pontac

Excuse me, because I've also posted this under a post made in another similar thread but I contend the French balcony and aquarium class cabins have exactly the same floorspace. Viking include the bulkhead width in their aquarium room dimensions. The only use that can be made of that space is the window sill in the bulkhead.

I don't it's a legal requirement in the UK because we had to pay in full on booking 10 months in advance for our upcoming Scenic cruise. I think it's the market. Whilst US customers continue to accept their payment conditions, they'll continue taking the money.

Unfortunately the OP doesn't show their location on their profile as terms and conditions are different depending where you book. T&C on the UK and Australia sites differ from the US site. Bookings on the UK site do include gratuities, air (or train if preferred) travel and transfers. And immediate payment is not required. The boats are the same no matter where one books 😁but I contend the French balcony and aquarium class cabins have exactly the same floorspace. Viking include the bulkhead width in their room dimensions. The only use that can be made of that space is the window sill in the bulkhead.

Here the question is concerning only two cruise lines; Viking and Emerald. While both allow people to bring alcohol on board they have different attitudes to it. Viking's FAQs say: Can I bring alcoholic and other beverages on board? Guests may bring alcohol and beverages with them or purchase alcohol ashore at destinations that sell alcohol. Alcohol can be consumed in the guest’s stateroom or in public spaces, including dining venues. There is no corkage fee. Emerald's FAQs say: Can I bring my own alcohol on board? We have no problem with guests purchasing alcohol for consumption in their rooms. However, we do ask that personal drinks are not consumed in the communal areas of our Star-Ships and luxury yachts.

Again - only someone who has experienced both lines can really answer your questions, @familymum An experience of past voyages are not necessarily what is on offer now, as ports, excursions, food and drinks can and do change. My first river cruise was chosen by our friends and I did no research and knew nothing about cruising. They'd chosen Viking and we were completely satisfied with them, so our subsequent cruises have also been with them. But there are now many river cruise lines competing for your money so there's a lot of choice. I expect if you enjoy your first experience then you'll book another cruise with the same line. What I enjoy most is being looked after, not having to choose meals in advance, buy the ingredients, then cook them and clean up afterwards. I can just walk into the dining room and choose what I want from the menu and if nothing takes my fancy have steak & chips. Excursions occupy the days, but they're not the main point for us. On food and wine quality, that's very subjective, and as I've said I've not cruised with Emerald but I have with Scenic and Emerald are a less expensive sister line. I rate Viking and Scenic the same for food and Viking better for wine. In UK bookings Viking include the drinks package & gratuities. Remember that with Viking you can bring your own wines on board to have with meals & anywhere, so you can buy at wineries and wine shops. According to the Emerald site you can bring your own drinks on-board for room consumption only. You might like to read my trip reports, linked to in my signature below. These will give an idea on the experiences we've had. (I understand that the signature doesn't display on a phone, in that case ask & I'll give the links)

It's not clear if you're asking about the merits of the two boats, or the cruise lines. For either you'd only get a definitive answer from someone who'd been on both, and so far that doesn't seem to be the case, and some repliers have been on neither. I've cruised with Viking and Scenic (Emerald's sister line). I've cruised Basel>Amsterdam twice with Viking and I'm booked to cruise Amsterdam to Basel with Scenic in August. Water levels can impact cruising, too low and there's not enough draught, too high and there's not enough clearance under bridges. Viking (and no doubt others) can adjust their draft by pumping out ballast. Luckily (touch wood) I've not encountered these problems on the 13 cruises I've done so far. Viking have a lot of boats on this route, not all will show on the website you use, just as your departure doesn't show on the UK site. Posts from others have shown that when a bridge or part of the rive is unnavigable Viking swap passengers with another boat going the opposite direction and that boat then turns round and you continue the cruise. As boats are identical you stay in identical cabin. But I think your decision should be based on the cost, facilities offered by each line and advice from the travel agent you've chosen, and just hope the river gods are smiling when you travel. Enjoy your cruise.

An evening dinner cruise on a Bateaux Mouche ( bateaux-mouches.fr ) is the only thing I remember well about our only trip to Paris long ago. Good meal and the boat has arc lights both side that illuminate the banks as it passes along the Seine

No doubt by the time we reach Platinum level they will have withdrawn this perk. Year before last even1st time cruisers with Scenic (like us) got free transport. Last year it was replaced by a transfer credit, this year that too was withdrawn.

Didn't receive a voucher. When I phoned Scenic to book they asked if we'd travelled with them before. I said we had and they told me that therefore each of us got £100 off. I don't know if they checked; it seemed a bit casual. Pleasant surprise, especially as I had to pay total amount then and there - ten months in advance of travel - full payment at time of booking is a bugbear you've mentioned many times. However it was the cost of getting the discount on this cruise that Mrs P wanted. When I then told her that they'd stopped the free chauffer to/from airport she was disappointed because, she said, that was the best thing about Scenic!

What the sharkster says. On my first Viking cruise I brought a wine from home with me because I didn't know what the included wine on board was like. (pretty good actually) On subsequent cruises I have bought wine during the journey from wineries and wine shops along the way. Waiters happy to open bottles for you and pour your wine for you. Take glass from restaurant to your cabin or ask for glasses at bar if wine glasses not supplied in your cabin.

We booked our second Scenic river cruise and got £100 each off as Welcome Home Discount - Gold - Voucher However Scenic no longer include backpack and transport to/from the airport that we had in 2022. Their websites says Gold benefits include: Welcome Home voucher to be redeemed on your next ultra-luxury cruise or land journey**, priority booking on pre-release land journey or cruises, Scenic Club members-only events and exclusive access to Scenic Wonder eMagazine. Never had eMagazine, any invitations to member events or info on pre-release cruises. (I quite frequently get invites to Viking member event, regularly get both Viking eMags and printed mags.)

I did this route with Viking. I didn't get any of their currencies. There were two nights in a hotel in Budapest and on night in a hotel in Bucharest where we had to get our own meals and we used Visa credit card. Other places we weren't in long enough to spend any money.

WIN!!!!

What the others have said, we used room only for sleeping and changing clothes. But my wife is shorter than me and she decided after we had had waterline cabin on two cruises that she didn't want to stay in them again as she was too short to see anything out of the window other than the sky. I'd suggest a veranda is not worth the extra as it'll be too cold to sit outside at Christmas.

The included half day excursions are between mealtimes, so morning excursions allow you to have breakfast and they are back in time for lunch, afternoon excursions allow you to have lunch on board and are back before dinner. See my trip report photos of Viking Daily front page for examples of info you get about timings - Yes. If bussing is needed then they'll be coaches at the closest point to the boat. If it's a walking tour the guide will be at the end of the boat's gangway. Most towns are by the end of the gangway. If not then take the Viking bus and tell the guide you're doing your own thing when you get to the town and check what time and where the coach back leaves. Or take a card from boat's reception with the address of the mooring to show to a taxi if you want to make your own way back. Viking Daily will state time boat leaves mooring but if doing your own thing double check with reception before leaving boat.

That was true of our cruise with Scenic (one of the things we didn't like about Scenic*) but OP said they were going on a Viking Cruise and Viking deliver a 4 page Viking Daily newsletter to the cabin every night during dinner. Front page has locations and timings of places to be visited the following day. Other pages have info about the cities and countries being visited. *(for our next trip with Scenic I am going to request of the 'butler' on the first day for a paper copy of the schedule to be in our cabin each day)

If you haven't paid in advance there il be an envelope placed in your room at the last evening for you to deposit cash, or you can pay with credit card at reception. We've never paid more than the recommended amount. (Nowadays gratuities are included on cruises booked in UK) Viking recommend a daily amount to tip drivers & excursion guides. Most people seem to think that is by excursion then over tip. The difference between the US and Europe is that drivers and tour guide are well paid with free health care & etc. Yes. But there can be a crew change. If you're thinking tipping, see my answer to 1. Your cruise is only 9 nights. I cannot think you'll have more stuff you need in a bathroom than there's space for. There's a shelf above the sink plus room for toothbrushes and toothpaste and a half length and a full length shelf below. You can see these in the 360 degree display Seems to be something people do on ocean cruises. What would you need them for? There are two hooks on the door you can hang outside coats on. You get a daily info sheet delivered to your room the evening before with the times of departures and excursions. That's all you need, and the work surface will keep that. I'm not sure the walls are magnetic as they're padded. I wouldn't waste any time thinking about this. One piece of advice? Relax and enjoy being pampered, being transported from place to place, having sightseeing organised for you. Don't worry, it's enjoyable and relaxing. That's why so many of us are return cruisers. Get out of arrival hall, meet the Viking reps in their red jackets and once you get on the coach you can leave it all to Viking till you take your bag out the coach at the airport at the other end. No cooking, no dishwashing no worries.

Boat stops right by the windmills. If you don't want to see them close up, there a gift shop and bicycle rental place. Nothing else there Boats moored right there, town at end of jetty. Strasbourg is a bus journey. Take the Viking coach in the morning for city tour either come back for lunch and take afternoon shuttles or stay in Strasbourg and come back on one of the afternoon shuttle, see Day 2 of trip report linked to below We were at Breisach on a Sunday and everything was closed. You moor by the city, centre is few minutes walk. Speyer has amazing technical museum few minutes walk from boat; see Day 3 of my trip report here - I've been on Viking twice from Basel to Amsterdam and once from Basel to Koblenz (and then along the Mosel. Timings going from Amsterdam> Basel will be different. You might like to read my report of second Basel>Amsterdam trip Viking Tialfi Cruise Ship: Review, Photos & Departure Ports on Cruise Critic here

The rivers are to become even more crowded. From an email just received from Viking: To meet strong demand for our European river voyages, we are pleased to welcome an additional 10 Viking Longships in 2025 and 2026. These beautiful ships will sail our popular itineraries on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers, while two additional Viking Longships will join the fleet on the River Seine.

Mrs P refuses to take an ocean cruise because she fear sea-sickness, but never has had any issues on the river. As @sharkster77said, you go from being moored to casting off and cruising along the river without a ripple in your wine glass and only a look though the window to tell you that you are moving.

Viking don't operate the planes, so look at the website of the airline they are using for details of differences between economy and premium economy and then judge whether you feel the extra cost of premium economy is worth it to you. Only you can decide. We all have different budgets and thoughts on flights, and each airline has it own offering.

Maybe someone at AmaWaterways reads this forum.... ......because there's a subtle difference in the advert today

This is probably the answer. The USA has a culture of tipping that isn't found in Europe. If you book Avalon or Viking in the UK gratuities are included. I haven't looked at the USA site, but probably US residents prefer paying gratuities directly themselves. Though how that aligns with pre-paid gratuities I don't know.

Canalarchive said that she didn't "realise there was a hierarchy on any river cruise vessel" and I pointed out that Scenic had a restaurant that was restricted to those on the top deck. I have booked a 15 day 'Romantic Rhine & Moselle' cruise with Scenic departing 5 August 2024. Thanks for your good wishes, but whether I'll enjoy as much as you do remains to be seen, since you stay in one of the large suites on the top deck, and I'm not. Not complaining, my choice. 🙂

By co-incidence I read a book* review in the Sunday Times yesterday (21 Jan) that said it was Julius Caesar who reorganised the Roman calendar from a lunar cycle with an extra month added when needed to keep in step with the solar year to the system we use now which adds a leap day every 4 years. The word Calendar comes from Calends, which was the first day of the new moon in Rome. (the Ides was the 15th day, or full moon). * Our Moon: A Human History by Rebecca Boyle