Hello,
We are planning a river cruise on the Danube next September and were all set to go with Globus until someone told me about Grand Circle Travel. They seem to be so much less money. Does anyone input on GCT? I would like to cover all bases before I finally make my decision. They book up so fast, I need to work quickly on this.
Thanks for any input.
I worked for Grand Circle Travel back in 1991. They were a first class tour operator with many, many repeat travelers. They're based in Boston, on Congress St. I haven't heard anything since I left them in 1991 to contradict this info. They use the same suppliers (hotel, crusie lines) over and over so their price is discounted and they do pass the savings on to the traveler.
Their customer service department was very good and able to answer all questions. You can give them a call.
But compare the itineraries....are you docking at the same ports, what's included in the tour price, where are you flying to/from, but most importantly what cruise line are you using and which ship will you be on? The age of the ship will vary the price, as well as the season you travel.
If you want, tell me the dates and the two ships and I'll try to research it for you to see if I see anything that might be questionable.
I would greatly appreciate your input. The cruises we are debating are GCT Old World Prague and Blue Danube-9/17/08 and Globus Blue Danube Discovery-9/18/08. As this would be our first river cruise, we could use any help we could get
OK, I have the info. I will respond by tomorrow afternoon.
Looking quickly at this info I see GCT is a shorter trip, less ports, older ship (2000 vs Globus 2007). Is anyone a WWII history buff? Globus include Nurenberg, this is a big draw for some folks.
GCT prides itself on being a good tour provider with lots of different information about your destinations, for instance, you can visit a local school in Prague and have lunch there.
I also noted Globus seems to include more tours where GCT a lot of the tours are "optional" meaning you pay extra. For instance The Melk Benedictine Abbey.
Another difference is GTC starts on Prague and Globus starts in Budapest.
I did a river cruise in 2000 that started in Passau and ended in Budapest. It was 6 days and that was long enough for me. Eastern Europe has come a long way in these 7 years so I'm sure things will be better for you.
I am going to email you my email address for further info.
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