Amsterdam to Budapest

[acruise4me]

Yes Negma thank you for your detailed report. Is the weather improving? What did you do in Budapest? How was the Budapest tour with Viking? We are staying for two days in Budapest following our cruise.

Safe trip home for you!!

[CruisenLexie]

Negma....Thanks for all your commentary :) It will come in handy for us next year. What hotel did you stay at in Budapest? How far was it from the airport and how far from the ship? Did you have enough time in Budapest to do any sightseeing? Hope to hear you had lots of sunshine for your day in Budapest :)

Thanks again :D

[Rufusk]

Another voice of thanks for the updates and commentary. I'm sure it will prove useful in our upcoming trip especially some 'tips' like the ability to order light bar meals. It's always nice to know the availability. Hope the rest of your trip goes well

Cheers

[Negma]

Sorry for the delay, a lot of travel time coming home and now Jet Lag, well worth it. The weather the last several days was wonderful. A couple of quick rainstorms did pop up but they were over in about :15 minutes. The temperature in Budapest was around 82

 

We were on the Buses at 8:30, One hour around the city. I really like Budapest. Up and coming and many things to do. We then went up the hill on the Buda side and toured a church. It was then announced we have 2 hours to tour as we want. This is one on the improvements we have suggested to Viking. If we knew we would have 2 hrs we would have planned for it. There is a lot to see in this section of the city, including the palace and the museum. They have some guards standing outside one of the buildings that do a changing of the guard move every :15, we just happened to see it. This is a location that could use more time. I know several people that never made it over because they did not know everything that was available and went to a cafe (nothing wrong with cafes).

 

We then went back to the boat for lunch (optional, you could have stayed in the city). The rest of the final day was at your leisure. Two optional trips were offered, one which you paid for, watch the horses and riders, I am not doing this justice, but those that went really liked it. Our program director then offered to walk everyone over to the shopping area with some ideas of where to go, she did this on her own.

 

I will say this one more time our PD Korana was absolutely GREAT!!!! Deserves a raise!!!!

 

We stayed an extra day at the Marriot on our own. Literally a :10 minute walk from the boat. Getting off the boat was easy and all arrangements were handled with Viking. They called us a cab, made sure our bags were ready,then paged us when it was our time to debark.

 

We walked forever on OUR day, toured Parliament (OK for a :30 tour, get your tickets on line to save time), St. Peters church, Opera house and some shopping. We really liked Budapest and there was probably another day of touring that could be done there. Getting to the airport was easy, cab ride of :30 and cost around $40, Nice airport and very easy to get through.

 

The answer to the most important questions is yes we would do this again if we had to do it over, we will probably do another cruise with Viking because we really liked the river cruise experience. I will answer whatever else I can and I was glad I could help the many that have helped us. Especially CelticMutt. I actually copied the day by day into a word document and it was very helpful. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1834574

[CruisenLexie]

Thanks for the link Negma. Glad to hear you are home safe and sound albeit a little tired....all signs of a good trip :)

[acruise4me]

What is the cabin key like on Viking? Does it look like a credit card like on an ocean cruise or hotel?

[Negma]

It is a credit card that you wave in front of the door. There is not a slot. Worked well.

[Viking Cruises]

Dear Negma,

 

We just wanted to say how much we have enjoyed reading your posts. Sometimes it felt like we were there with you! We’re happy you enjoyed your trip and liked the river cruise experience—and we hope that you do choose to travel with Viking again. And thank you for making mention of your Program Director and CelticMutt, whose posts we also enjoyed.

 

You’ve made some suggestions and we have made note of them – thank you for the feedback. If you’d like to share more feedback with one of our team members, we’d love to hear it. Please contact us at TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

Oh, and welcome home!

 

Kindest regards,

Viking Cruises

 

 

Sorry for the delay, a lot of travel time coming home and now Jet Lag, well worth it. The weather the last several days was wonderful. A couple of quick rainstorms did pop up but they were over in about :15 minutes. The temperature in Budapest was around 82

 

We were on the Buses at 8:30, One hour around the city. I really like Budapest. Up and coming and many things to do. We then went up the hill on the Buda side and toured a church. It was then announced we have 2 hours to tour as we want. This is one on the improvements we have suggested to Viking. If we knew we would have 2 hrs we would have planned for it. There is a lot to see in this section of the city, including the palace and the museum. They have some guards standing outside one of the buildings that do a changing of the guard move every :15, we just happened to see it. This is a location that could use more time. I know several people that never made it over because they did not know everything that was available and went to a cafe (nothing wrong with cafes).

 

We then went back to the boat for lunch (optional, you could have stayed in the city). The rest of the final day was at your leisure. Two optional trips were offered, one which you paid for, watch the horses and riders, I am not doing this justice, but those that went really liked it. Our program director then offered to walk everyone over to the shopping area with some ideas of where to go, she did this on her own.

 

I will say this one more time our PD Korana was absolutely GREAT!!!! Deserves a raise!!!!

 

We stayed an extra day at the Marriot on our own. Literally a :10 minute walk from the boat. Getting off the boat was easy and all arrangements were handled with Viking. They called us a cab, made sure our bags were ready,then paged us when it was our time to debark.

 

We walked forever on OUR day, toured Parliament (OK for a :30 tour, get your tickets on line to save time), St. Peters church, Opera house and some shopping. We really liked Budapest and there was probably another day of touring that could be done there. Getting to the airport was easy, cab ride of :30 and cost around $40, Nice airport and very easy to get through.

 

The answer to the most important questions is yes we would do this again if we had to do it over, we will probably do another cruise with Viking because we really liked the river cruise experience. I will answer whatever else I can and I was glad I could help the many that have helped us. Especially CelticMutt. I actually copied the day by day into a word document and it was very helpful. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1834574