pontac

4 hours ago, Bobblehat71 said:

I take it you enjoyed the cruise?

Oh Yes!!

So relaxing, no worries, good choice of food, nice wine, and sightseeing trips included.

If you like wine I can recommend very highly the trip to Morwald Winery in Austria. They supply Vikings house wines of Gruner Veltliner and Zweigelt.  Owner/winemaker Erhard Morwald  leads the tour and gives a very generous tasting. Erhard is very amusing, a real treat.

That was our 7th Viking river cruise; our eighth is on June

Just now, Bobblehat71 said:

 

Thanks Pontac,

 

That's exactly what I was thinking. Probably best to get the Munich - Passau Transfer out of the way. 

Do you know which airlines Viking use or is it a random selection?

It was BA , and decent flight times. A 13:35 departure from Budapest gave time for a lazy breakfast on board

12:40 BA962 LHR> Munich

BA867 to LHR

13:15 Budapest>LHR

Suggest you look to the flight schedule to help you decide.

We went on Viking last year Passau to Buda and there was a longish coach trip from Munich  airport (1h45 ish).

Quite interesting in daytime and at start of trip, but at end if they want you off boat before new guests arrive and at airport 3 hours before flight then that's an early start. Budapest airport is very close to city centre where boat docks.

Also since you have to journey from/to Wales....

It's only 3.5 k between the two, get a taxi at the station. 

Bit too far to walk with luggage, hassle with tram.

You'll drive along the riverside and be able to spot your boat and thus stop right next to it.

On 1/14/2017 at 4:54 PM, bcorre2 said:

Viking now has a page to sign up for information

Thank you @bcorre2 for that. Have now signed up.

On 3/10/2019 at 6:46 AM, sunnies said:

Reserve your North Pacific Passage Shore Excursions Today”

errr ? Isn't this an Ocean cruise?

Wouldn't this be better posted in the Viking ocean cruise forum, -- this is the River Cruise Forum?

On 3/8/2019 at 1:01 AM, Peregrina651 said:

Unless you tell them otherwise, Viking will automatically add 15€ per person per day to your on board account. 

Well, they've never done that on any of the river cruises we've done (see sig for list)

You get two envelopes,one for Programme Director and one for rest of staff. You can stuff them with cash and stick them in the slot by reception or leave them empty, its up to you. Or you can see reception with your credit card and pay the suggested amount (which is what we've done) or any amount you like.

This next trip is 'gratuities included' so we're taken care of this year.

On 12/14/2017 at 8:06 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

this law is important for protecting passengers and waterways from unsafe vessels.

What might have been true in 1886 is not true today.

Don't think Viking has any steamboats

It's protectionism pure and simple. 

23 minutes ago, Capt_BJ said:

WRT the 'house wine' .... there was a red and a white and they changed, usually to more complement or feature the local area

It depends on what trip you are on; the Bordeaux one makes a point of having different LOCAL wines each night to match the appellation the boat is in. The Douro one also varied the wines but I think that was more because running the boat was outsourced to Douro Azul.

The other 5 Europe trips have kept the same wines except when they've run out. 

2 hours ago, woodley said:

I see you can book a drink package on viking, we like to have a few pre dinner cocktails and a nice wine with our meals.   I know wine is included with lunch and dinner but can you choose your wine or is it house wine and with the drinks package can you upgrade your wine at meals?   Do you think the drink package is worth getting or not?

Be aware that if you want the drinks package then both people in your cabin have to take the drinks package.

I'd suggest waiting till you get on board and asking about the drinks package when you're booked in. You can then see the drinks list for your boat and see what wines are excluded, and the cost of cocktails.

I'm a wino, and did think about the drinks package so I could get better wines at meal times but I thought the selection of wines included in the drinks package were not special enough. They include a branded California wine; I doubt you want to fly thousands of miles to drink a wine you can get cheaply at home.

Many of the cruises pass through Europe's wine regions, you may have the opportunity to visit a winery, and each town you stop at will have a wine shop, so if you're interested in wine, buying a good bottle locally to have at dinner - we found - to be a better option.

And, with the exception of one cruise, the house wines (red/white/rose) have been good and unlimited

However, we don't sit at the bar and have cocktails or spirits. We might have had a glass of Champagne before dinner but Champagne is not included in the drinks package.

Talking of Champagne, the sparkling wine served at the reception, despite what they call it, is not Champagne, it is a sweet German Sekt.

On 1/11/2019 at 10:23 AM, G.M.T. said:

Boy is London expensive.

That is amazing to hear from someone coming from Eurozone with pockets full of Euros! 

GBP has depreciated by 50c against Euro since its introduction.

Interesting @3urop32014

I wasn't thinking specifically of drinking water. On the river tours I've been on in Europe we've always had bottled water supplied in our room and served at meals.But use ship water for cleaning teeth and shaving.

I've travelled in Asia, but not on boat cruise  and shaved/brushed teeth with hotel water but trekking one time and low on bottled drinking water I was reduced to cleaning my teeth with duty-free whisky!

I agree with the others that it's best to make a chart (spreadsheet or simple pen and paper matrix) of what you wnat included.

There's little point paying for things you don't want.

For instance some lines offer butlers, in room drinks cupboards that are topped up every day, drinks anytime, whatever.

As we don't want any of them, it makes no sense to us in paying extra for them.

But there are a great number of river cruise lines offering everything from the basic cruise and you pay for everything on top, drinks, excursions etc, to those that include everything.

We go somewhere in the middle with Viking who include wine with meals (which we want) an excursion at every stop and now gratuities.

I have sympathy with the OP: If a tour is advertised as 'fully inclusive' then I would be very miffed if it didn't include gratuities and premium drinks at the bar. Indeed everything.

9 hours ago, The Other Tom said:

How do river cruise boats get fresh water.

Easy. They can replenish water when they moor which they do at least once per day.

Also food, drinks and etc are delivered as necessary and staff changeovers can take place. On a river you're never out of sight of land and there are many major towns. If there's some dedicated heavy Glenfiddich (say) drinkers at the bar and stocks are getting low a phone call to the next stop will see a new delivery.

Also the Chef can visit markets along the way and purchase what's local and in season.

47 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

you may need to identify your luggage before it goes on the bus that you are taking to the airport.

Indeed. This ensures everyone on that flight has all their baggage, and that all the passengers are on board the coach.

But you don't have to handle the baggage till you get to the airport

13 hours ago, Shadeland Cruiser said:

When I arrive at the city where the cruise begins do I need to claim my luggage first or does the airline and/or Viking handle that?

When you arrive at the destination airport you will have to go through immigration control and present your passport, then to baggage claim.

Collect all your baggage from carousel and take it through customs.

Most countries have two exits, red if you have something to declare, green for nothing to declare. Once you pass customs you leave the secure 'airside' and go 'landside. It is here your Viking rep will be. (EU countries may also have a Blue exit for travellers from another EU country - denoted by green stripes on edge of baggage tags)

Reps are not usually allowed airside.

Your rep will guide you to the transport. Once your bags are loaded in the transport you should not need to handle them again until you arrive at the airport to checkin for your departure.

Viking will take them to your cabin, and at the end of your cruise, from your cabin to the transport

All Vikings off ship tours are rated for walking difficulty, 1, 2 or 3 witha description of what difficulties are encountered, e.g. cobbles.

There's no problem staying on board during tours, I've done so, and no pressure to go on tours.  Last trip I had a broken arm in a sling and missed out almost every tour, including a full day one.

Some times the boat moves along the river so those on the trip return to a different place to rejoin the boat, meanwhile those who stayed on board had some extra cruising.

I've only dealt direct with Viking on all our river cruises.

I'm unaware of any travel agent offering a better price than I can get dealing directly, but .....

On 1/25/2019 at 11:44 PM, MissPhoeb said:

improper to tip tour guides in American dollars.

would it be improper to tip a tour guide in the USA with Euros ??  😉

Wine lovers might like to know that The American Wine Society have been using AMA for their annual wine cruises. It was Bordeaux this year, next year its the Rhone hosted by Paul Wagner.

I'm not sure if the board allows a link to be posted so I won't but the info sheet is easy to find using a search engine.

I have't been on AWS cruises, but I've been to tastings presented by Paul Wagner. He is an amusing and knowledgeable speaker and has great access to wineries and wines.

Thanks, Bruin Steve, for your review.

I've never been on an ocean cruise, only river cruises, so your comparisons were interesting - and should be read by people who are thinking of river cruising after ocean cruising.

Size of cabins never bothered me because we spend almost no time in the cabin except while sleeping.

I have just booked another Viking cruise for next year, Budapest to Bucharest so your comments about the change to evening meals greatly concerns me. The evening meal is the highlight of a cruise, just sitting choosing food which is brought to you with wine glasses constantly topped up. I don't fancy a buffet for dinner.

Maybe it's an experiment, if so I hope it goes no further. But I fear it may be a cost cutting exercise to reduce the number of waitrons.

Regarding standard of service; I have no complaints, its been excellent.

But our friends on a recent cruise had to change boats (because of low level) the boats were identical, but while they had excellent service on the first boat they said the second boat was poor, they called them the B team.

1) Yes

2) Which excursions are included depend on which cruise you have booked

3) There are also optional excursions you have to pay for if you want to go, and see 2)

4) Book all excursions asap at My Journey on the Viking website

Yes. Every time we were in Budapest with Viking.

We went on Danube Waltz in April this year.

Many thanks. I've found several brands of packing cubes on Amazon (tho' not Evatex). Sounds like a great idea.

Might I suggest packing cubes to solve the packing/unpacking dilemma. They make it much easier to find something without making a mess of your suitcase.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Not a term I've come across. What are packing cubes?