Viking Kara Review - April 1-8, 2018 - Rhine Getaway

"Our one complaint is that we did not have an earlier transferto Basel. We would have loved to get into Basel in time to do Vikings walking tour."

Don't fret. Basel was the least interesting tour & town ever visited on our Viking tours. A business town, nothing at all like Lucerne.

That does make me feel a bit better !

"Our one complaint is that we did not have an earlier transferto Basel. We would have loved to get into Basel in time to do Vikings walking tour."

 

 

 

Don't fret. Basel was the least interesting tour & town ever visited on our Viking tours. A business town, nothing at all like Lucerne.

What is interesting to one person may be dull as dishwater to another. Opinions vary.

Of course, Basel doesn’t have the spectacular scenery of mountains and lake that Lucerne does, but I have found Basel a historic and picturesque city, especially the old quarter along the Rhine. Ages ago I lived for several years a hour’s drive away and often visited, but had not been there for a long time

Recently I spent an day in Basel walking around the old quarter rediscovering the city before my Uniworld cruise. I found it fascinating and spent some time at the mediaeval Rathaus, the Minster (former cathedral) and the superb Kunstmuseum among other sights. In fact, there was so much that interested me that I didn’t get to my ship until nearly 6PM—I had to phone to let them know I was on my way.

I have travelled much in Europe over the last 55 years, and while I would not put Basel in the top rank of places to see, I would never consider it a boring business city—such as perhaps Frankfurt. I enjoyed it much more than some other stops on my cruise such as Koblenz and the ultra-kitschy Rüdesheim. But as the saying goes, “A chacun son goût”.

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Easter Morning! All of our group made it to breakfast and it was a great buffet with omelets cooked to order. The food was good and the coffee strong. Lots of fresh breads. Beatta, our Viking concierge, even had Easter chocolates for us.

 

Hotel check out was at noon and our shuttle to Basel was not until 4:00 pm so we packed our bags and took them down into the lobby where the hotel stored them safely for us while we went back into town. We did a bit more sightseeing and then hopped on a bus that took us on a drive around the outskirts of Lucerne. Took about 30 minutes to make a loop back to where we started and it gave us a good view of sights we would not have seen otherwise. We then hopped onto another bus that took us to the base of the Gutsch castle. Our bus passes were also good for their incline railway so we rode up to the castle. The castle is now a hotel and restaurant and has a terrace all the way around it with incredible views of Lucerne. We took lots of photos! We rode the incline back down and then caught a bus back into the center of town.

 

Several of us wanted to try Swiss Fondue so we set out in search of a restaurant. We found a restaurant and all ordered fondue. They only serve cheese fondue and it is served with bread, potatoes and mixed pickles. Most of us thought it was AWFUL but we enjoyed the experience!

 

We returned to the Radisson Blu about 3:00 and it was a good thing we got back early as our departure time had been moved up to 3:30. The Viking bus arrived, loaded all of us and our luggage, and off we headed toward Basel. It is a 1½ hour trip and our guide gave us lots of good information along the route.

 

Our one complaint is that we did not have an earlier transferto Basel. We would have loved to get into Basel in time to do Vikings walking tour.

 

We were taken direct to our ship and we got our first look atthe Viking Kara. It looked just as we expected although it seemed quite small after some of the ocean cruise ships on which we have traveled. The ship is very beautiful. Spotlessly clean and very well laid out.

 

Once we boarded ship it was a super quick check in and we were escorted to our cabins. We had booked a balcony cabin on deck 2. Our cabin stewardess stopped by to introduce herself. She took great care of us during the week.

 

The cabins are well appointed. The beds are very comfortable. There were full size toiletries and super huge plush towels. The water pressure was better than any cruise or hotel I have stayed in. There are plenty of closets and drawers, a safe, a small refrigerator, a small desk/vanity area with a stool and a chair. The balcony has a small table and 2 chairs.

 

We arrived much too late to go into Basel so we just settled into our cabin and headed to the lounge at 6:15 for our Welcome Briefing. We met George our cruise director and were introduced to our Captain, the Hotel Manager, the Executive Chef and the MaîtreD’. At 7:00 we headed to the dining room.

 

There is only one seating for dinner and it is from 7:00-9:00. The Aquavit Terrace has changed and now does a 6 course Italian meal for dinner called “A Selection of Manfredi’s” and they serve at 7:15. There is no charge for this but, they can only seat 20 people an evening so you have to make a reservation. No other options for dinner. Our group found the dining room menus to be very limited. quote]

 

Was the Aquavit Terrace open for lunch, or what were the lunch options? Did you go to Manfredis? Thanks for the review. We will be on the Idi next month.

The Aquavit Terrace was open for lunch but, we did not try it. We did not go to Manfredi's but another couple in our group did and they loved it.

Is water, juice and ice tea available 24/7?

Is water, juice and ice tea available 24/7?

There is a station with coffee and hot chocolate. Not sure about juice. There is hot water and assorted tea bags. You are handed a bottle of water each time you leave ship and a large bottle is left in your cabin. They replace the large bottle when it is empty. We always used the large bottle to refill the small bottles so we got a fresh large bottle each day.

Sounds like you had a nice time. We were on the Kara right before you.