4 Star Carissima boat/barge tour reviews — 1 to 16 of 16

The scenery was wonderful and the biking very enjoyable. It was a nice balance between biking and being about to see the sights. Especially loved the day in Vienna. It was all lovely.

Great biking and lovely boat.

I loved the trip. The crew was very attentive, the itinerary was beautiful, the meals positively surprised me, the room was well equipped and spacious. I recommend the tour.

The food was fabulous! 5 star for sure.
I would suggest either doing a cycling tour or sightseeing tour but not combining them.We had to rush to get back to the boat from cycling sometimes.
Not enough small towns/villages when we cycled on this tour. The tour guide was extremely bad.

The staff was fantastic, food was great, bikes were good. Met great folks there at the dinner table. Enjoyed being able to have walking tours in Vienna and Budapest, broke the week up nicely.

Beautiful countries, great bikes and fun tour. Flexible dining seating would be preferred.

Loved the opportunity to cycle along the Danube and see more of the countryside and visit the small towns. Could have done without the wind though! Need to be prepared for all kinds of weather in October. Each day was different - Vienna and Budapest were amazing to visit (once again!).

I really loved the last day of the bicycling - we rode through the beautiful Wachau valley’s vineyards. The towns were quaint and the landscape was breathtaking! Also, we had a sunset while on the barge that was unforgettable.
Tips: *Be ready to adapt and roll with things. If you want a boring, unexciting trip, take a bus! *You will be in close contact with lots of other people. If that makes you uncomfortable, maybe this is not the trip for you. *Bring some salty snacks and other electrolyte-replacers, especially if biking in warm weather, as these are not available on the ship.

Most Memorable Part: Visiting wonderful towns and cities.
We found that the bikes provided were very heavy, making them a bit tough to ride. We were there at the end of the season and the brakes on the bikes were worn out. The bike maintenance was not ideal

We really enjoyed Wachau. Definitely stop for the wine tour, and enjoy the biking through the vineyards. It was absolutely beautiful.

My wife and I just finished this trip with another couple. First of all, remember that you get what you pay for. This cruise is much cheaper than Viking or Avalon or some of the others so you can't expect as much opulence or fine cuisine. That said, everything was fine. The food was good but not great. The walls to the cabins are thin so if the person in the room next to you is a loud talker, you will hear every word. Also, try to avoid the lowest level of rooms - the windows don't open and are noisier as you are close to the engine. The trip it self was great. The cycling was easy and scenic. We had Axel as our guide, and seriously, he ruins you for any other guide. If we went on another cruise, it would have to be with Axel - any other guide would suffer in comparison I suspect. He is Austrian with a very keen sense of humour (He would have to be as he is an Arsenal fan). He went above and beyond.

Cycling past the remnants of the Iron Curtain. WOW!
There were so many highlights, but having Axel as our guide certainly added a great deal to our daily rides. Thanks Axel!

It was our 35th anniversary and we had lots of alone time to tour ourselves but also met the nicest people on the boat

The ability to view many little towns throughout the trip along with the amazing historical buildings. The daily bike routes could have been clearer, or at least exact precise maps to follow.

We participated on this Bike N Barge tour in May of 2017. The Carissima is a former "Viking Cruises" ship which is now doing the bike and barge tours for a year or so and it provides such luxury in accommodations, living quarters, dining rooms, swimming pool and so on that is unlikely to find on any other ship and tour of this type. The bike paths are by most standards quite good and the scenery is simply wonderful. The first day or riding the Engelhartszell - Aschach bike path is majestic and the Great Loop of the Danube unforgettable. The Wachau / Krems - Melk trail on the last riding day is by far the best and most interesting. We also rode our bikes on our own through the city of Bratislava and also through most of Budapest which is by far one of the nicest cities east of the Iron Curtain. We did not take a day of rest in Vienna. We rode our very comfy e-Bikes for 4 hours throughout the city and stopping at the huge number of venues for photos as time in Vienna is absolutely very limited. If there is something wrong with this trip is the fact that this ship does not stay overnight in any of the main stops on the tour so it lacks the opportunity to explore the city at night and enjoy some of the local events and specialties. The ship leaves almost as soon as your requested time of return from cycling is scheduled and you spend much of the time on the ship deck watching the river go by. The tour guides were outstanding and the directions given are flawless. Having been given the gps routes in advance was immensely helpful. By the way, while e-Bikes are not essential they are good to have if you plan to climb the hills to see the castles and other high up the horizon venues on this tour. If you stay on the assigned paths regular 7-8 gear bikes are just fine. The Hungarian dance evening excursion is quite good and recommended and so is the Vienna Orchestra evening excursion if it is your first ever classical music show. It provides some of the well known classical music by well known music geniuses but leaves a lot to be desired if you are well aware of this musical era. The orchestra is small just 16 or 17 musicians in a small and poorly designed venue for that type of music. 3 out of 5 for this excursion. The overall trip is well designed and gives nice riding opportunities, great views, lots of culture, great comfort and the Danube is a treat. The meals on Carissima are less than good in quality and taste but better than most for showing off. The breakfast are excellent. The rest is average at best. The crews are all top quality for service and attendance. I dislike sitting at the same table with the same 6 persons every days every meal. It supresses the opportunity to meet people and reduces the fun of getting to know others from different countries, cultures, ethnicity and customs. For the reasons of not overnight stops and the food quality and table seating system we rate this at a 7 of 10 stars or 3.5 on this scale.

The bike journeys were terrific taking us through beautiful towns and scenery! The last day's trip to Melk was spectacular BUT it was recommended that we take the ferry across too early on the ride. This sadly led to a long and unnecessarily arduous climb to Melk that could have been avoided by staying on the other side of the river and crossing at Melk. That said, we very much enjoyed the trip!