Viking Post Cruise in Prague??

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

Hello,

We are taking the Amsterdam to Budapest cruise on Viking Freya next September. We are considering the post cruise stay in Prague. Has anyone ever done this? We are wondering if it is value for the price ($699 pp for 3 nights) and any tips or comments anyone has with this or very similar pre/post cruise extensions. Thanks in advance. Patric:)

[nordski]

We had a Viking post cruise Prague extension from Nuremburg a few years ago and loved it. Although you can probably find a cheaper hotel deal on-line, since you need a transfer to Prague the savings might not be that important. Have they announced which hotel they will be using?

 

We also had a wonderful tour guide for 2 days. She was a local woman who tutored students in English. Great stories of living under Communist rule and a real help in using the transit system. I hope other Viking cruisers have the chance to encounter her.

 

Regardless, you will likely have a wonderful time in Prague, we plan to return.

[boards]

We did a pre-cruise 3 days in Prague on our own and it was great in June 2009.

[Hawaiian Mongoose]

The Viking brochure says "Hilton Prague (or similar).

We are thinking that though the price is high, it is a value for us as they will get us from Budapest to Prague and the price includes tours, lodging and breakfasts. Do you recall how Viking transported you to Prague? Thanks, Patric.

[janetcbl]

We also did the pre cruise last year. We stayed at the Hilton, not the one in the Old Town, which was fine....near a mall for last minute items and public transportation. Before we joined the pre cruise trip we spent 4 days on our own and stayed in the Hilton in the Old Town which we preferred (smaller and more centrally located). You are transferred by coach; a pleasant way to go. To get from Prague to the ship on your own is 1)very difficult and takes hours and 2)expensive. The transfer alone was worth the price.

[Baybear]

Hello,

We are taking the Amsterdam to Budapest cruise on Viking Freya next September. We are considering the post cruise stay in Prague. Has anyone ever done this? We are wondering if it is value for the price ($699 pp for 3 nights) and any tips or comments anyone has with this or very similar pre/post cruise extensions. Thanks in advance. Patric:)

 

I don't know about you other folks, but $1400 (for two people) for three nights in a Hotel sound ludicrous to me. You should be easily able to travel by train, van, or even rent a car to get from Passau to Prague for less than the $900 difference that three nights in a good tourist hotel right in downtown Prague should cost (about $160/night). It's only 135 miles or about a 3-1/2hour ride. With the Viking cost you're paying $466/night for this! Am I missing something here?

 

I found a Hotel right near the Prague downtown square on the internet that many TripAdvisor reviews praised, and I think it cost about $160/night or less. We're going to Prague next Summer before a river cruise. I haven't booked or traveled yet, but have been looking into this. Feel free to respond to this and offer me some more advice since I am looking for this same kind of "deal" for next July 2012. But probably not from one of the cruise lines.

[Caroldoll]

on the Idun. I wonder if you are on the same cruise. We also are interested in Prague. I doubt if we will do the ship's tour as we are somewhat into independent, but everything sounds interesting to me. I have heard Prauge in wonderful. I am hoping more people post. Also, wondering about the airlines from Prague back to the States. If anyone has any other information, I would also be interested.

[nordski]

on the Idun. I wonder if you are on the same cruise. We also are interested in Prague. I doubt if we will do the ship's tour as we are somewhat into independent, but everything sounds interesting to me. I have heard Prauge in wonderful. I am hoping more people post. Also, wondering about the airlines from Prague back to the States. If anyone has any other information, I would also be interested.

Indeed. Prague is wonderful.

 

In our case, we flew Austrian Airways from Prague to a connecting flight in Frankfurt (Lufthansa). Others we knew were flying Swissair through Geneva.

 

I'm not certain if other connections are available through DeGaulle, or Schipol.

[newfirsttimer]

We are going into Prague 4 days before our cruise starts as we have heard how wonderful it is. We are flying Lufthansa from Toronto, connecting in Dusseldorf. Friends that have been in Prague before say it is wonderful and make sure you have 3 or 4 days to see it. We are doing a day trip to Cesky Krumlov while we are there as well as Terezin for an afternoon tour.

[Caroldoll]

the two places you mentioned. Can you brief me on their good points?

[Peacemkr59]

We are doing 3 nights in Prague prior to our cruise on 7/24. We are also doing this on our own. I was able to get the Marriott in Old Town for $80/night on Priceline (considered 5*). We paid $90 per person for the transfer from Prague to the ship and will be doing sightseeing on our own. We are going to book the optional excursion to Terezin through AMA's desk at the Hilton Old Town when we arrive in Prague. This should cost us considerably less money than the $1400 they were going to charge us for 2 people!!

[janetcbl]

Re: Airlines: Try to avoid Frankfurt as it is a nightmare. It took us 2+ hours to transfer in Frankfort, and we almost missed the connecting flight (we were on Lufthansa). People flying Swiss made their transfer in Zurich and it was easy. Budapest is one of the worst airports in Europe; no lines to check in and mass chaos, but you are given 3 hours to do it, so people make their flights. When we flew out there were 2 large planes leaving at the same time early in the morning and only 2 (yes two) airline reps checking in all those people . Maybe things have improved - this was 18 months ago. We now have a rule; either non stop to our destination, or we fly SAS through Copenhagen or any airline through Zurich. Much less stress!

I have never been to Terezin, but Cesky Krumlov was incredible! Don't miss it.

[Caroldoll]

what you said/ It seems very interesting.

[Lexizmom]

We spent 5 days in Prague after our Avalon Amsterdam/Budapest cruise in late May/June. I agree with earlier posters -- $1400 is outrageous. You can do this on your own for a LOT less money than what Viking is charging - go to TripAdvisor.com and check out the various hotels. We stayed at the Arcadia Residence and it cost us 110 Euros a night for a 2 bedroom apartment, with a full breakfast! Food is relatively inexpensive in Prague - about 1/3 of what it cost us in France (pre-cruise). Dinner for 2 with beer and 2 courses was about $30 for two people.

 

I would definitely stay in one of the smaller quaint B&Bs in or near the Old Town and enjoy the local restaurants. The tram system there makes everything accessible in 10-15 minutes. Try to avoid eating in the big squares - they will rip you off because they know you are tourists. Lots of little restaurants on side streets are a better deal.

 

We flew on Czech Air from Budapest to Prague - it took 1 hour and was relatively inexpensive. The train leaves around 9:30 and gets in around 4:30 and the countryside is lovely.

 

We did an afternoon Terezin tour and were glad we did - it's about 1 hour by bus from Prague, and the tour lasts about 5 hours. We also did a Segway tour of the Castle area which was a lot of fun.

 

Prague is wonderful - I was glad we decided to spend the extra time there rather than in Budapest. Hope this helps.

Edited July 17, 2011 by Benjzmom

[nordski]

Re: Airlines: Try to avoid Frankfurt as it is a nightmare. It took us 2+ hours to transfer in Frankfort, and we almost missed the connecting flight (we were on Lufthansa). People flying Swiss made their transfer in Zurich and it was easy. Budapest is one of the worst airports in Europe; no lines to check in and mass chaos, but you are given 3 hours to do it, so people make their flights. When we flew out there were 2 large planes leaving at the same time early in the morning and only 2 (yes two) airline reps checking in all those people . Maybe things have improved - this was 18 months ago. We now have a rule; either non stop to our destination, or we fly SAS through Copenhagen or any airline through Zurich. Much less stress!

I have never been to Terezin, but Cesky Krumlov was incredible! Don't miss it.

Thanks for your correction re: Post #8 where I incorrectly identified Geneva as opposed to Zurich as the SwissAir hub. When I typed Geneva I had an inkling that that was wrong.

 

I, like you, have no love of Frankfurt airport having missed a connection there and our one connection through Zurich was efficient. However, we have considerable difficulty getting flights through Zurich that aren't very expensive and very lengthy. In our experience, one of the nicest airports for transfers is Schipol

 

I hope the OP has great luck with their flights and Prague is definitely worth it.

[roothy123]

We did fine in Frankfurt, and didn't find it bad at all, but then I know a little German, so maybe that made it a bit easier, at least to navigate between flights. To us, Charles deGaulle is THE nightmare of European airports, with Heathrow a bit challenging as well.

 

Yes, Prague is wonderful. We didn't go early, so just had a limited amount of time there, but enjoyed it quite a bit. My husband still raves about the evening segway tour we took, although I'm sure it's not for everyone!

[tuda]

We are booked on the Viking Freya Grand European Tour with a pre cruise stay in Prague starting 9/5/2012. Anyone going to be on this boat?

Any advice or information is appreciated. I don't see a roll call for this on CC yet.

[ann1bell]

We did Prague on our own after an AMA river cruise. We stayed in the Unitas Hotel, a small very nice boutique hotel, which was 119 euros a night. We were able to specify our bedding arrangements, choose a non smoking property with a great free breakfast. We had no trouble doing this independently. We did have a private guide for 2 mornings and went to Terezin one day. You will have a great time!

[Willsot]

We did the Viking post-cruise extension in Prague after our Eastern Europe Danube cruise and absolutely loved it. The hotel was first class and even though it was not in Old Prague, we walked everywhere. Prague is now a favorite city for us.

[KCcruisin07]

We did Prague on our own last year and made reservations through Priceline the Hilton (not Old Town). We were close to a subway stop, so it was not hard to get to the places we wanted to see. The Hilton was a very nice hotel.

We did the AMA transfer from Nuremberg to Prague for about $90. We had been traveling for almost 3 weeks, so we were pretty much toured out. In retrospect though we would have gotten a better feel for the city if we had taken some kind of introductory tour the first day. We did see the major sights, but we could have made better use of our time.

We did both Prague and Budapest on our own, and with the money we would have spent on the ship extension, we went to London and Paris on the way. I would make the same decision again!

[wwl42lml43]

We're going to Prague on the front end of a Viking cruise in May/June. Viking sent us information on an optional visit to the Lobkowicz Palace that looked wonderful. I've since done some net searches on it, and it seems they weren't exaggerating.

[Cruiser10003]

We're doing a Budapest to Nuremberg river cruise on Viking, and wondering if $799 pp is worth it for 3 night post stay in Prague this Fall.

 

Hotel is Prague Hilton which is not the one in Old Town, and from prior research seems to be a large convention type hotel in a not very good area, which goes for around $90/night ($45 pp/night). Seems like it's in a not so good area, and noisy, without much to see or do within walking distance.

 

Factoring in a transfer to Prague by bus, one tour, and 3 breakfasts (in a large banquet room), and having all these arrangements made, is it worth it especially considering I am traveling with an elderly person?

 

We've already booked air through Viking so airport transfers are already included.

 

Thank you for any input.

[roothy123]

We generally do not do the ship's (any ship, any line!) hotel extensions. They are primarily provided for people who want the convenience of being able to have everything taken care of, with few surprises, in a very nice hotel with elevators and other conveniences not always found in European hotels, and little research needed on their part. That's fine, but the downside is that they are usually pretty expensive, and not always located in the best place for sightseeing, even though the hotels may be quite nice. We prefer to do find our own hotels, and just take cabs from the airport to hotel and pier, etc. It's certainly not hard in Europe.

 

We loved Prague. Overall I would say it is definitely worth an extra few days. It's also helpful for us as we hate the jetlag that comes with long overnight flights to Europe, and going in early helps with that.

[Peregrina651]

We're doing a Budapest to Nuremberg river cruise on Viking, and wondering if $799 pp is worth it for 3 night post stay in Prague this Fall.

 

Hotel is Prague Hilton which is not the one in Old Town, and from prior research seems to be a large convention type hotel in a not very good area, which goes for around $90/night ($45 pp/night). Seems like it's in a not so good area, and noisy, without much to see or do within walking distance.

 

Factoring in a transfer to Prague by bus, one tour, and 3 breakfasts (in a large banquet room), and having all these arrangements made, is it worth it especially considering I am traveling with an elderly person?

 

We've already booked air through Viking so airport transfers are already included.

 

Thank you for any input.

 

We did the Prague extension with Viking in mid-April, 2015. We loved Prague.

 

We were housed in the Hilton Prague on Probezni St. The neighborhood was fine (and not particularly noisy) and we could walk from the hotel to Old Town without any problems. We did a lot of walking. We used the half-day tour included with the package to get us up to the Castle District. When the tour left to do the Old Town portion of the tour, we stayed behind and spent the whole day exploring the Castle environs (including the Lobkowicz Palace--don't bother with the Viking tour; you can do it on your own for much less). We took a taxi home. The next day we walked from the hotel to the Jewish Quarter and the Old Town and then as far as the Mucha Museum before walking back to the hotel.

 

The bus trip from Prague to Budapest took 7 hours and included two stops--a pit stop and a lunch stop (cost not included in the package). Door to door service certainly beat the cab-to-station-get-tickets-find-the-right-train/bus-long-ride-worry-about-lunch-worry-about-luggage-find-another-cab routine.

 

Breakfast was not in a large banquet room. It is in this dedicated dining room off the main lobby. It is a breakfast buffet with plenty of hot and cold choices (including an omelet bar).

 

[karen11g]

Just booked a beautiful apartment steps away from Old Town Square on Airbnb for three nights after our cruise for $90 per night. Don't overlook this option if you're interested in doing the trip on your own or prefer not to stay in American-style hotels.