Pushka

That question about why we couldn't simply sail to Rudesheim on Kara is one we have asked to. I expect its to do with their operations being placed as a priority over our preference to see it. It was so taunting as the cruise director pointed to it. I agree about our location here in Strasbourg too. I think we are in their Winter hibernation area, but crewed. It's not a nice area.

So we took a long bus trip from the Port opposite Rudesheim, which we won't be going to now, and have ended up in a Viking Longboat car park of multiple Viking ships just sitting in Strasbourg. We are in the middle berth so our outlooks all ways are other longboats. No view. It seems we will be here for the rest of our trip. We are being bussed back to Speyer but after the four hour of bus trips yesterday, another four hours return trip today is not going to happen. Our 7 days of cruising will just be three. The water levels are very evident. And it won't stop raining.

We are in Koblenz now. We are being bussed to a small river port, getting on a small vessel supposedly to see the Rhine valley, getting off after two hours then another four hour bus trip in the dark to Strasbourg where we will be berthed for four nights and long bus trips every day to get to see anything. Then another bus trip to Lucerne. Coming from Australia to see our first European Christmas celebrations it’s not exactly what we were expecting. We will miss Rudesheim completely. And likely Speyer and Mannheim. 🤷‍♀️

So from Cologne we are being bussed straight to Strasbourg and will become a four day land tour. We don’t know what happens after tomorrow.

We have a minimum of a ship swap tomorrow. More news tonight. We are just two days in.

We are currently cruising into Cologne on our way to Basel Sunday. We know there may be flooding issues but decisions aren't being made yet.

Which river ports are impacted by Maxau Levels please.

Yes, it's our first too! Wanted the free laundry 😂

Ah. Ok. I thought that's what he was talking about. We are in a verandah suite tomorrow.

Two bottles of white wine and two bottles of red. Small bottle size.

Thankyou Thankyou Thankyou for this update. I'm hoping things will still be on track now.

I guess when you book a cruise to see Christmas markets along the way, the destination isn't the goal of many who book a cruise.

Great. We are supposed to sail on Viking from Amsterdam on Kara. Looks like it's parked and stuck at Rudesheim.

Thankyou for these updates. We leave Amsterdam on 10th for Basel. Hoping there aren't further issues along the way.

This is called 'change of mind'. Same thing happened with Covid. If you wanted to cancel before the cruise line did then you weren't covered and nor would travel insurance cover you. We travelled by cruise ship to this region in May. We fully expected our Israel port might get cancelled, because of war. To not expect war in this region I would call being naive. Viking likely would be exactly the same.

I think underwhelming sums it up pretty much. For instance one of the nights had the feature carvery as Minceloaf. It isn't something I'd even cook at home.

We were on Mars for 21 days in May. The buffet was good in fact superior to the MDR. Sushi buffet was excellent as were the steaks and roast and the usual accompaniments.. We had a meal of lamb chops in the MDR and they were inedible. And the others ordering them nearby sent them back. I also tried the chops in the buffet that night and they were the same. The beds were very comfortable.

We are doing a Rhine Christmas cruise with a post extension. We have booked our own airfares. Viking asked us for flight details a few weeks ago and will take us to the airport at no charge as per the extension description.

Currently due to high waters several river cruises are being disrupted. Basel is particularly impacted but other ports are as well.

I cancelled and rebooked and saved quite a lot of money. Refund from celebrity for original package was credited within the week.

Same in Australia. Repricing our cabin involved an extra $1000 Aud. Absolutely fraudulent advertising.

We have a balcony for our Christmas cruise next month. Just curious if it's too cold to be on the balcony then how are the upper outside decks warmer to see the scenery? Are there heaters or something?

We have been on a couple of Viking cruises and a river one next month. Likely the last. I think Viking likes to lull people into thinking that they can't travel without their guiding hand in all things associated with it, planes, transport and the like. And so what Viking says, thinks and does is the only way to do things. So many times I hear questions like - how will I get to the ship/hotel/boat if I've arrived early or late and Viking won't be there to meet me? In pre Viking days, gosh, we caught a taxi, bus or train. And now, Viking meets people in transit if booked on Viking air to get them to the next gate. Obviously some love that experience but I really don't want my hand held the way Viking does in the normal course of overseas travel. I don't think Viking brainwashes people but I do think they try to make it seem, for less experienced travellers perhaps, that this is the way international travel has to happen. And others simply enjoy handing over the travel experience for Viking to manage. Thats their call. It isn't mine, yet, maybe it will be one day.

And in Australia it is 90 days out for full payment.

We applied for a visa to Bali around 8 weeks ago for a land trip. It took all of two minutes. Earlier in the year we applied for India, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Oman. Guess we are practised at them now. I agree the cruise lines need to be much more specific in cases like this.