I was contacted by these lovely folk several years ago when I was recommended to them by their friends, and I have booked some lovely holidays for them.
The war in Ukraine had caused the cancellation of their St Petersburg trip and some rotten luck just before departure had curtailed their Scandinavian cruise for the third time!
I was so pleased when they finally got to go, and they then treated themselves to their first river cruise a few months later. Here’s their tale of two cruises …
Susan’s advice has always been excellent, so we were eagerly looking forward to a couple of cruises, the first of which, our summer trip to Scandinavia with Celebrity, was at the fourth time of trying!
It had been cancelled three times previously, twice due to Covid and once due to me having an accident at home two days before we were due to travel. On each occasion, Susan was incredibly helpful in obtaining refunds and reorganising the holiday.
We finally made it, the whole experience was stress-free, efficient, and definitely worth waiting for.
The ship, Celebrity Silhouette, set sail from Southampton and was lovely. Susan had, of course, booked us a great cabin.
A highlight was dining at The Petit Chef, where your meal is presented along with amazing animation. This was a first; having never seen anything like this before, we thoroughly enjoyed it.
Although Bob had been to some Scandinavian ports during his working life, it was good to see them as a tourist.
The amazing June weather was an unexpected bonus and each place we visited was clean with very friendly and engaging locals.
We saw some fabulous sights, including the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, the Øresund Bridge connecting Denmark and Sweden, the beautiful scenery sailing into Stockholm and the changing of the guard at the Royal Palace.
The point in Skagen, Denmark, where the Baltic Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean, but the waters don’t mix is a unique natural phenomenon and picturesque Tallinn in Estonia was another memorable visit.
Celebrity is an impressive cruise line, and we would most definitely sail with them again.
Our second cruise was a Danube river cruise, and we flew into Budapest from Manchester.
Unfortunately, our flight was delayed so we arrived late and very tired on our Riviera boat.
The cabin was excellent, and very well positioned, and once again Susan’s expert knowledge was invaluable. The boat itself was very clean and the staff super friendly and helpful.
We visited various points along the Danube, including a lovely town called Durnstein, where their harvest festival parade was taking place. It was lovely to see all the villagers dressed in traditional outfits.
The one day’s heavy rain of the trip meant we didn’t see Bratislava at its best, but Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest were wonderful places to see and enjoy.
Both cruises, although completely different, were superb; and Susan, as always, came up trumps - we cannot praise her highly enough.
Her expertise and wide-ranging knowledge are invaluable; her attention to detail and advice are first class; and she is always our first port of call when booking a holiday.
Penny and Bob
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