of my life.

[agnesd]

We took 200 0r 300 in cash, but I don't think that was necessary for the trip itself. We needed it for our ride home etc. You cannot use a credit card for tips, but you can use Euros, but make sure you convert US dollars to Euro equivalent since the Euro is worth more. Figure the tip in US dollars and convert to Euros. We, also, figured in all of our leftover money from Czech Republic and Buda-Pest into the tip. They would prefer US or Euro because of the convenience but money is money. The Euro is widely accepted even in Hungary and it is not part of the Euro system. We used the ATM exclusively in Prague to change our money for Czech money, but as I said I didnt really care if we had some left since we included it in our tip money and the balance of the trip used Euros which we purchased with our ATM card. It's not really a problem. I had the same concerns before we left. I even called the cruise line to see if we could use a credit card. If you are drinkers. I will give advice on booze. Anything you can think of ask. Are you on the Artistry or Symphony?

[nanray]

Agnes -- So you are saying we can leave the tips in US dollars? Someone told me not even to buy euros here - it's cheaper to get them from the ATM in Europe. So I'm thinking to take some US cash over there, buy foreign currency as we need it from the ATMs and use our US cash for the tips at the end of the cruise. I also like your idea to use the leftover foreign money for tips - I know we can't change coins once we're back home.

We don't drink, which is a shame since they give you all that wine on the ship. Also, we'll probably be the only people in Prague not drinking beer!

Did you get any refunds for the VAT? I understand there are minimum purchase amounts and they're pretty high, & getting refunds can be a hassle.

We're going on the Poetry, which is a new ship next year. If we were going on one of the others, you can bet I'd have a million questions about it. My husband says I think too much.

Thanks again -- you are great to be helping me so much! Nan

[agnesd]

Nan, Food a bit skimpy for dinner, some unusual choices Filet of John Dory, Ostrich, etc. Quality is fair even for a ship. Breakfast OK (most unusual scrambled eggs we've ever had) Lunch absolutely wonderful. Large variety and plentiful. I think it's a European thing. Big lunch, small dinner. So, have a hearty lunch. And the food isn't really one of the most important things anyway. We came back at night to the ship in Vienna and city was beautiful with all the light aglow. Vienna was everyones least favorite city. Too commercial, but we were predjudice after all the small quaint towns we had visited. If this were first maybe we would felt differently. More later about the ports. Anything else I forgot to answer. Agnes[/b]

[nanray]

Agnes - I think you've covered just about everything I've asked about. If you have anything noteworthy to add about Budapest, I'd like to hear it. Also if you have any words of caution -- things you'd have done differently or wish you had known about.

I thought maybe filet of John Dory was something cannibalistic, but I googled it and got 61 hits.

Thanks again - Nan

[agnesd]

Nan, I think I would go to an opera in Prague as opposed to the concert in Vienna. In Prague, it is cheaper and they have them in churches where the acoustics are grand. Some of my fellow travellers went and raved about it. The one in Vienna is in the Opera House but it's in a large room not a theater setting. I wouldn't go on the boat ride to the Monestery in Regensberg even though it was free. The town of Regensberg is quite lovely and I would have liked to walk around. The little boatride is nice but we're spending a week on the riverboat and after the Benedictine Monestery in Melk, which was a highlight of my trip, everything else paled to it. In Buda-Pest there is not much free time, but make sure you go to the market in the old train station. Getting back to the concert in Vienna, it was a great rush after dinner and we came home late to a midnight snack of guess what. Spicy vegetable soup!! I told you the food was odd. So I really think we could have done without the concert. Saltzberg is a must. It was really lovely and the lunch was entertaining. If I think of anything else, I will relay the info. You were right about the John Dory, I thought it was a previous passenger who didn't tip the staff.

[nanray]

Well, I'll just have to clone myself because I want to do everything! Since there won't be any money left over for tips after I do everything, I suppose I'll end up recycled like John Dory for the next group of passengers . . Thanks again, Agnes. Let me know if you think of anything else. Nan

[nanray]

Hi, Agnes - it's me again. I thought of another question which I was just curious about. I can't tell from the brochure about the included tours of the cities -- I assume some of them are walking tours, some are bus tours, and maybe some are a combination. On the walking tours, did everybody go in one group (which would be close to 200 people!), or did you all split up? Thanks - Nan

[agnesd]

Nan, You are correct some included both walking and bus. Their system was very confusing and one woman was left in Saltzberg. We had either 3 or 4 buses. They are coded in colors instead of numbers. Some people were allowed to switch buses midtrip and whatever. I didn't even know we had color code to our bus since our tour director only specified the green group (that's the slower paced group). . We had no idea of colors. Maybe, by next year they will have it straightened out. Just make sure you know what colors your group is and stay with the same bus. Are you going with other couples? We went with 3 other couples. Another thing that was helpful was Rick Steve's Guide to Eastern Europe for Prague and there's another guide book, but I can't think it's name right now. We brought 1 piece of luggage, the size larger than the carryons 24 or 26" and a back pack each and I didn't even need all the clothes. QVC sells Citiknits clothing and they are wonderful for travel. We didn't go on the tour everyone thought was useless one morning and walked the Charles Bridge in the early AM before the crowds arrived. What a delight. Sighh!!!! I wish I were you and looking forward to it again. Agnes

[agnesd]

Nan, I seem to be possessed by this cruise. My friend & I had lunch today and were fondly recalling our cruise. Just a note. The Poetry seems to have the same configuration of the Artistry. We were in Cabin 207, which was wonderful. A French balcony, which was nice. Agnes

[agnesd]

I don't think they have a laundry but I thought you they would lauder it for you, unless I'm mistaken. If you wear your heaviest clothes on the plane (I, also, wear this outfit home) that helps. I wouldn't bring just jeans, they take up too much room. I'd bring lighter cotton pants. I only bring 2 pair of shoes. Walking and dressier sandals for dinners. We travel quite a bit and found out the hard way. The opt. tour was not free and it was a trip to a castle owned by someone in Philadelphia. It had a few pieces of art but everyone was disappointed. We opted not to go because it was 40 minutes outside of the city and we felt we were in Prague for such a short period of time and there was so much to see. We were happy with our decision. The first day, when you're exhausted, they offer a wonderful walking tour, but none of us felt we could handle it. We went out on our own and walked probably as much as the tour, so you might consider that option. We ate at a sidewalk cafe 1/2 block from the hotel. Check out Rick Steve's website, he has quite a few tips. Agnes

[nanray]

I'll keep all that in mind. Maybe Globus thought I was asking if they had laundromats on board. I'll also be sure to avoid castles owned by Philadelphians. Thanks again - Nan