Passau - Viking Bavaria by e-bike excursion or included tour?

[MyDogRudy]

I hope this is the right place to post this question. I was an avid Cruise Critic researcher a few years back prepping for ocean cruises, but I am a little less familiar with the etiquette of postings for River Cruises with the fewer thread options and I have not found as much information specific to my questions in my reading thus far. I'm also still getting used to the newer format of CC - so much so that I haven't even figured out how to change/update my signature.

 

I'll be doing a Romantic Danube cruise on Viking in June 2023 (traveling with someone who has not taken a river cruise before) and am trying to determine which excursions to book through Viking for when they become available in October. I have only done one river cruise myself on the Rhine in May 2019 with Viking and loved it! We are very interested in the Bavaria by e-bike optional excursion, but since we don't have specifics on how long we are in the various ports, I don't know if that would still allow any time to see much else in the city of Passau. The tour is 3 hours but it looks like we have the whole day in Passau, so I am hoping we would still have time to tour a bit on our own either before or after lunch, depending on when the e-bike tour would be. 

 

Anyone out there who has done this tour with any feedback? I have seen a few clips of this from others' videos on YouTube, but nothing more specific. I will also be posting in the general river cruise forum area looking for anyone with some daily programs from a somewhat recent (but not modified due to low water levels) Viking Romantic Danube sailing from Budapest to Regensburg to help plan our other stops. Thank you to those who have already posted information from their previous journeys - I hope to do the same after our cruise next year.

[Greysandy]

I would also be interesting in hearing some comments on this. We are taking the Viking European Sojourn (Amsterdam to Bucharest, Romania) next June and also wanted to do the Ebike in Passau. It seems that sometimes the alternative excursions are at a different time than the included one and others are at the same time. Hopefully it is crystal clear on the MyViking app in October.

 

Sandy

[Haqdeluxe]

1 hour ago, Greysandy said:

I would also be interesting in hearing some comments on this. We are taking the Viking European Sojourn (Amsterdam to Bucharest, Romania) next June and also wanted to do the Ebike in Passau. It seems that sometimes the alternative excursions are at a different time than the included one and others are at the same time. Hopefully it is crystal clear on the MyViking app in October.

 

Sandy

It typically is denoted as a morning or afternoon excursion. It is also clear when the excursion is all day. MyViking shouldn't allow you to book a conflict. 

[travelingman]

@MyDogRudy  first, when are you cruising?  We are on the June 4

cruise from Budapest to Regensburg.  We were originally booked for August 2022 but move it due to low water concerns.  On that cruise Passau had the walking tour of Pasau in the morning from 9:30am - 11:00am (1 1/2 hours) and the E-bike tour was in the afternoon I believe starting at 1:00pm or 1:30pm.  This gives enough time to get back to the ship for a quick lunch in between the excursions.

Sorry I do not have the total time in port.

 

By the way their is a "roll call" under Viking River Cruises for 2023 Romantic Danube Cruise - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2875010-all-2023-viking-romantic-danube-river-cruise/#comment-63911273.  You will see a link in post #12 to a google doc you can enter your information and maybe see other others sailing on the same cruise.

 

 

[MyDogRudy]

On 9/10/2022 at 9:01 AM, travelingman said:

@MyDogRudy  first, when are you cruising?  We are on the June 4

cruise from Budapest to Regensburg.  We were originally booked for August 2022 but move it due to low water concerns.  On that cruise Passau had the walking tour of Pasau in the morning from 9:30am - 11:00am (1 1/2 hours) and the E-bike tour was in the afternoon I believe starting at 1:00pm or 1:30pm.  This gives enough time to get back to the ship for a quick lunch in between the excursions.

Sorry I do not have the total time in port.

 

By the way their is a "roll call" under Viking River Cruises for 2023 Romantic Danube Cruise - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2875010-all-2023-viking-romantic-danube-river-cruise/#comment-63911273.  You will see a link in post #12 to a google doc you can enter your information and maybe see other others sailing on the same cruise.

 

 

Thank you so much for this information! It doesn't matter to me whether the extra tour is before or after the included tour, just was curious to know if you could do both. One thing about researching river cruises is there are fewer detailed reviews that show the itineraries for each day, so it is more difficult to plan ahead. For the ocean cruises I have done in the past I would book excursions directly with each vendor in each port, but Viking did such a nice job with theirs that I am likely to use their excursions - they just do not let you know when they are going to be, so to book them prior to seeing the schedule for the day risks missing something else,

 

I have posted on the roll call thread and added our names to the roll call excel document. We will be sailing after you, but it is still a nice way for everyone to share any helpful hints they have learned specific to these cruises. 

[rizello]

We were just in Passau in early August on a Viking cruise.  The eBike excursion is quite expensive for 3 hours, so we opted out and walked around the city.  If you really do want to do an eBike, there are 2 places in town where you can rent an eBike for about $20-30 Euros for the day and you can easily do the route on your own.  We tried to rent the bike, but you needed an advance reservation.  The ebike rental shops are just in the town and easy to reach by foot.

[notamermaid]

14 minutes ago, rizello said:

If you really do want to do an eBike, there are 2 places in town where you can rent an eBike for about $20-30 Euros for the day and you can easily do the route on your own.

That sounds a nice alternative. Passau tourism website gives this info: https://tourism.passau.de/leisure-sports/cycling/

 

notamermaid