We have always wanted to do a river cruise along the Danube but were put off by the high prices of the all-inclusive cruises. On the other hand, we didn't want a bargain basement no frills cruise on an old ship. So we tried to choose something in the middle - most shore excursions, wine and beer at lunch and dinner, and tips included on a newer ship at a reasonable price. We chose the Emerald Waterways Danube Delights river cruise at the recommendation of our travel agent, who had just been on the cruise himself. We booked a year in advance and were able to take advantage of some special promotional offers to get the cruise at a very reasonable price.

In almost every way, the river cruise exceeded our expectations. The Emerald Sky is one of the original ships that Emerald Waterways started with 3 years ago. Even though it's 3 years old, it still looks brand new, thanks to the constant care and attention by the crew. Early in the morning I would often see a crew member washing and squeegeeing the plexiglass at the bow of the ship so we would have a clear view of the scenery. When we were in port, someone would be washing and touching up the sides of the ship that had been scraped while going through a lock. All of the crew were very friendly and efficient. When we sent our laundry out before breakfast, it was back by noon. When our glasses were half full, someone would fill them up within minutes. All of the crew work hard and are obviously very proud of their ship.

Special mention has to go to our Cruise Director, Sheryl Galpin, who was fantastic. She was everywhere and on top of any problems that came up. And a big one did come up - a cargo ship in front of us ran aground and blocked the river for a day. Sheryl had to scramble and arrange buses and reschedule the guides so we could still visit the two towns ahead of us, albeit with less free time. Luckily, the captain was able to make up the delay and get us into Vienna on schedule, so we had a full day there. Read more