However, we arrived at the airport in good time only then
for the flight to take off over an hour late. We were dismayed to find we were
sitting next to a dad with a very grizzly toddler and we had children
behind us kicking the back of the seat. After two and s half hours we were glad to get to Budapest!
Wee, we initially thought so, but it turned out to be probably the most chaotic airport we have ever been to.
Have you ever heard of 5 flights sharing a single luggage carousel?
Eventually we were on our way and we arrived at the boat to find we weren't on Emerald Dawn as expected but on her sister ship Emerald Star. We had a lovely buffet lunch with a couple of (free) beers (drinks are free with meals) and then made our way to our cabin. The 'picture' window turned out to be OK. We unpacked and then went to the welcome meeting (scheduled as 30 minutes and lasted 50!).
After that there was some Hungarian music and dancing but we chose to get ready for dinner. We were lucky enough to have a table by the window with a view of the stunning Parliament building. After dinner as it was getting dark we were taken up the river to see the buildings and bridges illuminated which was stunning in spite of rain. Nature added its own light show with a thunder storm.
The ship is small - just about 175 passengers, the atmosphere is informal (even slack compared to that on a cruise ship?) - and everyone is very friendly. So far so good!
Eventually we were on our way and we arrived at the boat to find we weren't on Emerald Dawn as expected but on her sister ship Emerald Star. We had a lovely buffet lunch with a couple of (free) beers (drinks are free with meals) and then made our way to our cabin. The 'picture' window turned out to be OK. We unpacked and then went to the welcome meeting (scheduled as 30 minutes and lasted 50!).
After that there was some Hungarian music and dancing but we chose to get ready for dinner. We were lucky enough to have a table by the window with a view of the stunning Parliament building. After dinner as it was getting dark we were taken up the river to see the buildings and bridges illuminated which was stunning in spite of rain. Nature added its own light show with a thunder storm.
The ship is small - just about 175 passengers, the atmosphere is informal (even slack compared to that on a cruise ship?) - and everyone is very friendly. So far so good!
 |
| Swizz Air? We had 'priority' tickets which seemed to count for nothing. The flight deck crew never spoke to us, the apology for the 75 minute delay was fairly cursory and the senior cabin attendant had such a strong accent and spoke so fast we couldn't be sure whether she was speaking Magyar or English! |
 |
| The beautiful parliament building |
More later, but breakfast calls and then we're on tour!
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