Viking Cruises Summer Dates cheaper ?

[cisco 09]

Hi everyone
I'm just about to book a Viking river cruise Passau to Budapest for next year and have noticed that the July and August dates are cheaper than April or September. I'm a bit surprised at that. Is there something I'm missing. Can someone tell what the reason might be. I would have thought we would get the best weather at that time so it would suit us fine !
Thank you
Janice

[WarEagle76]

Viking, and other cruise lines (and airlines, hotels, etc.), utilize historical booking patterns to set pricing. As market conditions change, pricing will fluctuate based upon current booking patterns. Cruises during a particular timeframe might go up as dates start to sell out, or down when cruises need to be filled. That said, many people like to cruise in what might be considered “off-peak” periods for reasons such as locations being visited are less crowded and the air fare is cheaper (or it is easier to use airline miles) during those months, yet weather should still be mild (though predicting what the weather will be anywhere these days is at best a guess). Interestingly, if you look at various itineraries, all do not follow the pattern of cheaper during summer than in April/September, so the itinerary is a factor as well.

[nana541]

Could be that due to "god awful" heat and crowds in summer months plus difficultly navigating rivers due to "low" water levels and then customer end up on buses and in hotels rather than on the boat..... Well it does cause you to worry about booking a river cruise and ending up with a bus/hotel tour!!!

Just need to know what may happen this time of year.... IMHO

PS what wareagle76 says is likely right also

[cisco 09]

Thank you, Nana 541 and WarEagle76 for that info. We are actually in Northern Ireland and for us there is no such thing as "god awful heat"
Our last 7 summers have been wet cold and miserable so any heat will be welcome ! And it is North Europe so I don't think it will too bad - the crowds are a different matter but I think we will just have to accept that. The reason I queried the price is that July and August are always the most expensive months to go holiday from here mostly because of the school holidays. I wasn't sure if it was because there was a big american market and they would prefer not to travel at that time - for the reasons you mentioned. I think you're right it's just a marketing issue so I'm off to book
Happy cruising
J

[WarEagle76]

It is a great cruise. We did the reverse two years ago. Here are some pictures from that trip (it was end of November so Christmas Markets were open).

http://smengelt.shutterfly.com/341

[cisco 09]

Thanks for the photos. They were really interesting and I looked at all 280! Can I ask what is the significance of the abandoned shoes on the quay side. There must be a story there.We have been to the Christmas markets in Prague and Krakow and really enjoyed them especially the hot chocolate with rum

[WarEagle76]

It's a memorial:

"The Shoes on the Danube Promenade is a memorial created by Gyula Pauer and Can Togay on the bank of the Danube River in Budapest. It honors the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes, and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. It represents their shoes left behind on the bank."

It was an easy walk from where we were docked just beyond the Key Bridge.

[abredt]

More info:

The Germans saved bullets by using rope to tie the Jews together and shooting just the first one, then pushing them in.
Some of the women saw what was happening and hid the kids under their skirts. The kids swam to safety and told what happened.

It was very moving to see the shoes up close.
cb

[WarEagle76]

cb, thanks for the additional details. Here are a couple of pictures of the memorial.

[cisco 09]

That sounds really interesting and we are looking forward to our cruise which we booked yesterday. Thanks for all the info
J

[franski]

Here are a few more pics...

The last one shows the Chain Bridge in the background - so can be used as a point of reference to find the memorial. It is not well marked.

Fran

P.S. Sorry they are a bit dark... taken as the sun went down.

[WarEagle76]

Thanks for clarifying "Chain Bridge" as I said "Key Bridge". Guess I still have Paris on my mind

[franski]

Originally Posted by WarEagle76

Thanks for clarifying "Chain Bridge" as I said "Key Bridge". Guess I still have Paris on my mind

Didn't really notice, to be honest....

Had forgotten that I had taken a picture from the other end of the memorial - and realized when I went to post (really only went for the picture of the plaque) that there was one with the bridge in it to help with orientation. We had to find it on our own - not a lot of chatter about it here on CC when we went.

Fran

P.S. There are worse things to have on your mind than Paris...

[WarEagle76]

We read about the memorial while doing research for the trip. For those going to Budapest, here is a useful link that maps some of the major sites including this memorial.

http://www.tripomatic.com/Hungary/Bu...FQiqnQodbzIAHQ