daylight cruising on Viking

I am very interested to know how much daylight cruising there is, i.e. how much of the countryside do you see? The only river cruise I've been on the ship only sailed during the night; daytimes were basically spent docked at ports.

I think it differs by cruise. If you are looking at specific itineraries you need to specify that.

We went Budapest to Nuremberg on Viking

and we did plenty of daylight sailing .... saw plenty of wonderful countryside ...

In order to give you the best reply, you should indicate the cruises you are interested in.

From my experience, on one cruise we sailed all day (Passage to Eastern Europe), on others it was just for a few hours. Many times we sailed during dinner. Locations between ports are not far.

As the previous posters have indicated, it depends on the itinerary. On the Rhine daylight cruising on the day you travel through the Rhine gorge is anything between 5 and 10 hours, from what past cruisers have indicated. Depending on daylight, i.e. time of year that you travel and direction. Much time is spent docking in towns, you are right, but the cruise lines always choose the most scenic passages for daylight cruising. I am sure more Viking cruisers will be happy to comment.

notamermaid

While our Romantic Danube cruise with Viking included many hours of scenic daylight cruising, we really enjoyed time cruising at night as well. One of my very favorite memories happened during the first night of cruising. We had just gone through the first lock at night on our way from Budapest to Vienna, and after a quick shower, I decided that I wasn't yet ready to call it a night. I went up to the top deck only to find myself completely alone (other than the ship pilot, of course) and while up there, the lights were turned off. It was just myself and a beautiful full moon :)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jrkstl/20781154541/in/album-72157657170498160/

*I attempted to embed the image, but I'm doing something wrong apparently.

Jeff

There is usually a day or two when the ship is cruising through the particularly scenic parts that they arrange for it be in the daytime.

For Viking's Romantic Rhine cruise, we sailed during the day twice that I can remember. Once out of the Netherlands and of course the stretch of the Rhine with the most castles. There were other times that the ship sailed during the day but that was usually with the crew only as most of the passengers travelled to the daily sightseeing spots by bus and caught up with the ship later.

For Bordeaux, we did about half of our sailing during the day. Keep in mind that the ship only travels a hundred miles or so during the week. Times were dependent on low and high tides so times of sailing will vary by time of year.

We are taking a Duoro river trip to Portugal in October. I understand that all sailing will be during daylight hours as the locks on the river are shut down at night.

For Viking's Romantic Rhine cruise, we sailed during the day twice that I can remember.

 

Once out of the Netherlands and of course the stretch of the Rhine with the most castles.

There were other times that the ship sailed during the day but that was usually with the crew only as most of the passengers travelled to the daily sightseeing spots by bus and caught up with the ship later.

For Bordeaux, we did about half of our sailing during the day. Keep in mind that the ship only travels a hundred miles or so during the week. Times were dependent on low and high tides so times of sailing will vary by time of year.

We are taking a Duoro river trip to Portugal in October. I understand that all sailing will be during daylight hours as the locks on the river are shut down at night.

Nice post.

During the day, some pax would rather travel to the daily sightseeing spots.

On the Douro River boats can only cruise during the day as no ship travel at night because of the river currents. However most of the time you will be off the boat on a bus to get to a site as there are no sites outside of Porto that are on the river. We did cruise one day on the boat.

On the Danube there was one day going through the Wachau Valley that you cruise specifically to see the castles and small towns on the river bank. On the Rhine there may have been a morning of cruising.

These were all on Viking.

Thanks Captain BJ

We are taking that cruise on Aug 26,2017.

Did you do the Viking post trip in Prague at the Sheraton?

Smooth Sailing

Barry

For many river boats, the top deck may be closed when navigating the Main Danube canal. It's not especially scenic, and it will often be relegated to nighttime sailing.

If you do the Douro River in Portugal, it is 100% daylight cruising. They tie up at night and do not move. The reason is that the river is narrow and navigation at night is dangerous.

DON