Blog by a river cruise newbie

[Sapphire73]

Just added:

--Locks and river cruising

--Cost of all optional tours on the Grand European Tour

--Updated "shoes" for river cruise tours

--Bamburg: Modern blended with medieval

 

http://www.rivercruisenewbie.wordpress.com

(for those using the app and can't see the signature)

 

Very enjoyable blog! Thank you for sharing your trip in this way and hope you continue to have a wonderful time!

[cruisinskier]

I am really enjoying following along with your blog. Thanks for taking the time to do this!!!! Sounds like you are having a great trip!

[Francis M]

Wow-what a great blog. A tip for anyone who jumped in during the cruise part. Go back to the archives and read the sections on planning. My Amazon cart is growing.

If you don't mind Ukalady, I'll wait a respectful amount of time and steal your whole blog idea for our upcoming Christmas cruise.

[crm911]

You have almost finished your cruise and I just found this thread today. :) Great blog, better than mine below. I am still processing the videos and adding them slowly.

[ticonderoga]

I hope everything is alright but Tonya hasn't posted since August 15th. I'm worried...

Ticonderoga

[Francis M]

I hope everything is alright but Tonya hasn't posted since August 15th. I'm worried...

Ticonderoga

 

Hoping she just lost net connectivity

[nana541]

Hoping she just lost net connectivity

 

 

Ditto!! Hoping all is well with her trip :)

 

 

 

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Edited August 19, 2014 by nana541

[RMLincoln]

Seems Tonya is busy have a great cruise! She did post yesterday. Thanks Tonya... and keep well so you can enjoy it all. m--

[remydiva]

Ukalady- beware Lufthansa is known to weigh carry on bags at check in and a legal carry on in the US is NOT the same legal carry on in Europe...they actually do measure and they count from the floor to the top of the handle. So go online and check out European standards, saw lots of very upset US passengers.....

 

 

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Lufthansa limit is only 8 kg for carryon and yes they do weigh each and every bag.

 

I used a hand held scale and mine weighed EXACTLY 8.0 kg and hubby's was 8.4 kg. it was winter and we wore layers of clothes and our boots.

 

We put my carryon the scale first and it came in at 8.0 and the agent smiled. Then we put hubby's on and it came in at 8.4 kg ( as we had measured at home). He looked at me and smiled and put the tag on it to say it was ok. We were prepared to open it and put on more clothes if need be as we travel with ONLY carryon.

Edited August 21, 2014 by remydiva

[Ukalady]

Yep, I’m back home as of Sunday afternoon and tackling all that work (egads!) on my desk.

 

I've updated recently to include an article on "rafting" on the rivers as well as experiencing cafes in Europe (not "coffee shops" in Amsterdam!).

 

I have at least a dozen posts remaining which I’ve begun and will continue with to update the site in the next week or so.

 

These will include:

 

Bratislava

Two on Budapest

Onboard food

Dealing with money

Flights and airports in Europe

Wifi on the ship

Staying healthy and, what, really, is an apotek???”

An interview with a couple who combined “running” with a river cruise

A post-cruise evaluation of what worked and what didn’t work well on my packing list

An essay on whether river cruising is for you

Overview of cruising with Viking, including the best as well as where and how I think Viking can improve

And, once back at the office I will scan each of the Viking Daily newsletters for this itinerary and post them.

 

The chef gave me the menus for all the dinners so they, too, will be scanned and I’ll put them here.

 

Plus, I’ll finally have the capability at my computer to add in the multiple galleries I’ve put together of photos of the trip (don’t miss my sure to be popular exhibits: “Doorknobs I Have Loved” as well as “Food Treats Held Aloft with Old Buildings in the Background”).

 

I continue to get questions from other river cruise newbies and I’ll post those as well as my—and your—answers to them.

 

To stay updated, click on the “follow” button over to the right. Since I am returning home after more than three weeks, I have to tackle work this week, too (egads, just imagine my desk!!!) so I’ll be adding these posts in fits and starts.

 

I’ve enjoyed hearing from so many of you and sharing what it’s like to take a river cruise. For those just planning your trips, be assured you’re in for a memorable adventure.

 

I have more to share! http://www.rivercruisenewbie.wordpress.com

[joanne2]

I'm leaving in a few hours for Budapest for the reverse of your trip. I printed some of your blog posts for my husband to read on the plane (I read them as you posted). Your wonderful blog increased my anticipation, if that's even possible.

[deec]

Joanne...we will be following you...leaving the 20th of September from Budapest! If you have an opportunity I would love you to let me know what time the boat leaves Budapest and how much of the river lights are seen...trying to decide if we should do an evening Legend river cruise one of the evenings pre-cruise. Thanks for your help.

[Ukalady]

Not what you asked, but for the benefit of those doing this one Amsterdam to Budapest, we floated into Budapest at about 9:30 pm and the lights of all buildings were lit up magnificently. No need for anyone heading this way on this itinerary to take an "extra" night boat trip to see the lights!

[deec]

Thanks...hopefully someone on the reverse itinerary will comment. Your posts have been entertaining and informative....

Edited August 27, 2014 by DeeDC

[Ukalady]

Yes, after a brief interlude not blogging (I was rear-ended by a driver who thought there was no stop sign and used my vehicle to slow him down), I've added several new posts in the past couple of days.

 

These cover the various dining venues on the Viking Atla, along with lots of "real world" photos of meals, The Restaurant, the Aquavit Terrace and PDFs of the dinner menus in The Restaurant for most of the Amsterdam>Budapest itinerary we enjoyed.

 

Tonight's post is about the possibilities of exercising while cruising--and perhaps how to avoid (ha!) gaining too much weight while cruising...

[nana541]

Looking forward to your final thoughts on the cruise... And Viking!

 

 

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[Sparky333]

Ukalady -- I'm a little late chiming in but I followed along as you blogged and loved reading your posts. Thank you so much for sharing! You've got a great writing style - I forget if you mentioned but are you a writer in your real life at home?

 

You gave so much good info and in such a fun format. The pictures within the posts are fabulous and are such a help in telling the story. The pastry-of-the-day pics in front of the local buildings was a really cute theme, too.

 

I hope you & your mom have another trip planned together -you seemed to be great companions and have a blast. Not all mothers and daughters traveling together can manage that! :p

BTW, your mom sounds like she was the life of the party - how fun!

[RMLincoln]

Yes, after a brief interlude not blogging (I was rear-ended by a driver who thought there was no stop sign and used my vehicle to slow him down), I've added several new posts in the past couple of days.

 

These cover the various dining venues on the Viking Atla, along with lots of "real world" photos of meals, The Restaurant, the Aquavit Terrace and PDFs of the dinner menus in The Restaurant for most of the Amsterdam>Budapest itinerary we enjoyed.

 

Tonight's post is about the possibilities of exercising while cruising--and perhaps how to avoid (ha!) gaining too much weight while cruising...

 

Loved following you and your mom, every day, every word. Thanks so very much for your great gift of sharing your cruise, before during and after.

 

We are leaving tomorrow to begin our two month trek from New Mexico to NY, RI then Iceland, Norway- Hurtigruten coastal cruise, Amstedam where we pick up Viking Embla to Budapest, then to Rome and HAL Maasdam back to FL, then home for us! It's a lot to prepare for but you helped a lot.

 

Sincerely hope you are on track to full recovery. I feel like we are family now and will be so much more so after we experience the Grand European tour ourselves. Blessings, m--

[Ukalady]

Okay, I've posted two more "essays/reviews/stories" and a brief post about my very favorite river cruise jacket going on sale (no, I make no commission/get no remuneration from ScottEVest--I just *love* this jacket for Europe river cruising).

 

One post is about Budapest as we explored it on our own during the post-cruise add-on (*outside* of the Viking-packaged tours); the other post is about the joys of flying 11.5 hours in a single jump back to California--and my delirious (my husband opines it was probably hypoxia-induced) happiness at seeing something from the air I never thought I'd see...

 

I'll be adding more this week. I promise ;) (I have a root canal scheduled for Tuesday morning so maybe I can write the next posts while a bit drooly and numbed up...who knows how they'll turn out!)

Edited March 1, 2015 by Ukalady

[MaxBuck]

Tonight's post is about the possibilities of exercising while cruising--and perhaps how to avoid (ha!) gaining too much weight while cruising...

Interesting perspective. Both river cruises we've been on involved so much walking while ashore that we both lost a couple pounds. And we ate (ahem) very well indeed.

 

I particularly enjoyed the water-filled rowing machine on board. Used it only two or three times, but getting a little upper-body workout was nice.

[2specialkidsforme]

Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful blog. I hope to plan a river cruise for my husband and I in the near future and reading your blog really has been helpful.

 

Thank you!

Edited March 4, 2015 by 2specialkidsforme

[Ukalady]

Finally...after lots of requests and squeezing out some time this afternoon (as I prep a new blog for our upcoming Viking Oceans cruise), I've scanned and created PDFs of each of the "Viking Daily" news sheets for our August 2014 Budapest to Amsterdam cruise with Viking Rivers.

 

Go here: https://rivercruisenewbie.wordpress.com/2015/05/17/here-are-your-viking-daily-news-sheets-for-the-entire-cruise/

 

'Hope this helps other river cruise newbies see a bit about what a river cruise is like.

 

To see *all* of my posts--from planning to travel and, most recently, what Viking does well and not so well--look for the "previous posts" section on the right.

 

On to more writing and planning. Gee, if only someone'd pay me for this!:roll eyes: