Iconic Danube with Scenic River Cruises (Part 1)

(54 Reviews)
100% Recommended

Lola Stoker

Mississauga, ON

Cruise Holidays | Luxury Travel Boutique

I was born in The Netherlands and moved to Canada in my early twenties. I started my career in travel and hospitality in Ottawa and later moved to Toronto where I have lived and worked ever since. My home is in Etobicoke, a quiet neighbourhood i...

My background includes a Degree in Hotel Management from the University of Maastrict, The Netherlands. A veteran of the hospitality industry, I spent my early years working in catering, restaurant management and sales. Later, an opportunity arose in Corporate Travel Sales where I represented some of the larger corporate travel companies in Canada. Although I enjoyed this career, I was always envious of the leisure travel specialists that I met; they seemed to be having so much fun researching and booking dream vacations for their clients.

In 2012, I decided to pursue a career in leisure travel and started a boutique travel agency with my husband, specializing in cruises and custom vacations. I've learned more about myself and the world than I ever imagined. I am truly grateful to have this opportunity to help clients, who have been bitten by the travel bug, plan their trips and cruises.

Many of my clients have spent most of their lives in North America and are eager to see more of the world. Canada is an absolutely gorgeous country, but I believe that it is important for people to travel, experience different destinations and cultures to broaden their horizons and enrich their lives. This could mean an escorted tour in Asia, an expedition trip to Antarctica or a relaxing river cruise in Europe.

My background gives me a unique perspective when booking cruises and other travel experiences for my clients. Born in The Netherlands, I traveled extensively throughout Europe. After moving to Canada as a young adult, I continued to travel extensively to Asia, the Caribbean and Mexico. Eventually, opening my own travel agency will allow me to use my unique expertise to help a variety of valued clients.

I love connecting with my clients, hearing their stories and seeing their pictures of their travel experiences after they return. This was particularly true with a client who booked a trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. The client had the opportunity to stay in a jungle resort with an amazing view of a volcano, visit the city of Quito, cruise the Galapagos Islands and get close to the extraordinary wildlife there. The pictures I received after this trip were absolutely breathtaking!

While I travel quite a bit with my agency, I make sure I am available for my clients. While my clients are abroad, I make it a point of being reachable so that I can quickly respond to any questions they may have. After my clients have returned, I'm always eager to discuss their trip, not only to learn about their experiences but to find ways to improve my service to them.

My number one mission is to deliver a once in a lifetime, worry free travel experience through superior service, excellent value and relevant expertise - and I will do whatever it takes to achieve that goal!

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It was snowing and quite cold on Monday morning when we landed in Munich Germany. We boarded our Scenic tour bus and settled in for an enjoyable narrated ride to our destination in Passau where the Scenic Amber awaited. Thankfully the weather in Passau was clear and sunny.We arrived early in the afternoon and joined the christening ceremony for the Amber later that day. The officials gathered for pictures after the Amber’s christening.

There is plenty of food and some entertainment for guests after the ceremony.We spent our next day in Passau and it was time to start exploring! Our mornings started early with some exploring on our own. Of course, I had my eye on the castle across the river so that is where we spent our morning.It was a bit of a climb but the views were worth the effort.

We returned to the ship in time for our guided tour of Passau. The Scenic guides were excellent, they were entertaining and informative. They kept us interested and engaged throughout the tour with the unique history of the area.Our guide explained the markers on the wall depict the floods from previous years. The flood of 2013 is the second from the top.The Cathedral organ is the largest in the world with 17,744 pipes and 233 registers.We returned to the ship and spent the rest of the afternoon cruising along the Danube.
The next day we went out early to wander the streets in Linz before we boarded our bus to Cesky Krumlov. We enjoyed the city’s unique architecture and cafes.The town square is more open than our cities at home. It began to snow on our drive to Cesky Krumlov, giving the castles a ghostly appearance in the distance. The day was overcast and cool, but that did not spoil the view from the castle above at Cesky Krumlov.After our tour we warmed up over a hearty lunch at a local tavern and then wandered the neighboring shops.A scenic ride back on the bus completed a very full day. The following day began in Melk.

We set out early to explore the Abbey before our afternoon bike ride. IT was a unique experience to explore the area before the busy activity of the day.The Highlight of the cruise for me would be the ride from Melk to Durnstein. Touring the countryside by bicycle is the best way to enjoy the area. Don’t let the distance discourage you, Scenic has electric assist bikes and the peddling is easy.After a 20 mile bike ride through the countryside, who would think it could get any better. It did. We explored the shops of Durnstein and then we trekked up the 780 foot cliff to the castle ruins for a spectacular view of the valley.It was like standing on top of the world. It is a bit of a climb but well worth it.

From here we made our decent back to the village and enjoyed our sundowner event with Scenic at a local tavern.With a warm and welcoming atmosphere and local entertainment, it was a perfect ending to a spectacular day. We boarded our ship for an evening cruise to Vienna.

The next morning we decided to relax and just go out on the tour of the Spanish Riding School. The school is strict and does not allow pictures, but I could not resist a couple of shots of these beautiful stallions.Touring Vienna by carriage was also an option if you like. You can go for 1 hour or a half hour. The price starts at 60 Euros.For free time in Vienna, there is a bus to take you into the city. I chose to take the bikes out for a spin again along with the tailor made GPS.
I am glad I did because it helped me to locate the ship when I emerged down river too far to locate it by sight. Of course the tailor made could have taken me on a guided tour but I decided to wander my own path and thankfully the GPS brought me safely back to the ship.I arrived just in time to get ready for our Scenic enrichment event. We topped the evening off with an evening recital at the Garden Palace Liechtenstein. The music was enchanting.

I learned that a very familiar classical waltz was titled The Blue Danube.Our next stop was Bratislava. With so many full busy days, I found myself slowing down and just doing the scheduled tour. Bratislava had interesting architecture and unique statues, like this brass workman popping up from the ground. His helmet is shiny from everyone touching it for good luck. We spent our free time wandering the shops and we ventured into the museum before boarding the ship. I was amazed that these pieces were not behind protective glass. You could have reached out and touched them. Of course we did not touch anything, but it was amazing to experience such trust with these old artifacts.An evening cruise brought us to our final destination, Budapest.

It was difficult to choose our tour but we decided on a hospital in a rock. A very interesting tour that was like stepping back in time, unfortunately we could not take pictures of this unique piece of history. We did get some great pictures of the area leading up to the hospital. Of course morning sunrise is always my favorite.