Just off the Viking Danube Waltz - Ask Away

[piginmud]

If anyone has any questions about this cruise, please feel free to ask away.  We did the Viking Ingvi from Budapest to Passau with a 2 night pre-cruise extension in Budapest.  I may not have all the answers, but I'll probably have a lot 🙂

 

debbie

[lorif]

Hi Debbie, thanks for offering 🙂

Not specific to Viking, but to Budapest and the Danube, did you notice any disruptions linked to Russia/Ukraine? 

Thanks, Lori

[doxielover47]

4 hours ago, piginmud said:

If anyone has any questions about this cruise, please feel free to ask away.  We did the Viking Ingvi from Budapest to Passau with a 2 night pre-cruise extension in Budapest.  I may not have all the answers, but I'll probably have a lot 🙂

 

debbie

Hi Debbie, We are doing the Zurich to Paris Viking River cruise and would like to know if you tipped your room steward, etc. in excess of the gratuities which we have prepaid. I'm having a terrible time trying to find info on that... Thanks much for taking questions and hope you had a blast.

[TeddysDad]

I am so glad to see your post!! We are doing the May 11th Ingvi from Budapest to Passau.  What excursions did you do?  What ones were the best and which ones were just so so?  We are doing the Ceszky Krumlov tour.  Other than that, we were just doing the included ones.  Did you go to any of the baths in Budapest?  How were the water levels?

 

[Canal archive]

Regardless of the cruise line Ceszky is wonderful look out for the lady walking her Ferret on a lead and the toy shops where all the stock is made from wood.

[piginmud]

On 4/13/2022 at 3:18 PM, lorif said:

Hi Debbie, thanks for offering 🙂

Not specific to Viking, but to Budapest and the Danube, did you notice any disruptions linked to Russia/Ukraine? 

Thanks, Lori

Not at all Lori.  You really wouldn't have known there was a war going on not too far away.  The only way we knew (aside from the obvious that we knew) was a family from the Ukraine was staying at our hotel and the lady showed me a picture of her house (which was now rubble on the ground).  So sad!

[piginmud]

On 4/13/2022 at 5:43 PM, doxielover47 said:

Hi Debbie, We are doing the Zurich to Paris Viking River cruise and would like to know if you tipped your room steward, etc. in excess of the gratuities which we have prepaid. I'm having a terrible time trying to find info on that... Thanks much for taking questions and hope you had a blast.

We both did but, it's definitely not *required*.  We did just because she was so good.  And my sister tipped the bar staff a little extra because they were so good to her and her friends.  I didn't "use" the bar that much, so I didn't.  It's totally discretionary, but Viking doesn't make it seem like you "have" to.  They offer you envelopes at the end of the trip if you want.

[piginmud]

On 4/13/2022 at 10:39 PM, TeddysDad said:

I am so glad to see your post!! We are doing the May 11th Ingvi from Budapest to Passau.  What excursions did you do?  What ones were the best and which ones were just so so?  We are doing the Ceszky Krumlov tour.  Other than that, we were just doing the included ones.  Did you go to any of the baths in Budapest?  How were the water levels?

 

We had the pre-cruise excursion in Budapest and we did the Highlights of Budapest tour.  It was pretty good and we were able to meet some of our shipmates before we got on, which was nice.  It was a complete walking tour and it was 4 hours, so be prepared if you are doing that.  We didn't do the Szentendre tour but our new friends did.  Sounded like it was described.  Very artsy little town, okay, if you like that kind of stuff.

 

On the ship we did the Panoramic Budapest tour (which was a bus tour around the city & then up to the Buda Castle).  That was nice.  We purposely didn't do the castle on our own because I knew we'd be doing it on our ship tour.  We saw the synagogue on our own and honestly, it's cheaper to buy the tickets yourself and do it on your own.  It's not really that far of a walk from the ship.  Or you could always take a cab.  Honestly... I thought the synagogue was "okay".  It wasn't anything THAT special.  I read that it's one of the "top 10" sites in Budapest, but I didn't think it was that awesome.  But what I did think was awesome (we did it on our own) was St. Stephen's Basilica!  It's a bit away from where the ship docked, but go there and buy tickets and do the tower at the top.  Well worth it!

 

You don't get to Bratislava until the afternoon, so there are no morning tours.  We did the included Panoramic Bratislava and that was nice walking around the city.  All the tour guides (except for the one we had in Passau) were great.

 

We did Panoramic Vienna which was mostly a bus tour and honestly, it was a bit of a tease because you saw all these gorgeous sites but couldn't get any good pictures or see them that well.  But you are only there for one day so it's hard to see all these sites.  If you really wanted to see Vienna, I would suggest one of those "Tours by Locals" and you may get to see more.  In the afternoon we did the Schonbrunn Palace tour which was nice but not "awesome".  The part that was awesome (to me) was that there was an Easter market going on outside of the palace LOL.

 

In Krems the only thing to do is the Gottweig Abbey which is spectacular.  We were there on a Sunday, so all the stores in Krems were closed.  We walked around the city and went to the church at the top of the hill (a bit of a climb but worth it!).  Viking has shuttle buses to and from the city at various times, it was nice.

 

We did the Cesky Krumlov tour as well and it was very nice.  It was about 1 hour 20 minute drive through nice countryside.  They made one stop for restrooms and if you wanted to buy anything.  You walk up to the castle and then around town, then you have plenty of free time to explore and shop.  There's an information office right in the main square (where they leave you after lunch), with free wifi, stamps, postcards, money exchange.  Beware!  Viking tells you that they will accept euros and US dollars, but most stores didn't!  You can use credit cards though in I think all the stores.  There was only 1 store that accepted US dollars.  But if you wanted to use Czech crowns, you can exchange at the information office.

 

We did the Passau walking tour (which as I said above, our tour guide wasn't great), but it's still a nice city.  And St. Michael's cathedral is AWESOME.  The only problem is that it's under construction right now so you can't see the main alter and the areas around it.  But still, there was enough to see and it's spectacular.  In the afternoon we did the Bavarian Farm & Countryside.  Most people seem to go to a cow farm, but we went to a pig farm (which was awesome for me because I LOVE pigs!).  Caution... on your customs forms you have to declare any farms you visited and I posted something on the Viking facebook page and there were lots of stories about how people's food was confiscated and how some people were detained and sanitized shoes.

 

Hopefully I answered any questions!  If not, feel free to ask away!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[piginmud]

On 4/14/2022 at 3:27 AM, Canal archive said:

Regardless of the cruise line Ceszky is wonderful look out for the lady walking her Ferret on a lead and the toy shops where all the stock is made from wood.

We didn't see the lady walking her ferret lol!  But we did go into the toy shops with the wood, that was real nice stuff! 

[travelingman]

Hi.  thanks for willingness to answer questions.  And, glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Where was the ship docked at in Budapest please?

Also, on your panoramic Budapest tour were you able to get off the bus at Buda Castle  and the Fisherman's Bastion and tour any of the area and buildings?

 

Thanks.

Stan

[2017newcruiser]

Thanks for all the info - 

 

I have a question regarding the ship dock in Budapest.  Is it situated in a area that is walkable if we wanted to go from the ship to explore interesting areas  out on our own?

Would you recommend a few extra days in Budapest prior to getting on our boat?

[meg1021]

Thanks for your kind offer to provide info.  We just booked a 14 night Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise, and are first time river cruisers, and first time cruising with Viking.  You mentioned gratuities.  Does Viking allow you to put gratuities on your onboard account?  Or are you required to pay in Euros?  What about Covid testing protocols?  As of now, we will be required to provide a negative PCR test, done within 72 hours of boarding.  We are planning on arriving in Amsterdam one day before boarding, and planning on getting a PCR test in the airport, after we go through security.  I'm concerned that if we use a service like MedExpress, our PCR results will not be back in a timely manner.  (On our January Royal Caribbean cruise, a negative antigen test was required 48 hours before boarding, and many local CVS and Walgreens had testing appointments, and results back within one hour, making the process somewhat simpler.  Our MedExpress sends out PCR tests to LabCorp, therefore test results take longer.)  What would be your testing recommendation?  Do you know of anyone who took the Klimt Workshop tour in Vienna?  If  so, what was their assessment?  In Passau, did anyone take the full day Saltzberg tour?

 

Thanks once again for you help.

[Deb922]

If you log into your my Viking journey, and click on the before you go, there’s a way to prepay your gratitudes. That’s what I plan on doing, seems like one less thing to think about. 
 

My husband and I just booked a Rhine Gateway for November. We’ve never cruised before and I’m very excited. 

[Wings55]

On 4/21/2022 at 8:21 AM, 2017newcruiser said:

Thanks for all the info - 

 

I have a question regarding the ship dock in Budapest.  Is it situated in a area that is walkable if we wanted to go from the ship to explore interesting areas  out on our own?

Would you recommend a few extra days in Budapest prior to getting on our boat?

I'm not sure where they dock now, but when we were in Budapest the Viking ships were docked on the Pest side of the river just south of the Chain Bridge. That may have changed.

Budapest is an amazing place and I would highly recommend some extra time there. So much to see and do!

Paul

[notamermaid]

One simple question. Passau did not used to be an embarkation port for Viking. Did you do this as a standard itinerary or was there a change, i.e. Vilshofen and possibly Regensburg/Nuremberg cut out?

 

notamermaid

 

[Viking2020]

On 4/13/2022 at 12:52 PM, piginmud said:

If anyone has any questions about this cruise, please feel free to ask away.  We did the Viking Ingvi from Budapest to Passau with a 2 night pre-cruise extension in Budapest.  I may not have all the answers, but I'll probably have a lot 🙂

 

debbie

We are doing a pre cruise in Budapest. Any thing you really liked? We are doing the Highlights tour but will have more time to see more. 

[Wings55]

1 hour ago, Viking2020 said:

We are doing a pre cruise in Budapest. Any thing you really liked? We are doing the Highlights tour but will have more time to see more. 

@Viking2020We spent a day with a Tours by Locals guide ( Melinda K) on a tour called the Bend in the Danube. It was marvelous and she is and excellent guide. 

[rcaruso]

22 hours ago, notamermaid said:

One simple question. Passau did not used to be an embarkation port for Viking. Did you do this as a standard itinerary or was there a change, i.e. Vilshofen and possibly Regensburg/Nuremberg cut out?

 

notamermaid

 

Hi Notamermaid,

 

Passau has been an embarkation port for Viking for quite some time, for the Danube Waltz Itinerary.  Passau to Budapest and Budapest to Passau.  The Romantic Danube was from Nurnburg to Budapest, but now Regensburg.

[Cruizn Mama]

We are slated for the June 22 sailing from Budapest to Passau, with a pre-trip extensions in Budapest and post-trip in Prague.  We have many concerns including how does it feel to be traveling during Covid times, specifically:  on the airplanes, on the boat, in the hotels and during tours?  What is the climate in each of these countries?  Are people masking, percentage wise?  Did you feel safe?  (Maybe that's a silly question.)  I would love to really hear these sorts of questions addressed.  We are 2 couples traveling and so far, we are all boosted, but 1 spouse in 1 couple had the misfortune to catch Covid at the end of December and 1 spouse in the other managed to be hospitalized with the latest variant just last month, despite having a booster dose and being very careful!  No one wants to start a trip and be quarantined in the beginning or middle of it, or worse, end up in a hospital where the caregivers are not speaking English or up to date with American medicine.  This is the 3rd try for this trip and we have these worries, but will travel ever be back to a normal state?  And to those of you who think this is a common cold, I'm sorry for your misunderstanding of what it means to be older and less immune to disease.

[Canal archive]

I can understand your hesitation about your upcoming cruise but can I please ask you not to imply that European and I include the U.K. in this that our collective healthcare is in the dark ages. We are I assure you we are as good as American healthcare and in many respects beyond its capabilities. You will also find that English is widely spoken Europeans are so much better at adding another language to their repertoire.

[notamermaid]

I would think in the same manner, Canal archive. Perhaps for reassurance let me add that the very reason river cruise ships from Amsterdam to Budapest and most other adjoining or nearby European rivers have no doctor on board (unless it is a special "supervised health" cruise and declared as such) is the fact that very good care is available on shore very quickly and in English (remember several of the crew and hotel staff will speak the local language as well as English). From Budapest to the Black Sea coverage is not as good so I have read of many cruises having a medical professional on board.

 

notamermaid

 

[sharkster77]

Many of us (myself included) were saved by medical procedures and equipment that were NOT developed in the US.  In my case, a brain tumor was treated by a Swedish invention called the gamma knife.  17 minutes of radiation instead of surgery with a 4% mortality rate that would take 12+ hours.

 

The US does not have a monopoly on high quality medicine or innovative methods of treatment.

[Canal archive]

Sharkster77 what an interesting piece of kit, certainly got my brain working when I researched it.

[sharkster77]

5 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Sharkster77 what an interesting piece of kit, certainly got my brain working when I researched it.

Yes---amazing technology that Swedes developed back in the 1970's.  It was used to treat me almost 20 yrs ago, and my recovery has become part of the long-term data.  There are even newer technologies that use a similar method, a series of carefully-aimed low-energy  beams all intersecting at the point of treatment.  Given the choice of that or the risky surgery, we thought it was a no-brainer and have been very happy so far.  

 

People often have no idea where developments come from.  Insulin, for example, was first isolated by......gasp.....Canadians!  Banting and Best.  To repeat, 'Muricans do not have ALL the answers despite what some may think.

[Bill Y]

On 4/13/2022 at 5:52 PM, piginmud said:

If anyone has any questions about this cruise, please feel free to ask away.  We did the Viking Ingvi from Budapest to Passau with a 2 night pre-cruise extension in Budapest.  I may not have all the answers, but I'll probably have a lot 🙂

 

debbie

As Austria has different entry requirements at least on paper to other European countries, what happened when the ship crossed into Austria were there any inspections of vaccine certification and test results? Or did Austrian officials at ports do these inspections in order to allow passengers to go ashore? Or were the only checks done at embarkation?