We checked out of Hotel Zara at 10 o'clock and walked a couple of blocks to the dock. The ship was still completing the previous cruise from Amsterdam and although we couldn't check in we were able to leave our bags there.
On the previous day's tour of the city we were given a complimentary ticket for a boat ride up and down a short stretch of the Danube, so we did this. It was very informative and a good view of the landmarks was had.
Being the Ikey Thomas's that we are we went back to the boat where they had put on soup and sandwiches for lunch for those waiting to both disembark and to board. So we stayed there until we could check into our cabin around three o'clock. Chatted to a few people doing the same thing.
We got into the cabin and unpacked our cases (yaaaay!). It will be great not having to live out of the suitcases for a couple of weeks. Our cabin has a small deck where we can sit outside as well as a little glassed sitting area when the weather is not so good, so we have good views on the port side. then we did an exploration tour of the ship, it's not all that big so it didn't take long. there was another ship doubleparked beside us for a few hours and you could see right into the cabins on the other ship (have to be careful when getting dressed!) We gathered in the lounge for the welcome speech by the cruise director and the captain. There are 157people on board, mostly Aussies, one Chinese and two South Africans and all our age group (grey nomads).
Then it was dinner time, four courses and coffee. After dinner the ship set off for a short cruise to see the lights of Budapest, and it is just beautiful. Especially the Parliament building which is a huge place built right on the river, then back to dock for the night.
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