Viking Prestige Danube Cruise 08/27/11

Hello All,

My husband and I are booked on the Viking cruise beginning in Budapest on 8/27/11 and ending in Nuremburg on Sept 3rd.

We have done a few big ships, but this is our first river cruise. We are thrilled to be taking this trip

Anyone else on this boat?

Regards,

Kathleen

We will be on the Prestige in early Nov doing the route in reverse - Nuremberg to Budapest. It's also our 1st river cruise, so I'll look forward to hearing what you think of the trip and the Prestige. Are you going to Prague post cruise? We'll start in Prague and then travel down to Nuremberg for the departure.

Hello CasaM,

I will post my thoughts post cruise.

We are not staying pre or post this cruise. But, I have been to Prague. It is very beautiful. The people are charming and the city is easy to get around.

I hope that you have time to do a guided walking tour. We had a great fellow who was a true native. He actually had a good life(for a while) under the Russian occupation as he was an opera singer.

I can't remember the name of the deli/cafateria that we ate in but it was delicious and inexpensive. It's a place for locals. Ask. Someone will help you.

Regards.

Kathleen

We were on this itinerary (on Viking Sky) last November and enjoyed it very much. Luckily for us, Christmas markets were open in all of the cities/towns we stopped but wasn't marketed as a Christmas Market cruise and price was much lower (was during American Thanksgiving week). The only optional tour we took was in Vienna to Schönbrunn Palace and enjoyed it very much. We did not do the optional concert though. In Salzburg, after the tour in the morning we had plenty of time to take the tram up to the castle on our own and enjoyed the beautiful views and there is a cafe-restaurant within the castle confines to get a bite to eat. The Benedictine abbey in Melk was beautiful and very interesting. If you are interested we posted pictures of the cruise on Shutterfly:

http://smengelt.shutterfly.com/341

We've also been to Prague on a separate trip and it is a great walking city. We purchased tickets in advance to an opera at the National Theater and really ejoyed it.

Hello WarEagle76,

Thank you for the info and for sharing your beautiful photos. It makes a nice preview for me.

Regards.

Kathleen

Thank you so much for posting your picture. We are going from Budapest to Prague and have days before and after in each city. We are on AMA waterways for the Dec 2 one. How was the weather when you there? Did you need cash at most of the markets or did most vendors take credit cards? We are so excited about this trip and your pictures made us more excited. This will be our first river cruise.

Tetons, we Terry and Pat and friends Bill and Linda are also on your cruise...15th river cruise overalll and 2nd with AMA....on our last Christmas market cruise is was mainly cash in the markets...atms are plentiful...get your Hungarian money at the airport and the Chezk money in Prague...both countries will take euros but give you change in the local currency. We are staying at the Marriott Milleniom apsrtments one nite precruise and at the Prague Old Town Hilton on our own postcruise. Hope to see you on board. Be careful river cruising is addicting. Pat

I have heard that as well! Were you there same time of year last year? What was the weather like?

Terry and Pat are you going with sort of a group?

Tetons, our last Christmas cruise was in 2008 with Vantage--Nurnberg to Cologne. Weather was cold, but not real cold. We are not with a group, just the 4 of us.

To the poster inquiring about docking at Salsberg--our Viking rep explained that unless the Capt is french they must dock on the German side of the river. We found this to be true on other cruises in France..the capt. must be French, just a quirk of the country. Pat

This will be our first river cruise also.

My brother and his wife along with my wife and her aunt and uncle will be joining us.

We will visiting munch before the cruise.

Hello Jeilerman,

Wow, that's a nice little tour group that you have.

My husband(Sam) and I are both retired. Currently we are in FL. We leave here on the 7th and pack up our home in VA. It sold suddenly to a cash buyer. Then it's off to CT with a Penske truck to put our possessions in storage on the 21st. We'll visit with CT family for a few days and leave for Boston on the 26th and arrive in Budpest on the 27th. So if we look a bit squirrelly the first day,you'll know why.

We are looking forward to the cruise. I had such a difficult time narrowing down cruise companies,ships and when to go. I was relieved when I finally made a decision last Oct.

See you on the ship.

Kathleen

FHS, I can't wait to read your post-cruise post! I'll be going on the same Viking Prestige cruise beginning 10/1 in Nuremburg and ending 10/7 in Budapest.

CasaM, it sounds like you're doing the same cruise as I am, except one month later. I'll do a post-cruise post as well.

I started a roll call ("Viking Prestige Danube 10/01/2011") and found one other Cruise Critic member going on my cruise and another member going just the week before I do.

FHS - Your cruising date is getting close. We are on the Prestige in Nov of 2012. I look forward to reading your report. Our cruise is from Amsterdam to Budapest. Have a great time!

Hi Folks,

I don't type well and I don't take great photos. But, I'll certainly give you an overall view of this wonderful trip.

I am looking forward to meeting the Kentucky family.

I'm almost packed for the cruise. So far, I'm under my weight limit. That would be just for the suitcases.

Kathleen

Hi, just a quick note to let you know that we're onboard Viking Prestige for this week's cruise on the Danube. Itinerary is Budapest to Nuremberg. Would love any tips and advice from those of you who've done this cruise (on Viking or any other line) -- and also check us out on Facebook, where we'll be chronicling the trip....

Carolyn

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

Carolyn, I'd like to read about your trip, but I can't seem to find the right facebook page. Hope your trip is going great! We'll be on Prestige in Nov, so I'm anxious to hear your impressions.

Carolyn, Oh, I just found your wall and the nice picture of your cabin, so I guess I'm in the right place. Looks great!

Hi, and thanks. I'm also writing blogs here: http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/blog.

It's been an excellent trip; we're in Nuremburg today,our last day before debarking tomorrow.

Carolyn

Carolyn, Oh, I just found your wall and the nice picture of your cabin, so I guess I'm in the right place. Looks great!

The good news about WiFi on Viking Prestige is that it's free. But don't get too excited; the bad news is that it doesn't work. You'll waste a lot of time and energy waiting to send and read email and accessing the web itself has been an inconsistent nightmare.

Now mind you, I'm working on the trip and need it more than most of you -- but just want you to be prepared. Plus, when you ask the concierge for advice in port, again, based on my experience, she'll give you bad info. For instance, in Melk I was told to walk a mile out of the city to a shopping mall. Which would've consumed a good part of an already short day in a fantastic place.

What I learned? There's a chain of coffee shops throughout Germany called the Black Bean and it's a lifesaver. For the price of a cup of coffee (or a bottle of Becks!) you can use your laptop flawlessly. There's one in Melk, another in Regensburg, and I'm sitting in a third in Nuremberg (all are in the heart of the old cities; for more info go to http://www.blackbean.de).

And no, I don't own stock :) But am grateful for it.

Carolyn

PS For some reason in Budapest ship Internet was really good but it went downhill from there....

Carolyn, will you be posting a more complete review? We're looking forward to taking the same cruise next month.

BTW, that Black Bean link didn't seem to work. I got a domain selling site.

Arrggghhhh, typo. Sorry Big Al. URL for the Black Bean is: http://www.black-bean.de/.

Yes, review will go up hopefully early September. In the meantime, here's a mini-review: http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/blog/?p=3769

Carolyn

Carolyn, will you be posting a more complete review? We're looking forward to taking the same cruise next month.

 

BTW, that Black Bean link didn't seem to work. I got a domain selling site.