Viking Rhine Getaway Tours 2017

Hello! My husband and I booked the Rhine Getaway River Cruise with Viking for July 2017 :D. We are very very excited. Well, I am. My husband is starting to to get excited. The trip is still 358 days away! :eek:

This is our first ever cruise of any kind. My husband and I have never been excited or even been on an ocean cruise... too many people on one boat. When the opportunity came up to go on a vacation without the kids ( in our 40's) ... we (actually, my husband) chose Viking Rivers Cruise. I think this has to do with watching Downtown Abbey and seeing the advertisements for the river cruises. Well, I put my thinking and planning hat on and I was able to make it happen. I have to admit that there were some tears because I was planning to go this summer and my husband kept telling me no. So, we booked for next year.

Since the cruise is still 350 days away, does anyone know when the tours and optional tours will be available on MyVikings website? I have been researching tour companies in Amsterdam and Basel since we are staying pre and post stays... must make it as exciting as possible. If anyone has booked pre and post stays, did you use the Viking tours that were offered/ or go off on your own or do both! :) Tour guides or companies that are recommended?

I appreciate any help with this and thank you for letting me share some excitement!! :D

Hi Ladiewillow,

Welcome to the excitement of pre-cruise planning and anticipation :)

First of all, be sure to check out this thread in the River Cruise Roll Call section for all Viking Rhine cruises for 2017: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2337826

It's not very active yet, but it will be. You'll also want to read through the roll call thread for all Viking Rhine cruises for 2016 as it will give you tons of helpful info. Go here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2230700

I'm looking forward to our Rhine Getaway in April 2017, and thanks to Cruise Critic boards, have already gained a ton of knowledge.

This will be out 3rd Viking cruise, and we've been very happy so far with all of the tours handled by them. I'm not sure when this info will be up for next year on the MyVikingJourney website, but read through the other threads to get a good idea what to expect.

Jeff

Definitely check out the very active 2016 roll call for Rhine Getaway and the just-as-helpful 2015 roll call. Read, join in, and enjoy the anticipation! You might like looking at this travel blog as well: https://offthebeatenpathdc.wordpress.com/category/viking-river-cruise/ I read it and took a lot of notes. ;)

Hi Ladiewillow,

 

Welcome to the excitement of pre-cruise planning and anticipation :)

 

First of all, be sure to check out this thread in the River Cruise Roll Call section for all Viking Rhine cruises for 2017: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2337826

 

It's not very active yet, but it will be. You'll also want to read through the roll call thread for all Viking Rhine cruises for 2016 as it will give you tons of helpful info. Go here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2230700

 

I'm looking forward to our Rhine Getaway in April 2017, and thanks to Cruise Critic boards, have already gained a ton of knowledge.

 

This will be out 3rd Viking cruise, and we've been very happy so far with all of the tours handled by them. I'm not sure when this info will be up for next year on the MyVikingJourney website, but read through the other threads to get a good idea what to expect.

 

Jeff

Thank you for the info. Already looked at the links and reading away! :D

:D

Definitely check out the very active 2016 roll call for Rhine Getaway and the just-as-helpful 2015 roll call. Read, join in, and enjoy the anticipation! You might like looking at this travel blog as well: https://offthebeatenpathdc.wordpress.com/category/viking-river-cruise/ I read it and took a lot of notes. ;)

Thank you for the info! I like the blog! Will defiantly keep looking at this in the future! :) Also, they stayed in the exact cabin we booked. How exciting!

Two years ago I took Viking's Rhine Getaway and loved it. I also did the pre-cruise of Lucerne through Viking which was also great. We stayed at the Radisson Blu in Lucerne, convenient and a nice hotel. You can do pre and post on your own for a price that is cheaper, just depends on how much research you want to put into it. The link to my review is in my signature if you're interested.

Two years ago I took Viking's Rhine Getaway and loved it. I also did the pre-cruise of Lucerne through Viking which was also great. We stayed at the Radisson Blu in Lucerne, convenient and a nice hotel. You can do pre and post on your own for a price that is cheaper, just depends on how much research you want to put into it. The link to my review is in my signature if you're interested.

Love your review!! Several posts had me laughing, especially about the "applesauce" and " Hersey kisses". Thank you for sharing! Enjoyed it :)

Two years ago I took Viking's Rhine Getaway and loved it. I also did the pre-cruise of Lucerne through Viking which was also great. We stayed at the Radisson Blu in Lucerne, convenient and a nice hotel. You can do pre and post on your own for a price that is cheaper, just depends on how much research you want to put into it. The link to my review is in my signature if you're interested.

Mimmy52 is there any way you could estimate in miles how much walking you did on included tours daily? thanks

Marycece

Mimmy52 is there any way you could estimate in miles how much walking you did on included tours daily? thanks

Marycece

Marycece, it's difficult for me to estimate miles. If walking is a problem for you, be sure you go with the gentle walkers group. The most walking that I recall was in Strasbourg and Cologne, but they were the bigger cities. In Strasbourg, the ships can't dock close to the interesting parts of the city, so they have a bus that that takes you there. However, there's still a bit of a walk from the parking lot. At the most on the included part of the Strasbourg tour, the walk (including to and from the bus) might have been three miles. A lot depends, too, on how much ground you cover during free time. Strasbourg is charming, and if you wanted more time there, you could eat lunch there on your own and go back to the ship some time in the afternoon on one of the shuttles (that's if the timing is the same for the tour you are on).

Cologne is another city where you could do that. On my tour of the Rhine Getaway, the ship docked far enough away that they bussed us into the city. Last summer when I took the Grand European tour, we were docked much closer so we walked. Again, at the most I'd say three miles were covered, but I doubt if it was even that. There was less walking in the other cities we visited.

I'd avoid Marksburg Castle. It's very challenging for walking. Remember that if your concierge or program director say something isn't far, it might be that it isn't far for them but you might think differently.

I don't know if you've read my Rhine Getaway trip report, but in case you have not, here is a link. There are a lot of pictures.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2094179

We just got back from the Viking Kvasir Amsterdam-Basel trip May 24-31. My wife has some mobility challeneges, mainly stairs, but did pretty well. We did not sign up originally, but they have a "Leisurely" group for people with mobility issues that tries to avoid stairs and other obstacles.

- Kinderdyjk is maybe a mile of flat out to the windmills and back. Biggest hazard was the traffic on the path (May 25 was a National Holiday). EDIT: If you want to do the optional cheesemaking tour, you HAVE to sign up for that before the trip. And make sure you do as soon as you can because they close the online optional sign-ups a couple weeks out from the cruise departure/

- In Cologne, the buses pick you up at a stop downstream, and drop you basically a block away from the Cathedral. You can get picked up again at the same location, or walk across the "Lover's Bridge" to the other side to pick up the ship. We did the latter, and my wife was NOT happy with me when she had to go down a bunch of stairs to get from the bridge to the river level. Make your way to the sun deck when the ship departs Cologne to see the cathedral lit up.

- If you are not physically up to Marksburg castle (and they warn the you need to be in GOOD physical condition for that tour), do not miss the optional tour to the Fortress Ehrenbreitstein. You take a cable gondola across the river and up to the Fortress grounds, and from there it is all flat. And you will be greatly entertained by the actor that leads the tour. We did not go on the evening optional into Rudesheim as my wife was starting to feel the walking.

- For Heidelberg, you pick up a bus that first takes you up for a tour of the old castle. This is the day we started the with the "Leisurely" group, and they kept it on the flats up in the castle area (option to walk down the ramp to see the gigantic wine barrel). Bus then takes you down to Old Town Heidleberg, where you can have some free time. But make sure you are back to the bus on time, as you have to take it to pick up the ship in Speyer (we had one couple that misinterpreted 2:00 for 2:30 and had to catch train to pick up ship in Speyer!!)

- They ship is only in Speyer for a few hours before sailing, but take advantage of walking into to see the Romanesque cathedral. Our cruise director Gavin did it as an optional "welcome walk", but said not all of the cruise directors do that.

- In Strasbourg, the ship docks across the river in Kehl. Depending on what docking location you get over, there can be a considerable hike to get to the buses that take you into the city. For the Leisurely group, they called taxi's to get us to the bus. After a bit of a bus ride around Strasbourg, they drop you off close to center of old town not too far away from the cathedral. There is option to stay in town and catch shuttles back, but we took the bus back as we were headed out for the Alsace Wine Tasting in the afternoon (about 45 min buss ride each way).

- We skipped the Black Forest Tour, as I was getting tired of banging my knees on the buses (I am 6'3"), and we knew we were going to be on the bus a lot in the afternoon for the Colmar WW2 excursion (the travel guide said it was "moderate", but really not that much walking).

Hello! My husband and I booked the Rhine Getaway River Cruise with Viking for July 2017 :D. We are very very excited. Well, I am. My husband is starting to to get excited. The trip is still 358 days away! :eek:

 

This is our first ever cruise of any kind. My husband and I have never been excited or even been on an ocean cruise... too many people on one boat. When the opportunity came up to go on a vacation without the kids ( in our 40's) ... we (actually, my husband) chose Viking Rivers Cruise. I think this has to do with watching Downtown Abbey and seeing the advertisements for the river cruises. Well, I put my thinking and planning hat on and I was able to make it happen. I have to admit that there were some tears because I was planning to go this summer and my husband kept telling me no. So, we booked for next year.

 

Since the cruise is still 350 days away, does anyone know when the tours and optional tours will be available on MyVikings website? I have been researching tour companies in Amsterdam and Basel since we are staying pre and post stays... must make it as exciting as possible. If anyone has booked pre and post stays, did you use the Viking tours that were offered/ or go off on your own or do both! :) Tour guides or companies that are recommended?

 

I appreciate any help with this and thank you for letting me share some excitement!! :D

Recently completed this very cruise but on Viking Eir. Here is my review...

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/05/12/viking-eir-rhine-getaway-april-2017/

I hope you find the review interesting and helpful.

Markg57 Thanks for the info!!

Solent Richard - enjoyed your blog - great review and pictures -- thanks so much for sharing!

We just got back from the Viking Kvasir Amsterdam-Basel trip May 24-31. My wife has some mobility challeneges, mainly stairs, but did pretty well. We did not sign up originally, but they have a "Leisurely" group for people with mobility issues that tries to avoid stairs and other obstacles.

 

- Kinderdyjk is maybe a mile of flat out to the windmills and back. Biggest hazard was the traffic on the path (May 25 was a National Holiday). EDIT: If you want to do the optional cheesemaking tour, you HAVE to sign up for that before the trip. And make sure you do as soon as you can because they close the online optional sign-ups a couple weeks out from the cruise departure/

 

- In Cologne, the buses pick you up at a stop downstream, and drop you basically a block away from the Cathedral. You can get picked up again at the same location, or walk across the "Lover's Bridge" to the other side to pick up the ship. We did the latter, and my wife was NOT happy with me when she had to go down a bunch of stairs to get from the bridge to the river level. Make your way to the sun deck when the ship departs Cologne to see the cathedral lit up.

 

- If you are not physically up to Marksburg castle (and they warn the you need to be in GOOD physical condition for that tour), do not miss the optional tour to the Fortress Ehrenbreitstein. You take a cable gondola across the river and up to the Fortress grounds, and from there it is all flat. And you will be greatly entertained by the actor that leads the tour. We did not go on the evening optional into Rudesheim as my wife was starting to feel the walking.

 

- For Heidelberg, you pick up a bus that first takes you up for a tour of the old castle. This is the day we started the with the "Leisurely" group, and they kept it on the flats up in the castle area (option to walk down the ramp to see the gigantic wine barrel). Bus then takes you down to Old Town Heidleberg, where you can have some free time. But make sure you are back to the bus on time, as you have to take it to pick up the ship in Speyer (we had one couple that misinterpreted 2:00 for 2:30 and had to catch train to pick up ship in Speyer!!)

 

- They ship is only in Speyer for a few hours before sailing, but take advantage of walking into to see the Romanesque cathedral. Our cruise director Gavin did it as an optional "welcome walk", but said not all of the cruise directors do that.

 

- In Strasbourg, the ship docks across the river in Kehl. Depending on what docking location you get over, there can be a considerable hike to get to the buses that take you into the city. For the Leisurely group, they called taxi's to get us to the bus. After a bit of a bus ride around Strasbourg, they drop you off close to center of old town not too far away from the cathedral. There is option to stay in town and catch shuttles back, but we took the bus back as we were headed out for the Alsace Wine Tasting in the afternoon (about 45 min buss ride each way).

 

- We skipped the Black Forest Tour, as I was getting tired of banging my knees on the buses (I am 6'3"), and we knew we were going to be on the bus a lot in the afternoon for the Colmar WW2 excursion (the travel guide said it was "moderate", but really not that much walking).

Mark, we will be on the Kvasir in a couple of weeks! Overall, did you enjoy the crew and food? How was the Colmar WW2 excursion?