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BLUE DANUBE 2017
Trying to make up our minds on whether to cruise in May or September of 2017. Concerned about the weather and water level issues. Anyone have any problems with the water level on their cruise? Also any suggestions on category levels? and cabins? So many to choose from!
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First off water levels. This one is impossible to predict. Right now the Danube is higher than normal. Next year who knows. Higher is only a problem if its so high the ship can't get under bridges. From my reading it seems more likely to have problems with low water the later in the summer/fall that you go. That's the more likely problem with the Danube and can cause changes in itinerary - like more bus time. Tauck is one of the best at handling this issue. Below is a link to a handy web site that gives current water levels for European rivers. Over all, I think you are safer with a May date vs Sep.
http://rivercruiseinfo.com/content/river-levels
Staterooms I know about. Obviously what you can afford is the most important criteria. While I would prefer to be on the middle or top level, if the only way I could afford to cruise would be a Cat 1, I'd still go. You really don't spend alot of time in your stateroom other than to sleep and dress. Tauck's newest ships with the loft cabins have gotten great reviews and are an affordable alternative to more expensive rooms. On the Swiss Emerald we were in 205 - a standard 150 sqft Ruby deck cabin. It was close enough to the lobby to be convenient but quiet. The only size problem was the lack of seating other than the bed or a wicker chair. On the MS Inspire, we took 202 - one of the front cabins on the Ruby deck. The size and layout were great, but we had a couple of occasions when lobby noise was an issue. Generally most nights on board the ship everyone is in their staterooms by 10pm and its' all pretty quiet. This was just a fluke of our cruise.
Things to consider. Location from the front of the ship. Pretty much everything on board occurs via the lobby - leaving/returning on daily tours, going to the lounge and restaurant, etc. The further back you are the longer you have to walk. Do you want a seating area in your stateroom? Do you want/need view windows. The longer the cruise the more likely these become an issue. In other words, on a longer cruise you may just need some private time. Mostly it's fun to hang in the lounge or better yet the sun deck. Also it's hard to predict whether your room will have a view or not. Depends which direction it's moored and whether you are double/triple stacked with other cruise ships. Both impossible to predicts. Do you want breakfast room service? It's only available to Cat 7 suites. Do you want an in room coffee maker? The cat 7's have them and the cat 5s and 6s on the newer ships like the Grace. The bistro has a super fancy self serve machine that's available 24/7. We've used this several times when we were up early.
Also consider length of your trip. The longer the better. Airfare to Europe costs the same whether its a 1 week trip or more. Jet lag can take days to get over. You can either lengthen your trip by choosing a longer cruise or by adding time at the beginning and/or end of the cruise. Tauck always has hotels at both ends that you can add stays at if desired. Most returning cruisers will have a gift of time (1 night) added. It's expensive but convenient. You can also combine your cruise with a land tour before or after.
I'd recommend reading lots of other river cruising threads on the forum irregardless of which river/itinerary. Alot of helpful info.
On Inspire last May we had a category 3 (loft cabin) and liked it so much that we immediately booked another one for next May. Our experience was that the loft cabin provided lots of space, fantastic views while sitting in the loft area, and at a price point that works well for us. I agree with the previous poster that closer to the front is better (all loft cabins are toward the front). These "long boats" are long and the walk to the public areas could be an issue for some people because all the public areas are at the extreme front of the boats.
Good luck with your planning, just pick a date that fits your needs. We are going in mid May feeling the weather will be a little warmer. but not overly hot. We also will go a day early using our "Gift in Time" making the trip over to Prague less hectic and giving us a day and a half of time to explore Prgague on our own. Last year we also stayed an extra day in Amsterdam because we wanted to take in some other sites, but next year we plan to leave Budapest when the tour ends feeling we will be ready to head home by then and Budapest, while I'm sure is worth more time, just does not excite us as much as Prague.
http://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/travel/cruises/2015/07/06/photo-tour-inside-the-tauck-river-ship-inspire/29500665/