travelingman

I sent them a message asking about what we are seeing on the "Manage My Booking - My Account".  I got a response several days later.  Response - "That page is down right now".  Couldn't have asked for more enlightening information.  Al I can say is that I tried to find out something.

Maybe one of you could try and see if you can get anything else from them - like when is it supposed to be up again.  Unfortunately I deleted their response before it dawned on me I should have responded with - "tell me something I don't know and when is it expected to be back up?"

Stan

@KBs mum

Shore based staff will get similar pay to any other persons in that country doing the same work.

@pontac

As @KBs mum says, coach drivers are paid according to German law, have a decent wage, a pension  and free health care and while no-one will refuse being given money, they are not dependent on tips.

Thanks to both of you for the clarification.

My assumption was that they were paid the same as the Viking on board staff.

What you say does make sense though.

So, it comes down to - do I want to tip them.  As an American it is hard to get out of this habit.  But I do understand we should follow the particular countries culture.

Happy Cruising all.

Stan

Since the bus drivers and guides are "working" for Viking I would imagine that they (as with the ship's employees) are dependent upon the tips for a good part of their pay.  Therefore, I would not recommend not tipping either one of them.

I do agree that in a lot of the European countries that tipping is not customary, except for maybe the practice of rounding up.

And yes, many of us forget that we need some small coins for the toilets.  Sometimes you can get around that by going to a McDonald's, but we have been to some of those that we have had to pay for the use of the toilets.  So, always be ready with some small coins.

Stan

Never had a problem getting 1 and 2 euro coins at the front desk on the Viking river cruises.

Stan

I agree with the advice on guides and drivers mainly because they most likely will be different at each port.  Another point on the tips you do not have to carry all of that change with you everywhere.  We leave most of ours in the cabin safe or only get 10 Euros worth from the Guest Services desk every few days.  Also, know that you can avoid the large number of coins by tipping the guide 5 Euro which is just one Euro more than the recommended amount.  We have done this a number of times when we thought they did an exceptional job.

Stan

I am also interested in responses also as we have the B2B booked departing Nov. 12 combining the Eclectic with 3 Continents.

Stan

Wife always had a sweater with her.  Sometimes she wore it, others times she didn't.  Wouldn't hut to have one handy.

Stan

Hi.  thanks for willingness to answer questions.  And, glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Where was the ship docked at in Budapest please?

Also, on your panoramic Budapest tour were you able to get off the bus at Buda Castle  and the Fisherman's Bastion and tour any of the area and buildings?

Thanks.

Stan

I have really enjoyed reading this post.  And, even though some of the post have seemed to "look down" on the OP; I will say have have really enjoyed his responses and sense of humor.  He has let the water runoff the duck's back and has appeared to not take it personal.

Now, I am no longer big on the dressing up (suits or even sports coats) but will when called for.  Have eaten in Viking's specialty restaurants with a pair of slacks and a golf type shirt with no problems or odd looks from others - even when the others had on suits.  Not saying Viking is one of the top luxury lines but the passengers done seem to be as concerned with what others wear as long as it looks nice.  I kn ow this still does not fit the OPs desire but if willing to wear a pair of decent pants you could get by with a golf type shirt.

Stan

I believe a lot that came to my mind have already been mentioned. 

Will reiterate one item - rafting.  Don't be surprised if you are "docked" next to another ship and they have to pass through your ship to get to shore or you have to walk through the other ship to get to shore.  For this reason you may want to peek out you window before you throw open the curtains only to have someone looking into your cabin while you stand there in your nightgown or less.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you might need to more lenient with the ships schedule.  Due to high or low water you might end up docking earlier or later or not at all.  It is possible you could have to change ships somewhere in the cruise due to water levels.  Or, you could have to be bused due to the water levels.

Another scenario is the ship docking in one place and leaving from another place due to the harbor master moving them.  So, if you plan on going off on your own check with reception prior to getting off and be sure to have the ships phone number with you.

As mentioned earlier, a lot of the morning excursions leave pretty early but if it is a short morning excursion you might have a chance to do an afternoon excursion also or to go off on your own exploring the town.

As with all vacations the key is flexibility and enjoying the trip regardless of what comes up.  Be the "duck" and let the water run off your back and go with the flow.

If you are lucky you will meet some new "best" friends who you will want to spend time with.

Enjoy your trip.

Stan

I have arranged several private tours where the tour operator had to be paid up front and their was no accommodations for several individuals to make payments.  In those cases I have made the total payment up front and luckily everyone showed up for the tour and paid me.  In one case we all met up at the meet and mingle and they paid me then.  If I remember correctly we had someone else join toward the last minute which reduced the overall rate and I refunded some money to everyone who had already paid me.

I will admit that anyone doing this is taking a chance of someone not showing up and the organizer is stuck with the additional cost.

Fortunately this has never happened to me.

Best case scenario is where the vendor will let everyone pay their own payment directly.

Stan

Same here.  Would be nice if they would at least give an estimated date of it being up.  I have not tried calling the US number because in the past they have been of no help with something like this.

Patience is not my highest virtue.

Stan

1 minute ago, OurDogCisco said:

Thanks for the advice.  I have one questions is it normal on a river cruise people only do the ship excursions and don't explore on their own?  I've been on regular cruises so, first time as a river cruise.  I'm beginning to think this might not fit our travel style.

 

Pre-COVID we occasionally explored on our own and never had a problem.  Advice has always been that prior to departing the ship that morning or afternoon to check with Guest Relations as to where the ship will be departing from.  But still have the ship number with you.

During COVID the rules have changed many times and some of those times the only way you could disembark from the ship was if you were taking a ship excursion to be in the "bubble."  Sometime the bubble was required by the ship and other times it was required by the country/city/town.

Stan

Even though the included tours are sold out they usually arrange for another tour so that everybody that wants to do an included one can.  On the other tours if enough passengers want to go on a particular tour they will usually open up another one.  No guarantees but this is how it has worked in the past for us.  What @HONEY said above is how it has usually worked.

One thing about booking your own tour is to make sure you know where the ship is departing from.  They have been known to let passengers off at one dock and board passengers and depart from another dock.  Always have the ship phone number with you in case you need to check where the ship is.

Stan

I have the same information.  However, with the COVID 19 Protocols I believe they had instituted a timed boarding policy where all passengers were scheduled with boarding times.

Not sure if this still remains in place or not.

Stan

5 minutes ago, Geogguy said:

We are planning on going on a River cruise in May and found that neither our Group Benefits Travel Plan or credit card travel plan included COVID quarantine costs in the policies. We purchased a separate Covid specific plan that covered Trip Interruption due to Covid quarantine. It will cover $200 per day up to 14 days per person plus $500 for flight changes. The cost is about $60 for a 10 day trip.

Can you tell us who booked the COVID policy.  Sounds like a good price to me for that coverage.  Thanks.

Stan

Glad to see there is someone else out there optimistic about Celestyal and still hoping they will be able to cruise come fall 2022.

I am not on your cruise but wanted to let you know some of us are still following Celestyal.  Mine is on November 12 through 26.

We are staying the course and hoping for the best in the fall of 2022.

Are you doing the 7 day or the 14 day cruise?

Stan

Based on relatives. friends and reading about others I would say she will definitely be negative by March, unless she contracts it again.

The better question, I think, is will she be dealing with long term COVID effects and will she feel like going?

Stan

Ours is scheduled for November.  Lots of time for things to go bad or good.  Just have to wait and see.  One of biggest questions is which countries will be closed down and which ones will be open.  Last year Greece would not let ships dock that had been to Turkey.  Still a lot of unknowns at this point.  At least we have time and don't have to pay a long time before we the cruise is scheduled.

Stan

Sorry to hear that.  Any reasons given?

Stan

One of the reason it doesn't matter is that you should be outside toward the front of the ship so that you can see everything going on.

With that said most captains try to turn the ship so that both sides have a view.  But a negative to being on the side of the ship is that one might miss a glacier calving if you are on the side not facing the glacier.

Stan

I have never done this trip but the below website has been good for me when trying to figure out transportation options.

https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Munich/Passau

Stan

7 hours ago, urbanhawk said:

Travelingman-just  out of curiousity were the bears you  saw, black bears, or  brown/ grizzly bears? Either way,  I would have been scared of a bear looking in the window at me.

Were black bears.

Stan

We did our Alaska cruise in May.  Were always on the look out for bears but were not making special trips to find them.  We did a driving trip (rental car) from Skagway to Carcross to Emerald Lake (Yukon Territory).  On the way up we saw 2 bears eating dandelions along side the road on the same side we were. on (other side of the road barrier though).  We stopped for a little bit along side the road with a number of other cars to watch them.  They pretty much ignored all of us.  On the way back there was 1 bear  again on the same side we were on.  He/she was also on the other side of the road barrier.  We pulled over on the side of the road to watch.  After a few minutes the bear crossed the barrier; came over to the front of the car and checked it out.  It then came over to the driver's side; stood up on the side of the car; looked at me; got back down; rambled across the street and over the road barrier and into the woods.

All this is to say, just like whales, you never know when you will see one.  That is, unless you take one of the tours to the bear country when they are feeding on the spawning salmon.

Stan

Cunard is the only cruise line I know of that does these cruises year round.  You could take one from the US; then do some land portion trip on your own; and then Cunard back to the US.  Just have to arrange your schedule to coincide with their schedule.

Stan