Looking for Christmas Market trip reports/advice

[NavyWife1214]

I think I've narrowed it down to the Viking Rhine River Amsterdam to Basel December 2014 Christmas Market cruise. My family heritage is Dutch so I wanted to be sure to have a little time in the Netherlands, and neither DH nor I have ever been to Germany or Austria. I have done France & Italy and he has done Turkey & Spain so this will be a whole new experience for both of us! I'm looking for trip reports or blogs to read so if anyone has any links please share!

 

From what I'm reading we are on the young side compared to typical river cruisers (this trip is over my 35th birthday) but we just want to relax and explore so I still think this is a great fit. My husband won't do ocean cruising and neither one of us is interested in bus trips so this really seems like the best fit for us.

 

Also trying to decide if we should upgrade from water level to a french balcony level. I see no need to have a Veranda in December..brrrr! Any experience/input is appreciated!

[caviargal]

I would be more concerned about the size of the room than having a French balcony. I believe even the entry level French balcony cabins on the Viking longships are only 132 sq ft. Way too small for us to be comfortable.

 

We are fine with aquarium class on AMA as the cabins are spacious. And their entry level French balcony cabins are ~170 sq ft. We have done 5 Christmas market cruises and enjoyed having a French balcony. It all comes down to cost.

 

This year we have a French balcony on our Christmas and NYE cruise.

[Ozjohnno]

There are a number or reviews/reports on Xmas market cruises in the members review section that you can access at the top of the page. From memory I don't think there was a negative review amoungst them. You should get a "feel" from reading these.

[Ship's Wake]

I think I've narrowed it down to the Viking Rhine River Amsterdam to Basel December 2014 Christmas Market cruise. My family heritage is Dutch so I wanted to be sure to have a little time in the Netherlands, and neither DH nor I have ever been to Germany or Austria. I have done France & Italy and he has done Turkey & Spain so this will be a whole new experience for both of us! I'm looking for trip reports or blogs to read so if anyone has any links please share!

 

From what I'm reading we are on the young side compared to typical river cruisers (this trip is over my 35th birthday) but we just want to relax and explore so I still think this is a great fit. My husband won't do ocean cruising and neither one of us is interested in bus trips so this really seems like the best fit for us.

 

Also trying to decide if we should upgrade from water level to a french balcony level. I see no need to have a Veranda in December..brrrr! Any experience/input is appreciated!

 

Having done three cold weather river cruises, my advice is save your money and book the least expensive cabin (water level), which on Viking longships is 150 sq ft.

 

During this time of year the sun rises around 8am and sets around 430pm. Keeping in mind that you will be onshore most of the day, you'll have little use of the balcony.

[id est]

I think I've narrowed it down to the Viking Rhine River Amsterdam to Basel...

We did this cruise back in December 2011. I liked it all but "Black Forest" and Marksburg castle tours not to be missed! Let me know by email if you have any questions...

[franski]

We have done a Christmas Market cruise on the Rhine, but with Uniworld. It was a great trip. We always book lowest category (aka Aquarium class) as we don't feel the french balcony is worth the extra cost. But - that is a personal decision.

 

We just took our first river cruise with Viking earlier this year - and were in the lowest category. I was quite impressed with the Main Deck (lowest level) --> the staircase made access to the lower deck very easy. Although the cabin wasn't as big as some (ie: AMA) we didn't notice that the room was much smaller. There were some space saving components (ie: sliding doors on the closet and bathroom) that helped with the overall layout.

 

You will (most likely) be on the younger end - but if you are aware of that, it won't be a shock when you board. We have met some wonderful people on our cruises - and are almost always the youngest --> sometimes by a decade or two.

 

Enjoy the planning!!

 

Fran

[hoou]

We did the viking amsterdam to basel last year.

 

Previous years we've done the danube river x'mas cruise with them that included nuremberg/passau/linza/vienna but not bratislava nor budapest so I think they have modified this itinerary.

 

I prefer the Danube river cruise. The markets in Nuremberg and Vienna are good, and Saltzburg has lovely crafts also even though it's a bit of a bus trip away. The sausages and gluwein were great.

 

In a way it's not Viking's fault, but this cruise last year we hardly had any time to wander around the x'mas market because they kept cutting short the excursions saying that the water levels are too high so we need to get back onto the ship to move to the next place.

 

What a disappointment also that the Heidelberg x'mas market was closed on x'mas eve! In fact the whole Heidelberg was deserted.

 

Strasbourg has a fairly decent size market but we were rushed away. In fact I only got to see by missing the tour of the cathedral. A lot of the stuff were standard non-european ware and factory mass produced crafts though so also disappointing.

 

Whilst you can't control the water levels, I'd say don't go over the x'mas week, cos most places are really shut, so you don't get to see much. week od the 8th or 15th might be more useful and you'd get a more festive atmosphere.

 

I love the chilly weather, makes it feel like x'mas! Having a window that opens fully is also nice as the central heating can make the room stuffy but it's true you won't want to spend much time standing on the deck as it will get too cold.

[pacmom]

From one Navy wife to another--thoughts and prayers for your whole family during the deployment. DH spent 27 years in the Navy as an aviator and in research. Please expand your search to include AMAwaterways. We sailed with them during Dec 2011. It was a time of very low water and the port of Budepest was closed. We were bussed about 30minutes to our boat and completed the entire trip on our boat sailing to all our ports. We even lost a bow thruster--were told about it after dinner in Regensberg, offered afterdinner drinks on the house, The part rrived from Rotterdam and we were underway by 11pm. Also want to say, we were the only line completing the Budapest-Nurnberg itinerary by boat. There were horror stories about bus trips instead of boat trips.

 

Also a note about the Viking long ships. Their french balcony room is 135 sg.ft. with no chairs. The "aquarium class" room is larger and has at least one chair.

 

Good luck in your search. Fair winds and following seas. Pat

[caviargal]

. Please expand your search to include AMAwaterways. We sailed with them during Dec 2011.

 

I agree with pacmom. We sailed with AMA in November of 2011 for the 1st time and had low water conditions. While Viking and others had their boats parked and passengers on a bus tour, we made it all the way, part of which was in very shallow water. The only change in the itinerary was the Rhine Gorge which was too low to allow us to cruise through. AMA chartered a brand new day boat that held up to 600, just for us, and stocked it with food and drinks and took us up the gorge. They had a bus waiting on the other side to bring us home. We are all very impressed with this and every other aspect of the AMA experience.

[Ship's Wake]

Navywife1214, wanted to mention that whatever itinerary and river cruise line you choose, if you are considering booking one of the least expensive cabins, you should look to place a deposit relatively soon.

 

It's been our experience that the lowest priced cabins are some of the first to sell out.

[Globehoppers]

From one Navy family to another...served for 30 years.

 

We have cruised the Kris Kringle markets twice on Uniworld; Vienna to Nuremburg and Koln to basel. Added days ourselves on each end. Best trip was Vienna-Nuremburg. Beautiful markets, wonderful cities and histories. Excellent included ships tours. For Koln-Basel we added the Dusseldorf markets (there are at least 5), an easy 25 minute train ride and maybe the best markets on the Rhine. Dusseldorf opens earlier in the month than Koln markets. Added an extra day in Basel and two days to see the Zurich markets (largest indoor market) and "Singing Christmas Tree." Plus, Uniworld was great!