Viking Idun "Grand European" Day-by-Day Review

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

Love reading your threads; will look forward to your overview; I will probably have questions for you; this is our first river cruise after many ocean cruises so all new to me.

Sincere thanks

 

This is true for us as well! Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us. I have done a copy/paste of your comments to my notes for our Budapest to Amsterdam next year.

[jms]

I have to put my 2 cents in here because we were on the Idun from Apr 27 to May from Budapest to Amsterdam. We were given the same "story" about the ship change - that because of christening, the Embla wasn't available and in fact was doing a 7 night itinerary. We, too, had a ship change. Our documents said "Embla" as did everyone else onboard. From Prague our bus trip to Budapest was similar (much longer than expected with a too long stop at an inefficient restaurant) but the entire busload of us was manned by a driver and guide who knew nothing of the ship change so we rode an additional 45 minutes around Budapest, first on one side and then the other - with them trying to find the Embla!!! It was very frustrating to think that Viking could have avoided this by inserting something in our documents or at least notifying its Prague land crew!!! They never offered to notify our "emergency" contacts - which they require in advance. Additionally many of us were meeting friends along the cruise itinerary and it was up to us to contact them with the change. In Cologne - where they had told us in advance about the docking area when I phoned Viking to let our friend know where to meet us - we were docked in a completely different area with the original location blocks away staying empty. In Nuremburg there was no real dock, just a muddy incline for passengers to walk up with no assistance from crew (a fellow passenger helped some of us up the hill) and on the return from our excursions, still no crew to help getting down the muddy slope!

 

The Idun had major troubles with air conditioning before we boarded (we spoke to couples who had embaraked in Bucharest for the 3 week journey). This trouble repeated itself for 48 hours when it was suggested we "open our balcony doors" at night. Some passengers obviously had no balcony doors. On our last full day when we should have been able to pack after a tour of Kinderdjik, we could not reboard the ship because it was in drydock in Rotterdam. Their answer to the airco problem was to offer us a few drinks and tack on another excursion (which they laughingly said they would not charge us for) on that last day. It was a grueling end to an already seriously lacking 2 weeks. Except for the dining staff and reception staff and the wonderfull people we met onboard - this cruise was a disaster.

 

I have no respect at all for Viking's customer service levels. Our cruise manager, Vlad, was totally not engaged with most of the guests. He had a gruff personality and on more than one occasion he seemed to be yelling at me. I will never cruise Viking again (this was our first cruise with them) and much prefer the wonderful service on both Uniworld and Amawaterways.

[CelticMutt]

I have to put my 2 cents in here because we were on the Idun from Apr 27 to May from Budapest to Amsterdam. We were given the same "story" about the ship change - that because of christening, the Embla wasn't available and in fact was doing a 7 night itinerary. We, too, had a ship change. Our documents said "Embla" as did everyone else onboard. From Prague our bus trip to Budapest was similar (much longer than expected with a too long stop at an inefficient restaurant) but the entire busload of us was manned by a driver and guide who knew nothing of the ship change so we rode an additional 45 minutes around Budapest, first on one side and then the other - with them trying to find the Embla!!! It was very frustrating to think that Viking could have avoided this by inserting something in our documents or at least notifying its Prague land crew!!! They never offered to notify our "emergency" contacts - which they require in advance. Additionally many of us were meeting friends along the cruise itinerary and it was up to us to contact them with the change. In Cologne - where they had told us in advance about the docking area when I phoned Viking to let our friend know where to meet us - we were docked in a completely different area with the original location blocks away staying empty. In Nuremburg there was no real dock, just a muddy incline for passengers to walk up with no assistance from crew (a fellow passenger helped some of us up the hill) and on the return from our excursions, still no crew to help getting down the muddy slope!

 

The Idun had major troubles with air conditioning before we boarded (we spoke to couples who had embaraked in Bucharest for the 3 week journey). This trouble repeated itself for 48 hours when it was suggested we "open our balcony doors" at night. Some passengers obviously had no balcony doors. On our last full day when we should have been able to pack after a tour of Kinderdjik, we could not reboard the ship because it was in drydock in Rotterdam. Their answer to the airco problem was to offer us a few drinks and tack on another excursion (which they laughingly said they would not charge us for) on that last day. It was a grueling end to an already seriously lacking 2 weeks. Except for the dining staff and reception staff and the wonderfull people we met onboard - this cruise was a disaster.

 

I have no respect at all for Viking's customer service levels. Our cruise manager, Vlad, was totally not engaged with most of the guests. He had a gruff personality and on more than one occasion he seemed to be yelling at me. I will never cruise Viking again (this was our first cruise with them) and much prefer the wonderful service on both Uniworld and Amawaterways.

 

JMS, I think that Viking (as well as a number of service organizations) are taking a clue from the airlines - just don't share the negative info and then the results are all positive. I think the mindset is that if you "pre-announce" a problem, you have to deal with the bitching twice. When you announce it and after the fact. If you don't announce beforehand, you only have to deal with the aftereffects. It works moderately well until people start sharing experiences. Like here!

I have to admit that while there were a couple of minor bumps with our cruise, the experience was overwhelmingly positive. And after talking to a large percentage of our fellow passengers, (with the exception of the couple in 217 with the waste pump noise problem) there was complete agreement other than the ship change itself of course. Our docking situations were excellent with great boarding facilities. We only "rafted" 3 times out of a total 14 dockings which counters a lot of other comments. And the AC worked fine - however we cruised in temps that averaged about 70 degrees in the daytime.

Maybe the experience changes with a good program director. Ours was Lucia Petraslava (sorry, Lucia, I probably just mangled your last name!) who was on board subbing for the regular guy. Maybe we were just incredibly lucky, but this young lady singularly helped a great deal in making the cruise as good as it was! Maybe without her, our experience would have been completely different. Can't tell since we've nothing to compare the experience to - no "control"! But Lucia isn't on the Embla now and she can at best be in one place at a time, so you have to take that into consideration.

In reading the reviews on Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor I always look at the averages, not the highs and not the lows. No organization gets it right 100% of the time, but then they should be batting in the high 900's! That's why I wanted to post my experiences, both good and bad, to help let people review as much data as possible, combine that with other reviews and comments and then come to their own decisions as far as what to do. Hopefully both of our comments will at the very least help Viking improve those elements that need it and if not, as you say, there's a a lot of alternative options out there!

Bill

[burrma]

I have to put my 2 cents in here because we were on the Idun from Apr 27 to May from Budapest to Amsterdam. We were given the same "story" about the ship change - that because of christening, the Embla wasn't available and in fact was doing a 7 night itinerary. We, too, had a ship change. Our documents said "Embla" as did everyone else onboard. From Prague our bus trip to Budapest was similar (much longer than expected with a too long stop at an inefficient restaurant) but the entire busload of us was manned by a driver and guide who knew nothing of the ship change so we rode an additional 45 minutes around Budapest, first on one side and then the other - with them trying to find the Embla!!! It was very frustrating to think that Viking could have avoided this by inserting something in our documents or at least notifying its Prague land crew!!! They never offered to notify our "emergency" contacts - which they require in advance. Additionally many of us were meeting friends along the cruise itinerary and it was up to us to contact them with the change. In Cologne - where they had told us in advance about the docking area when I phoned Viking to let our friend know where to meet us - we were docked in a completely different area with the original location blocks away staying empty. In Nuremburg there was no real dock, just a muddy incline for passengers to walk up with no assistance from crew (a fellow passenger helped some of us up the hill) and on the return from our excursions, still no crew to help getting down the muddy slope!

 

The Idun had major troubles with air conditioning before we boarded (we spoke to couples who had embaraked in Bucharest for the 3 week journey). This trouble repeated itself for 48 hours when it was suggested we "open our balcony doors" at night. Some passengers obviously had no balcony doors. On our last full day when we should have been able to pack after a tour of Kinderdjik, we could not reboard the ship because it was in drydock in Rotterdam. Their answer to the airco problem was to offer us a few drinks and tack on another excursion (which they laughingly said they would not charge us for) on that last day. It was a grueling end to an already seriously lacking 2 weeks. Except for the dining staff and reception staff and the wonderfull people we met onboard - this cruise was a disaster.

 

I have no respect at all for Viking's customer service levels. Our cruise manager, Vlad, was totally not engaged with most of the guests. He had a gruff personality and on more than one occasion he seemed to be yelling at me. I will never cruise Viking again (this was our first cruise with them) and much prefer the wonderful service on both Uniworld and Amawaterways.

 

So wished we hadn't booked with VIking; been reading WAY too many negative reviews. Hope they get their act together soon. DO wish more people that cruise would post on Cruise Critic, like they do on larger cruise lines as I know the cruise compnaies do read these threads plus we'd hear if many others were also disatisfied and then bookings would decrease. I know one can't please all but in the case of changing ships and not telling anyone; no excuse for that. Thanks

[pully8]

celticmutt enjoyed your review, a lot of effort and well done.

 

very sorry for the viking cruisers. seriously life is too short to put up with some of those experiences...especially since the passengers paid hard earnt cash to do so.

 

unfortunately we seem to read many adverse reviews of viking on here. yes they respond and offer explanations etc but for us we would not risk it.

plenty of other choices. feedback from others is always invaluable. lots of competition on the rivers, cruise companies simply must provide a quality experience to get/keep market share.

 

we understand things can go wrong but communication is essential.

 

happy cruising.

[1SGCruiser]

I have to put my 2 cents in here because we were on the Idun from Apr 27 to May from Budapest to Amsterdam. We were given the same "story" about the ship change - that because of christening, the Embla wasn't available and in fact was doing a 7 night itinerary. We, too, had a ship change. Our documents said "Embla" as did everyone else onboard. From Prague our bus trip to Budapest was similar (much longer than expected with a too long stop at an inefficient restaurant) but the entire busload of us was manned by a driver and guide who knew nothing of the ship change so we rode an additional 45 minutes around Budapest, first on one side and then the other - with them trying to find the Embla!!! It was very frustrating to think that Viking could have avoided this by inserting something in our documents or at least notifying its Prague land crew!!! They never offered to notify our "emergency" contacts - which they require in advance. Additionally many of us were meeting friends along the cruise itinerary and it was up to us to contact them with the change. In Cologne - where they had told us in advance about the docking area when I phoned Viking to let our friend know where to meet us - we were docked in a completely different area with the original location blocks away staying empty. In Nuremburg there was no real dock, just a muddy incline for passengers to walk up with no assistance from crew (a fellow passenger helped some of us up the hill) and on the return from our excursions, still no crew to help getting down the muddy slope!

 

The Idun had major troubles with air conditioning before we boarded (we spoke to couples who had embaraked in Bucharest for the 3 week journey). This trouble repeated itself for 48 hours when it was suggested we "open our balcony doors" at night. Some passengers obviously had no balcony doors. On our last full day when we should have been able to pack after a tour of Kinderdjik, we could not reboard the ship because it was in drydock in Rotterdam. Their answer to the airco problem was to offer us a few drinks and tack on another excursion (which they laughingly said they would not charge us for) on that last day. It was a grueling end to an already seriously lacking 2 weeks. Except for the dining staff and reception staff and the wonderfull people we met onboard - this cruise was a disaster.

 

I have no respect at all for Viking's customer service levels. Our cruise manager, Vlad, was totally not engaged with most of the guests. He had a gruff personality and on more than one occasion he seemed to be yelling at me. I will never cruise Viking again (this was our first cruise with them) and much prefer the wonderful service on both Uniworld and Amawaterways.

 

Sorry to hear that you were unhappy with your Viking experience. We were on the Idun last fall for the Grand European Tour and loved the boat, crew and cruise. This was our 15th cruise, but the first river cruise. Everyone's circumstances, experiences and expectations are definitely different. I wish you a better cruise next time.

[burrma]

Sorry to hear that you were unhappy with your Viking experience. We were on the Idun last fall for the Grand European Tour and loved the boat, crew and cruise. This was our 15th cruise, but the first river cruise. Everyone's circumstances, experiences and expectations are definitely different. I wish you a better cruise next time.

Glad to hear you had a good time and no switch of ships for you; which I thought was very poor on Viking part with no notification.

[Viking Cruises]

Dear CelticMutt,

 

We have very much enjoyed reading your detailed and wonderful reports from your Grand European Tour and we’re so pleased that you’ve decided to join us again next year. It sounds like it was a fun and memorable trip—thank you for sharing it.

 

Throughout your posts you mention some things that went exceptionally well, and some that could be improved upon. We’d very much like the opportunity to discuss all of your feedback in greater detail. In particular, we’re sure we could learn something very valuable by hearing more about the optional tour in Bamberg, the transfer from Budapest to Prague, and the handling of the necessary ship switch. For those things that proved a disappointment, please accept our apologies. And now that you’ve returned home we hope you’ll contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com so that we may connect you with a member of our Customer Relations team.

 

So…Welcome home! And thank you again for taking the time to share so much of your trip with the Cruise Critic community. We hope to hear from you soon.

 

Warm regards,

Viking Cruises

[Viking Cruises]

I have to put my 2 cents in here because we were on the Idun from Apr 27 to May from Budapest to Amsterdam. We were given the same "story" about the ship change - that because of christening, the Embla wasn't available and in fact was doing a 7 night itinerary. We, too, had a ship change. Our documents said "Embla" as did everyone else onboard. From Prague our bus trip to Budapest was similar (much longer than expected with a too long stop at an inefficient restaurant) but the entire busload of us was manned by a driver and guide who knew nothing of the ship change so we rode an additional 45 minutes around Budapest, first on one side and then the other - with them trying to find the Embla!!! It was very frustrating to think that Viking could have avoided this by inserting something in our documents or at least notifying its Prague land crew!!! They never offered to notify our "emergency" contacts - which they require in advance. Additionally many of us were meeting friends along the cruise itinerary and it was up to us to contact them with the change. In Cologne - where they had told us in advance about the docking area when I phoned Viking to let our friend know where to meet us - we were docked in a completely different area with the original location blocks away staying empty. In Nuremburg there was no real dock, just a muddy incline for passengers to walk up with no assistance from crew (a fellow passenger helped some of us up the hill) and on the return from our excursions, still no crew to help getting down the muddy slope!

 

The Idun had major troubles with air conditioning before we boarded (we spoke to couples who had embaraked in Bucharest for the 3 week journey). This trouble repeated itself for 48 hours when it was suggested we "open our balcony doors" at night. Some passengers obviously had no balcony doors. On our last full day when we should have been able to pack after a tour of Kinderdjik, we could not reboard the ship because it was in drydock in Rotterdam. Their answer to the airco problem was to offer us a few drinks and tack on another excursion (which they laughingly said they would not charge us for) on that last day. It was a grueling end to an already seriously lacking 2 weeks. Except for the dining staff and reception staff and the wonderfull people we met onboard - this cruise was a disaster.

 

I have no respect at all for Viking's customer service levels. Our cruise manager, Vlad, was totally not engaged with most of the guests. He had a gruff personality and on more than one occasion he seemed to be yelling at me. I will never cruise Viking again (this was our first cruise with them) and much prefer the wonderful service on both Uniworld and Amawaterways.

 

Dear jms,

 

We must humbly admit that the description of your trip does not sound pleasant…does not sound typical of the Viking experience…does not sound like the journey you surely had dreamed of for some time prior to departing. For all of the issues that you have listed, from service to communication to problems with the ship, we are truly sorry.

 

We hope that based on trip reports from other Cruise Critic members and Viking travelers, such as CelticMutt, you can appreciate that what you have described is not an experience that meets our typical Viking standards. That said, we understand and respect that you would choose to not sail with us again. Still, we hope that you will contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com so that we may try to better understand the specifics of your experience and try to make amends.

 

Sincerely,

Viking Cruises

[burrma]

Dear jms,

 

We must humbly admit that the description of your trip does not sound pleasant…does not sound typical of the Viking experience…does not sound like the journey you surely had dreamed of for some time prior to departing. For all of the issues that you have listed, from service to communication to problems with the ship, we are truly sorry.

 

We hope that based on trip reports from other Cruise Critic members and Viking travelers, such as CelticMutt, you can appreciate that what you have described is not an experience that meets our typical Viking standards. That said, we understand and respect that you would choose to not sail with us again. Still, we hope that you will contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com so that we may try to better understand the specifics of your experience and try to make amends.

 

Sincerely,

Viking Cruises

 

Wonderful Viking posted here and hopefully will take all your negatives and improve on them. Do hope they also read other Cruise Critic reviews and work on them as well. I know you can't please all but too many negative reviews recently about Viking.

[lone_stranger]

I am sorry to hear that people had a hard cruise on one of Viking's long boats. We had a difficult time on a Viking cruise last year and spoke to them about it. They were most accommodating and made an offer we couldn't refuse. I am very happy to say that we took them up on their offer and had a wonderful time this year. My brief description of our cruise on the Viking Odin follows.

 

The trip couldn't have been better. The weather was perfect even the few times when it rained. The new long boats are great for river travel. They are comfortable, even in the "belly of the Beast." That is to say we were in one of the lower cabins, below the main deck, and the cabin was well appointed, great facilities and great complimentary products for bathing and shampooing. The windows gave us a unique perspective on the scenery and the sun woke us up every morning.

 

The food was delicious and inventive. There were some choices in the main dining room that were the same as those served in the lounge/foredeck area and there were some in each area that were different. We chose whichever location had the food that most appealed to us. I gained only two pounds because the walking tours gave me enough of a workout to keep my weight down. I certainly wasn't on any diet and the portions were adequate. Better that than more than one can consume. I never stepped away from the table that I wasn't pleasantly full. The chef was a wonder.

 

The wines were not spectacular, but were certainly appropriate and good. We even bought wines at several stops to try the local wines.

 

The crew was extremely accommodating. When one of the tours we wanted to go on was cancelled because enough people weren't interested, the program director Luc set up a tour for us and found others that were interested so we could keep the cost at a reasonable level. The truth is that I will go on another river cruise with Viking without hesitation, if my future travel plans include a river journey.

 

I should mention that the pre- and post-cruising packages were also excellent. Despite a lot of complex connections that had to be made, at no time was I concerned about any aspect of the trip. A stress free, worry free vacation from my regular vacation (I am retired :)).

 

My advice to the people who had a bad experience is to work with Viking. They are in business to have satisfied customers or their business will fail. Give Viking a chance to make amends. Walking away and not sailing with them doesn't mean that you won't have an unpleasant cruise with another line.

[PBJ63]

Thank you so much for this post. We are sailing next June 1 on the Magni on this same itinerary. It is good to read your tips and ideas about the trip. I am so excited to celebrate my retirement with this cruise. It will be our first river cruise and our first time to Europe.

[burrma]

Glad to hear such a positive report after all the negatives I've read about Viking; Hope it continues; we are going on our first river cruise in 3 months; Viking Idun and do hope it's a positive experience and one of many. Been on 76 other cruises so hope I like river cruising as much.

[boyd_san_diego]

We are planning to do the Viking Alsvin from Budapest to Amsterdam May 10, 2014. After seeing very active ocean cruise roll calls I've been disappointed to see very little on river cruises, obviously because of so fewer travelers. I'm thrilled to see this long thread and plan to peruse it more. We've been on ocean cruises but this will be our first river cruise, so I have some questions maybe some of you could please help answer.

 

1: I was thinking on a westward cruise we should be on the starboard side so we don't have the sun streaming in all day both blinding us and heating up the cabin. Are my concerns valid? The Alsvin has the French balconies all on the port side and Verandas on starboard side.

 

2: How much cruising is during the day and how much at night? I guess it's a trade-off between getting daylight port time and seeing sights along the shoreline.

 

3: It looks like the wine is so-so. How about the beer? Do they just have lager or do they have any ales, IPA, porter, stout, etc?

 

4: I see people thrilled with their cruise and horror stories. Part of it is probably personal viewpoint, but what percentage of cruises are great?

 

5: I'm an avid amateur photography and want to get great pictures, but not pictures of a tour group's backs. Do I need to go off on my own instead of taking the excursions to get the pictures I want?

 

6: One review I saw was from someone in their 60's that said they were the youngest people on the cruise. Don't young people do this cruise?

 

7: Some people have said cabin upgrades aren't worth it. Is it almost as good to get a deck 1 window cabin?

 

I'm starting to ramble, so I'll stop here. I'd appreciate any hints. If I don't get much response here due to the cruise wind-down I'll probably post to a more general board.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Boyd

[janmcn]

CelticMutt: your travelog was fantastic! Lots of good info I've taken note of for our upcoming Sept. trip on the Skadi doing the reverse of your cruise.

 

Did you happen to notice if tripods are allowed in the cathedrals you visited? And the palaces?

 

Just curious whether we want to include those. (We're avid photogs, but if tripods are not allowed in most places, we won't bother.)

[SfromATX]

We are planning to do the Viking Alsvin from Budapest to Amsterdam May 10, 2014. After seeing very active ocean cruise roll calls I've been disappointed to see very little on river cruises, obviously because of so fewer travelers. I'm thrilled to see this long thread and plan to peruse it more. We've been on ocean cruises but this will be our first river cruise, so I have some questions maybe some of you could please help answer.

 

1: I was thinking on a westward cruise we should be on the starboard side so we don't have the sun streaming in all day both blinding us and heating up the cabin. Are my concerns valid? The Alsvin has the French balconies all on the port side and Verandas on starboard side.

 

2: How much cruising is during the day and how much at night? I guess it's a trade-off between getting daylight port time and seeing sights along the shoreline.

 

3: It looks like the wine is so-so. How about the beer? Do they just have lager or do they have any ales, IPA, porter, stout, etc?

 

4: I see people thrilled with their cruise and horror stories. Part of it is probably personal viewpoint, but what percentage of cruises are great?

 

5: I'm an avid amateur photography and want to get great pictures, but not pictures of a tour group's backs. Do I need to go off on my own instead of taking the excursions to get the pictures I want?

 

6: One review I saw was from someone in their 60's that said they were the youngest people on the cruise. Don't young people do this cruise?

 

7: Some people have said cabin upgrades aren't worth it. Is it almost as good to get a deck 1 window cabin?

 

I'm starting to ramble, so I'll stop here. I'd appreciate any hints. If I don't get much response here due to the cruise wind-down I'll probably post to a more general board.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Boyd

1. First of all, do not use your big-ship ocean cruise to compare. River cruising is destination-oriented so it doesn't matter on which side your cabin is located.

2. Cruising during the day and/or night varies by itinerary. Most cruising is done at night in order to have more time in the ports but if there is a particularly scenic part of the river there will be cruising during the day.

3. The wine and beer are perfectly acceptable. Remember, as someone said, it's the best kind: free! Seriously, it is very nice that it's included as complimentary.

4. I personally know at least twelve couple friends (aside from those we've met on the actual cruises) who have cruised with Viking and I've never heard a bad review. Granted, the recent floods changed everything for river cruising for a while, but in general I think there are far more positive reviews. From reading CC, I can tell that many of the negative reviews are from former ocean cruiser who did not expect the differences in river cruising.

5. Take your tri-pod if you'd like, especially if it can be folded or collapsed. The cruise staff will tell you if it's allowed which it likely is. However, you're almost always within walking distance of the ship so you can return it if it becomes a burden. Also, thanks to the wireless transmitters you can wander for picture-taking as much as you'd like and not lose track of your guide or group.

6. On the Viking cruises we have been on, there have been some younger people in their early 40's but generally it is an older crowd. Mostly 50 to 70, I would say because that's the age group that can afford the time and money to do this type of trip. Always a very active crowd with few exceptions and you'll naturally gravitate toward people whom you like.

7. Personally, I like having a window but it doesn't have to be a balcony. We've had both aquarium class and large window and I can't say that the big window is worth a great deal of extra money although it sure was nice. Again, in a river cruise the cabin is not the focus.

Have an open mind and you'll have a wonderful time.

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

1. First of all, do not use your big-ship ocean cruise to compare. River cruising is destination-oriented so it doesn't matter on which side your cabin is located.

2. Cruising during the day and/or night varies by itinerary. Most cruising is done at night in order to have more time in the ports but if there is a particularly scenic part of the river there will be cruising during the day.

3. The wine and beer are perfectly acceptable. Remember, as someone said, it's the best kind: free! Seriously, it is very nice that it's included as complimentary.

4. I personally know at least twelve couple friends (aside from those we've met on the actual cruises) who have cruised with Viking and I've never heard a bad review. Granted, the recent floods changed everything for river cruising for a while, but in general I think there are far more positive reviews. From reading CC, I can tell that many of the negative reviews are from former ocean cruiser who did not expect the differences in river cruising.

5. Take your tri-pod if you'd like, especially if it can be folded or collapsed. The cruise staff will tell you if it's allowed which it likely is. However, you're almost always within walking distance of the ship so you can return it if it becomes a burden. Also, thanks to the wireless transmitters you can wander for picture-taking as much as you'd like and not lose track of your guide or group.

6. On the Viking cruises we have been on, there have been some younger people in their early 40's but generally it is an older crowd. Mostly 50 to 70, I would say because that's the age group that can afford the time and money to do this type of trip. Always a very active crowd with few exceptions and you'll naturally gravitate toward people whom you like.

7. Personally, I like having a window but it doesn't have to be a balcony. We've had both aquarium class and large window and I can't say that the big window is worth a great deal of extra money although it sure was nice. Again, in a river cruise the cabin is not the focus.

Have an open mind and you'll have a wonderful time.

 

Thanks for your post. Although I did not ask the questions, I welcome this information. We are frequent ocean cruisers who have booked an aquarium class cabin on Viking and look forward to our first river cruise next year.

[boyd_san_diego]

SfromATX, thank you so much for the great responses to my questions! It really helps me to get a better picture of what to expect. The past few days we did some more CC reading and cruise company websites and we're waiting for a quote for the Avalon May 9 cruise of the same itinerary, mainly because of the panorama windows and generally better perception of Avalon food and excursions. Depending on the day we start and finish we'll probably be spending a pre-cruise in Prague or post-cruise in Paris (my wife's choice). We did big cruises for our 20th and 25th anniversaries (see .sig) and this will be for our 30th anniversary. Thanks again!

[Cobbie48]

SfromATX, thank you so much for the great responses to my questions! It really helps me to get a better picture of what to expect. The past few days we did some more CC reading and cruise company websites and we're waiting for a quote for the Avalon May 9 cruise of the same itinerary, mainly because of the panorama windows and generally better perception of Avalon food and excursions. Depending on the day we start and finish we'll probably be spending a pre-cruise in Prague or post-cruise in Paris (my wife's choice). We did big cruises for our 20th and 25th anniversaries (see .sig) and this will be for our 30th anniversary. Thanks again!

 

We just returned from a Prague to Budapest Avalon trip and it was fabulous. You can't go wrong with Avalon. Lots of little touches like always free water bottles and when you return from our excursion a glass of water and cold towel as you enter. Staff was enthuastic. See me review in this section.

[burrma]

We just returned from a Prague to Budapest Avalon trip and it was fabulous. You can't go wrong with Avalon. Lots of little touches like always free water bottles and when you return from our excursion a glass of water and cold towel as you enter. Staff was enthuastic. See me review in this section.

Would love to read it. Where do I find it?

Glad you had a great trip; no stalls due to strike at locks?

[Cobbie48]

Would love to read it. Where do I find it?

Glad you had a great trip; no stalls due to strike at locks?

 

I just answered a question on my Avalon thread so it has been bumped to the top. Avalon Expression June 23

[burrma]

I just answered a question on my Avalon thread so it has been bumped to the top. Avalon Expression June 23

Found it and enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing.

[Osnab]

They confirmed that they have been sleeping in crews quarters at night because of an inability to sleep because of the noise And because the ship is completely full. The situation may in fact be a legitimate problem because I've read in these forums that there have been some water problems on the Viking longships. Or of course it could be just a situation that these folks are extremely light sleepers. I don't know - I'll leave this up to your interpretation and perhaps input from other readers. But for your information they are in cabin number 217 just in case you'd sooner avoid this stateroom altogether!

That's all for now; catch you tomorrow!

Cin Cin!

Bill

 

I realize this is a couple of months late, but I'm just now reading your posts (which I've thoroughly enjoyed)!

 

I'm a bit concerned about my cabin now. I'm in 222, which is across the hall and over one. Do you know if the sound was on just that side of the ship, or was it in the entire vicinity?

Thanks.

Felicia

[burrma]

I realize this is a couple of months late, but I'm just now reading your posts (which I've thoroughly enjoyed)!

 

I'm a bit concerned about my cabin now. I'm in 222, which is across the hall and over one. Do you know if the sound was on just that side of the ship, or was it in the entire vicinity?

Thanks.

Felicia

What ship was this on? is this the deck the crew sleeps in?

[Osnab]

What ship was this on? is this the deck the crew sleeps in?

 

Embla and no - I'm assuming the crew sleep in the deck below the main level and this is on the 2nd level. I'm not sure if it's the same on river cruises as ocean ones.

Felicia