Cruise Review: Viking Grand European Tour Sept. 13-27, 2014 Amsterdam to Budapest

[ekistics22]

For our 15th wedding anniversary, my wife and I booked the Grand European Tour on Viking Alsvini that sailed September 13 - 27 from Amsterdam to Budapest. To save money, we booked a Standard Cabin on deck one and took advantage of Viling's 2-For-1 discount offer.

 

Prior to sailing, we spent 3 days in Hamburg, 3 days in Cologne, and 3 days in Amsterdam. So, we didn't use Viking's pre-/post-cruise transfers program.

 

The scenery was beautiful. Touring windmills in Kinderdijk was memorable, as was the Wiener Orchestra concernt in Vienna. The Residenz in Wurzburg was beautiful beyond words. The onboard dining and shore excursions were wonderful. The onboard staff worked hard to make our trip as comfortable as possible. The local tour guides were very knowledgeable.

 

Before sailing, Viking River Cruises informed us of a schedule change that mandated a change in ships. So, we sailed on the Viking Bragi from Amsterdam to Nuremberg, AND switched ships mid-tour. Then, we sailed on the Viking Alsvin from Nuremberg to Budapest. During our cruise, the Bragi suffered propulsion problems, so our time in Cologne was reduced by 3 hours, AND we missed Koblenz.

 

I wrote a detailed review on my personal blog explaining all of this in greater detail with photos and embedded text links, but the Cruise Critic software won't let me link directly to it. So, you'll have to do a Google/Yahoo/Bing search using the following terms with quotes:

 

"Cruise Review: Sept. 13 - 27 Viking River Cruise From Amsterdam to Budapest" and "ivebeenmugged"

 

George

Edited October 6, 2014 by ekistics22
correct typos