Diamond

Diamond Reviews

39 Diamond reviews from past cruise travellers.
4.7
AVG. RATING 4.7 / 5
39 Reviews
5 Star
74%
4 Star
21%
3 Star
2 Star
1 Star

< Back To Diamond

Wonderful and relaxing   4 , QLD, Australia, Dec 2019
What a great journey! Travelmarvel were great, all the staff and Sue our tour director were wonderful. There was no chance to go hungry... so much food and very nice. The tours off the ship were well organised and plenty of time to do your own thing if you wanted to. My favourite place was Cesky Krumlov. Had a great time and met some lovely people. ...read more Great value for money too. Thank you Travelmarvel and thank you Georgie for organising this tour for us.
An unbelievable holiday   7 , VIC, Australia, Sep 2019
My sister ,Marianne, and I had an unbelievable holiday. The weather was good, the whole experience was wonderful. Being in "cheap" below cabins was still very good because we still had two rather large portholes. So I was happy. I can't tell you how much I loved this holiday. Everything was wonderful.

There is a down side though. In all of our communications ...read more to each other there was one thing that has to be addressed. When we got to Budapest we had a night in a hotel and from there we made our own way to where we had to board the Travelmarvel Diamond. It was a very hot day and no one knew where the ship was docked. There are three no. 8 docks in Budapest and we went to all three.

By the time we found the right one my sister and I had spent 3 hours walking in the hot sun dragging heavy suitcases. No water to drink and my sister started vomiting because she was dehydrated and I nearly fainted from the heat. Please, next time include on your information where the ship docks. All you to say was "the glass building that looks like a whale" everybody knows where that is. Also you should have included a phone number for the ship so that in case of trouble I could have rang the ship and said 'where are you?'.

I will definitely be holidaying again with you and your cruise ships. Maybe next time I'll go to France, down the waterways through the wineries. I just want to say thank you to you and all your staff for helping me make this holiday so special. Thanks again.
Eastern Europe & European Gems   1 , VIC, Australia, Jun 2019
The holiday went very well due to the assistance of Global Journeys and the arrangements put in place prior to leaving Australia. Travelmarvel's organisation was, as one would expect, tip top. The weather was great and there were no hiccups. Very happy with Global Journeys and Travelmarvel. Should I travel again I would gladly involve both organisa ...read moretions.
An amazing Travelmarvel cruise!     9 , WA, Australia, Apr 2019
Well, I can honestly say this was one of the best holidays I have ever had. Everything about the cruise just fell into place, due to the competence of Cherie Cooper, our cruise director! Cherie is a wealth of knowledge and has an awesome sense of humour and is really a wonderful person. I'm sure she is an asset to the company.

We were extremely ...read more lucky to have been blessed with excellent weather, and although nobody could control this, it worked well in our favour. Marko looked after us in the dining room, even though with open dining it could have been any one of the waiters, but we chose to remain on the same table and it certainly was worth it.

A lot of friendships were made but most of all were the wonderful memories we will all have forever. Thank you Travelmarvel. Hope to see you again sometime.
Excellent value for money! Best holiday ever!     11 , QLD, Australia, Dec 2018
We have just returned from the Xmas Markets river cruise on “the Jewel” with Travelmarvel. Travel was first class all the way. Plenty of included activities as well as several extra optionals. All the crew were fabulous and our cruise director “Emma” was very experienced and ever so helpful. This truly was a worry free 15 day river cruise. We made ...read more quite a few new friends that we plan on keeping in touch with. We plan on using Travelmarvel for our next river cruise in Russia. Booking ahead with the fly free offer made this great value for money.
River cruise Budapest to Amsterdam plus Prague and Paris   6 , NSW, Australia, Nov 2018
Had a great time on the cruise, Xmas Markets were amazing. The organisation and information supplied by our guides was second to none.
Our tour with a difference!     13 , QLD, Australia, Oct 2018
We set off for a 15 Day European River Cruise aboard the Travelmarvel Diamond with great expectations. What we actually got was a 15 Day European Tour on the Travelmarvel Jewel, Sapphire & the Diamond, plus 2 luxury hotels in Budapest & Regensberg & many entertaining kilometers aboard comfortable coaches. Due to the unprecedented lack of water, a once ...read more in one hundred year event, we were able to do what no Travelmarvel group has yet to do, i.e. travel on each one of its fabulous fleet.

We saw much of the countryside as well as the rivers, so it was all an added bonus! Extra tours were added for us & the care & consideration shown to all by our tireless Cruise Director Hedleigh Emberson was excellent. Many thanks go to the crews of all the vessels in a very trying situation for all, & our local tour guides aboard our coaches were so knowledgeable & entertaining. Our first Travelmarvel adventure, but certainly not our last.
From Budapest to Amsterdam     8 , Nsw, Australia, Oct 2018
This is the best value European holiday ever. Great food, great company. Travelmarvel were great, we had a few hiccups, such as the low river levels and using 3 ships instead of one. Minimal interruptions, but the logistics Travelmarvel had to take care of to get us through the trip was nothing short of amazing. Cannot speak highly enough of Global ...read more Journeys, we dealt with Jemma who kept us informed of the low river situation all the time. Best ever.
A genuinely great holiday where every effort is made to ensure a good outcome     20 , QLD, Australia, Oct 2018
This was an exceptional cruise in the very literal sense. I have fortunately had the luck to experience quite a diverse & varied presentation of holidays by various cruise/holiday organisations - this would have to have been THE BEST!

Now, granted, not everything went according to plan, but I hasten to add that in my experience, Travelmarvel made ...read more exceptional effort to minimise inconveniences & maximise experience. I pay ultimate respect to Cruise Director - Sue Obermoser, she did an outstanding job to ensure everyone’s situation was the best, under some pretty adverse situations, namely prevailing river conditions. Very well done to her and the entire crew.
Marvellous Travelmarvel cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest   18 , NSW, Australia, Oct 2018
My best friend and I did this cruise to celebrate 50 years of being best friends and what a way to celebrate! Fabulous weather and scenery and unforgettable special experiences like a Mozart and Strauss concert in Vienna and watching an incredible demonstration of glass blowing by a master artisan. Our ship and its crew were magnificent and the food ...read more was fabulous. Definitely not the last river cruise we will do.
Wonderful river cruise experience     6 , NSW, Australia, Oct 2018
This was our first cruise trip and we'll definitely have more in the future. I wasn't aware of the dependency of European river cruise on weather before I booked this trip. It turned out the journey could have been ruined by the water level in the Rhine, Main and Danube. When the water level is too low due to drought, the tour company has to use coaches ...read more to transport passengers along the river. This will be accompanied by a daily check-in and check-out of hotels instead of staying in the same cabin throughout the whole trip. The water level indeed was too low in part of our cruise. Luckily Travelmarvel had a good contingency plan. They had two ships start from both ends at the same time. We had a ship swap in the middle where the water level was too low that the ships could not pass. We just packed our luggage on that day and it was moved to the same cabin on the other ship after our day excursion. It all happened seamlessly. I couldn't image if we had to finish the rest of our journey by coaches.
Danube - Rhine Experience   13 , QLD, Australia, Oct 2018
A thoroughly enjoyable river journey. After 4 weeks prior travelling independently "back packing" around Croatia this was absolute luxury. The cabin was fantastic. The bed so comfortable plus a 'balcony' view. The food was amazing. I was conscious to eat healthily. I avoided the pastries and bread but still had 3 'big' meals a day. I had sparkling wine ...read more with breakfast and wine with lunch and dinner. Why not indulge a little. I would also walk for 1 to 1.5 h each morning before breakfast whenever the ship was docked. Amazingly when I got home and weighed myself I hadn't put on weight. Which goes to show with healthy eating (and some drinking) plus exercise you don't have to put on those kilos on a 'cruise'.

Marion our Tour Director was fantastic. The excursions were great except for Vienna. We only had a very short 'guided tour', then were left at St Stephens for 1/2 h which was not long enough to do anything. We then went (and wasted 1h) to the Nasch Market to sample a piece of cheese, a mini" pancake" and glass of wine. This was a complete waste of time! With so much food/wine on the the 'ship' no one needed more food. This component should be dropped. There is so much else to see in Vienna. Fortunately I have lived there so know! Entertainment: because I got up at 6.30am each morning to go for my walks I was always too tired after dinner to partake in the evening entertainment. I did enjoy the very informative afternoon talk by the professor about the Danube-Rhine Canal.
Great Cruise - Very Low Water Level   12 , VIC, Australia, Sep 2018
This cruise takes you through some wonderful parts of Europe. The scenery is fantastic. Our Cruise Director Kay (KY) was magnificent and thought of everything - even little snacks and gifts along the way. We had to swap ships half way through the cruise because the water levels are very, very low. Only missed 1 or 2 stops and other activities were substituted. ...read more Travelmarvel thinks of everything and has excursions for all levels of 'seniors'. Although, not suitable for those in wheelchairs.

The 2 ships we cruised on were 'sister' ships but their crews were vastly different. The Captain of the Travelmarvel Diamond is hands on. Always there to greet you back on the ship or help in any way he can. He calls his crew his 'children'. They are all one big happy family. Totally opposite on Travelmarvel Jewel. The Captain drives the boat. Wouldn't recognise him if he sat next to me at dinner. His staff were efficient but not as friendly or happy in their job. Leading from the top makes a great difference. All in all, I will definitely travel with Travelmarvel again and use Global Journeys to do my bookings. Thank you.
European River Cruise   6 , QLD, Australia, Aug 2018
River was at its lowest in 15 years and although we had to change ships half way, the Cruise Director made sure we were looked after. Definitely good value. We were accommodated in a 5 star hotel on the first night with a river dinner to watch fireworks, just to make up for not being able to be on our river cruise ship.
River Cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam   3 , NT, Australia, Aug 2018
We had a great travel experience with Global Journeys which was a stress free and exciting trip. Thank you and we would travel again with this company.
European River Gems Tour   8 , QLD, Australia, Aug 2018
We were disappointed in our river cruise because of Mother Nature. The rivers did not have enough water for the ships to get through so we had to change ships. We were unable to board our ship (Jewel, which we loved) at Budapest so had to travel by coach to Vienna. We were put into the Ritz Carlton in Budapest and were able to have a dinner cruise where ...read more we saw the best fireworks display ever.

We travelled to Passau where we had to coach it to Nuremberg where we boarded our next ship (Diamond, even though identical to the Jewel didn't enjoy it as much). Alan was sick when we arrived in Prague, he was able to see a doctor when we finally boarded our ship in Vienna. He was then confined to his cabin for 2 days. Consequentially he did not enjoy the trip as he wasn't feeling well the whole time and the pace was pretty fast.

We heard on the grape vine that the ships had stopped running 3 weeks before our trip if this was correct I think we should have had the opportunity to either cancel or defer our trip. We arrived home completely exhausted not what we had expected on a river cruise.
Great organisation and enjoyable holiday for both of us   2 , NSW, Australia, Jul 2018
Our holiday was hassle free thanks to Georgie's organisation. All flights, transfers and tours were as expected. The river cruise was an adventure having to change ships due to river levels - the cruise director had everything under control and the cruise was great. If we were not with Travelmarvel then this would not have been possible as other companies ...read more did not have boats available to enable a switch mid river cruise. Would definitely recommend this company to others. Highlights, Zermatt and the Matterhorn, Vienna especially our free time exploring museums and Time Travel Vienna experience. Thank you again for coordinating a great experience - never to be forgotten.
Cruise Amsterdam to Budapest Travel Marvel     11 , NSW, Australia, Jul 2018
Very happy with Global Journeys and with Travelmarvel! Very enjoyable experience. Highly recommended. Our highlight was the Rhine Gorge. Not ideal having to do a boat swap from Travelmarvel Diamond to Travelmarvel Jewel halfway along because of low water levels in the Danube. However the ~ 2 hour bus trip from Nuremberg to just south of Passau to join ...read more the new boat was pleasant and the only place we missed seeing was Regensburg.

During our cruise the Danube also became closed for river ships between Bratislava and Budapest so the cruise itself ended in Bratislava. We coached from Bratislava to Budapest for the day (three hours each way) to do the tour of Budapest then had the trip from Bratislava back to Budapest the following day to end the tour. All cruise companies faced the same problems and our cruise director handled the disruptions (clearly beyond his control) and rearrangements well. Weather very hot and dry ( 30-40 everyday) but after all it was July and mid summer!

Only negative comment relates to failure of the air conditioning on Travelmarvel Diamond for the first 48 hours of the cruise. Temperature in high 30s and no fans were available. Faulty unit extremely noisy in our cabin located next to the unit at the back of the boat. Difficult to sleep. Air Conditioner repaired and noise problem disappeared but unit never functioned really efficiently. If this conditioner is not designed for consistent 30-40 degree heat then should be replaced given global warming appears a reality. Air conditioning fine on Travelmarvel Jewel.
Lovely River Cruise   5 , ACT, Australia, Jul 2018
A very enjoyable river cruise with excellent local guides. Global Journeys had a first rate internet site (easy to navigate with comprehensive information which was presented in a very user friendly manner) all of which was backed up by prompt and excellent service from Yvonne Brooks.
Lazy & Enjoyable Holiday   6 , WA, Australia, Jun 2018
The organisation from both Global Journeys and Travelmarvel was outstanding. The river ship was excellent although the cabins were a little tight for room. The river trip experience is a lazy one with plenty of time on board, lots of food and some varied experiences ashore through large cities and numerous small, historical, gorgeous towns.
Results 1-20 of 39

Cities