Viking Helvetia Oct.16

We are going on the Rhine river Amsterdam to Basel cruise next month. Has anyone been on this cruise and can share some information about the optional excusions?

We just got off the Helvetia this am in Lucerne 9/25. We did one optional tour to Colmar & guide was well informed. Its in Alsace region & I did it since ancestors came from general area.

Very pretty town. There weren't too many optional tours since your daily tours were very intensive. Lots of walking, lots of info to absorb. Viking was outstanding. Was our 1st river cruise. Scenery along Rhine spectacular. Food excellent. Internet not great..too many trying to connect w/home & server not adequate.

Thanks so much for the information on Colmar. We will plan on doing this tour for sure. Glad you had a great time on your cruise. We did the romantic Danube cruise with Viking 2 years ago and loved it. We are looking forward to seeing Amsterdam and the Rhine scenery. We are also going to Lucerne after the cruise ends. We are traveling on our own and staying 2 days in Lucerne. I would be very interested in hearing about your post excursion stay in Lucerne as well as any highlights on the cruise. Thanks again.

we will be passing you on the Sun, leaving Basel on 10-16

Was there a cost for the Colmar trip or just a different option than the Black Forest trip?

We just got off the Helvetia this am in Lucerne 9/25. We did one optional tour to Colmar & guide was well informed. Its in Alsace region & I did it since ancestors came from general area.

Very pretty town. There weren't too many optional tours since your daily tours were very intensive. Lots of walking, lots of info to absorb. Viking was outstanding. Was our 1st river cruise. Scenery along Rhine spectacular. Food excellent. Internet not great..too many trying to connect w/home & server not adequate.

Dear DoorCounty,

We are thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your trip aboard the Viking Helvetia! We appreciate your feedback and if you would like to discuss your trip in further detail, please contact us at TellUs@vikingrivercruises.com. We hope you have a safe trip home tomorrow and look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Viking River Cruises

bigpaluka, I do believe there is a fee for the optional excusion to Colmar. I have heard many good reviews about Colmar. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Southport101,

We did Lucerne as an add-on w/Viking. Stayed at Radisson-Blu across the bridge from Old Town. Learned at end of that stay, Viking had to put us there since busses aren't allowed in Old Town, but access to restaurants w/fair. We were both dragging at this point & criss-crossing long bridge (not old wooded one) was not high on our list. BEST part of Lucerne was doing the Mt Pilatus excursion. It cost us $99 each but so well worth it. Mt Pilatus is 7000' high. We took boat to base of mountain where we boarded cog railway car that climbs the mountain at a 48% slant. Views were fabulous. Reached the top & you saw even more views. We had a pretty clear day w/o too much haze. Its about 20 degrees colder at the top. To return, you take a gondola (ski lift) that holds about 30 & then, a 4 person gondola from the half way point going down. If heights are not a problem, do it! There is a restaurant at the top, chairs to soak in the sun.

When you are rested from your cruise, could you please give a few details of your optional trip to Colmar? I know it is extra but would not mind knowing more or less how much extra but even more, what did you see? Thanks-I am debating whether to do this tour on my upcoming Rhine cruise at the end of the month.

DoorCountry, thanks for the information about the Mt. Pilatus trip. That sounds wonderful! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will be able to do that trip. We are staying in the Hotel des Alpes which is located on the river by the old bridge. The location seems perfect, but Trip Advisor has mixed reviews. I am hoping for a relaxing, uneventful stay. Were you able to try any of the local restaurants? I would like to find some places that serve local specialties. Fondu is at the top of my to-eat list . Thanks again.

DoorCountry, thanks for the information about the Mt. Pilatus trip. That sounds wonderful! Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we will be able to do that trip. . Thanks again.

Are you from Southport, NC? If so, we are neighbors, just up the road on Route 211. You might see my husband cruising in his convertible with his Mt. Pilatus hat on :D.

Mt. P is beautiful, but you must go on a day when it is clear.........otherwise you will be in the clouds and not able to see anything.

Sharon

Sharon, we live in Raleigh but have a townhouse in Southport. Our plans upon retiring are to move full time to Southport. Not sure when that will happen, but when it does we are planning on going on some of the longer river cruises that are difficult for us to do now while we are still working. I would love to see China. Have heard alot of wonderful things about Vikings Yangtze cruise. So many places to go but not enough time to see them (sigh).

I'll keep my eyes open for the convertible!

Christel

We were on Viking Sun Treasures of the Rhine a couple years ago in mid-late November from Antwerp to Basel -- flew on our own, spent 2-3 nts prior to cruise in Brussels & took train to Antwerp -- after cruise took train to Interlaken for 2 nts in Best Western, then train to Lucerne for 1 nt (not enough) in a very comfortable Best Western less than 1/2 block from the wood bridge, then train to Zurich for 1 nt before flying back to USA. Our extra days in Switzerland was alot less expensive than the Viking "add-on".

We were on the Viking Helvetia for our cruise and had a wonderful time. We were on the middle floor and were pleasantly surprised with our room: it was so well organized that it's smallness was not a problem; we had plenty of drawers and shelves, plus two chairs by the window; the beds were very comfortable; it was quiet; and even the tiny bathroom worked well for us.

The other passengers were a very nice mix, mostly our age (55-ish) or older. The staff was very helpful and friendly, the excursions were, for the most part, well run. We did not take the Colmar side trip, but we are not the type of travelers who need to see everything. We took one add-on, which was a dinner in a German restaurant which turned out to be much more fun than I had anticipated, with singing, dancing and lots of drinking.

In my opinion the food was mixed- sometimes very good (lamb cooked medium rare, great sausage, mmmmm...) and sometimes not-so-good. We spoke to others who raved about the food on the France river cruise, so it may be that I do not particularly like German food.... too heavy, overcooked, and too much sauce, but there usually was something on the menu I could eat. We did not get the wine package, and it seemed most people did not. We bought a few bottles of wine at a shop in Basel and sometimes I just carried a glass of that to dinner.

One night when we were going through a loch we had a small party on the top deck. The tent structures were collapsed so the boat could fit through, and when we saw the crew take out their umbrellas we rushed under the collapsed structure and water poured all over from the top of the loch.... it was something to see! You could reach out and touch the stone side walls as we passed through.

In Basel we stayed at the Ramada Plaza Hotel & Conference Center which was surprisingly nice and has a restaurant/bar on top with an amazing view of the city. We splurged on an incredible meal at Les Trois Rois, where they have only about ten tables and one sitting. Really incredible food- I would compare it to Per Se in NYC or similar. We did not particularly like our Amsterdam hotel, but it had nicer rooms than ours which might have been fine.

Feel free to ask me any questions. This was our first river cruise, but I am sure we will do it again.

We did this cruise earlier in the year. It was brilliant. The food was very good and there was always something on the menu to suit everyones taste. We didnt take any extra trips, we were just too exhausted and relaxed with the trips that were laid on already. Cologne was fantastic! The trip to the Black Forest was also excellent but a bit touristy. A coach load turning up to a shop, where you were forced fed black forest cake and dumped in a gift shop to buy a cuckoo clock! But the scenery was brilliant and you could see the lovely farm houses and small chapels in the grounds and gardens. :)

It did cause the Helvetia to pass Rudesheim without stopping but the good news is that we heard it rained a lot in Switzerland this weekend so current cruises may not have a problem. It was a good cruise despite less than great weather, low water, and things that close on Nov 1.

The food was not all terrible on this ship but it was not as good as on the Seine as far as dinner is concerned. We took a D cabin this time but I would not do it again on this ship as it was a little noisy (the cabin itself is the same as on the higher decks but with half window only-we were eye to eye with the swans). I do not know if this is true on all Viking ships and I was bothered by noise more than my husband so it may depend on how heavily you sleep.

We took a tram to the boat in Basel after an overnight stay there-it was not difficult but there is a little walk to the ship and if you have large luggage, a taxi may be better as it takes you down to the dock. Basel has some wonderful museums (great current exhibits at Beyeler) but several people on our cruise took the Lucerne extension and had a good weather day on Mt Pilatus (We were not lucky during our 5 days in Switzerland and had mostly overcast days where you could not see the Alps-We still liked it though prices for food and lodging are high). The ship had a short walking tour of the old city in the afternoon. The entire group goes on the tram-you must walk to it-with the headsets. It was ok-guide was very serious-but some were a little uncomfortable as we were on a regular tram with locals coming and going. As far as I know, no one got lost.

I had questions about tours here-now I know. Colmar was a very good tour. They offer an additional Colmar tour of nearby WWII battlefields when the good guide is available but he was not for our tour. I had not been interested in the Black Forest Tour but despite the touristy Cuckoo Clock stop (the black forest cake was optional), it was beautiful as fall leaves were still on the trees and there was also a good church stop. The local guides also took those who were interested and able on a walk up in the woods at the touristy stop-I recommend it but the path is slippery so it is best for the fit. The streams and rocks and forest are great.

By Strassbourg, it was necessary to make alterations in the itinerary because of the low water. Passengers could spend the whole day in Strasbourg where we all were given a sauerkraut lunch in a local restaurant (very good if overly generous) after the included tour or take a wine tour in the afternoon. We heard mixed reviews for that optional tour-that is was hurried: though the wine tasted was good there was not time for all to buy some. Our cruise then made a hurried morning stop at Mannheim to let off passengers for the Heidelberg tour but picked up anybody who left the boat at Mainz as they rushed to get through the most shallow places.