Will sailing over Easter be a problem?

Hi,

I've booked my first river cruise on Viking and realized that our day in Cologne will be Eastern Sunday and Kinderdijk is on Eastern Monday, which I understand is a holiday in Europe. Because of a family event, if this sailing didn't work we would either have to change to fall or the following spring. I'm concerned that 2 out of 7 days being holidays might really effect the cruise. Could someone with holiday experience chime in? Did it effect your cruise? Will Viking provide alternate events if everywhere is closed? I'm really torn on what to do about this and would love to hear other opinions.

Thanks,

Stacy

I would check with Viking. We sailed on Viking's Portrait of Southern France last year. Our trip ended on Easter Sunday and we were booked on a post excursion to Paris. While many things were closed, Viking arranged for a nice restaurant to serve us dinner on the way to Paris.

We were in a Brussels hotel on Easter Sunday and Monday a few years back. No problem with restaurants and on Easter we went to Brugges, by train on our own, where the canal boats were operating. Early afternoon the churches had finished services and were open to visitors.

Certainly you will have the usual walking tours. My guess is that Kinderdijk's short boat ride and demonstration windmill will be open. The Dom in Koln is always closed during services, it looks like it is open on Easter - http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=oeffnungszeiten&L=1. The Roman museum and other museums may well be closed.

You may get more specific information by contacting the cruise line. Enjoy!

I'm also sailing over Easter weekend. I was told the Monday after is also a holiday. I called Uniworld and also checked the websites for all of the sites we are scheduled to visit on those days and they were all open. Check the day to day itinerary to see what your excursions are and google their websites to be sure.

Thanks, everyone. I'll call Viking and check websites.

Thanks again for your help!:D