Basic questions for Viking Rhine river cruise.

On tours, are there many readily available rest room facilities ? Do you need euros to access them ? How about restroom on tour bus ? Has anyone done pre Cruise Lucerne extension? Is there enough time at airport on arrival in Zurich to do currency exchange? Are only CHF accepted in Lucerne ? My main concern is for tipping $$ . Should we bring adaptors and converters for Lucerne and Amsterdam hotels.?

Also, for pre cruise Lucerne, what time do you depart hotel for Basel ? Thinking of am boat trip on the Lake. Many thanks !!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

On tours, are there many readily available rest room facilities ? Do you need euros to access them ? How about restroom on tour bus ?

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Yes, there are restroom facilities on Viking buses, but it is a good idea to also bring 50 cent euro coins with you on excursions, since many public restrooms in Europe require payment. Guides on our recent Amsterdam-Budapest cruise excursions always pointed out where the public restrooms were, and waited for passengers who wanted to use them.

You should always bring adapters for European hotels. You might get lucky and the hotel might have one at the front desk, but why take a chance ?

Converters are another story. Most electronics (including hairdryers) these days will work on 120V or 240V, so you probably won't need a converter. Check your power supply to be sure.

On tours, are there many readily available rest room facilities ?

Usually there are. Tours are planned in way, which allows for restroom breaks.

 

Do you need euros to access them ?

Be prepaired. Some are free (like in museums or sights you visit), others are not. Good advice by soxfan to keep 50 cent-coins for that matter.

 

How about restroom on tour bus ?

Depends on the bus. If there are, keep in mind you need to be a bit flexible to access them and not too big. Forget about the "room" in restrooms in buses

 

Has anyone done pre Cruise Lucerne extension?

Many did. Just browse the forum here.

 

Is there enough time at airport on arrival in Zurich to do currency exchange?

 

Banking system in Switzerland is highly efficient. So you find plenty of banks and ATM to get some francs. There should be an opportunity at the airport.

 

Are only CHF accepted in Lucerne ?

The swiss take everything as long as they convert it into Swiss Francs. Credit cards are no problem and they will also accept EUR and maybe even USD cash, at a lousy rate however.

 

My main concern is for tipping $$ .

Noone will refuse them. Bring plenty of small notes.

 

Should we bring adaptors and converters for Lucerne and Amsterdam hotels.?

Good idea (also on the ship), dependig on, which applicances you want to use. Keep in mind that some adaptors are fused and cannot be used with hairdryers or other equipment which draws many Amp. Also keep in mind, in Europe there is 220 V voltage, some pieces you have to convert from 110 V.

 

Also, for pre cruise Lucerne, what time do you depart hotel for Basel ? Thinking of am boat trip on the Lake.

I do not know, when the organised transport starts, but I am sure they will tell you. Allow 2 hrs for the driving.

At public toilets with an attendance you can of course get change, i.e. you give a two euro coin and get one euro fifty back. No problem. In France and Germany it is always good to carry some cash as you can come across a small café for example that does not accept credit cards. Just be on the safe side. If you cannot find a sign for credit card acceptance just ask if they do. Do not pay - try to avoid it I mean - at a baker's shop with a 50 euro note at 8am - they do not like to hand out all their change.

 

Restrooms on busses are indeed not comfortable, toilet stops are required by law, most people are very comfortable with those stopping intervals.

 

For more detailed infos you could also read the roll call for your cruise itinerary - if there is one - and add yourself to it. You can also start your own thread if your itinerary is not in the list.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

On tours, are there many readily available rest room facilities ? Do you need euros to access them ? How about restroom on tour bus ? Has anyone done pre Cruise Lucerne extension? Is there enough time at airport on arrival in Zurich to do currency exchange? Are only CHF accepted in Lucerne ? My main concern is for tipping $$ . Should we bring adaptors and converters for Lucerne and Amsterdam hotels.?

Also, for pre cruise Lucerne, what time do you depart hotel for Basel ? Thinking of am boat trip on the Lake. Many thanks !!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We just got back from doing the Viking cruise Amsterdam to Basel on the Rhine. The buses did NOT have restrooms, however, there were plenty of stops. Our tour guides knew where most of the "free" and clean restrooms were. Occasionally, we had to leave a small tip (.50 Euro).

 

You will need converters for all the hotels in Europe.

 

We tipped in US dollars before we left the boat.

 

There are ATM's available in Baggage (we were in four countries) and you should have plenty of time to get Euros while waiting for your luggage. That's where I got my Euros. Before leaving the U.S., I went to my bank and got a pre-loaded debit card and got cash that way the entire month we were in Europe.

Not to get too pedantic or mired in minutia, but there is a functional difference between an electric plug adapter and an electric voltage converter.

An adapter simply changes the plug's pin configuration and is always needed to go from a US plug to a European outlet. The are inexpensive.

A converter changes the voltage and in my experience isn't necessary for travel. Most hotels and ships have hair dryers and all the chargers for my electronics as well as my CPAP power supply automatically convert the voltage. YMMV.

Not to get too pedantic or mired in minutia, but there is a functional difference between an electric plug adapter and an electric voltage converter.

An adapter simply changes the plug's pin configuration and is always needed to go from a US plug to a European outlet. The are inexpensive.

A converter changes the voltage and in my experience isn't necessary for travel. Most hotels and ships have hair dryers and all the chargers for my electronics as well as my CPAP power supply automatically convert the voltage. YMMV.

 

 

Phone and laptop/tablet chargers are all dual voltage. W's curling iron was not, but less than $10 at Target purchased a dual-voltage curling iron.

Our pre cruise Lucene departure to Basel was 4 pm. If you just want to take a boat ride, you will have plenty of time that day. If you want to take the boat/cograil/gonala trip up to Mt. Pilates (highly recommended!), it's all all day excursion, do it the previous day.

Would not recommend currency exchange as you will get a terrible exchange rate. The best deal is to just use ATMs and credit cards without foreign transaction fees or ATM fees.

Our pre cruise Lucene departure to Basel was 4 pm. If you just want to take a boat ride, you will have plenty of time that day. If you want to take the boat/cograil/gonala trip up to Mt. Pilates (highly recommended!), it's all all day excursion, do it the previous day.

 

 

 

Did you have any time to tour Basel ?

 

I have seen some 5 hour tours in Lucerne to Pilates that depart 8:30 am. Would that be cutting it too close on transfer day ? Is the tour guide for included walking tour flexible time wise ?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Our pre cruise Lucene departure to Basel was 4 pm. If you just want to take a boat ride, you will have plenty of time that day. If you want to take the boat/cograil/gonala trip up to Mt. Pilates (highly recommended!), it's all all day excursion, do it the previous day.

 

Was there anytime to explore Basel before you set sail?

 

Opps, just noticed the previous message.

Is it possible to do Pilatus without boat portion ?

Also, don't want to bog ourselves down with toiletries....is mouthwash one of toiletries amenities included in hotel or on board ?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Would not recommend currency exchange as you will get a terrible exchange rate. The best deal is to just use ATMs and credit cards without foreign transaction fees or ATM fees.

 

You might have just misspoken but to clarify:

I would never use a credit card at an ATM (only an ATM debit card - preferably without a fee). Credit cards at ATM are treated as cash advance and accrue high interest rate starting from the date of cash advance. Credit cards without foreign exchange fees are good for purchases and do not charge interest unless not paid in full at due date.