LFS517

....they often run charges for US customers through their Basel Switzerland office which on many credit cards results in a 3% Foreign Transaction Fee. Buyer beware.

We had a payment to Viking a couple of years ago that incurred a foreign transaction fee. We questioned this with Viking and received a full refund of the fee from them. Haven't had this problem recently.

I am so happy to hear this. My great-uncle is buried there and I was hoping to see his grave. It is one of the main reasons we decided to do this trip. I"ll certainly follow your advice and speak to one of the officials when we get there.

It will help expedite your visit if you know the location of the grave. You can search on abmc.gov to find the location. Good luck and enjoy your trip!

We did a Viking Paris & Heart of Normandy cruise in 2014. My DH has an uncle buried in the American cemetery there, so prior to our cruise I researched online the actual location of his grave. Our Viking cruise director told us, after the ceremony (national anthem, Taps, etc.), to approach one of the cemetery officials for help in finding his uncle's grave. We did so and were treated like royalty. The official took us directly to the grave marker and gave us an American and French flag to put on the marker, and Viking provided roses (they did this for all guests to place on any of the graves). He then rubbed sand from Omaha Beach into the lettering on the cross so we could read the inscription in our photos. He took photos of us with our camera so we have a beautiful memory of the visit. Finally, we were loaded into a golf cart and taken to the museum, where he entered my husband's information into the guest book for family members, and where we met up with the rest of the tour group. A truly special experience!

Thank you both, xmaser and notamermaid (again)! We will definitely add Nymphenburg to our list of things to see in Munich.

Thank you so much, notamermaid. We are taking a Viking Danube Waltz cruise in April and our pre-cruise trip to Munich and Salzburg includes an excursion to Neuschwanstein and Linderhof palaces. I have been researching information in preparation, and appreciate your contribution!

Oops, forgot our stop in Cologne. We docked within walking distance and had the included walking tour of the city. I seem to recall that our free time in Cologne was cut a little short to make up time heading north.

We were on a Viking Rhine cruise in early May 2015 and were affected by high water levels - the river was closed to traffic for a couple of days. We were unable to start our cruise in Basel because the ship was unable to sail there, were met at the airport and took a bus ride to Breisach where the ship was docked. Following Breisach we were stopped at a dock apparently in the "middle of nowhere" for a couple of days. There was nothing but a dock, an embankment with trees, and stone steps down to a dirt parking lot where we met our excursion buses. From this location we had our excursions to Strasbourg, Colmar, and Alsace wine tasting. Our cruise director said we were closer to Colmar and further from Strasbourg than the usual docking location. Other disruptions included having to spend a whole day in Heidelberg instead of the half-day originally scheduled...not bad, Viking even arranged lunch at a traditional restaurant for us. We sailed to Rudesheim late at night so we missed seeing that city, and got up very early the next morning to sail the castles and Lorelei. We did not stop in Koblenz at all, and were back on schedule for Kinderdjik and arrival in Amsterdam. We didn't feel that we missed anything major and Viking made the best of a bad situation out of their control. As a nice bonus they credited us 25% of the cruise price toward our next cruise, which we gladly used!

We have been on 4 Viking cruises, with our 5th booked for April. We have not had any problems with dinner, ever. We choose where we like to sit with a nice wait person, and have never found any problems with noise, no "bun fights" and we have always met interesting people and had interesting conversations. The "geezer rush" doesn't bother us at all.....just relax and enjoy the experience.

We have been on 4 Viking river cruises. The only time we had tables for two was on the Portugal cruise, and the tables were so close together that it was like a table for four. On the other cruises (Seine, Rhine, Rhone), there were no tables for two at all. I guess if you are "antisocial" you could eat all your meals in the Aquavit Terrace, otherwise you are out of luck.

We booked dinner at 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant on the 2nd level, and paid a little extra for guaranteed Trocadero view window seats. Access to the tower was a separate line and elevator, much shorter than the regular line. We had time to walk around the 2nd level both before and after dinner. The evening was magical....we had the best seats and a wonderful 3 course dinner, delicious food, with champagne aperitif and wine included. Based on our experience, I would highly recommend!

We have been on four Viking cruises and have had a room on the upper deck below the sun deck on each cruise. Out of the four cruises, we had only one morning when we were awoken by someone jogging above us. I guess other passengers complained because, at that evening's briefing, the cruise director reminded everyone not to go jogging before 8 a.m. We never had another problem on that cruise or any other Viking cruise.

We have been on four Viking cruises and have loved each of them, and have our fifth booked for April 2018. We have not cruised with Uniworld, but, based on my research, the two appear to be very different. We prefer not to pay for extra amenities such as a spa, fitness center or swimming pool, none of which we would use. Same thing with a butler, not worth the extra expense to us. We don't mind the Viking tipping policy, don't understand why it is such a big issue for many cruisers. Check out each cruise line and see what the differences are, then decide what is essential for you and what you can live without.

For me, 500 steps to see the palace? Not gonna' happen. Forewarned is forearmed.

We were on the Viking Heimdal Rhone cruise in April 2017. Our "leisurely" group walking tour did not go into the palace in Avignon specifically because of the number of steps. We have found the slow or gentle walking groups on the Viking cruises are very accommodating for those of us with some mobility issues. We usually sign up at the reception desk on the first day and they put us in the slower group for the entire cruise.

We cruised the Douro with Viking in 2016. We had two port wine tastings and a muscatel tasting. Neither my DH nor I care for port, but it was interesting to learn about the different types and taste some, especially the white port. Having said that, we loved the red wines available on the ship. We always buy the Silver Spirits package and enjoy studying the wine list to choose a bottle of wine with dinner. There were several good choices, all local (Portuguese), and the bar and wait staff helped us choose. Also, at the port tastings, the retail part of the tour had a wide selection of red and white table wines to buy, so we took some chances and were never disappointed with what we bought.

Maybe Viking thinks it is easier to explain tipping in dollars to their passengers.

 

 

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On their website, Viking's suggested tips are quoted in Euros, not Dollars. I don't know which cruise line suggests tips in dollars, but it is not Viking. We have been on four Viking cruises and have never had a problem tipping in Euros.

We did the Viking Paris to Normandy cruise in 2014. I don't know if the itinerary has changed, but our tour of Normandy included a stop in Arromanches for the D-Day museum and lunch, a stop at some German gun emplacements (?bunkers) overlooking the coast, a stop at the American cemetery for a ceremony, and where we had time to find my husband's uncle's grave, and a final stop at Omaha Beach. It was a very long day, but absolutely wonderful!

I wouldn't recommend the Douro for port time if you want to wander around on your own. All of the excursions involve being bussed to a location away from port; the ports are small towns or docks with nothing around. The Rhone has more opportunity for port time, particularly in Lyon and Avignon. I can't speak for the Rhine...our Rhine cruise in 2015 was disrupted by high water levels that closed the river for a day or two, so we ended up docking in some strange locations in the middle of nowhere. We have enjoyed all four of our Viking cruises, all very different, and are looking forward to our fifth cruise in April 2018.

Just my experience, but we found our French balcony room on the Viking longship to be incredibly small for the 2 of us. We love Viking, but much prefer the veranda rooms, a little larger and we love the balcony, use it often. Having said that, and with no specific experience with either 202 or 232, after looking at the deck plan, looks like 202 is right off the reception area, might get a little noisy when people are grouping to leave or return on tours. You will also get a lot of people walking by to get to their rooms further down the hall, although we haven't found hallway noise to be a problem so far on our Viking cruises. It is closer to the dining room and stairs to go up to the lounge.

We did the Viking Rhine Getaway in 2015. Our choice was always the "gentle" or "leisurely" walking group due to some mobility issues. The Black Forest was an easy bus tour, no problems at all. For Strasbourg, the gentle walkers group was dropped off closer to the city center, so less walking to see the cathedral. We did the optional tour to Colmar and we were provided with a little train for the city tour, so minimal walking there. Heidelberg castle was some walking, but I don't remember it as very difficult, and walking around town was not difficult at all. The gentle walkers tour of Cologne was also easy - the guides are very aware of mobility issues and will avoid places with a lot of stairs or hills to climb. Kinderdijk was flat and easy to get around. We chose not to climb the stairs in the windmill, and there were benches and places to sit for those who didn't want to walk too much. We did not do the Marksburg Castle tour due to its difficulty, and water levels affected our cruise schedule, so we missed seeing Rudesheim and the Drosselgasse.

Please keep in mind that the gentle walking tours may not see as much as the faster moving groups. I'm sure we missed parts of the city in Strasbourg, Colmar, and Cologne because of the slower pace and avoidance of stairs and steep hills. We did have some couples who chose to separate, one walking with a regular group and one with the slower group.

Your tour guide should have suggestions for lunch and dinner, ours always was willing to provide advice. The hotel in Dijon was a little out of the town center with not much around. We went to the local grocery one evening and bought bread and cheese, had a picnic dinner in our room. The second night we ate at a neighboring bistro and had a surprisingly good pizza. Can't remember the name, but it was right next to the grocery store and across the street from the hotel on the same side of the street. Sorry I'm not more help. Enjoy your trip!

We did this itinerary with Viking in April. We found the pre-cruise time in Paris nice. Viking did provide a city tour, but we went out on our own as we had been to Paris before. The two days in Dijon were full of activities, including a city tour, visit to a Burgundy vineyard and wine tasting, a visit to Beaune and the old hospital. Along the highway we stopped in Bourg-en-Bresse and learned about the famous chickens, visited the local market and had a cheese tasting. Whew! On the way to Lyon to embark the ship we also stopped in the medieval city of Perouges. The only down time we had was lunch and dinner on our own. I hope you get Charles as your guide, he was wonderful.

Once on the ship, there is some down time, depending on which optional tours you are interested in. We did two optional tours.....the Chateauneuf-du-Pape tour and wine tasting that we really enjoyed, recommended if you like wine, and the Carrieres de Lumieres/Les Baux tour. Carrieres de Lumieres is an old limestone quarry where they project art on the quarry walls, accompanied by different kinds of music. I would highly recommend this, it was one of the highlights of our trip! Les Baux is a medieval town high in the hills. It was okay, but a little busy and touristy. We liked Perouges better.

Hope this helps!

Just wondering if anyone has a price list of cost of beverages on Viking river cruise

Thank you

Viking provides a sample bar menu on their website, just search for the Silver Spirits package.

We were on a Viking Rhone cruise in April. Out of Arles, they offered an optional tour that went to Carrieres de Lumieres and Les Baux. Carrieres de Lumieres is an old limestone quarry where they project art on the walls accompanied by music. For example, we had Hieronomus Bosch's Garden of Earthly Delights accompanied by Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven! It is mind-blowing, I highly recommend it, if available. Les Baux was okay, medieval village but very crowded and touristy. We had been to Perouges earlier in our cruise and liked that better, smaller and not so busy.

For our Rhine cruise a few years ago, I went old school and bought a hard copy of Baedaker's guidebook to the Rhine. It has a kilometer-by-kilometer schematic with a fairly detailed description of all the points of interest. I love maps and the book was the perfect companion for our cruise. The book is available on Amazon. I bought something similar for our Danube cruise next year...The Danube A River Guide by Rod Heikell. We'll see how useful it is. We've also purchased the Viking maps available in the ship's gift shop. They are okay but not as detailed as I would like.

Worst would be Viking. They have none! :)

We have never missed having a pool on any of our Viking river cruises. The days are full of excursions, and during any free time we enjoy sitting on the sun deck or in the lounge appreciating the scenery. Why pack a bathing suit, just another item to take up space in my suitcase? We also do not miss having a spa or fitness center, don't know when we'd have time to use them.