1 Star Slovakia Tour Reviews — 1 to 5 of 5

Super poor communications from Tripsite. Lack of timely information regarding changes in the itinerary did not allow us any opportunity to cancel or reschedule or discuss options. We contacted Tripsite many times and most Inquires to Tripsite staff and requests for manager to call did not get a response.

Crew on the boat tried to be positive and accommodate a new plan but the boat hadn’t been to the scheduled stops in months. Better communication from Tripsite would have enabled us to make changes or adjust. We were unable to boat to several stops and a 3 hour each way bus ride was simply not an acceptable option.

I would not use Tripsite again.

We had one glorious day of biking along the Danube. After that . . .
Due to low water the boat could not sail to Budapest. Then a breakdown caused further delay such that we could not get to Vienna as planned and the stop in Bratislava would be only 1/2 day. With this prospect we left the boat and made our own way, at our own expense to Vienna, Budapest and back to Munich.

We made the decision to leave the boat on the third morning after low water levels and then mechanical issues required the two nights of the trip (Vienna and Budapest to be scraped or cut to a minimal tour after hours long bus ride. The water level couldn’t be helped but the mechanical issues just added to the nonbiking onboard down time. The staff were lovely but it was no longer the trip we paid for.

Biking was just ok, could have been more challenging but I knew going into this tour the biking was rated easy. The towns and villages are beautiful. The breakfast was good but the lunches they gave you for the tour during the day were horrible, thankfully there were places to eat along the way. The dinners were also poor quality, many dinners were a repeat of the day before presented differently ,especially the fish dinners. There also seem to be a discontent among the staff they could’ve been a little bit more accommodating and friendly. The rooms are basically neat and clean and comfortable the bikes were also good and the mechanics that maintain them were readily available to assist anyone in the morning before the ride. My main concern was the constant smell of sewage that was present throughout the boat and especially in the main lobby ,they often kept the sliding glass doors on both sides of the ship open to alleviate the smell. This was an obvious problem they couldn’t solve. At times, we were rafter up to other ships at port and had to walk through these other boats to the Carissima, it was obvious that the Carissima was no- frills compared to these other boats. If you are considering a tour along the Danube I would suggest looking into other cruise ships.

The comfort guide was somewhat disappointing and the on ship tour director was disorganized and dismissive. While the comfort guide did give some good suggestions, the bike tour through Vienna would have better been replaced by a bus tour, as the group was very large, traffic was heavy and the whole experience was somewhat dangerous to anyone not a very experienced rider. We were led to believe that the bike tour in Vienna would be easy, on nice paths , not crowded or busy, whereas the opposite was the case. The tour guide through Vienna, a local, did not wear an identifying vest, and travelled too quickly, More instruction for the riders not experienced with electric bikes would have been appreciated. A session especially on the electric bikes while on board the ship would be an improvement. We paid extra for a top level cabin, but it seemed to be nearly exactly the same as the cabins one level down. While the food was good, and the service was excellent, we wearied of the sauces typical of continental cuisine and the small salads. Bike lunches and water were good. Fresh fruit was available at breakfast.