Along the Danube - Four Country Tour Tour Reviews — 451 to 480 of 543

The plan changed from recommending biking in Budapest...to it not being recommended - and therefore no briefing/description of the route was provided. While the stickers on signposts helped to guide the way, the book could have been more fully annotated. The boat was too full, there were not enough dishes for all passengers, dinner took 3 hours (2 hours too long). Bikes were generally in good repair and available when promised. Although the food was very good, bottled water was not provided every day as contracted.

The bike path signs were sometimes hard to follow and we got off course a few times.
The staff of the boat, The Normandie, was fabulous. The food was better than we expected and they were very accommodating with our lunches. The wifi was very disappointing.

It was better than I could imagine! Thank you all.

We found this to be one of our best trips ever!

I know that there was a mid cruise change of cruise directors and neither were particularly helpful. We basically did the routes ourselves and there could have been better instructions. We had a wonderful trip though.

Biking - generally excellent. There is one day - Budapest - that is described as a biking day in most of the material we saw but when we were on the boat the tour director tried to discourage us from biking that day. There was a good reason for that - the route was confusing and included a VERY busy road for a few km. It should be removed from the promotional material as a biking day,

Boat - another boat broke down and several people were transferred to empty cabins on our boat. I think as a result there was more people on board than could be handled at dinners. Dinners went on for 2-3 hours just because the staff couldn't deal with all the guests. The good itself was fine when it finally arrived.

We had a problem with sewage odor in our room - which they boat crew was unable to fix - Also room was hot and we had to use a fan. When we complained to Rad and Reisen about the temperature they denied that the AC was not working. We complained to Rad and Reisen and they issued us a 10% refund which Tripsite matched. We appreciated your concern attentiveness to these problems and you willingness to offer some compensation.

Despite these problems, overall the trip was great - good people, great rides and beautiful scenery and points of interest. We would definately book another trip with your company, but not with Rad and Reisen.

Only thing missing was quality wifi on the boat. The trip more than met our expectations

This adventure was more than we expected. The boat was very well equipped, and our cabin was comfortable and larger than we expected. The staff was very friendly and dealt with all of our needs, and the meals were fabulous. Our bikes were well maintained and were well suited for the route we rode. The scenery was amazing and we come home with a collection of pictures and memories.

The itinerary was excellent. A nice blend of bike routes and city site seeing along the way. We spent a couple days in Vienna before the trip and then used our Vienna day to bike on the island. Glad we didn't have to cram Vienna into a few hours. It was our cruise director's first trip and his enthusiasm was greater than his organizational skills in his presentations.

Our Normandie trip from Passau to Budapest was spectacular! The weather, the boat, the food, the fellow bikers, the countryside and the bikes were all a delight. We were also pleased to learn that our guide rode each day. He was very knowledgeable; however, under stress was verbally contentious and short with guests. It became almost comical and so we learned to stay out of his way during certain times of the day. Nevertheless, the trip was a dream and we thank-you!!

Overall great trip, really loved it. Did feel the duration and arrival time in Vienna was disappointingly limited - nowhere near long enough to see sufficient in daylight hours.

Unfortunately one major problem became apparent. The tour director was charming and affable when presenting to an audience, but his manner often vacillated (changed) when talking with individuals. On many occasions he was rude and dismissive, including sometimes making derogattory comments. Due to his public persona (welcoming and friendly), I was really shocked by this. At times he gave the impression that he was putting on an act, that he really did not like or enjoy his job and the guests were an infuriating annoyance to him. Even allowing for tiredness and stress, I do not think there is any excuse for rudeness to friendly (and paying) customers. I was not the only one to observe his changeable attitude or bear the brunt of his dismissive rudeness. As it wasn't possible to pick what his response would be (ie positive or negative), I only spoke to him when spoken to. I shudder to think of his treatment of the genuinely lovely and diligent cleaners and kitchen staff. Perhaps it's time for Leslie to retire.

As this was our 1st bike and boat experience, we did not know what to expect. We are recreational cyclists, not cycling fanatics, and were very happy with this trip and look forward to saving up to do another similar adventure.

I do have 2 comments. The meal situation. It was disappointing not to have the opportunity to mix with more of the passengers as we were at a table by ourselves and had to stay at this table for every meal - even breakfast - every day. As it was a breakfast buffet and not everyone arrives for breakfast at the same time, being free to sit wherever, would definitely encourage more socializing amongst all passengers. Also, some nights, even though the staff was definitely hustling, it took more than 2 hours to be served our main course. It would seem that a few more staff members could help with this loooong wait after a long tiring day.

Also, there was a definite, obvious bias each day towards the larger group of German speaking passengers when it came to the briefing on the bike route. They were always briefed first and always went over the allotted time leaving the briefing for the English speaking passengers a very rushed affair, leaving no time for clarifications and a late start each day. This did result in some people getting lost. Alternating which group was briefed first might alleviate this problem.

Having said this, it was a tremendous trip and I would definitely recommend it to any recreational cyclist. Wonderful scenery with fantastic suggested rest stops made it an exceptional adventure. Thank you for all your help in making this a superb, memorable experience. Your service was outstanding. Thank you again.
Judy.

Food was not we are accustomed to on trips of this type.

Ship broke down and we were bused to Budapest vs cycling in, that was disappointing, but not to be helped. Jurgen our guide was very good.

I liked the ease of being in a larger boat vs a small barge. There was plenty of room in the lounge and other public places so we could get some quiet time. Also a little more anonymity on the larger boat and self guiding was fun.

Enjoyed the trip fully but thought there could have been a little better information on riding and expected timeline for rides, as we often rode faster than necessary and didn't know we could stop along the way for sight seeing etc. Our cycle guide was very nice but did not have all the information to answer our questions or help us to maximize our sight seeing experience.

The whole trip was fantastic! I have already recommended it to many of my friends and one group have already booked a trip for next year!

There was a mixup checking in to the cabins on the boat. The boat staff assigned us different rooms than the vouchers from TripSite indicated. Glad I had my voucher, otherwise we wouldn't have been placed in the upper deck room we paid for. I think the mixup affected everyone in our group of 12, and unfortunately some people were not as fortunate as we were and ended up in lower deck cabins when they reserved upper deck ones.

We did have rain quite a few days on her trip. But we were prepared and so we wore our raingear. Our guide Pieter, was very good at watching the weather and getting us inside or out of the rain if he could

This is the 3rd travel group I've put together through tripsite and each was very enjoyable. My groups ranged in size from 3 to 12. The first was a land bike trip in Provence, France and the next two were bike and boat trips on the Mozel and the Danube. I am not associated with a tour company but found working with Tripsite personnel, Mary, Carla and others, to be easy even for a novice like me to put together such trips. I have worked with other agencies but have found Tripsite to be more "reachable" and available at any time I had questions. I will continue to use them for future group and individual trips.

There was a chemical odor in the hallway outside our room, and the food was not good.

Was not always easy to "stay on course" on the bike tours. Directions and/or course markings could have been better.

Awesome experience! Can't wait to plan my next adventure with you.

Some of the routes were complicated, but we had good backup from our staff, and possibility of getting lost was reduced considerably. The bikes were in excellent condition, the staff were friendly and very knowledgeable--it was a very enjoyable trip and I would do it again.

Have recommended the 2 trips we did to all our friends and they are very keen to go.

A wonderful experience made even better by the friendly and so very helpful staff. Thank you!

Guides should have provided a little more detail (distance between turns, landmarks, areas to pay extra attention, etc)

My wife & I had a wonderful four country bike-boat trip on the Danube. Saw wonderful little towns, met good friends on the trip, and enjoyed good food and wine.

I enjoyed staying put at night better than the barge moving at night. We have done both and I enjoy walking around in the evening.I also would not have so many ferry crossings in the next trip. Puts a time factor in the ride.