Delightful Danube – I’m coming to get you!

I am rather excited at the moment as in less than a week I am due to sample my very first river cruise. It’s only a 4 day cruise, but it will be a great chance for me to experience this type of cruising first hand.

Although I have booked lots of people and had some valuable feedback there is nothing better than being able to talk about it straight from the horse’s mouth, so a big Thank You to Riviera travel and Cruise.co.uk for making this happen. As a self-confessed sun-worshipper  this is not the type of trip that I would generally book for my own holiday, so actually being paid to be on this trip is an absolute bonus.

I will be joining the ship in Budapest where the ship will stay overnight then I’ll be on a fully guided tour of the city the following morning. After the tour it will be lovely to sail down the Danube taking in some of the wonderful scenery on our way to Vienna. This is something you don’t often get to enjoy on an ocean cruise as most sailing is either done in the dark or away from any land.  As with most river cruise companies excursions are included as part of the package, so a tour of Vienna is on the itinerary the next day. I have visited neither cities (or countries for that matter), so looking forward to learning about both.

On any cruise holiday food is a big part of life on board. The sumptuous breakfast buffet, with omelettes and fresh eggs prepared to order, ensures a great start to the day and a lunchtime buffet ensures you can eat a full meal or just something simple. The day’s culinary highlight is the splendid four-course dinner: entrée, soup, main course and dessert – all within the ambience of a high quality restaurant. The main restaurant is open and informal free seating and have a ‘smaller tables’ policy, quite unlike the inevitable regimentation of many cruise ships.

What I’m not looking forward to are my journeys to and from Gatwick Airport. Due to flight timings and the fact that I am a non-driver living up in the wilds of Yorkshire I could actually fly to the Caribbean in the time it’s going to take me to get to London. However….I know it will be worth it.

Watch for my next blog when I report back on the delights of the Danube and the 5 star ship, Lord Byron. To get a taste of life on board click here to watch a video.

For more information on river cruises click here.