DIY hot waxing skis

Recreation

Way back when I was in high school, I had a part-time job at the local ski store, selling kit and also working in the shop. I did everything that the older guys didn't want to do, like mount ski bindings, tune and wax skis. I learned a technique at the shop to hot wax that was much faster, easier, and better for your skis than the traditional iron-on method. But before we get to that, we need a little history; this is a blog, after all.

I grew up in a small city, where you likely played hockey as your primary winter sport. Of course, I followed in my brothers' footsteps, and played hockey until I was about twelve years old. At that point, the kids were getting bigger, and I was not yet filling out to match. So instead of continuing to get mashed against the boards by some 150 lb. kid, I switched to skiing. With a serious ski hill nearby called Tod Mountain, all of us Chin boys pretty much got hooked on it, and would go up almost every day of every weekend.

There were two kinds of skiers that dominated the ski scene at Tod; the namby-pamby, short ski boys that spent their time doing tricks (remember ski ballet?), and the serious skiers who wouldn't dare putting anything less than 205 cms on the bottom of your ski boots. What good were long skis, you ask? Well, they were great for going fast - and that's what we did. Sure, you could still go through the moguls with some 210s, or get some serious air (above), but what you really wanted to do is "cruise", letting those bad boys run. Most of the guys I hung out with eventually moved up to 225s - yes, full downhill race skis - and used them for everything from cruising to powder, and even a little speed skiing.

One of the guys knew a cop, and we'd borrow a radar gun, and a bunch of us would slip into the spandex speed suits and really let 'er rip. We lacked a track that allowed for serious speed, and I topped out at 119 kph, if I recall correctly. The renamed Sun Peaks actually went on to host FIS Speed Skiing races for over two decades, down one of the steepest runs called the Headwall, normally a mogul run. Acceleration from 0 to 100 miles an hour occurred in 4 seconds! Around the top third of the the track, there was a roll, or a lip that could give skiers some air before getting to the steeper section further down; rumours existed of European racers who refused to start at the top.

  

I had left for the coast by then, and a group of us rented a cabin during the winters at Whistler, arguably North America's top ski destination. While skiing was still a passion, the... erm, nightlife had become as exciting as the daytime activities. But still, on Friday evenings, I'd get out the ski wax and give the slats a fresh coat before hitting Blackcomb the next day. As with most of my friends, I actually went to the dark side for a number of years, and took up snowboarding. I know - I became one of those guys. The photo to the right is from the Rockies, where some mates and I went cat-skiing (cat-boarding?). Whistler/Blackcomb is famous for huge dumps of snow, and snowboards rule on big pow days. But not long after, ski technology took a turn, literally. Shape skis came out that were much shorter, and with far more sidecut; they made what was once a difficult sport to excel at, into something for almost everyone. Virtually anyone could put on some shape skis and carve up some big turns on the corduroy; so I became a 2-planker wanker again, and have never gone back.

I even ended up in the odd recreational race; usually some sort of corporate event, where 1/2 of the participants end up snow-plowing their way down through the gates. The shot above is actually back at Sun Peaks, where the famous Nancy Greene used to have a fun race every year. Back at the coast however, we eventually gave up the cabin at Whistler, and skiing weekends tapered off. There would still be the occasional weekend up at Whistler for some corporate event, but after the acquisition by Vail Resorts, the experience up there has... changed. Ski technology changed too; underfoot widths went from 70mm to 90mm, then to well over 100mm! This gave skis more floatation in powder, like snowboards, and combined with "rockered" reverse camber, skiers who wouldn't dare venture off-piste were now seeking out powder in droves. Now a day at Blackcomb is an exercise in futility; lining up with the masses, while everyone charges off in search of the elusive powder run.

Sun Peaks: where are all the skiers?

Back at Sun Peaks however, things have progressed at a more leisurely pace; new lifts, better slope grooming and new facilities have been added over the years, making for a great ski experience, without all of the crowds at Whistler. And when there is powder at Sun Peaks, you can typically ski it for hours, not just one run. So we've decided that since there is the odd trip to Kamloops to see family anyways, we'd start skiing at Sun Peaks again. I've even hopped on the wide ski bandwagon, and picked up a pair of "all-mountain" skis that are (gasp) a mere 177cms long! Anyhow, here's the long-awaited time-lapse video of how to wax your skis at home.

This method requires the careful use of a heat gun/paint stripper. You need a bar of wax appropriate for the temperature in your region, and a ski cork (try Amazon). I prop up my skis on some blocks of wood on my workbench. I use a bar clamp to hold the ski brakes out of the way, but you can wax around them if you have to. Take your bar of wax and scrape a thin film along the length of each ski (in the video, it was very cold in the garage, so I was warming the wax with my gun to help spread it on). Then, starting at the tip, warm the wax with the heat gun, constantly moving it around so that no one area of the base gets too much heat at a time. As you see the wax melt into the pores of the P-Tex, smooth it in with the cork. When you are just starting, it may take a few strokes to get the wax smooth. After that, the cork picks up some warm wax on the edge, and you will find that alternating heat and cork will deliver a uniform application. Keep working down the ski, in 3" to 4" sections, until you reach the end. Repeat on the other ski. If you've done it properly, there is no reason to scrape any excess wax off, and there should be no "dry" looking areas of P-Tex.

That's it... you're welcome. Now get out on the slopes!

Croatia 8-day Itinerary and Tips (with links)

Travel and Leisure

(tapping on any picture will open the gallery view)

We recently returned from a river cruise to Eastern Europe with Emerald Waterways. Since the cruise itinerary was only going to be 8 nights, we decided to do our own, self-guided trip in Croatia before embarking in Budapest.

Based on suggestions from Rick Steves' website, we chose to start in Dubrovnik, and work our way north to Zagreb. We decided upon about a weeks' worth of travel, which prohibited visiting any of the islands, as that would have diverted too much time away from Rick's highlighted recommendations. I used Google maps to try and limit any particular stretch of driving to less than 2.5 hours, and so this is what we came up with for our itinerary.

Dubrovnik for 3 nights (5 stars)

As it was our first stop, and the highlight of Croatia, we made sure we had enough time to get a good taste of the Old Town of Dubrovnik. We booked an Airbnb in the Old Town area right off the Stradun, which meant that we did not have to hike up and down stairs every time we went out; yes, there were stairs in our building (no elevator), but many other Airbnbs will have you walking up dozens of stairs just to get to the entrance to your building.

Stairs are everywhere!

I wouldn't recommend the one we rented, as the height in the bathroom was limited, but would certainly stay at Igor's other suites in the building, e.g. this one. Given the historical nature of buildings in the Old Town, there are no traditional hotels inside the walls; if you need American-style hotels, you can find them outside the city walls. Arriving late afternoon on Day 1, we really only had time to settle into our Airbnb, get some groceries, and then get a bite to eat for dinner. We walked the Stradun down to the Konzum behind St. Blaise's Church, which is the best supermarket inside the walls. Our Airbnb host suggested Dubravka for dinner, just outside the Pile Gate, with great atmosphere and views of the Fort Lovrijenac and the walls. The food there was tourist-priced, and average; we would suggest it's a great place for an evening cocktail, but dine somewhere else. 

Day 2 was a full-day in Dubrovnik, and we wanted to do a little exploring to get our bearings, and decompress from our 14-hour travel day. We found that a self-guided audio tour was available from the tourist shop (just inside the Pile Gate, to the right, behind Onofrio's Fountain). For 100 kunas each, we were given a little audio device, some cheap earbuds, and some basic instructions with a small map. The English narrator was flat and uninteresting, and did not give any instructions on how to get to the next point of interest. A number of times, both of our units would reset, and we'd need to start over and navigate back to the point of interest that we were standing next to. We would not recommend this audio tour.

We ate lunch at the Tripadvisor recommended Pizzeria Oliva, but made the mistake of ordering "Pizza for 2"; we could have gotten by with just one pizza for the two of us. It was very good pizza, and we'd recommend going here for lunch. We met another couple from Ottawa, who we had a nice chat with and they gave us a dinner recommendation. That afternoon, we spent the rest of our time trying to get lost in the Old Town; we stumbled across the Buza Bar, which while being a neat spot outside the walls, we did not stop for a drink, as the sun was blazing on the terrace there.

City views from Lady Pi-Pi

That evening, we hiked up the 155 stairs required to get to Lady Pi-Pi for dinner, right beside the north section of the wall. We planned on getting there right around the time that the first seating was ready to leave, and we only had to wait about 20 minutes. Luckily we were seated on the top section, with views of the city; diners seated in the lower section will not have any views at all. Food was average and tourist priced (are you seeing a theme here?), so despite the views and unique atmosphere, we're not recommending this place.

Day 3 was our second and last full day in Dubrovnik, so we blitzed it; we bought the Dubrovnik Pass (250 kunas each; recommended) which gives you access to the city walls, and a number of other minor attractions. Tip: check the cruise ship schedule and find out when the bulk of the cruise passengers will be trying to get on the walls, and avoid those times; for us, that meant waiting until the afternoon when the ships had departed. We visited Fort Lovrijenac early in the morning, and there was almost no one there. We went to almost all of the other included museums etc., except the Archeological Museum, which we could not find, and no one seemed to be able to tell us.

Tip: we found out after, that it is tucked into an entrance at the Ploče Gate. In hindsight, we should have used the free transit that day to take the bus over to Babin Kuk, but we were running out of steam. Tip: before you start the City Walls walk, we suggest you download the VoiceMap app, and then the "Walls of Liberty" audio tour ($8.20).

We hiked the walls for about an hour and half, catching the city from many angles, and then we went outside the walls to catch sunset from Fort Lovrijenac. Unfortunately, the Fort was closed for a private event, so we missed sunset that evening. We went for dinner at Mea Culpa, which has a fun atmosphere, as the outside seating extends for about 3 old town "blocks". We both had pasta, and it was very good, with tourist prices; recommended. A little bit of strolling around the Stradun at night for some cool photos, then back to the Airbnb to pack up.

Road trip to Mostar (stop in Počitelj) enroute to Split (3.5 stars)

Day 4 was the start of our road trip; we grabbed a taxi to the Hotel Rixos to pick up a car at Sixt. Tip: use Uber instead of the normal taxis, if you want to save a few bucks. Second tip: Use Oryx for rental cars, as they are not only cheaper, but they do not charge a fee if you want to take the car out of Croatia. e.g. Since we were headed to Mostar, we had to pay a 22€ surcharge for each day of our rental! Despite this, using a car is the easiest way to get around Croatia, and for the most part, driving was easy. Third tip: book your car as early as possible to secure the best rate.

On the way out of Dubrovnik, we drove the narrow, single-lane road up to one of the lookout points for some photos of the city. This was in lieu of taking the tourist cable car to Mount Srd, which saved us 200 kunas each. After some brief photos, were were on our way to Mostar, based on Rick Steves' recommendation.

We should have stopped at Ston

Here's one of our/my first mistakes; we were using Maps.me to navigate, as it does so without requiring a data connection. However, I did not check the button that allows you to use toll roads, so we were sent the slightly longer route. This turned out to be a bonus, as it sent us through the fortress town of Ston. We didn't have time to stop to explore, but in hindsight, I would have used Ston as a stopover, rather than spend the extra hours going to Mostar.

On the way, we stopped at the medieval town of Počitelj to check out the little village and take the brief hike up to the ruins of the fortress. Note: the rocky steps leading up are very uneven and would not recommend this for folks who have trouble with walking, or during periods of rain. We arrived in Mostar, and parked at the lot that most tour buses use. There you will find public pay toilets (0.50€ if I recall correctly) and you pay 1€ at the Campanile Café for parking (although they didn't take my plate number, so I don't know how they know who has paid or not). It was a short walk of about 5 minutes or so until you get to the old town street that takes you down to Stari Most, the old bridge.

The narrow pedestrian street was very cool, and the main attraction, Stari Most was stunning. Despite the light rain, the street was packed with tourists, so after grabbing some sandwiches, we ducked into the Museum of War and Genocide Victims. It was a depressing reminder of what happened in this area, and while not recommended for everyone, it gave us good historical context. After a couple of hours exploring, we were back to the car, continuing the drive to Split. This is where we realized that our Maps.me directions were avoiding toll roads, as we were sent down some dodgy, gravel roads. 

Once we corrected that issue, the guidance had us staying on the higher speed motorways. We chose another Airbnb in Split, based on the fact that they had parking available on site, as well as a washing machine. It was a delightful, little, self-contained, studio cottage, only a 5-minute walk to the East Gate of the old town area (below).

After getting settled, and starting a load of laundry, we walked down to the lively boardwalk area for a bite to eat, and stopped at the first busy restaurant. We should really have done a Tripadvisor search first, as this place Piccolo, was terrible. Cash only too, so something to ask about before you sit down.

Day in Split (4 stars)

Day 5 was a full-day of exploring in Split, which was very interesting. While Split itself is quite a large city, the old town, walled area is quite small. The extraordinary complex of Diocletian's Palace takes up a good portion of this city area, but you need to pay to go into the buildings that make up the palace. The Split City Museum was closed when we were there, and so we were a little disappointed visiting the sites.

We would have preferred if there was one flat fee ticket, that allowed you to see all of the things inside the city walls, rather than having to pay for each one individually. There are guides available in the main square of Diocletian's Palace for tours, but we chose to explore on our own, visiting the blue tourist placards placed around the old town area. That evening, rather than make the same mistake for dinner, I looked up a Tripadvisor recommendation, and we went to Bistro TOC to try and get something different for dinner (not an easy thing in tourist Croatia). We were disappointed again, and would not recommend it. 

Road trip to Zadar enroute to Plitvice Lakes (4 stars)

Day 6: Back on the road to Plitvice Lakes. On the way into Split, we noticed an impressive fortress on the outskirts of town. We looked it up, and Klis Fortress seemed like it deserved a visit. There is a free parking lot about 120m or so past the main entrance; it is an unmarked gravel lot on your left, across the street from the school's concrete football pitch. Entrance to the fortress is around 10€ each; we wandered around the ruins (which had been used extensively as Meereen in Game of Thrones) for about an hour or so, and it was worth the stop. We got in the car just before it started pouring, and hit the motorway to Zadar.

We drove directly to the free parking lot in Zadar, but it was a gong show. By the time we got there, it was full, and the rain had made small lakes everywhere. However, after scoping out the area on foot while she drove around slowly, we came across someone leaving and managed to park on dry land. We used a free, self-guided walking tour we found on the web to explore the old town on our own. 

It is a great old town area, with a Roman forum and many other historical sites; you could easily spend a couple of nights here. However, with another 2 hours of driving ahead of us, we said goodbye to Zadar and set out for Plitvice Lakes. Our destination was Zrinka House, a Tripadvisor recommendation that did not disappoint! Rooms were large and well appointed, free mini-bar, and comfortable bed. I had done another Tripadvisor lookup for dinner in the area (Grabovac), and Old Shatterhand came up as the top place. They serve a massive hamburger (not a traditional American-style) that required a knife and fork to eat, which was just what we needed after 5 days of the same style of Croatian meals; highly recommended.

Plitvice Lakes Hike (5 stars) and on to Zagreb

We started Day 7 with a fantastic breakfast where Zrinka described all of the items on the buffet. She also included supplies to make sandwiches and provided bags to takeaway these and other snacks for the day hike. This is another one of Rick Steves' don't miss Croatian attractions, and we agreed - it was one of the highlights of the trip.

There are 8 named routes around Plitvice Lakes, but it is really only 4, with the other 4 being the same but just running in the opposite direction. We chose parking at Entrance 1, and we recommend route C (don't bother to buy the map), which will give you views of the falls as you walk towards them, rather than having to turn around often to see them. It also avoids the lengthy and somewhat uninteresting walk around the Kozjak lake; you take the boat across one way, then the shuttle back. With many stops for photos and a sandwich break before taking the shuttle back to Entrance 1, our hike took about 3.5 hours.

On our way out of the area, we took the recommendation from Zrinka's daughter to stop in Rastoke, a small town only 20 mins away. We found a storybook spot where waterfalls cascade down right beside the village's old buildings and houses! After taking some photos, we continued on to our final Croatian destination of Zagreb. After dropping our car at the Sixt location in the centre, we grabbed an Uber to our Airbnb. Jelena's place was an amazing apartment only 100 metres from the edge of the Lower Town area; the only drawback was the pub downstairs played loud music well into the night. Tip: always travel with earplugs; they may only be required for one or two noisy spots, but you will thank me later. Our host recommended a few choices for dinner; we selected Market Street Food as it was close to the Airbnb, and we finally got a great meal in Croatia!

Day in Zagreb (4.5 stars)

Even though Zagreb is the large, bustling capital of Croatia, the city has upper and lower Old Town areas that are worthy of visiting; there's good reason that it’s another one of Rick Steves picks. Again, we used a self-guided tour to help us discover the sites and history, and we could easily spend two days here, but by this time, we were eager to stop having to pack and unpack every couple of days. For dinner that night, I took to Tripadvisor again and found KAI Street Food, which was hard to find, but worth it!

It is just off Ban Josip Square, on the Southeast corner; across the street from the Tourist Information Centre and East about 20 metres, there will be an alley entrance where you will find KAI. After a full day in Zagreb, we packed up and headed to Budapest the next morning to catch our river cruise.

Other tips and things about Croatia

We're not big breakfast people, and that's why Airbnbs usually work well for us. We pick up some local baking, some fruit and yogurt, and we're usually good to go. However, we found that Croatia's version of croissants were a far cry from Western European versions; instead we bought a loaf of bread to make toast. Unfortunately, toast is apparently not a thing for Croatians, and not a single Airbnb we stayed at had a traditional toaster!

Another small irritation is that they also don't use bar soap or supply wash cloths (face cloths); there was always liquid body wash available, but never wash cloths. I had planned on the soap issue and brought my own bar soap, but she would have liked face cloths to help take her makeup off etc. It always took a few times for us to get used to the fact that light switches were outside the room; e.g. the switch for the bathroom would be on the outer wall, not in the bathroom. But this is common in Europe, as is the issue with no wash cloths.

There is no tipping required in Croatian restaurants; as such, we found service pretty much wherever we ate to be lacklustre, with the exception of KAI Street Food. Most restaurants take credit cards, but we did encounter two that did not, so be sure to ask if that is the only method of payment you have available. Smoking is still very much a thing in Central and Eastern Europe, so if you want to sit on the patio, expect to be surrounded by smokers, especially in non-tourist restaurants.

Cruising with Emerald Waterways

Travel and Leisure

We recently got back from our fourth river cruise, this time with a new operator called Emerald Waterways. Since we had been on the Rhine (our recommendation for your first river cruise), Tulips and Windmills in Belgium and the Netherlands, and the upper Danube, we thought we'd try the lower portion of the Danube the next time a deal came up. We weren't tied to any one particular operator, and would have liked to have seen a deal for Gate 1 come up for this itinerary, but a 2-for-1 sale with Emerald came up before that, so we booked a Panorama Balcony Suite. Of course, it's not a suite, and to use the word "balcony" is a bit of an overstatement, as there are very few true balconies on river cruise ships (e.g. a dedicated outdoor space that extends out past your room).

Before we start talking about our cruise experience, it is worth mentioning the pre-cruise experience. Emerald and its parent company, Scenic, were hacked in early 2022, and suffered major IT issues as a result. Combined with staffing shortages and likely Covid infection challenges, many folks reported having issues with last minute cancellations and poor customer service response in the first half of 2022. While I heard about these issues on our Facebook river cruise group, I did not experience any of these issues personally. When I called to make our final payment 90 days before our cruise, I expected a lengthy wait on the phone, but was surprised to reach a customer service rep after only 10 minutes or so in queue. Then about three weeks before our cruise, our backpacks and travel wallet showed up (note: as of early 2023 they are no longer sending these out), and we were off to Europe!

Being somewhat experienced river cruisers, we knew what to expect, and for the most part, Emerald was not much different. As with almost all of our other cruises, we did our own pre-cruise excursion (8 nights in Croatia), so we had to get to the ship on our own in Budapest. A quick check on cruisemapper.com showed that the Emerald Dawn, the ship we were supposed to be sailing on, was rafted together with the Emerald Star, on the the Buda side of the river (most ships dock on the Pest side). This took a bit more time for us to reach the ship from our Airbnb, as instead of walking, we had to grab a tram to the other side of the river, but not an issue for us.

When we boarded the Emerald Star, we were greeted with fresh towels and cold drink, but we waved them off, and said we were heading to the Dawn. It was only upon arriving at the front desk there, that we found out our ship had been changed to the Star, and so we went back to the Star and dropped our bags at the front desk. Apparently the notification email from Emerald that our ship had changed got marked by Gmail as spam, so we didn't find out until we showed up. Since it was only about 1 pm, we could not check in yet, but were directed up to the lounge where a light lunch waited for us. We were just about to grab one of the shuttle buses back to Pest to walk around some more, when we were informed that we could check into our rooms. We were taken down the hall to our room by the cabin housekeeper, Hanna, who also brought our bags along later.

For those familiar with the Uniworld decor, Emerald is the exact opposite of that. Smooth surfaces, clean lines and bright spaces are the design elements of all Emerald ships, and we liked it. Our room was the typical size for a "French balcony" room at 173 ft², and it was fine for us; by comparison the Viking French balcony is 135 ft², but the Avalon Panorama Suite is over 200! There was more than enough storage for the two of us, only using two of the six drawers and the closet to unpack. I slid my backpack under the bed, but she put hers in one of the unused drawers. All the typical amenities were in the room including a pair of reusable water bottles, and we were pleasantly surprised to find a Danube river map and guidebook on the table by the window. 

The bathroom was slightly larger than the ones on our Uniworld and Gate 1 ships, but still dwarfed by the one on the Gate 1 Monarch Queen, where there was room for two in front of the vanity! The Emerald shower was spacious and square-shaped, unlike the Uniworld and Gate 1 ones, which were triangular, which made for slightly cramped bathing. The sink is pretty small, again similar to Uniworld and Gate 1, but the faucet swivelled to the side for more room. The stopper did not seal the sink completely, which I found out the hard way when I was doing some light laundry for the first time. If you like to use bar soap in the shower, you'll need to bring your own or buy some in town.

The unique feature of these staterooms, is the way the "balcony" window opens, by sliding down versus sideways, like most other ships. It is always nice to have a balcony, but as I have commented numerous times, a rarely used benefit. As with other river itineraries, we only sailed during the day once; all other times sailing occurred at night, most of the time while we slept. I would say that about half of the time that we were docked, we had a ship rafted up next to us, so the balcony doesn't get used then. If we were on the ship during that time, we went up to the sun deck or lounge. On one afternoon, after returning to our room, it was a little too breezy to be up on top, so we slid the window down and spent a bit of time soaking up some late afternoon sun. One small gripe however, is that when sitting upright in the chairs, the railing is right at eye level; I found that if I slouched down a bit, I could take in the view under the wooden rail.

The lounge and dining room were both spacious, and with only about 100 passengers, there was ample room for everyone to find a place to sit or eat. Meals were the same structure as other cruises we've been on; buffet breakfast, option for buffet or à la carte lunch, and served 3-4 course meals for dinner. Food quality was good to great, depending on what you ordered, and a regional dish was always offered as an option for supper. One night, the menu options didn't speak to me, so I ordered the striploin and fries instead; it was very tasty and well prepared. Wine was good to very good (the Bordeaux), and we only had one that we rejected (a very light Pinot Noir that was more like a Beaujolais Nouveau). One strange omission each evening, was the lack of a coffee service with dessert. I found the attentiveness to service somewhat lacking, and I surmised that this is due to the fact that tips are included with Emerald. i.e. on Gate 1, it seemed that the servers were bending over backwards to keep us happy, vs. Emerald's wait staff were just getting things done. Seating was ad hoc, which was fine for us, as we were able to meet a number of the guests over the course of our 7-night cruise.

Speaking of that, one difference that was obvious on Emerald versus the other three cruises we have done, is the makeup of the guests on board; our ship was approximately 50% Canadian, 30% Brits and Aussies, and only about 20% American. We sat with a couple from Santa Fe a few times who had said that they specifically selected Emerald because they wouldn't be surrounded by Americans on their European cruise. We ran into one snooty couple who were disappointed that dinner was not a white tablecloth affair, and probably would have been more comfortable on Tauck; they were not typical Emerald clientele, thankfully. We met many lovely folks on board, and only had a few that we avoided; the most obnoxious couple we encountered on our ship was actually Canadian, so it goes to show that we're not all easy-going. Average age was probably in the low-70s, with only a handful or so of folks in their 60s, and about as many in their 80s; my wife was unsurprisingly, the youngest on the cruise. 

Bus tour of Bucharest

When it came to our daily tours, we were disappointed that they did not separate the slow walkers from the rest of the group, which made for some slow paced walking and unduly long waits. We both liked the Gate 1 approach to loading coaches, where as soon as they had reached a quorum for one bus, off it went. There were also a few times where Emerald had planned a stop or visit somewhere, but it was obvious that guests stayed as long as they wanted, but the coaches waited for 30-45 minutes more before loading and departing for the next destination. 

The Puszta horse show was just ok

With respect to excursions, this itinerary has a much different flavour than the other river cruises we have done. I was expecting this part of Europe to be a significant change, but didn't realize just how much different it would be. Eastern Europe is not as populated as the rest of Europe and was slower to recover from communism, and as such, the attractions and tour options were just that much less impressive. In order to reach sites and attractions that guests would find interesting, a bus trip was almost always required at every port. There were also issues encountered in this area you won't find on the Rhine or upper Danube with crossing country boundaries and passport control. e.g. Leaving Budapest and the Schengen zone, there is a very long passport control going into Croatia that I am assuming is the reason for the Puszta horse show in the morning. i.e. there is not much else to do between Budapest and Croatia having to account for a 3-4 hour stop for border control in the afternoon/evening.

We didn't see Osijek cathedral

Then there was the Osijek/Aljmas day. We had a sleepy walk in the morning through the fortress and old town area, and then headed to a strange, truck stop-style place where a local gave us a somewhat humorous talk, followed by a small sampling of charcuterie and an opportunity to buy local craft and food items. We then headed to our in-home lunch with a local in Aljmas; we heard that others had a decent meal; ours was not, and even though there was an interpreter accompanying us, I don't think we received the same historical flavour that others did. The Osijek cathedral is apparently amazing; it would have been much better if we had the opportunity to see that instead of the roadside tourist stop. It's a pretty quiet area of Croatia, so not sure what else they could have offered us instead of the home-hosted lunch, but almost anything would have been better.

Golubac Fortress was not in the cards

One morning, we woke up to open our blinds to this sight. But instead of a 1.5 hour tour of Golubac Fortress, we were carted off to the (recreated) archaeological ruins at Lepenski Vir. The visit was interesting, but too long; we milled around by the coaches for over a half hour doing nothing. When we met back up with the ship at Donji Milanovac, we had a nice BBQ lunch on the top deck, but then waited for well over an hour or more before departing for the Iron Gates. We could have easily toured both Golubac Fortress and Lepenski Vir on that day.

We went on the monastery tour

Another example of where Emerald let us down, was the included Bulgarian tour to Veliko Tarnovo, which was supposed to be one of the highlights. This required a 1 hour and 45 minute bus ride each way, which would have given less than two hours to explore the town. For some reason, they kept wanting to get us back to the ship for lunch; on trips with Uniworld, Gate 1 and Vantage, when the bus ride was relatively long, they gave us a meal allowance to have lunch in the town, so that we weren't rushing the day (e.g. Salzburg tour). As you can imagine, the Veliko Tarnovo tour was not popular for this reason, and most of the guests opted for the nearby monastery and cliff chapel tour instead. Edit: apparently they listened to our feedback, as a subsequent guest has said that they now do lunch in town rather than rushing back to the ship.

The one day that we did sail during daylight, was of course to to take in the Iron Gates, and the rock sculpture of Decebalus. We were lucky with the weather, and enjoyed a sunny BBQ lunch on the sun deck while docked in Donji Milanovac before sailing down through the gates. For those that say that they enjoy staying in their room to watch the sights in bed (e.g. Avalon), you'd miss half of this rugged river valley by doing so. If your room happened to be on the starboard side, you would completely miss Decebalus and other neat sights on that side of the river.

Ruse was the surprise of the trip

A common thought we heard from other travellers that had done other river cruises, is that they felt this itinerary was too slow. e.g. even if the morning tour was relatively interesting, we ended up back at the ship for lunch, with only a small, post-communist era town to explore in the afternoon (with the exception of Belgrade and Ruse). This isn't really the fault of Emerald; they are doing the best with what the region has to offer. Sure, there was always a pedestrian-only shopping street to go for a stroll, but we're not tourist shoppers. We made the best of it however, and if there weren't enough historical sites or attractions to visit, we'd take the bikes out for a tour around town.

Even though we and many of our new friends felt that this itinerary was too slow for us, we are still glad we went on the Enchantment of Eastern Europe cruise. With what is happening in the Ukraine now, the challenges that this area have gone through resonated with us. What did we think of Emerald Waterways? I'd say that it met our expectations, but didn't wow us beyond our previous river cruise experiences. They did provide some little perks that were nice (the backpacks, water bottles, tour books, etc.), and not having to fuss around for loose change to tip guides made things more convenient than other operators who do not include that. But in the end, we'd be just as happy to have sailed with Gate 1 again, despite having to tip the onboard and shoreside staff, and not having wine and beer with lunch. I've updated my favourite river cruise operator post, if you want to read about my comparison.

Favourite River Cruise Operator?

Travel and Leisure

Note: Updated October 2022 after Emerald trip, extensively detailed here. Also, I wrote a review of our Gate 1 cruise and recently posted here.

The other day, the moderator to the river cruise FB group asked, "Which River Brand is your Personal Favorite?" That got me to thinking about it, and to answer her question, I needed to jot down some notes.

We've been on four river cruises: Uniworld (Rhine), Vantage¹ (Tulips & Windmills), Gate 1 (upper Danube) and just recently Emerald (lower Danube). Let me start off by saying that all four of these operators were excellent, but there were subtle differences that I will try to outline below.

Stateroom on the Ship

As with all operators, the room offered for your cruise will change by route, date and class of service purchased. The age of the ship, and the room size/layout should be taken into consideration; the booking site will tell you the name of the ship for you to look up. We travelled on all four in either middle or upper deck staterooms, but on Uniworld, it was a very old ship, that has now been retired (moved to the U by Uniworld fleet), and our room was small, with only a window (vs. floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors), and had a tiny bathroom. Note that Uniworld is famous (infamous?) for their ornate interiors that cruisers either love or hate, but our room pre-dated those changes. Conversely, the Vantage River Voyager was virtually brand new, and you could tell; the bathroom was almost bigger than the one we have at home! Gate 1 leases most of their ships, but it was in pretty good shape for her age, and we had little to complain about, with floor-to-ceiling windows and ample room to move around. Update: I have noticed that Gate 1 has picked up the lease on the River Voyager and renamed it the Monarch Queen. So now, in addition to their own ship, the Monarch Empress, they have the Queen as well. The Emerald Star was a very eye-pleasing design, with smooth surfaces and clean lines, and the room felt bigger than it actually was. The way the window slid down was cool, but the wooden railing blocked your view when sitting in the chairs. The Emerald bathroom was small, but the shower had better space than on Uniworld and our Gate 1 ship.

Winner: Gate 1 Monarch Queen (the Vantage River Voyager at the time). 2nd to Emerald and 3rd to Gate 1 (Monarch Baroness); unfair to judge Uniworld based on ship age.

Included Excursions

We found that our first three river cruise operators had similar included daily tours in our port of call. We disliked how Vantage and Emerald did not separate the "slow walkers" into their own group, and both Vantage and Uniworld put you on a fixed list for which bus to load onto. Gate 1 had a "first come, first serve" coach loading policy; that way we didn't have to wait for Lorna the Looky Loo to dawdle back to the bus before we could leave. Gate 1 did not have bicycles for use, but we found that we would not have had time to use them anyways, as our own self-guided touring kept us too busy. It is hard to punish Emerald for their Eastern Europe itinerary, as that portion of the Danube is much less populated and developed than the rest of Europe; as such, tours almost always required a bus trip, rather than just stepping off the ship into town. However, they could have handled the long excursions better by adding a meal allowance and staying in towns longer rather than rushing us back to the ship for lunch. We made use of the bikes on Emerald, Uniworld and Vantage, so that was a bonus.

Winner: slight edge to Gate 1, tie for 2nd/3rd, Emerald last.

Meals and Food Quality

Here's another one that is very close, but still there were slight differences. All four operators served very good to excellent food, and there was no clear winner from food quality perspective. However, Uniworld and Vantage did not offer a regional-specific dish, whereas Gate 1 served goulash for lunch in Budapest, weiner schnitzel in Vienna, etc. Emerald too, offered a regional dish as their chef's recommendation each evening, but portion size was smallish. Both Emerald and Vantage offered a lighter, buffet-style lunch in the café at the back of the ship or lounge upstairs. Emerald served me a couple of entrées that I felt were just ok - not quite up to the fine dining experience of our other three cruises. Strangely, they also did not offer any coffee service after dinner, and I'd have to run upstairs to the lounge to grab an espresso.

Winner: tie for first with Gate 1 for regional dishes, Vantage for café lunch at the back; Uniworld a close third, and Emerald last place, but not bad by any means.

Value for Dollar

This is a narrow field for us, because we are not travellers who will pay $700+/night for river cruising, so that eliminates major players like Tauck, Uniworld, and Scenic (although I have seen them offer 2-for-1 deals recently). But when we did sail with Uniworld, it was when she was a travel agent, and so the rate we paid cannot be reasonably compared with the others. However, looking up recent pricing offered by Uniworld, I can safely say that their prices come in at almost triple that of Gate 1 and at least double what a good deal with Emerald will set you back. We found Uniworld neither significantly different nor better than Emerald, Vantage or Gate 1, and certainly not enough to justify thousands of dollars more. With Vantage and Gate 1, we booked using a Travelzoo discount code that brought the per night cost down to $160 per person! We also found out about Emerald's 2-for-1 deal from a Travelzoo email blast, so it certainly pays to sign up for their updates. It doesn't really make sense to compare value using list prices, as I am hoping that no one is paying the published rate. Some reading this will say, "but Tauck is all-inclusive!" or that "with Uniworld, you leave your wallet at home!" While that may be true, with Gate 1 and Vantage, we only paid extra for one or two optional tours, and tips at the end - probably totalling a few hundred dollars per person. Emerald had very few optional tours, and having tips included avoided the annoying task of trying to find spare coins in the right currency for the local guides. Everyone includes free wine and beer with dinner (and most with lunch); I've never purchased an additional drink package. I don't drink alcohol at lunch, and sometimes will pick up a few local beers in town to try in our room or the deck while winding down from day touring. I've also managed to get over-served more than a few nights at dinner on both Vantage and Gate 1!

Winner: Tie - Vantage and Gate 1. Emerald next, then Uniworld comes in at very distant last place.

Customer Service

Customer service is also a key consideration - I'd say it was equal for the most part on the first three ships. However, I did notice some service hiccups on Emerald in the dining room, and my hypothesis is that their wait staff doesn't have the same incentive that the other cruises have w.r.t. tipping. e.g. on Gate 1, the servers were hopping to keep our glasses full and ensuring that we were well fed. Want more food? Sure, let me see if there's an extra entrée in the kitchen. Don't expect much in terms of onboard entertainment each evening, but Uniworld and Vantage were both very snoozy. The Gate 1 Cruise Director and Activity Host were exceptional, but that will vary from ship to ship, and operator to operator. Emerald's Activity Host tried to interact with the guests often, but we felt that she seemed to be trying too hard, rather than having the engagements flow naturally. With respect to pre-cruise experience, we did receive great call centre service from both Vantage and Gate 1. Emerald had some challenges in the first half of 2022 due to being hacked and some other factors, but I believe these are behind them now, and we didn't experience any issues. I didn't book our Uniworld trip, so can't comment on that experience. See footnote¹ on Vantage recent issues.

Winner: slight edge to Gate 1, Emerald at 2nd, with Uniworld and Vantage tied for last place.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a number of considerations to consider when selecting and determining who is the best at river cruising.  There are some other intangibles, like the makeup of guests on board. e.g. the guests on Gate 1 were noticeably younger, which made things like loading coaches, and running through the evening briefing move faster. My hypothesis is that the more expensive the cruise, the older the guests will be - something to consider if you like making the most of your time in town, vs. waiting for the folks with canes and walkers to catch up. With our first three cruises, the majority of cruisers were American, with just a handful of Commonwealth guests. On Emerald, there were very few Americans on board, with the majority being Canadian, then Brits followed by Aussies; however average age was higher than Gate 1, but not as senior as Uniworld and Vantage.

Even though our experiences were very similar, we felt that Gate 1 was the winner, edging out Emerald. Our Emerald experience differed because of the nature of Eastern Europe, giving us a much slower paced trip, but it was still enjoyable; the more diverse mix of guests was a bonus for us, but for value, we still think Gate 1 is slightly better. If we had managed to get on Gate 1's Monarch Empress or the Monarch Queen, then it would have been hands down, Gate 1.

Want to read my other posts about river cruising? Click here.

¹ Update: June 29, 2023, Vantage Travel Services, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and announced that United Travel Pte. Ltd., an affiliate of Nordic Hamburg and Heritage Expeditions, has agreed to acquire Vantage's assets and provide customers with future opportunities for the travel. I would not recommend booking with this new entity until the dust settles.