A lifetime of memories when cruising!

It’s the start of another year, my 40th in the travel industry, the last 26 in cruising.

You really can’t be in this business, travel as much as I have over the years, and not have mountains of memorable travel experiences. The question here is are you a “tick box” traveller, or do you really get something out of your travel experiences that make them as memorable to you, as mine are to me?

Let me share some cruise experiences that others have told me are hard to beat.

A clear reminder to me that all cruises mean different things to different people came from one of my clients who remarked that, even after his sixth cruise to Antarctica, he was still as mesmerised by that continent as he had been when he and his wife had travelled there for the first time. Surely this provides a very important message and that is that you have to travel “with your eyes wide open” to really see what a place is really like. Another way of looking at it…    don’t just do the tourist stuff. Go where locals go and you’ll see a different side to that place.

The flip side to the above is the person who travelled to India and just couldn’t come to terms with the “real” living poverty that sat on the doorstep of her luxury hotel. Another person, priveleged to tour some of the Orient, visiting Vietnam extensively, seemed not to recall much of the places she had visited other than the unique spa in her hotel.

One of my most memorable trips was a seven night river cruise between Budapest and Regensburg in Germany, a classic Danube itinerary which includes the magnificent city of Vienna, a day in Bratislava, and the famous Melk Abbey. Vienna is a spectacular city. Opera, the renowned Vienna Boys Choir, home of the famous Spanish Riding School and its lipizzaner horses, Mozart, Schloss Schonbrunn, Sacher Torte Apple Strudel…     they are all here.

Just about any Danube river cruise that either starts, or ends, in Budapest will include Vienna and you’re almost certain to get an overnight stay there. It’s not the only highlight of this seven night cruise though. If you have the time make sure you stay a night or two in Budapest, one of Europe’s spectacular cities.

Budapest’s highlights for me are the Gellert Baths or, if you are even more adventurous, the Szechenyi Spa and Swimming Pools. I guarantee you will have not experienced anything like this before. Not only are the enormous range of spas, thermal baths and pools spectacularly different, but, for me, part of the experience of any visit there is the cultural differences between all the people using these facilities. Just to understand the “menu” of what’s on offer, not easily translated for the English, is in itself a challenge. Take your own bath towel to avoid the cost, and greater challenge of trying to dry yourself with a sheet…    yes, no mistake…    a sheet, but that’s another story.

My own preference and recommendation, when it comes to river cruising, is to opt for APT, a line that specialises in this. If your budget can stretch to it, choose a twin balcony cabin.

Need my expertise? I certainly hope so, and I am ready to guide you. Call me on 0330 303 8397 or email me [email protected] and we’ll get you travelling in no time.

This blog is partly adapted from one that I wrote quite some time ago but my views and the comments remain the same.