Live Reporting from Viking Rinda Amsterdam to Basel

[rjscott]

Peg, what perfect photos! Loved the gingerbread man! :) May have to talk to hubby about one of these CM cruises. ;)

 

Becki

[Bet & Peg]

Becki ~ it was a fabulous trip!!!! The Christmas Markets were magical - just enchanting in the evenings!!!! I'd go back in a heart beart!!! The longships are also fantastic!! We had the best time ever!!! Only negative was coming home and having SO much still left to do for Christmas!! But I'll eventually get to my photos and post a slide show.

[Embracedbylife]

FotoPeg I love your photos!! :) We have 2 of the same shots only yours are nicer as we had rain that day! I would love to see more of your pictures and I'll try to share some of mine after we arrive home! Today we disembark. We had a nice day yesterday. Skipped the tour of the black forest as we have done that on our own before (we have had our kookoo on our wall at home for several years now and still remember racing to the black forest in a rented BMW on the autoban in time before the store closed and the "house of clocks" stayed open another hour for us as we bought 3 clocks! LOL). So yesterday we just went to shore - nice small town with lots of rock walls and a georgous cathederal. No CM though, just more of a walking day and poking into some shops. They have a good Gyro place though according to Robert who gets Gyro when in port. We saw it and were tempted but I've eaten so much on the ship i've gained at least 5 lbs already...yikes! The food onboard is incredible, even the small menu in the Terrace is nice and I've tried everything on that menu. Desserts are out of this world and unfortunately I keep eating them, so thankful I'm getting off today in hopes of regaining a little of my figure and walking off this food in the Alps!

 

We are taking a taxi at 9:30am for the local train station, then to the main train station where we will buy Half Fare Cards and tickets to Interlacken. Then from Interlacken to Murren to stay for 3 nights in the Alps and hoping for a train ride up to Jungfraugh if the weather is good, praying it is!! Last time we were in Murren for 1 night it was so foggy we didn't see anything, so this time we are spending 3 nights and in hopes of seeing the beauty of it all this time around for hubby's 41st bday on Dec. 23. We were supposed to do this trip last year and had to cancel it, so it's a "do over" and so far so good!

 

We fly home on Christmas Day! Looking forward to the rest of our journey! All the best to anyone taking this wonderful Cruise and I'd be more than happy to give any other info I can!

[Bet & Peg]

Embracedbylife ~ SO happy you had a great time on the cruise!! And that you shared so much of your adventure - in ways different then the "main stream"! I think that's a strong point for Viking (and probably all the RC lines) that there is options to choose from!

 

One of our sons has begun asking questions about RCing - he & his wife are a bit older than you guys and have traveled in Europe but are not cruise people - he's taken an ocean cruise but encountered sea sickness; she's not into the organized activities. We encouraged them to really look into RCing since there can be alternatives to just the scheduled excursions - and you are a perfect example of that!!!

 

This trip when we stopped at Kinderdijk I got off to take a few quick photos and there was a much younger passenger all excited - he had seen a sign about bike rentals! He told me he was going to talk his wife into it! When I got back on a few minutes later he was at the reception desk with a map and they were explaining how to "just follow this road, you won't get lost." I saw him later that night and inquired if they'd gone bike riding and he was as happy as a five-year old to say yes and that it was the highlight of the trip! Just Fabulous!!!! All of us enjoy different experiences!!

 

Thanks for the compliment about photos - I had intended to post during the trip but had real problems with the internet uploading them. Got home to pre-Christmas shopping, baking, etc. and I'm just now beginning to really look at them! I'll be putting together a slide show before I begin a digital album. I'll post the slide show some where here on CC!

 

Have a wonderful rest of your vacation!! In 2011 we took the train from Venice to Munich going throught the Alps - I'm jealous of you being there in the winter and hope you're weather and views are wonderful!!

[rjscott]

Embracedbylife, thanks for posting live along your cruise, and have a great postcruise.

 

Becki

[cleophus12]

I realize your cruise was in December so the Christmas Markets were in full swing. I work in a Christmas Shoppe here at home, so I was wondering where would be the best place to shop for Christmas items in March. Don't some of these towns have some lovely Christmas shops that are open all year around?

[notamermaid]

Hello cleophus12,

 

there are some shops that are accessible during a cruise. Of course, a land trip gives you a potential wider choice. Here is a map of the Käthe Wohlfahrt shops and Christmas market stalls in one (as of December 2013):

 

http://www.wohlfahrt.de/index.php?article_id=185&clang=1#

 

The castle in Linz on the Rhine has a small independent shop, too. That is a 2 1/2 hour round trip from Koblenz on the train (including walks to and from stations).

 

notamermaid

Edited December 29, 2013 by notamermaid
clarification

[condogal]

Imbracedbylife, Thank you so much for the review. I'm planning a river cruise for 2015. Not sure where or with whom yet. Decided to look for a review on CC and There You Are!!! The second thread on the opening page.

 

Feel that I've learned a lot from this review. The fact that all cruise personel do all jobs. About eating in the lounge. The front desk has maps. Taking trains and buses. A lot of little things that may not mean much to you or seasoned RCers but, I loved it.

 

Thanks so much.

Terry

[Embracedbylife]

Thanks so much everyone for your kind feedback :)

 

We had the MOST AMAZING post cruise tour ever. Actually it surpassed our cruise trifold!! In fact we likely won't be taking another Viking cruise honestly after figuring out how much we spent on the Viking cruise versus our own post tour, but it was fun to try the cruise! I think we'll stick to the larger cruise ships as it's our preference, but everyone has different likes and dislikes.

 

About our post tour:

We had a taxi arranged by the front desk staff on the Viking cruise to pick us up at the ship at 9:30am. We took the taxi to the local train station for 20 Euro and then purchased a transfer ticket to the main train station (Basel SBB)for 2 of us for another 9 Euro. It would have cost 40 Euro to just take the taxi to the main station, so we saved about $15 dollars and it didn't bother us. For those with a lot of bags, they'd want to just pay the extra and get dropped off at the main station.

 

At the main station (Basel SBB) we purchased a Half Fare card for each of us so that all train tickets we purchase could be purchased at half the cost and then purchased 2 half fare tickets from Basel to Murren return, already saving the cost of the half fare cards!

 

We took the train from Basel and got off at Interlacken for a transfer to Lauterbrunen. We left our bags at the train station in Lauterbrunen and bought half fare tickets to Jungfraugh. It was the most incredible train ride and experience! The top of Europe is incredible!! Then we took the train back down to Lauterbrunen, retrieved our bags and took the train to Murren to check into our Hotel. The next day we took a gondola up to Schilthorn, another beautiful peak, and then spend the final day walking around and exploring. We returned to Basel on Dec. 24 and spent the night close to the Airport. We flew home Dec. 25 and had a great flight! Have been quite busy ever since :)

 

Would be more than happy to answer any questions anyone has!! :)

[M&T]

Glad you had a great time post cruise. We are doing the Rhine cruise, Basel to Ams, with extra time in Amsterdam and Bruges in April. Then, in September we are doing Switzerland, Rothenburg, and Austria. We will be staying in Murren for a few nights and then Wengen a couple of nights. It sounds like the weather must have cooperated for you. We are sure hoping for some sunny days. Thanks for all your sharing. For the day you did not go to the Black Forest tour, were their taxis or train, if we want to do our own thing and go to Colmar for the day or maybe somewhere else to?

 

Thanks again for your sharing.

[Embracedbylife]

Hi M&T! I don't recall there being any other way to the black forest. Luckily we had gone on our own a few years ago, but you can ask the staff on the ship if there are any private tours that you could arrange. They do their best to accommodate everyone's needs if possible!