Danube River Cruise - The Full Story

19/08/2017

 

We drove to Heathrow and stayed at the renaissance Hotel and had a room facing the airport runway at the Bath Road side of the airport. It was interesting to see the various planes land and take off. It was fortunate that the hotel has double-double glazing to mute the noise.

 

Our friend John was declared guest of the day when we checked in for which he was rewarded with a pass to use the executive lounge for himself and the others 3 in our party. We took full advantage and spent the evening enjoying the wine and nibbles having had our dinner at the Three Magpies Restaurant just a couple of hundred yards along the Bath Road. We also had a free breakfast in the lounge the following morning before we caught the Hopper bus to Terminal 3 where check-in was surprisingly quick without using the check-in kiosks.

 

20/08/2017

 

The flight of 2.5 hours was pleasant and we arrived at Budapest Airport at 18:15. Passage through immigration was really quick but the baggage took 40 minutes to arrive on the Carrousel. A coach took us to the ship but it was an eventful journey. As we reached the river the traffic was being diverted by the police because it was a national holiday, the city and river side was packed with people and the Barcelona terrorist attack 2 days ago had caused them to put Budapest on traffic lock-down. The holiday manager from the ship managed to negotiate dispensation from the police to let the coach through but it was 20.30 before we reached the ship.

 

The ship is splendid – we had a choice between using the ship’s restaurant or Bistro and decided on the Bistro where the evening meal was 5 star faultless. After the meal we went onto the top deck to watch the magnificent firework display over the river – a National holiday treat. The ship sailed at 23:00 bound for Esztergom which took us past the Parliament Building – a truly awesome floodlit sight.

Sounds like you're having a great time Alan

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREAT

Sounds like a lot of fun for every one, apart from the gravy. I never liked did Bisto.

Sounds like you are enjoying it all Alan...

21.08.17

 

The ship arrived at Esztergom at 07:00 and berthed alongside another river cruise ship. To access the dock we had to go to the top deck on our ship – walk across a gangway onto the top deck of the other ship and go down through its reception to use the docking walkway.  Most of the river cruise ships have their entry doors in the same position and they can be aligned to allow passengers to walk from one ship to another in order to embark or disembark. It was just our bad luck that we had to berth alongside a ship with a non-compatible layout.

 

The high spot in Esztergom is the Basilica which is the largest (catholic) church in Hungary.  It is 150 metres above the village and a steep climb to walk to. Fortunately, there was a small Noddy Road train arranged by the cruise company to take us old uns with medical conditions there and back.

 

The Basilica was quite impressive and there were splendid views of the town and river from its gardens.

 

We returned to the ship at 12:30 for a light lunch and relaxed in the lounge to chat, socialise with other passengers and enjoy afternoon gin and tonics. The ship sailed for Bratislava at 13:00 without us noticing. The river is fast flowing but so smooth.

All looking good Alan....nice pics

Like the piccies

Some of the pictures make it look as though you were abroad in a foreign country.

 Is your second picture a view of the hotel you are staying in?

I'm envious Alan, I might like a river cruise but sea cruises do not appeal to me.
My sister has been on loads of sea cruises she loves them.
I admire her as she goes on her own and she is 80 years old.

You would love a river cruise meerkat, calm and peaceful with beautiful scenery and excellent food in a floating 5 star hotel

malcolm wrote:

You would love a river cruise meerkat, calm and peaceful with beautiful scenery and excellent food in a floating 5 star hotel

I second that

Smokey Robinson.....Cruisin'

heh get off of ya arse and get back here - we've got problems not enough funnies coming in!

I took many photos during the cruise and a long story to tell - so I compiled an article on our river cruise for the benefit of friends and family. There are only a few photos included – but more than I wanted to host and post individually

 

Here is the pdf link :-

https://1drv.ms/b/s!AsWeojYaF3Xu3wy-hmXoKAhM_2cM