My first river cruise 12-2017

Greetings I am james a 37 year old army veteran from Florida and this will be my first river cruise, This month I booked Christmas in Germany December 22-29 , Cologne to Nuremberg on the Viking Longship Tor. I have a few questions but first I would like to say, I have read the reviews positive and negative an yes I have really read the negative postings of people saying beware. Things can go wrong on any vacation either by act of god, or issues that are the cruise line fault I beat to the tune of my own drum so to make judgment of Viking based off of just reviews without experiencing them first is not how I roll. I have had people say one cruise line is awful, such and such is the best I traveled with these lines and made up my own mind so lets not turn this thread into How I am making a mistake ect and no I am not a rep for Viking or know anyone from Viking ... with all that being said off to my questions.

Itinerary

Day 1 Cologne, Germany

Day 2 Cologne, Germany

Day 3 Koblenz, Germany

Day 4 Miltenberg, Germany

Day 5 Würzburg, Germany

Day 6 Bamberg, Germany

Day 7 Nuremberg, Germany

Day 8 Nuremberg, Germany

1. has anyone traveled on the Viking Tor?

2. has anyone traveled Cologne to Nuremberg? 2A. what month? 2B. if in the months of December, how was the experience

3. are there any hidden fee's, I am not talking about tips or the extra Excursions, I have one included in each port so I wont be buying any extra so I can explore on my own unless I see something that really catches my eye. I am a real history nerd and love culture.

4. Can someone tell me about the meals? I hear its like a buffet style

5. my Itinerary does not show times so about what time of the evening does the ship set out to the next stop?

6.. is there any other Info you think I should know?

Thank you

debating if I want to do a post and extend 3 NIGHTS IN PRAGUE,

First, thank you for your service.

I cannot help with Viking specific questions as we do not cruise with them.

What I can comment on is the itinerary, as we have done it several times and are repeating again this December. We LOVE Germany and Austria in particular for the Christmas Market season! Everything is so festive and there are wonderful celebrations and decorations everywhere. This year we are spending time in Salzburg prior to our cruise and Munich afterwards, as we enjoy both cities very much.

We have been to Prague twice at Christmas and loved it! The markets there were lively and food was great! They get very crowded on the weekends.

Cologne has a huge Christmas market as well as several smaller ones. Nuremberg's is one of the oldest and largest. We enjoyed the WWII historical sites in Nuremberg, as that is an area of particular interest for me. The Rally Grounds (now Dutzendteich Park), down the Great Road, and through the Congress Hall makes for a sobering experience. The north wing of the hall houses the Documentation Center, with a "Fascination and Terror" exhibit that examines the causes and consequences of the regime. Across town, you can also tour the Nürnberg Trials Courtroom — where high-ranking officers answered to an international tribunal after the war ended.

The markets there are not my favorite but the Nürnberg sausages and Lebkuchen are pretty terrific! Wurzburg is lovely and we visited the Residenz of the Archbishop and enjoyed it very much.

Bamberg is also interesting to explore. If you are a beer drinker, check out the Rauchbier, a smoky brew famous in this town.

Miltenberg is very small and charming.It is nice itinerary with a good mix of large and smaller cities (and a town) for contrast.

thank you, and thank you for the reply for the reply, looking forward to the cruise, decided to take this one being it was Christmas. only things that bothers me is the Christmas markets, since I am sail dec 22, I most likely will only see the one in Cologne and will miss the one in Nuremberg. after more detailed research they close by the 23rd and Christmas eve. I am a history nerd so I will enjoy it either way.

While most close on Christmas Eve, some do stay open. And decorations and festivities will still be happening. We have gone to this area between Christmas and New Years several times. If you can arrange to be in Prague for NYE, I suspect it would be quite memorable!

its a extra 699, but since im going solo I have to pay the single supplement so its around 1230 :•3 nights in Prague: Hilton Prague Hotel (or similar)

•3 breakfasts

•Guided City Tour

•Services of a Viking host

•Hotel & ship transfers

my river cruise is 22-29th if I extended I would be there for new years eve

While most close on Christmas Eve, some do stay open. And decorations and festivities will still be happening. We have gone to this area between Christmas and New Years several times. If you can arrange to be in Prague for NYE, I suspect it would be quite memorable!

I would suggest making your own hotel arrangements in Prague. We stayed at the Old Town Hilton, and you can walk from there to all of the sights, if you are reasonably fit. The price will be less than booking the ships post excursion. The hotel can book you a ride to the airport for about $40. I have not traveled with Viking, but AmaWaterways. You will love river cruising. It will be easy to meet people. Enjoy!

my airfare is booked through Viking being its cheaper since I got it on a 295 dollar promotion, I can pay 50 dollars to change my booking, but being its a different return from when the cruise is over ect.. would be a diffrance in price I would have to pay ect.. id just keep it simple and if I was to do the extend, id use them

You definitely want to go to Prague! It's a gorgeous city and you're so close. If you have the time, go for it!

It stinks you have to pay so much extra, but if you're not used to traveling solo around Europe having the extra support is comforting. Plus you will get to know your fellow cruisers on the ship and have new found acquaintances to tour with in Prague. Since it will be New Years the Viking rep will be there to offer you suggestions of what to do. The extension also includes the transfer from Nuremberg which is one less thing to worry about.

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I norm have to travel solo lat time I was near Europe was 2015 when I was on pilgrimage went from france over the pyerness and walked 500 miles across spain on the way of saint james. I most likely will book the extend ,

You definitely want to go to Prague! It's a gorgeous city and you're so close. If you have the time, go for it!

It stinks you have to pay so much extra, but if you're not used to traveling solo around Europe having the extra support is comforting. Plus you will get to know your fellow cruisers on the ship and have new found acquaintances to tour with in Prague. Since it will be New Years the Viking rep will be there to offer you suggestions of what to do. The extension also includes the transfer from Nuremberg which is one less thing to worry about.

 

 

 

 

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I would suggest making your own hotel arrangements in Prague. We stayed at the Old Town Hilton, and you can walk from there to all of the sights, if you are reasonably fit. The price will be less than booking the ships post excursion. The hotel can book you a ride to the airport for about $40. I have not traveled with Viking, but AmaWaterways. You will love river cruising. It will be easy to meet people. Enjoy!

We have always made our own hotel reservations for pre and post. There are many nice hotels in Prague for far less than what the cruise lines charge. We loved the location and value of Barcelo Old Town Praha and would happily stay there again.

I have done Viking Danube at Christmas and love the markets and have done the Rhine also. The decorations in the town are lovely and the Christmas markets are fun, hot wine, sausages, gifts. Most of the included tours will give you enough information on each town and then you can explore. You will be one of the youngest guests, however on our December Budapest to Nuremburg we became friendly with a couple of men in their late thirties/early forties on the tour, I will say you will meet very interesting people some retired and some in their late 40's-early60's as most people mingle in the lounge.

The food is not all buffet. Breakfast is buffet but their is a menu if you want eggs. Lunch is two options either the buffet in the lounge or the lunch in the dining room which we prefer. Dinner is always in the dining room and starts at 7pm. After dinner most people go up to the lounge where their is light entertainment, either the piano player or a few nights local entertainment is on board for a show.

While we have not taken your cruise we have done all the towns but one Nuremburg and Cologne which are the largest towns packed with history, and the small town are lovely too.

Tipping is not included and you will be told about it on the last day.

If you can, have Viking change your airfare home and do your own Prague, it's easy to get to the train station and book your own rooms (check trip advisor for that) as I find Vikings extra days add on expensive as we do our own it's much cheaper and you can find a place where you want to be not where they put you. We did the Portugal cruise with them and just had them do our airfare for the dates we wanted as we wanted to be in Lisbon 4 days before the cruise started, I think we paid about $100 to talk to a Viking air person. I had been on the airlines web site and told them exactly what flights I wanted and where I wanted to sit (emergency exit row). They got it right after a few back and forth calls but it is worth paying a little extra to get the flights you want. My cousins were flying home from Porto same as us and they had to leave the boat at 2:30am and fly to Frankfurt for a 9 hour lay over and then fly to Newark, we chose the direct flight from Porto to Newark (the extra $100 to talk to a Viking air rep) and we left the ship after lunch (Viking provided us and a few other stragglers lunch) and flew direct from Porto to Newark. So all I'm saying is don't put your flight in Vikings hands as they will get you the cheapest flights but not the most direct, however if you call and tell them what flights you want the extra $100 is worth it.

Have a great time, all those ports are interesting and the ship is lovely. Remember the river cruise only holds about 190 people so you will get to know a lot of them.

PS we vacation with people we met on our 2013 cruise.

Hello jimmybecruzin79,

that sounds like a very nice itinerary at a special time of year. If I have calculated this correctly you will be in Koblenz on Christmas Eve. The market will be closed then but the lights and decorations stay up until 6 January (or thereabouts) traditionally. If this is to your liking visit a Catholic Church on that day - the cruise director will be able to tell you what is feasible in your schedule. Some Catholic churches have midnight mass which is a great way to celebrate the special day. Shops close at 1pm on the 24th by the way. All shops - even the touristy ones - are closed on the 25th and the 26th in Germany. There might be a few exceptions in certain regions on the 26th but I have not come across any yet.

I second the idea of extending the trip to Prague, a great city, even better on New Year's Eve I am sure.

The Viking ships look a bit barren and Nordic cool to me but the Viking Rinda when I visited her was certainly decked out splendidly for the festive season.

I am sure you will very much enjoy your cruise.

notamermaid

Something to add in Nuremberg....wish I could remember the name of the tour, but it was a walking tour underground. There was an entire interconnecting world under the town and a lot of artifacts were stored to keep them safe during the war. I'm a bit claustrophobic, but it wasn't too bad....

Prague is a must do. And hey, if you don't have a problem paying a bit more to have your cruise company take care of the planning, go for it !

RB

Something to add in Nuremberg....wish I could remember the name of the tour, but it was a walking tour underground. There was an entire interconnecting world under the town and a lot of artifacts were stored to keep them safe during the war. I'm a bit claustrophobic, but it wasn't too bad....

Prague is a must do. And hey, if you don't have a problem paying a bit more to have your cruise company take care of the planning, go for it !

RB

Hello Ritabob,

is it this one: https://www.historische-felsengaenge.de/en.html

Looks very interesting, I like underground stuff, there are also some on the Rhine at Nierstein, will remember the Nuremberg one for when I finally get to the town. Would like to see the railway museum as well, though.

notamermaid

Hello Ritabob,

 

is it this one: https://www.historische-felsengaenge.de/en.html

 

Looks very interesting, I like underground stuff, there are also some on the Rhine at Nierstein, will remember the Nuremberg one for when I finally get to the town. Would like to see the railway museum as well, though.

 

notamermaid

There's an underground tour in Oppenheim as well. We did that in the fall of 2015 when we were staying in Mainz.

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a few longship commentsas mentioned breakfast is pretty much a buffet with an omelet/fresh egg bar, but there is also a menu of other things (pancakes etc) all in the one dining room, and a more continental breakfast is available in the Aquavit Terrace.For both lunch and dinner you have the option of dining on the Terrace as well, rather than the dining room. At lunch lighter fare is served - and stays available longer ... nearly up 'til tea time where yet more and different food appears!Tables are never 'assigned' but groups quickly form and try to stake out the same table and servers each night IME. We had a core group that would hang together but liked to move our table around. The 'port brief' was just b4 dinner usually and there was a dash for the dining room as soon as this ended. We have friends who when on VIK' NEVER eat dinner in the dining room, preferring the quiet usually found on the terrace.

When you get your 'cruise documents' you'll get a somewhat more detailed itinerary but river cruising on VIKING is much more laid back that a SHIP cruise and the arrival and departure times are often not fixed until the night b4 (river conditions dictate). You will always know the be back on board time BUT sometimes this is in a different place from where you got off the boat so pay attention. It is NOT unusual for the boat to stop, let people off for tours, then continue along the way and the tours meet the boat at another location. If you set off on your own BE SURE YOU KNOW!!!!! The 'included tours' usually end with plenty of time remaining and they say "be back here at time XX and the bus will take you to the boat" so you can explore a bit on your own and still get the included ride back.

I planned on visiting the train mus' in Nur' too .... but we went to the 'Documentation Center' first and spent WAY more time there then we'd planned. Very well done and enjoyed every minute. We spent two days in Nur' on our own (it was the end point of our VIK part of the trip) b4 going to Hamburg by train. We enjoyed Nur' a BUNCH.

We booked extra day pre-cruise thru VIK' and they did well by us ... nice hotel good location etc. We booked days on the back side our self ... well with a TA ... and also were very satisfied. The TA part cost less per day .....

Hope this helps answer some questions .... enjoy ... we're planning our next trip now ....

************

free Viking Hint:

as you know, wine is 'included' with your dinner. Some don't like the wine .... OK, those can stop reading now. But if you are OK with the included wine ..... know what happens to the open bottles at the end of dinner? Poured down the drain! SO, if of the mind, ask for a top off, or a NEW glass b4 you leave the dining room and carry it with you. NO PROBLEM :D

Hi Jimmy

I have enjoyed the posts since I've booked a romantic Danube on Viking but for December 2018

Then it dawned on me it's going to be sailing in darkness and below freezing temperatures.

Probably need the drinks package and sit In The bar all night, well worth the money

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Hi Jimmy,

I have done 2 cruises with Viking in December - the Danube in 2015 and the Rhine in 2016. I am doing a third this coming December to Paris and Normandy. I love Europe in December, and the Christmas markets are magical.

I think Viking does a great job. I have had very few complaints. It is winter time, but mild winter from what I experienced. The only buffet meals were at breakfast and lunch, and there were other options as well. I thought their food was excellent and I have cruised on many ocean lines over the years. I think you will be more than satisfied with the options.

There were no hidden fees. Tips are not included, but their guidelines were very reasonable. There was an excursion included in most ports that was more than adequate. If you desire more excursions, they are available for some locations. With the Markets at this time of year, you will be plenty busy without any added expense.

Have a wonderful cruise!

Greetings I am james a 37 year old army veteran from Florida and this will be my first river cruise, This month I booked Christmas in Germany December 22-29 , Cologne to Nuremberg on the Viking Longship Tor. I have a few questions but first I would like to say, I have read the reviews positive and negative an yes I have really read the negative postings of people saying beware. Things can go wrong on any vacation either by act of god, or issues that are the cruise line fault I beat to the tune of my own drum so to make judgment of Viking based off of just reviews without experiencing them first is not how I roll. I have had people say one cruise line is awful, such and such is the best I traveled with these lines and made up my own mind so lets not turn this thread into How I am making a mistake ect and no I am not a rep for Viking or know anyone from Viking ... with all that being said off to my questions.

 

Itinerary

Day 1 Cologne, Germany

Day 2 Cologne, Germany

Day 3 Koblenz, Germany

Day 4 Miltenberg, Germany

Day 5 Würzburg, Germany

Day 6 Bamberg, Germany

Day 7 Nuremberg, Germany

Day 8 Nuremberg, Germany

 

1. has anyone traveled on the Viking Tor?

2. has anyone traveled Cologne to Nuremberg? 2A. what month? 2B. if in the months of December, how was the experience

 

3. are there any hidden fee's, I am not talking about tips or the extra Excursions, I have one included in each port so I wont be buying any extra so I can explore on my own unless I see something that really catches my eye. I am a real history nerd and love culture.

 

4. Can someone tell me about the meals? I hear its like a buffet style

5. my Itinerary does not show times so about what time of the evening does the ship set out to the next stop?

6.. is there any other Info you think I should know?

 

Thank you

Hi Jimmy,

My husband and I are taking the same Viking cruise the week prior to yours. So glad you started this thread so the experienced ones can have at it. We did book the pre-cruise package in Prague with Viking. I did the math and it's a pricey option but we wanted it all planned out for us this go-round. It does include an entire day on your own so I figured we would have lots of time to see what we want to see. I do have one question for any who sees this since there were some good comments on tipping. We chose the prepaid gratuities as our bonus. Should we have chosen drinks instead? Would that be a better value? Anyway...thanks to all the fellow river cruisers for the fun comments to give me lots to be excited about. It's our 1st river cruise. Retired this year so it seemed like the thing to do. Without all the fanfare on the ocean cruise lines, what goes on at night on a River cruise? Thanks!:)

Hi Jimmy,

We chose the prepaid gratuities as our bonus. Should we have chosen drinks instead? Would that be a better value?

We'd have to know how much drinking you plan on doing to know which has the better value!

I would go with the tips, that's something you pretty much have to pay, and with the service we received on our Viking cruise, I thought it was well deserved.

Drinks, you're getting wine and beer with lunch/dinner. I was fine with the house wine. As someone said earlier, the waiters will fill your glass to the rim as you leave the dining room, if you ask.

You always have the option of bringing your own wine or beer on board. So if you just get the occasional mixed drink at the bar, then the tip option will work in your favor. Our cruise was 14 days, so long enough to finish the bottle of Baileys we picked up for our coffee. :)

Enjoy, you're going on a river cruise!

We went with Viking on the Danube in December 2015. It was wonderful, don't believe the naysayers. If you are interested in WWII history, be sure to take the optional n*zi history tour in Nuremberg. I don't remember the cost, but it was well worth it. The tour guide we had was phenomenal and is Rick Steve's guide on his Nuremberg show. So well informed, he explains how something like the n*zi Regime came into being and how Hitler got the German people to follow him. It goes to the rally grounds, the courtroom where the trials took place (everyone in there was listening to our guide because he was so amazing), and the Documentation center, That is a facinating center near the rally grounds that is a history of the rise of the n*zi party. The Germans take their responsibility for knowing and preventing a repeat of their history very seriously

Great advice! Thanks for the comments.

debating if I want to do a post and extend 3 NIGHTS IN PRAGUE,

We took the Grand European Tour last June with the Prague extension. Prague was one of the highlights of our trip. We fell in love with it and will return someday. I highly recommend that everyone visit Prague at least once in their life.

BTW make sure to try Pilsner Urquell. It's the best beer I've ever tasted, hands down. It was the wold's first pilsner and everyone has been trying to copy it since 1842.

...what goes on at night on a River cruise? Thanks!:)

ENJOY

Thom