Alternative activities?

[Mineu]

We currently have a Danube River Cruise booked. Hubby watched a YouTube video and is less than impressed with some of the actives. He's not the type to participate in cooking classes or dance lessons. Do they offer alternatives or will he just miss out on a lot? Should we consider a different adventure? Thinking about Ireland or Germany or even just Southern California with Disneyland...

 

[sayhello]

When I did the Danube River Cruise in 2016, almost every timeframe had multiple activities to choose from (at least 2 options, sometimes more). The first day, you'll be asked to choose which alternatives you want to do for each day. But we were told we could also change our minds later on. (The only river cruise that doesn't strictly work this way is the Rhine River cruise, because a handful of the activities on that cruise have very limited capacity.) In fact, the River cruises have WAY more alternatives and flexibility built in than any of the regular land itineraries.

Sayhelllo

 

[Mineu]

When I did the Danube River Cruise in 2016, almost every timeframe had multiple activities to choose from (at least 2 options, sometimes more). The first day, you'll be asked to choose which alternatives you want to do for each day. But we were told we could also change our minds later on. (The only river cruise that doesn't strictly work this way is the Rhine River cruise, because a handful of the activities on that cruise have very limited capacity.) In fact, the River cruises have WAY more alternatives and flexibility built in than any of the regular land itineraries.

Sayhelllo

That's good to know-thanks!

 

[OhanaCuz]

I did the Danube ABD. The dance lesson was literally a 10-15 minute activity (that I hated BTW). But it took place at Schloss Hoff, which was a beautiful place to explore. For the cooking class do you mean at Schonbrunn Palace? That was less than 30 minutes and I actually found it fascinating and delicious. But if it doesn't float your boat there are so many other things to do at that attraction (including the world's oldest zoo). In fact on that day we took an Uber and did our own thing for half the day. I loved our adventure and would recommend it to people without question.

Plus with river cruising on the Danube you're always docked somewhere where you can go exploring on your own. Sailing down the river and seeing all those sights was something I'll never forget.

 

[tink1970]

I'm on the Danube River Cruise now and yesterday (day 3) the only formal activity was a tour of Brataslavia and then Scholss Hof, which did include a short dance lesson. I have done this trip before so I stayed on the boat and enjoyed the cruise down the Danube. This am we toured Schonbrunn Palace and then OYO...others just did OYO time all day and some of us returned to the boat to relax while others went on a bicycle ride (so essentially-1 formal tour available in the am, 1 in the pm). I'm not disagreeing with PPs but I don't know if you and your DH would be unhappy with not many activity choices on 2 days of a 7 day trip-only you can answer that.
That said, I agree with @OhanaCuz and @sayhello-this is a wonderful trip.

 

[Mineu]

Thank you for this! He can definitely be a bit of a spoil sport. I wish he hadn't watched the video-their cruise had bad weather and low river levels-so, he fixated on that as well. Looking into switching to Ireland instead...

 

[tink1970]

Thank you for this! He can definitely be a bit of a spoil sport. I wish he hadn't watched the video-their cruise had bad weather and low river levels-so, he fixated on that as well. Looking into switching to Ireland instead...

Ireland is great, too! This isn't a cheap vacation so best to be excited about whatever you chose and really want to go on it (IMHO).

 

[sayhello]

Thank you for this! He can definitely be a bit of a spoil sport. I wish he hadn't watched the video-their cruise had bad weather and low river levels-so, he fixated on that as well. Looking into switching to Ireland instead...

Ireland is great, too! This isn't a cheap vacation so best to be excited about whatever you chose and really want to go on it (IMHO).

Just don't let him watch anymore videos. Every trip has departures with bad weather, or one or two activities he might not be thrilled about. If he's looking for reasons to not enjoy the trip, I'm sure there's enough videos out there for him to find something.

Sayhello

 

[OhanaCuz]

Thank you for this! He can definitely be a bit of a spoil sport. I wish he hadn't watched the video-their cruise had bad weather and low river levels-so, he fixated on that as well. Looking into switching to Ireland instead...

There was a torrential downpour on the night we were scheduled for our nighttime cruise to see the lights of Budapest. Some people put on ponchos and went up to the deck anyway. We went out on our covered balcony to watch. Everyone had a great time.

Different river levels are something river cruises have to deal with. I wouldn't consider it a reason not to go.

 

[Mineu]

I definitely rue the day that our daughter showed him how to find YouTube videos.

 

[Donalyn]

And he may just be surprised, and enjoy activities that he thought wouldn't be fun. We just got back from the Italy ABD. I thought I wouldn't like our cooking class - it was super fun. And I thought that the painting of masks would be sort of lame - but again, it was super fun (and all of the masks made it home in the suitcases without breaking!!!!).

 

[Mineu]

Question-if we do switch-I was told as a DVC member we would still get opening day pricing. However, the date we're looking at is discounted. Based on the price they gave me-sounds like we got the opening day price and not the sale price...

 

[sayhello]

Question-if we do switch-I was told as a DVC member we would still get opening day pricing. However, the date we're looking at is discounted. Based on the price they gave me-sounds like we got the opening day price and not the sale price...

Were you looking at moving a deposit from one trip to another? If you do that, it's not considered a new reservation, and the discounts are only good for new reservations.

Sayhello

 

[Mineu]

Thanks for the help everyone! I was able to talk him back into a River Cruise. Since he loves regular cruising, I think he realizes this will be similar in nature as opposed to one of the land based tours. However, we did have to change the dates due to the Aulani trip he promised to our children. So, we are now on the Rhine Cruise instead. Super excited that it has worked out close to our original plans. The agent mentioned that we would receive an email to sign up for activities-is this new? The trip reports seem to indicate you do this once you arrive?? Thanks again!

 

[sayhello]

Thanks for the help everyone! I was able to talk him back into a River Cruise. Since he loves regular cruising, I think he realizes this will be similar in nature as opposed to one of the land based tours. However, we did have to change the dates due to the Aulani trip he promised to our children. So, we are now on the Rhine Cruise instead. Super excited that it has worked out close to our original plans. The agent mentioned that we would receive an email to sign up for activities-is this new? The trip reports seem to indicate you do this once you arrive?? Thanks again!

The Rhine River Cruise is the only one where you sign up for activities in advance, because a few of them have a pretty limited availability, and they want people to know in plenty of time ahead whether they got those activities or not.

Sayhello

 

[Mineu]

The Rhine River Cruise is the only one where you sign up for activities in advance, because a few of them have a pretty limited availability, and they want people to know in plenty of time ahead whether they got those activities or not.

Sayhello

Will definitely rest easier knowing we can pre-book! Also might drop the prenight if we don't have to rush there to sign up. I really like the morning flight from JFK to LHR and then fly in the next morning-really prevents jet lag! As always-thanks for the great advice!

 

[Mineu]

By the way-do you happen to know which activities tend to fill up?

 

[OhanaCuz]

I've done a river cruise on the Rhine and Danube. It's an amazing experience that you won't regret.

 

[sayhello]

By the way-do you happen to know which activities tend to fill up?

I haven't actually done this river cruise; I just read things people were writing about it on this board. Hopefully someone who has done this one can chime in with which specific activities it was. (I *think* one was the Anne Frank House, but that doesn't appear to be on the itinerary any more. I think another was some sort of painting activity.)

Sayhello