Emerald Destiny

We booked this cruise mid year, our first ever river cruise, to see parts of Europe we hadn't previously been to. Also for the xmas markets. The first part of our expectations was absolutely met, but for the first few days, Xmas markets were few and far between. It was a little too early it seems. I'm not sure how much information the cruise company ...read more gets about the markets, but I know there were a lot of disappointed people.

The crew were fantastic, I couldn't fault them, they gave 110% but there was still a feeling that we should have had more information before leaving and maybe a couple of the locations for tours might have been better, particularly the Cathedral at Krems. This tour was a bit of a non event as much of the building was closed. The Vienna concert evening was expensive for what it was and not particularly well organised, there was a lot of standing around before people were shown to their seats, not good for over passengers. The concert was also very short. We did another one in Vienna a week later, half the cost and lasted another 40 minutes.

All the tour guides were great though. Very informative and often funny. Great history lessons to be had. The food was excellent, varied and plentiful for a first time cruiser, there were some old hands who had done multiple cruises that didn't agree, so maybe that needs looking at. The entertainment was fun and well done, Dressen was always on the go making sure everyone was happy.

Janina worked really hard to ensure everyone was informed and catered for. Her port talks were excellent. I would have liked to have seen more scenery as we sailed along , most of our movements were done at night, possibly partly because of the shorter days too. All in all it was great , we both enjoyed it very much.

Fabulous river cruise down the Danube organised through Global Journeys. We weren't sure what to expect for our first river cruise but it was sensational! We travelled with teenagers and they loved it also. Emerald organises lots of active tours for those that prefer that, as well as having the traditional activities as well. This cruise catered for ...read more everybody and we loved every part. The food, the suites, the onboard facilities and the wonderful wonderful staff. Thank you to Global Journeys for making the booking process so easy and for their great portal which was able to be accessed when we were overseas. Provided peace of mind and ease of access to all necessary information and documents.