Questions - Viking Rhine Getaway

DH and I have pretty much settled on doing this Cruise in the summer of 2016. DH wants to do the Windmills at Kinderdijk, Netherlands, so that's one of the reasons for choosing Viking - doesn't seem like any other lines include this. We've been to the Netherlands before - eons ago - and we want to go back. His father was originally from Rotterdam, so he has family ties.

We're considering the Amsterdam to Basel - but might do Basel to Amsterdam. Either way, we want to extend our stay in Amsterdam.

My questions are about this extension and the getting to/from Europe. I'm considering using a TA - but that's not definite yet. I don't have one I deal with on a regular basis. In the mean time, I want to have this well-researched so when I do choose a TA, I will know whether or not they are knowledgeable.

Question 1) Staying in Amsterdam. Viking's site says that they use the Mövenpick Hotel Amsterdam - which doesn't seem centrally located. Then they also list the Amsterdam Conservatorium Hotel - which seems better. The web site is a little confusing, but I think the Conservatorium Hotel is more expensive.

I'm thinking we could probably do better on our own or with a TA rather than booking this through Viking - but DH likes that everything is taken care of - transfers, the concierge service, etc. He's willing to pay - should I complain ;). Anyone have any hotel suggestions, I could check out.

Last time we were in Amsterdam, we stayed at the Sir Winston hotel - yes Sir Winston, in Amsterdam. It was a lovely old Dutch house. We asked for a room with a bath. The room was lovely, but there was a shower stall in the middle of it - no sink, no toilet. Those were down the hall. It was interesting, but I'm getting to old for that (you didn't hear me admit that! :cool: )

Question 2: Flights. We live in NJ, so we have access to Newark/Liberty, JFK and La Guardia. It looks like Viking uses Newark, but I'm wondering what airlines they use. We have FF with United - not enough to get much of anything, but it would be nice to get credit for all these miles.

Do you get a choice or do they just assign you to a carrier and seats? On United, you can choose economy plus and get a little more leg room. If I'm going to be sitting in that seat for 7-8 hours - I want that extra room. Can you do that using Viking's air option?

I realize that's more than 2 questions, but it's 2 subjects. :)

When we travel, I usually do all the research and arrangements. I'm a bit wary about turning things over to someone else - I guess, I'm becoming a control freak! But I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the choices and complexity of booking a flight into one city and out of another.

Well, if you're read this far and have some answers - THANKS!

I just booked this past weekend the Rhine Getaway for 2015. Amsterdam to Basel with a post trip 2 night to Lucerne.

Viking has a choice of airlines and by paying $50.00 per person more you can choose the carrier of your choice. As far as seats-there is only a certain number of seats you can choose from as far as location but if you want to upgrade to economy plus you will have to pay a little more. They will basically assign you the seats within the pricing of the cruise and give you a confirmation number and you can go online to the carrier of your choice website and change the seats or pay to upgrade direct to the carrier. They will assign you the same confirmation for the outbound and the return flight. Hope this helps and answers some of your questions. I just dealt with Viking air yesterday so I am very familiar with the way they work.

I just returned from this trip, spent this most recent weekend in the Moevenpick and Amsterdam.

The hotel is not centrally located, as you say, but we did not find it too inconvenient to get to the city center. They say it is a 5 minute walk to Central Station, it's more like 10-15. The walk takes you through the edge of an industrial area and along a waterfront that is not pretty, but it is well traveled by the locals and at no time did we feel it was unsafe.

There is a tram stop in front of the hotel and you can get tickets right on the tram (it was something like 7.50 for a 24 hour pass) and go anywhere from there. Edit: Viking provided a sheet of directions via tram, to the most popular tourist sites, so we knew which trains to take.)

The hotel also runs a shuttle by appointment, to Central Station.

We enjoyed the Moevenpick. Our Viking package included breakfast the two mornings we were there. We had lunch and dinner on our own, in the city, at a restaurant nearby, and at the hotel. All of it was excellent.

I thought the room was nice. It was a good size, had a large euro style bathroom with a shower (no tub), a good view, cable tv and was very quiet. The only drawback was that they made a double bed out of two single beds, including single-sized duvets. After walking all day we were too tired to care much.

We had a limo to the airport the morning we left.

We are going on this trip this year, we live in CT so we will fly out from JFK on December 19th landing in Basel on the 20th, we extended the trip through Viking with the post cruise extension in Amsterdam, I have never been to Amsterdam but I do not mind walking to get around. I purchased tickets to the Anne Frank house online to avoid the long wait. I booked everything through Viking just for peace of mind and to have all the transfers taken care of in advance. This will be our 3rd Viking River cruise with another planned for next August.

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Question 2: Flights. We live in NJ, so we have access to Newark/Liberty, JFK and La Guardia. It looks like Viking uses Newark, but I'm wondering what airlines they use. We have FF with United - not enough to get much of anything, but it would be nice to get credit for all these miles.

Do you get a choice or do they just assign you to a carrier and seats? On United, you can choose economy plus and get a little more leg room. If I'm going to be sitting in that seat for 7-8 hours - I want that extra room. Can you do that using Viking's air option?

I used choice air with Viking and was able to choose what flights I wanted and picked seats in economy. Once that was done I waited a few weeks and went back into the airline and bumped up to economy plus. This was done thru United.

Have you checked into Vantage Deluxe Travel? We did Basel to Amsterdam in 2011, The Holiday Markets on the Rhine. We didn't do any extentions since the previous year we did Tulips and Windmills with Vantage. We chose them because they were the ones that traveled to Frieseland where my father's family is from. He will be 90 this year and it was so exciting to do this with him and see the "Old Country". Both trips were excellent.

Thanks everyone! This is great info! I'm happy that we can get a flight with United - it's not my first choice, but I would like to get credit for the miles.

While I still haven't decided whether to book everything through Viking yet, I feel more comfortable doing so - and if DH will be less stressed, this is a good thing :)

Have you checked into Vantage Deluxe Travel? We did Basel to Amsterdam in 2011, The Holiday Markets on the Rhine. We didn't do any extentions since the previous year we did Tulips and Windmills with Vantage. We chose them because they were the ones that traveled to Frieseland where my father's family is from. He will be 90 this year and it was so exciting to do this with him and see the "Old Country". Both trips were excellent.

I hadn't checked them out. I see they do do Kinderdijk, but they don't do the middle Rhine (where all the castles are) and Strasborg on the same cruise - which is what I want to see.

We have done three Viking river cruises, the most recent being the Rhine Getaway in March. On all three trips we have let Viking make all the arrangements since we have no loyalty to a particular airline, and we have never been disappointed in the Viking-arranged bookings. This most recent Rhine trip Viking put us on United from Texas through Newark to Zurich. Viking provided transportation to the ship in Basil, of course. When we received our airline reservations about a month before the trip, I went to the United website (as I have done with the airlines on the two other trips) and selected the seats that fit us better than the randomly-assigned seats Viking had chosen. This time there was a little glitch that the flight over was on a United Partner, Swiss. However, I contacted them via e-mail and received excellent seat assignments after telling them what we wanted. We did do the extension in Amsterdam because if you travel from Basel, there is no time spent in Amsterdam on the actual cruise. Arranged by Viking, we too stayed at the Movenpick, which is very modern and nice with a wonderful breakfast included, as AnotherDawn has written in another post in this thread. In fact, I would agree with everything AnotherDawn wrote.

I hadn't checked them out. I see they do do Kinderdijk, but they don't do the middle Rhine (where all the castles are) and Strasborg on the same cruise - which is what I want to see.

GCT does those (Strasbourg and the Middle Rhein) on "Romance of the Rhein and Mosel." However, they start in Antwerp and do not go to Amsterdam.

Have you checked the United fares with economy plus? We are doing a Tauck tour Basal to Amsterdam flying out of Newark in May. I found the fares considerably less expensive by going through the airline than then through Tauck. We have seats already reserved in economy plus in both directions and decided to fly through Munich to Basal because we wanted more time between connections. Of course you will be going in the other direction!

We have done three Viking river cruises, the most recent being the Rhine Getaway in March. On all three trips we have let Viking make all the arrangements since we have no loyalty to a particular airline, and we have never been disappointed in the Viking-arranged bookings. This most recent Rhine trip Viking put us on United from Texas through Newark to Zurich. Viking provided transportation to the ship in Basil, of course. When we received our airline reservations about a month before the trip, I went to the United website (as I have done with the airlines on the two other trips) and selected the seats that fit us better than the randomly-assigned seats Viking had chosen. This time there was a little glitch that the flight over was on a United Partner, Swiss. However, I contacted them via e-mail and received excellent seat assignments after telling them what we wanted. We did do the extension in Amsterdam because if you travel from Basel, there is no time spent in Amsterdam on the actual cruise. Arranged by Viking, we too stayed at the Movenpick, which is very modern and nice with a wonderful breakfast included, as AnotherDawn has written in another post in this thread. In fact, I would agree with everything AnotherDawn wrote.

Thanks! That's all good to know. DH will feel so much better if we do everything through Viking. If we can choose our seats on the flights - that would work out nicely! Glad to hear good things about the Movenpick. It's not as centrally located as I'd like, but I know it's easy to get around in Amsterdam. We had a rental car the last time, because we went to a lot of other places as well as Amsterdam, but in Amsterdam we parked it and left it for the duration! It was easier to walk or take public transportation!

GCT does those (Strasbourg and the Middle Rhein) on "Romance of the Rhein and Mosel." However, they start in Antwerp and do not go to Amsterdam.

Well, I want Strasbourg, we both want the Middle Rhine, Kinderdjk and especially Amsterdam - so that won't work - but thanks!

I am also in NJ, but near Phila. We also have United FF miles and we flew from PHL on Lufthansa and connected in FRA. (done this several times). We had enough FF miles to cover the trip so that it was worth the inconvenience of connecting in Frankfurt. It wasn't a big deal. Lufthansa is awesome.

We travel super light, so we stayed at a B&B in Amsterdam that was about a 10 min walk to the ship and Central Station. Also, not a big deal for us.

If your FF miles wont get you a free flight, I would used the Viking air with the option to chose your flight and seats and possibly upgrade with your FF miles.

I was just quoted $697 ffrom PHL to Paris with the extra $50 for the 'Choice' option. Not bad! This way it will include transfers. If you want extra days and you deviate from the Viking Pre or Post pkgs then there is another fee of $100 pp. for the air. All in all, we did better on our own. We took the train from Schipol to Centraal station and walked to B&B. Again...we travel very light...a la Rick Steves.

Flying into one city and out of another (open jaw) is great and done all the time...even with FF miles.

We did the Rhine Getaway (Amsterdam to Basel) n April-May 2014. Let me know if you'd like any more info.

We went on two Viking trips this year.....not the specific cruise you are looking at, but we did the China cruise in April and the Romantic Danube in September. For all my travels I do all the planning and research. I then book with the cruise line directly. After I have everything booked I let my travel agent take over the booking so I get a HUGE discount on the cruise. We prefer to make our own hotel reservations pre and post cruise and we also prefer to book our air with mileage, but you can certainly use Viking for everything if you wish. One of the things we noticed when on the cruise was that those who booked their air with Viking (and they were the majority)....some of the people had odd flight times and some had to get off the ship really early in the morning to make those flights. When you choose your own flights you can get the flight times you want. Another thing we did was stayed in Prague (on our own) after our cruise, rather than book the Viking extension. The people who booked the extension with Viking went on a bus from Nuremberg to Prague and stayed in a hotel that was outside of the city....which was not very convenient for sightseeing in Prague. We booked our own transportation from Nuremberg to Prague (a driver, which we shared with another couple) and stayed in a hotel that was close to everything. The drive was much shorter than taking a slow bus. I think in the end the way we did it cost us less or around the same as had we booked the extension through Viking, and it was also more convenient.

Feel free to email me for more details.

We're about to take our 6th cruise with Viking. We've made our own pre-post arrangements each trip and we've only used their air once - didn't care for it. Our seat assignments changed (presumably by the airline) about a week from our trip to terrible seats and we were forced to upgrade our reservation ourselves at a cost to avoid sitting right next to the lavatory at the back of the plane (Delta). Also, you will probably do better on the east coast but flying from the west coast they put you on EARLY flights. We prefer to choose our own times, airlines, seats and the price usually works out the same or lower (except Vikings' free air offers on occasion which give you no choices but you can't beat the price).

This will be our 4th stay in Amsterdam and we love Hotel Fita which is located a block or so from the big museum park (Van Gogh, etc.) with nearby transportation. We always go at least a few days early (big jet lag from the west coast) and stay over where the cruise ends or go somewhere from there.

Flying in and out of different cities in Europe is no problem - it's the norm there and I wish we could do it easily in the US. They don't usually have different prices for one way like we do.

You'll have a great trip whatever you do. Have fun and enjoy the windmills!

This will be our 4th stay in Amsterdam and we love Hotel Fita which is located a block or so from the big museum park (Van Gogh, etc.) with nearby transportation. We always go at least a few days early (big jet lag from the west coast) and stay over where the cruise ends or go somewhere from there.

 

Flying in and out of different cities in Europe is no problem - it's the norm there and I wish we could do it easily in the US. They don't usually have different prices for one way like we do.

 

You'll have a great trip whatever you do. Have fun and enjoy the windmills!

Thanks! I was looking at Hotels yesterday and I put the Fita on my short list! I was also looking at The Toren - more expensive than the Fita but I liked the location. I'm still waiting for the 2016 dates to be released, so I think I have time.

I'm glad I don't have to fly from the west coast - wow the jet lag from the east coast was bad enough. I'll have to watch for those free air deals! I'm hoping to find a good travel agent with river cruise experience who can pull all this together for me. I don't think I'd let Viking choose my flight - if I went through them, I'd pay the extra to be able to choose my own. I read about people having to leave the ship at 3 and 4 in the morning to make their flights!

I'm thinking I'd like to stay a night or 2 in Lucerne so we can do the cog railway.

Thanks to all for the advice! I'm making notes!

I am also in NJ, but near Phila. We also have United FF miles and we flew from PHL on Lufthansa and connected in FRA. (done this several times). We had enough FF miles to cover the trip so that it was worth the inconvenience of connecting in Frankfurt. It wasn't a big deal. Lufthansa is awesome.

 

We travel super light, so we stayed at a B&B in Amsterdam that was about a 10 min walk to the ship and Central Station. Also, not a big deal for us.

 

If your FF miles wont get you a free flight, I would used the Viking air with the option to chose your flight and seats and possibly upgrade with your FF miles.

I was just quoted $697 ffrom PHL to Paris with the extra $50 for the 'Choice' option. Not bad! This way it will include transfers. If you want extra days and you deviate from the Viking Pre or Post pkgs then there is another fee of $100 pp. for the air. All in all, we did better on our own. We took the train from Schipol to Centraal station and walked to B&B. Again...we travel very light...a la Rick Steves.

 

Flying into one city and out of another (open jaw) is great and done all the time...even with FF miles.

 

We did the Rhine Getaway (Amsterdam to Basel) n April-May 2014. Let me know if you'd like any more info.

Hi CEV426, Would love to hear which B&B you enjoyed in Amsterdam. I really want to stay in a canal house/B&B and am currently researching that issue now.

We are also doing the Rhine and I booked all our air travel independently using points and got a decent fare of $651/pp, then upgraded to the exit rows

YES for traveling light :), I am planning a carryon only so I can enjoy the scenery and not drag half of America with me! :D

Thanks! I was looking at Hotels yesterday and I put the Fita on my short list! I was also looking at The Toren - more expensive than the Fita but I liked the location. I'm still waiting for the 2016 dates to be released, so I think I have time.

 

I'm glad I don't have to fly from the west coast - wow the jet lag from the east coast was bad enough. I'll have to watch for those free air deals! I'm hoping to find a good travel agent with river cruise experience who can pull all this together for me. I don't think I'd let Viking choose my flight - if I went through them, I'd pay the extra to be able to choose my own. I read about people having to leave the ship at 3 and 4 in the morning to make their flights!

 

I'm thinking I'd like to stay a night or 2 in Lucerne so we can do the cog railway.

 

Thanks to all for the advice! I'm making notes!

I spent a bit of time last eve researching AMS hotels for precruise next August. One thing to be aware of is that I noted many of the accommodations including Fita require a minimum of 2 night stay during peak (the time I will be there falls during peak time) and also, many are already fully booked up now for the end of next August (almost a year in advance). Possibly some space might open up again but I have now booked our 1 night into another hotel just so I actually have something booked, even if I eventually change that booking.

We did the Viking Rhine Getaway during Christmas week last December. You will love the cruise. We did Basel to Amsterdam. We stayed at the Radisson Blu in Amsterdam post cruise, booked through Viking. Really nice hotel and very good location.

Carol,

How do you do this??? "I then book with the cruise line directly. After I have everything booked I let my travel agent take over the booking so I get a HUGE discount on the cruise."

I did all the work and then booked thru TA. (There were four of us coming from different destinations.) All we got was a $100, per cabin on-board credit. (bar bill...)

What is the secret?

Carol,

How do you do this??? "I then book with the cruise line directly. After I have everything booked I let my travel agent take over the booking so I get a HUGE discount on the cruise."

I did all the work and then booked thru TA. (There were four of us coming from different destinations.) All we got was a $100, per cabin on-board credit. (bar bill...)

What is the secret?

The secret is having the right travel agent, but sadly CC rules prohibit the lucky ones from sharing this information with the rest of us. [i say this as the host, and as someone who would also like to know. :)]

What time does the cruise leave Basel for Amsterdam? Before, during, or after dinner?

What time does the cruise leave Basel for Amsterdam? Before, during, or after dinner?

My cruise was Basel to Amsterdam, but because of high water, we boarded the ship in Breisach. I think you said you're taking the pre-cruise trip to Lucerne, which I did. I can tell you that after the Mt. Titlis tour, we arrived back at the hotel at 4:00. We left the hotel in Lucerne for Breisach at 4:15 and arrived at the ship at 6:30. Those who did the pre-cruise trip in Lucerne but didn't take the Mt. Titlis tour still had to wait for us before they left for Breisach. If we had been able to go from Lucerne to Basel, it would have taken an hour to an hour and a half rather than two and a half hours. So I think you can be pretty certain the cruise will not leave Basel before dinner, but I can't tell you if it will leave during or after dinner.

Carol,

How do you do this??? "I then book with the cruise line directly. After I have everything booked I let my travel agent take over the booking so I get a HUGE discount on the cruise."

I did all the work and then booked thru TA. (There were four of us coming from different destinations.) All we got was a $100, per cabin on-board credit. (bar bill...)

What is the secret?

Sorry, but can't share travel agent info on this forum. You can email me if you have any questions.