HawaiiTraveler

Aloha notamermaid…thank you for posting the link to the episode of the Bayern Erleben “Experience Bavaria” documentary…I thoroughly enjoyed watching the video this afternoon…it was so interesting to see the same cities and sights that we have visited while on the previous Viking River cruises we have taken, but viewed through the eyes of passengers aboard the boat of another cruise line …it was also very interesting to compare the layout, facilities and activities aboard the Viking long boats themselves with the layout, facilities and activities aboard the “Elegant Lady”…as always, I really appreciate your posts with reports and updates on river conditions here on CruiseCritic…as I mentioned in a prior post, we are returning to Europe again for another Viking “Grand European Tour” that will coincide with the Kriskindlmarkt’s in various cities that we will stop in…we arrive in Budapest in mid-November and depart Amsterdam in mid-December…the cruise is fifteen days but this time we are extending our visit in both Budapest and Amsterdam, so we can spend more time in both of those lovely cities…thanks again…🙂

Aloha. We did a Viking Grand European Tour cruise last year from Budapest to Amsterdam that started on October 21st and ended on November 4th. The weather was a nice combination of dry, sunny/overcast weather in the upper 50°-mid 60° Fahrenheit range and occasionally wet, blustery weather in the mid 40°-mid 50° Fahrenheit range. We scheduled our cruise for October as the low water conditions seem to be less likely after September. I think it was perfect fall weather and the cooler temperature made the excursions easier. We are also doing the Viking Grand European Tour again this year from Budapest starting on November 25th as we wanted to visit the Kriskindlmarkt’s in Germany which open from late November. Hope you have a great cruise. Aloha!

Happy New Year notamermaid…glad to see you have a continuation of this topic for 2024…we are returning to Budapest later this year for another Grand European Tour…we did this same cruise last year (2023) and have already booked to do it again this year…I look forward to seeing your valuable and insightful posts here this year…aloha!

Notamermaid, I want to thank you for your consistent reports on this site, as your posts kept us informed on the river conditions and what to expect prior to leaving our home in Hawaii to start our cruise in Budapest, as well as all during our cruise…your valuable insight and river condition updates took away worry about what lay ahead of us each day…again, thank you for your dedication and service to us wayward travelers that find our way to the rivers that you monitor…♥️

We were on a prior Viking cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam, scheduled to depart Budapest on 10/21 and arrive in Amsterdam 11/04…however, upon arrival at Budapest we were bussed to Komárom, about 1-1/2 hours up river from Budapest where we boarded our ship the Viking Skadi, as she couldn’t make it to Budapest due to low water conditions…however, from Komárom all the way to Amsterdam we did not have any other issues or ship swaps, as earlier cruises had required…it was a great cruise with cool temperatures and occasional rain, making the excursions easier and more pleasant than if it had been hot weather…we are planning on doing the same cruise again next year in late November into December so we can hit the Kriskindlmarkt’s along the way, spending some additional days in Amsterdam at the end of the cruise…hope you have a great time on your cruise!

We arrived in Budapest on 10/21/23 to expecting to board Viking Skadi for the Grand European Tour cruise to Amsterdam…however, the water level was too low for the ship to get to Budapest, so we were bussed upriver to Komárom, where we boarded…Viking gave us the choice of being bussed back to Budapest that evening and the next day for excursions, or to receive credit/refund for those excursions if we did not want the 1-1/2 hour bus ride each way to Budapest and back…we chose to stay on board in Komárom and just walk around the town there, as three additional hours of bus rides the first two days didn’t sound good to us…the rest of the cruise was great, with enough rain in Austria and southern Germany to raise water levels further upriver in the Rhein-Main Danube Canal, and Main and Rhein rivers, so that we did not have to deal with a ship swap, which we were very thankful for…other than having our luggage not arriving in Budapest when we did and finally catching up with us in Passau a full week later, the cruise was great…the temperatures were cool and the rain was not heavy, which made the excursions very comfortable…we did run into high winds at Cologne which persisted all the way to Amsterdam, but didn’t cause any major problems with the cruise…the crew on Viking Skadi were great, took really good care of us and made the cruise wonderful…we are now looking ahead to November/December next year when we will do the same Grand European Tour cruise again, but starting in Amsterdam this time…until then, Aloha all…🙂

We are traveling on Viking Skadi from Budapest (Komárom) to Amsterdam, and left Passau last night. We are currently on the way to Regensburg and have been told that we will not be having a ship swap and will stay on Viking Skadi all the way to Amsterdam. We docked between Passau and Regensburg in the middle of the night, and I asked the crew why we had stopped. The answer was that water levels were rising from rain near the Black Forest, and that we were waiting for the river to rise a bit more. We then departed at around 5:30am and are currently bound for Regensburg. I saw what looked like an extremely low water area near a large power plant along the river. There were a lot of rocks showing and the ship slowed down considerably as we traversed that area. Otherwise, we are moving steadily.

Hi Dbpeds01. We arrived in Budapest on Saturday for the Grand European Tour, sailing on the Viking Skadi from Budapest to Amsterdam. We flew from San Francisco to Frankfurt on Lufthansa, arranged by Viking. When we arrived in Frankfurt a Viking representative was waiting as we disembarked the aircraft and escorted us as well as many other Viking clients to the gate of our next flight to Budapest. You should have received an envelope from Viking with round red transfer stickers with the Viking emblem printed on them with instructions to put them on your shirt, dress or jacket before you come off your aircraft in Budapest or whatever the city that Viking flew you into for your cruise. That envelope would also contain a leather luggage tag for each person on your booking as well as paper tags with your name, the name of your ship and the stateroom number, which you place on each piece of your luggage after you pick your bags up from the carousel in the airport. As you come off your aircraft, retrieve your luggage and clear customs (if you didn’t clear at a previous airport), Viking representatives will be waiting and watching for you. You cannot miss them. They watch for the red transfer sticker on your shirt, dress, jacket, etc., and they will make sure you get on the right bus to your ship. They were very efficient with our party of six, and they got us on the right bus that took us from Budapest airport to the Viking Skadi, which was waiting at Komárom due to low water downstreamv at Budapest. I have heard that folks on other Viking cruises starting in Budapest have also been taken to hotels in Budapest for two days before being bussed to Vienna, where they board their ship. So, it really depends on the cruise you are on. But the process of finding Viking representatives is the same, regardless.

We will be heading to the airport later this afternoon for the first of four flights that it takes to get to Budapest for our Grand European Tour cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam with Viking. Like you, we received an email yesterday from Viking that our ship cannot get to Budapest due to low water conditions, and we will be bussed to Komárom which is about 1hr/58 miles upstream, where we will board our ship. I’m thankful for this, as I was worried that we would be put in a hotel in Budapest and then bussed upriver a few days later. Hope you have a great cruise irregardless of this hiccup at the beginning of it. Thats Global Warming. What can you do?🙂

I would think that Viking will allow passengers to ride the busses to Budapest even if you are not signed up for one of the planned excursions. However, those busses will most likely be leaving at the times that correspond with the planned excursions. Maybe you could talk with the Viking cruise director to see if they can accommodate you to go exploring on your own. We had the same plan, to go exploring Budapest from the ship that would be moored there. It will take us over 24 hours and four flights to get to Budapest from where we live, so we may save our exploring for Sunday instead of Saturday. Maybe taking a walk into Komárom will suffice for Saturday afternoon, instead of getting on the bus and going back to Budapest.🙂

Aloha all. We arrive in Budapest on Saturday 10/21 for the Viking Grand European Tour. A few days ago I received an email from Viking advising that due to low water conditions our ship was being changed from the Viking Bragi to the Viking Skadi. Then today I received an email advising that our cruise will now start in Komárom instead of Budapest, and that we will be bussed to the ship there and then bussed back to Budapest for any excursions we are signed up for. Since Viking changed the ship we will be sailing on, I would imagine that they might be planning a ship swap somewhere upriver in Germany, but are not confirming it just yet. Komárom is not that far from Budapest, so we are ok with the short bus ride to and from there. But I am concerned about the potential for a much longer bus ride if we have to do a ship swap upstream. If any of you are currently in transit to Budapest from Amsterdam or from Amsterdam to Budapest and can share updates on river level conditions as well as whether Viking has been doing any ship swaps on your cruise, I would appreciate it much. Thanks!