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The Delights of the Danube with Emerald Cruises

Jost Van Dyke

It has always been a "bucket list" thing for me to do. The size of the ship (less than 200 passengers), time away (14-15 days) and iconic destinations were significant considerations in choosing this cruise. It was a fantastic experience! The activities and places visited were fabulous and we had a great time strolling about taking the included walking tours with the local guides and  the local ambience was a fantastic experience. Even just chilling out in the cabin looking out the window at the scenery passing by was great. Waking up to early morning, fog rising off the river and the expectation of another day was a lovely way to start the day.

I felt the dining experience was fantastic! Clearly the Chef and staff, Hospitality team worked hard to present interesting and diverse selections. I dont think there was a meal that wasn't beautifully presented and offered a reginal or local taste experience.

Fabulous cruise on the Danube.

After some comparison shopping, we chose Emerald, based on their brochures and the promotional campaign. It looked like a nice, high-end product and it included gratuities and extended beverage package (along with options that other companies also offer).  We sailed for two weeks from Budapest to Amsterdam in the second half of August.  

Once we found the ship,  the check-in was smooth and well managed. We were not notified where the ship would be docked, but we found out with the help from our hotel’s concierge (thank you Hotel Moments Budapest). 

On the first impression, we found  the ship to be modern, clean, and sparkling, just as in the glossy brochures, though not everything was as advertised. 

Our cabin (Emerald Panorama Balcony Suite, cat C) was the smallest I’ve experienced on any ship (river or ocean).  Having said that, the bed was comfortable and there was plenty of storage. The wall-to-wall window was a nice feature as it gave us a lot of day light and being able to open it half way was a plus. I wouldn’t call it an 'indoor balcony' though. 

The bathroom was really tiny. One had to perform some acrobatic moves to get in and out of the shower, because of the positioning of the door. Using the miniature sink meant that water went all over the place; lastly,  the ‘atomic’ (very loud) toilet system would wake up the soundest of sleepers in all neighbouring cabins. 

Dining: 

The aforementioned brochure and the website video shows an elegant dining room set with a crisp white linen.  In reality, the dining room tables were set with a “dollar store’ place mats. It was more like a school cafeteria than an elegant, high-priced ship.  The website talks about and shows a gourmet cuisine in the dining room as well as barbecue on the sun deck. No barbecues were hosted, despite the fantastic weather on most days during our cruise.  The ‘sky bar’ didn’t  exist either. 

The meal service felt rushed; on several occasions at lunch time, the main course would arrive whilst we were helping ourselves to a starter (from a buffet), then it sat there getting cold; on other occasions, we’d go to get our  dessert to find that our table was already cleared. The service was a hit-and-miss, depending on the person who served us. 

The ‘extended beverage package’ consisted of the house wines for that particular day (as well as soft drinks). We didn’t expect the top shelf brands, but certainly more than a couple of choices of wine would be nice. 

The ship’s ‘library' is a shelf with some books/games under the coffee/tea station in the lounge area. 

The WiFi was essentially non-existent even though most of the time we were in the centres of cities and towns. 

On a positive side, the ship was clean, most of the staff were excellent, and the entertainment had something for everyone. The daily program of sightseeing was fast-paced and was well organized. For many of our fellow cruisers  it would be nice to slow it down a bit or perhaps have a ‘river day’,  

The highlight for us was the private Viennese Concert (at extra cost) and the visit to the Musical Cabinets Museum.

At the cost of $20K we feel that Emerald was overpriced and didn’t deliver the standard and quality expected at that price point.

Fell below expectations 

This was my first river cruise and I did not know what to expect. Everything was perfect! The ship was beautiful, comfortable and spacious. Our cabin was clean and comfortable. Sailing was very smooth and relaxing.

Each day we participated in a tour at the various ports of call along the river. There was entertainment each evening in the lounge. The food was gourmet and delciious.

Patricia, the cruise director was extremely friendly, knowledgeable, available, efficient and organized. The hotel director, Wolf, went above and beyond to meet our needs. When discussing a certain wine with him, it would appear at our table the following evening. The staff, Petar, Vladimir, Aksana, Jordy, Ady and Mihajlo were extremely efficient, thoughtful, and friendly, and attended to our every need. The whole ship ran like a finely tuned machine. We really appreciated the thoughtfulness, kindness and attention to detail.

I would highly recommed a river cruise to anyone.

Wonderful!

We had a very enjoyable week on board the ship.  The staff were, without exception, extremely friendly and helpful.  The head chef was - as I called him - a magician.  His food was excellent.  The entertainment was really good on board, with a wonderful Entertainment Manager Noel.  We also particularly enjoyed the Concert in the Bruchsal Palace. The places we visited and the tours we undertook were all well planned.  Our only small complaint was that some of the later places we docked were too far from the main towns and one in particular was in the middle of an industrial estate, which meant a 20/25 minute walk through it, to get to the town.  The travel arrangements were excellent, with transfers from the train stations to the ship at Amsterdam and again going home with the taxi between stations in Paris.  All in all we had a very relaxing and entertaining time.

Very pleasant trip with excellent customer service.

Corfu

We went on the Delights of Duoro river cruise with Emerald in 2019 and we were impressed with the whole package including the ship, activities, crew, food and all other aspects of the journey.

We decided to Re-book with Emerald on another river cruise the Delights of the Danube and I am glad to say was equally impressed with the whole experience. The flights were unfortunately delayed for a short time but that was due to the airlines and not the cruise company who handled the situation well. 

The cruise started in Passeu and ended in Budapest calling at several stops on the way. Each stop had several excursions suited to all abilities, the excursions that I went on were all very well organised and interesting with a mix of both physical and historical interest. In the evenings we were able to relax with fine dining and wine followed by on-board entertainment or sitting on deck looking at the scenery.

Fanning Island

We wanted to cruise the Danube as it would take us to an area of Europe that we had not visited before. Our cruise got off to a very bad start as when we arrived in Munich from Birmingham ,having been up since 3am in the morning , our transfer to the boat was not available , and we were left for over 90 mins waiting for transport to arrive. The previous day we had been told that the cruise would commence at Passau not Regensberg due to river levels being low ,however on arriaval at Passau the river level seemed very normal following heavy thunderstorms in the area.

On arrival at the boat we were very pleased with the standard of the Balcony Suite, very clean and well equipped and spacious.

As it was our first cruise we were surprised to  find that the vast majority of sailing would be done at night,obviously restricting sight seeing from the boat, also when moored it was usually alongside other boats , thus restricting the view!!

The excursions were well organised , and the guides excellent, we were operating in temperatures as high as 38c yes 38c, so much care had to be taken with water supply and shade. The favourite was Belgrade ,our lady guide was superb. Will definately return there.

Due to obvious staff shortages , the restaurant service was variable, but the staff were superb without exception. The food was well prepared and had interesting variations, wines  and beers were in more than adequate supply. Breakfast was a bit of a problem for my wife  who is severley ceoliac,there was not much selection for her.

The lounge bar was also staffed with excellent people and the cocktails well prepared, the service was just first class.

The after dinner entertainment was really enjoyable and finished off with a top class Hungarian Traditional Dancing Group.

Would definately consider another cruise with Emerald.

Our first River Cruise

We chose this cruise because of the route and the fact that the boat looked modern and had only 90 cabins so felt it would be a more personalised experience.

Many we spoke to also felt the experience was let down by the food which at best could be described as acceptable. Quite frankly for a week’s trip that cost over £6,000 for just two, we felt sure we would get to enjoy amazing and memorable dining but it just didn’t materialise. Fresh fruit at breakfast was never replenished and on at least two occasions , there was nothing left at all by the time we got down to breakfast (well within the allotted time). Several main meals came either without vegetables or with over cooked soggy broccoli and carrots reminiscent of school dinners. 

On the plus side all the staff were delightful though more hands on deck (excuse the pun) in the bar when 95% of the passengers would gather for the port talk…service was painfully slow and several requests for things like ice were unfulfilled because staff were too thin on the ground and couldn’t cope.

Our cabin was finished to a high standard and the whole boat felt luxurious and spacious.

The boat’s customer director was pleasant enough but we never felt very welcome by her; she didn’t really seem to want to engage in much conversation which given her role, we couldn’t really fathom out.

Finally, we were given the chance to complete a surgery by it it had to be submitted by midnight of the day before we embarked. It took quite a while to fill out and that aside, it felt slightly wrong to not be able to complete it once home. As we didn’t know who would be accessing it and as it was identifiable by mandatory cabin number, given that we were still onboard, we felt awkward writing anything negative.

The pre departure information was patchy, some information plain nonsensical and several times, our calls to Emerald went unanswered after one hour of holding, all of which resulted in anxious times prior to actually going. 

Our first two days of itinerary were disrupted due to another ship stuck somewhere near Regensburg; whilst this was clearly out of Emerald’s hands, it made for a disappointing not to mention exhausting start to the holiday and nothing was said about possible compensation.

Beautiful boat, lovely staff but food a disappointment 

We had done the Rhine cruise and wanted to try another river. The Danube passes through many countries so we chose that for our trip. We loved the cruise and all the places we visited. The staff on board were wonderful and the ship was very comfortable. The food was very good with lots of choice. The excursions were well organised and interesting. The concert in Vienna was outstanding and we also enjoyed a Hungarian band and a Bavarian band whilst on board.

The cabin was very comfortable with lovely comfy beds and a shower with lots of hot water. I took advantage of the bikes on board and took part in two bike rides. One in Vienna, the other in Durnstein. Both very, very enjoyable. The transfers both ends went trouble free. BA and Lufthansa were excellent carriers and we suffered no delays. I have no hesitation in recommending this cruise to others.

Danube cruise. Budapest to Regensburg 

We got off to a very rocky start!  I guess Emerald was "hacked" and there was no communication for several months.  We arrived in The Netherlands one week before embarking, and they had still not sent our packet to us.  The travel agent we used was getting QUITE frustrated and would call Emerald....only to be put on hold for hours, then disconnected.  Ugh.  We finally received our paperwork electronically.  Our travel agent told Emerald the train we would be arriving on and they said someone would be at the train station holding a sign for us at the general gathering point.  NO ONE SHOWED UP!  We arrived at the Amsterdam Central station at 8:00PM, it is getting dark and I'm a bit worried.  We tried calling both telephone numbers that they provided us.....no answer.  Not even allowing us to leave a message.  Now, I'm starting to freak out a bit.  We spent the next two hours stopping at every other river boat asking where the Emerald Destiny was.  Finally, a great service guy with Viking Cruises called around and directed us to the boat.  

The cabin/food/service is fine - I have no complaints there.  And everyone on board has been super attentive since Emerald corporate screwed up.

We have another trip with Emerald on their yacht in October.  That travel agent cannot contact anyone at corporate either.  We may have to cancel that.  Ugh.  

Emerald....get your act together.

Amsterdam to Budapest

Background Information.  We booked this cruise before the pandemic, originally to take place in Sep/Oct 2020.  Owing to Covid it was postponed twice and we eventually upgraded and re-booked for April 2022.  The Emerald/Scenic staff we dealt with were excellent and really helpful.

Travel to Port of Embarkation.  We booked a taxi to Heathrow (pity Emerald don't provide this as an optional extra) and upgraded our flight to Business Class (which was well worth the extra as we would have had breakfast in a cafe at LHR and lunch at Budapest on the way home anyway).  The flight to Amsterdam was uneventful and pleasant – it was only a 45 minute flight and they managed to cram in a meal and a couple of drinks. A really good BA flight.  On arrival at Schiphol we had a few minutes difficulty finding the Emerald courier (why he didn’t lurk at Arrivals like every other cruise company I don't know).  However, once we'd found the courier we realised we were the only Emerald clients on the flight.  Consequently, we were given a taxi (brand new Tesla, very nice) to take us to the dock.  Unfortunately, the driver didn't know which dock but, as this was our 2nd trip with Emerald from Amsterdam, I had a reasonable idea of the ship's location - and I was right.

Stateroom.  Our cabin was exactly as we’d hoped, being exactly the same as the staterooms on our previous trips with Emerald.  Our cabin was neither the cheapest nor the most expensive (Panorama Balcony, top deck) but was, as expected, really first class and the housekeeper kept it spotless.  That said, I’ll go back to the middle deck in future – the sailors made a lot of nice clumping around on the sun-deck at all hours of the night when we were docking, going through locks or they were lowering/raising the deck furniture – and you pay extra to be on the top deck (I don’t know why, the cabins are exactly the same as those on the middle deck, as is the service).

Ship Info.  The TV in the cabin provided a daily list of ship activities & excursions etc as well as a handy set of videos on what to expect on board.  It also had a really useful GPS map of the ship’s location and a view from the bow camera.  On occasions when I awoke at 4am I put the bow camera view on and watched the dawn before going back to sleep – a wonderful cure for insomnia. Every day the Cruise Director would give us a pre-dinner brief on what to expect the next day – he was a very pleasant chap with a dry wit.

Dining.  Breakfast – we took this in the lounge/bar as it’s quieter and we only eat a light breakfast.  Lunch – pretty similar to breakfast (in the lounge/bar as it’s quieter and we only eat a light lunch) Dinner - 5-star restaurant, wonderful meals with excellent service and excellent wines. Being earlier in the year we were able to enjoy our meals whilst watching Europe float by.  All the food and drink on board was of an outstandingly high standard, as was the service.

Activities.  Other than attempting some of the quizzes in the evenings we didn’t involve ourselves much in the activities (which usually meant arising early to go for a cycle ride or a hike …. we’re on holiday; what are they thinking of?).  That said, the guided tours around the various places we visited were very informative and professionally executed – some were walking tours, some by coach and others in a tourist train! All were very enjoyable. The provided in-ear receivers worked really well, all the guides spoke excellent English and, on a couple of occasions, were very funny and quite irreverent regarding their own country’s history and government.

Service.  As mentioned above, the bar, restaurant and cabin service were outstanding.  Equally, the service I received from the ship’s Reception and Cruise Director’s desks was equally impressive – very knowledgeable and helpful staff.

Entertainment.  This was mostly provided by the Activities Director – a lively and energetic young man who earnt his money as he seemed to be everywhere.  I shall probably never forget his Greased Lightning dance (from the movie Grease).  On occasions, visiting performers appeared on board. Those that come easily to mind were (1) a beautiful and talented young violinist, (2) a quartet featuring a Hungarian Cimbalom (I’m told this is a diatonic hammered dulcimer or a type of Chordophone – essentially a kind of small horizontal piano in which the strings were struck manually by the performer using sticks somewhat like drumsticks but with floppy, furry ends) – a truly wonderful sound, (3) some excellent local folk dancers and (4) a very entertaining oompah band/quartet.

Port & Shore Excursions.  I’ve covered this under Activities above.  The only excursions that we made a point of not going on were those in which the ship moved on without those people who went on the excursion, picking them up a few hours later, further on.  We didn’t go on these excursions as it meant we would miss part of the river cruise and, strangely, we were there for the river cruise not wandering round some city or far flung village. That said, one excursion we particularly enjoyed was a visit to the home of a Bratislavian winemaker who was very generous with his wines and served excellent cheeses and cakes.

Disembarkation.  Emerald have this process well and truly cracked.  Everyone knew when and where they were disembarking and no one worried that their baggage might be missed, so far as I could tell.  We left the ship at 0915 in Budapest and were back at Heathrow by 1430 having had an excellent lunch and some really very good wine on the flight.

Summary.  Another outstanding Emerald Cruises trip.  We’ll be going again, this time down the Rhone and up the Douro – see you there.

Amsterdam to Budapest April 2022

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