Just back!! Our VIKING LOFN-omenal "Passage to Eastern Europe" Cruise. 10/23 to11/2/2023 - Full trip report with tons of pix!

[Sleep7]

Due to the delay and then the circling for more than an hour what had been a 2 hour and 50 minute connection in Paris was now whittled down to 45 minutes and the next part of our journey was a blur.

A slow bus to the terminal.. a long walk to passport control.. then a security line.. and finally a dash to our gate.  By the time we arrived only a handful of people were left to board the bus to the plane.

Bless the gate agent who said we had time to run to the restroom and that the our flight to JFK wouldn't leave without us.

There was no time for any pictures.. we barely made the connection.🫣

 

 

[Sleep7]

Flying time 8.5 hours from CDG to JFK.

A very mediocre lunch was served.🫢

 

 

Almost there..

 

[Sleep7]

And so we are back for a few days already..  I'm still going to sleep at 7pm and waking up before 3am.  The change in Daylight Savings Time certainly didn't help.

It was a FANTASTIC trip.. I loved everything about it.

There is such a familiar and organized routine about a river cruise that truly makes it a relaxing vacation.

I thought the ports on this itinerary were fascinating.. especially Belgrade and Bucharest as we had never been to those cities before.  I wish we had time at the end for the Transylvania extension as that looked so interesting too.

I loved being away for eleven days vs our usual seven. 

However.. I'm not sure the two nights in a hotel, the seven days on the ship and the one night in another hotel worked that well for me though.  I found it was a lot of packing and unpacking.

So now I bid you viszontlátásra in Hungarian, Doviđenja in Croatian, збогом in Serbian, Довиждане in Bulgarian, la revedere in Romanian and so long in English.

5 countries in 10 days. What an adventure it's been! 

Thank you for coming along and sharing it with us.🙋‍♀️

 

 

 

[Daisi]

Thanks @Sleep7, I really enjoyed that. Glad you had a great time. Loved the photos. 

[Sleep7]

1 hour ago, Daisi said:

Thanks @Sleep7, I really enjoyed that. Glad you had a great time. Loved the photos. 

🙋‍♀️Hi again Daisi!

Aww.. thank you so much for your very sweet compliments.. I truly appreciate it.

We really did have a wonderful time.. glad it shined thru in my report.

I'm honored that you took the time to look.. it certainly was a L O N G one.

Thanks again and happy sailing!😍

 

[Deb922]

Thanks for the great trip report. Leaving on our Cities of Light VRC in 9 days! Loved all the details.  

[Sleep7]

2 hours ago, Deb922 said:

Thanks for the great trip report. Leaving on our Cities of Light VRC in 9 days! Loved all the details.  

👋 Hi Deb!

Sooo glad you enjoyed my report.. it was a lot of fun to write too.

That's awesome that you are leaving in less than 2 weeks for your cruise!

You are going to have the best time.

Enjoy every moment and thanks again for your sweet compliments!😊

 

[FetaCheese]

@Sleep7

 

Thank you for taking us along.  The parliament building looked magnificent.  Truly better in person!  Maybe one day!

 

Looking forward to your next adventure.

[BluebonnetTexan]

@Sleep7 Thanks so much for your detailed report. We have this itinerary booked in 2025 and I will definitely reread this thread and all the Viking Daily entries as I prepare for our trip. After reading this, my only regret is that we can’t go sooner! 

[Sleep7]

10 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

@Sleep7

 

Thank you for taking us along.  The parliament building looked magnificent.  Truly better in person!  Maybe one day!

 

Looking forward to your next adventure.

👋 Hi again FetaCheese!!

I'm so glad you came along too! 

And yes.. that Parliament building was crazy.. the sheer size and attention to every detail.

All built on the backs of his subjects.  It was awful and fascinating all at the same time.

He razed an entire neighborhood to build it too.. no regard for what was there.

It's also the heaviest building in the world and sinking..

I'm looking forward to cruising again too.. it's an Azamara cruise next spring.

Any upcoming cruises for you planned yet?

Thanks for following along.. happy travels to you!!😍

[Sleep7]

6 hours ago, BluebonnetTexan said:

@Sleep7 Thanks so much for your detailed report. We have this itinerary booked in 2025 and I will definitely reread this thread and all the Viking Daily entries as I prepare for our trip. After reading this, my only regret is that we can’t go sooner! 

👋Good morning BluebonnetTexan!

Oh I'm so glad that you enjoyed my "War and Peace" sized report.

That's awesome that you are booked.. it will be here before you know it.

You will absolutely love the itinerary.  I found it very different than our western Europe river cruises.  The three "B" cities were incredibly interesting.  I also thought the personal interactions with people and the commentary of the guides and ship staff about what life was like under Communism was very moving and sad but also very hopeful for a better future.

I definitely want to go back to Bucharest as we didn't really have much time there to explore after the tour ended. 

Thank you again for your kind words.. happy sailing always!😊

[FetaCheese]

@Sleep7  yes, a Hawaii cruise on V, December this year.  We'll be traveling with friends we met on a cruise in 2008 on AZ, and have been friends since then, and cruised together about 5 times.

 

Last one was on HAL in 2019, so really looking forward to seeing them again.  They live in California.  We're in Philly.

[Sleep7]

Oh wow.. a Hawaii cruise sounds wonderful.  What a perfect way to see all the islands.

Aaaaah... 17 days of sea and aloha combined.. lucky you!

Coming up so soon.🍍🚢🌋

[TayanaLorna]

Thank you for this magnificent report.  This itinerary might be our first river cruise.  I don't like crowds of people and your trip seemed quite uncrowded - at least the photos.  Our next Ocean cruise is the Med in February.

[Mitina]

This was a great overview.  We're on the same cruise (Passage To Eastern Europe) next September but heading from Bucharest to Budapest.  And we did book the Transylvania pre as well.  Looking forward to it even more based on your reporting.

[Sleep7]

41 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

Thank you for this magnificent report.  This itinerary might be our first river cruise.  I don't like crowds of people and your trip seemed quite uncrowded - at least the photos.  Our next Ocean cruise is the Med in February.

😍Hi again TayanaLorna!!

Your compliments make me blush.. I was so happy to write it as it really brought back so many wonderful memories of the past 2 weeks.

This cruise would be a great choice if you are looking for a slightly off the beaten path itinerary.

The only negative would be that both of your flights would be connecting  at least twice (maybe 3 times are you are coming from San Juan if I remember correctly) where if you take a Rhine cruise or a Seine cruise it would be easier flights for you.  I remember you took an Amazon cruise last February too.. we had discussed warm weather dresses on the Viking Ocean board.👗

As far as crowds.. I don't remember it being any issue on either the Seine, the Rhine or the Tulip Time cruises we have taken however we did take them at the end of the season in November and the beginning of the season in March.

You will find the one that's just right for you.🙌🏻

[Sleep7]

22 minutes ago, Mitina said:

This was a great overview.  We're on the same cruise (Passage To Eastern Europe) next September but heading from Bucharest to Budapest.  And we did book the Transylvania pre as well.  Looking forward to it even more based on your reporting.

👋🏻 Hello Mitina!

Thank you so much for your kind words about my very lengthy review!😍

Soooo exciting that you are booked on the same one in less than a year.

I think September will be a great time to go.. I had checked the weather for weeks before we left and it was sunny and warm every day.  We actually really lucked out on our end of October into November sailing as the ships staff kept saying that this time of year is usually gray and cold.

Awesome too that you booked the Transylvania pre cruise tour.  We had spoken with people on board who had done it on another trip and really loved it.

Glad I was able to give you a sweet taste of what is in store for you! Enjoy!!!

[TayanaLorna]

On 11/7/2023 at 11:14 AM, Sleep7 said:

😍Hi again TayanaLorna!!

Your compliments make me blush.. I was so happy to write it as it really brought back so many wonderful memories of the past 2 weeks.

This cruise would be a great choice if you are looking for a slightly off the beaten path itinerary.

The only negative would be that both of your flights would be connecting  at least twice (maybe 3 times are you are coming from San Juan if I remember correctly) where if you take a Rhine cruise or a Seine cruise it would be easier flights for you.  I remember you took an Amazon cruise last February too.. we had discussed warm weather dresses on the Viking Ocean board.👗

As far as crowds.. I don't remember it being any issue on either the Seine, the Rhine or the Tulip Time cruises we have taken however we did take them at the end of the season in November and the beginning of the season in March.

You will find the one that's just right for you.🙌🏻

I see you did find my West Indies & Amazon plus Iberostar cruise write up.  Thank you for reading and liking it.  I get so wordy and you gave me some ideas for style change with yours.  I like being able to ID some of the photos but when i post so many at once i can't get captions inbetween.  We like off the beaten path itineraries and off season for less crowds as well.  

[Sleep7]

1 hour ago, TayanaLorna said:

I see you did find my West Indies & Amazon plus Iberostar cruise write up.  Thank you for reading and liking it.  I get so wordy and you gave me some ideas for style change with yours.  I like being able to ID some of the photos but when i post so many at once i can't get captions inbetween.  We like off the beaten path itineraries and off season for less crowds as well.  

Yes! I saw it and loved it! Your pictures were magic. AWESOME job!

I know what you mean about putting captions between the pictures.

I actually just post one at a time and hit the return bar twice after each picture and then there is a space to label  or comment on top of the pictures.😊

[MikeyB]

Hi Sleepy,  (it takes one to two weeks to recover)

You nailed it!  Loved your comments and pictures.

Felt like I was there again.  Except I don't think I saw any pictures of the two of you drinking!  You must always to so on vacation.

Any future plans on Viking?

And congratulations on the new addition to the family.

[Sleep7]

11 minutes ago, MikeyB said:

Hi Sleepy,  (it takes one to two weeks to recover)

You nailed it!  Loved your comments and pictures.

Felt like I was there again.  Except I don't think I saw any pictures of the two of you drinking!  You must always to so on vacation.

Any future plans on Viking?

And congratulations on the new addition to the family.

👋🏻Oh thanks MikeyB!

Your compliments always are the best and certainly the most local. 😊

I always chuckle with your Nassau/Suffolk shopping references.

Glad I brought back your trip for you.. what did you think of the itinerary?

Did you do any of the extension?

What did you think of the hotel/ship combo?

As as overpacker it was kind of a drag for me.. note to self.. maybe I bring too much stuff.

A few upcoming cruises.. an Azamara one this spring around Spain and a Viking Italian Sojourn over the summer. Very excited about both.

What about you? Where are you going next?

And thanks so much for the congrats about the new baby.. first grandchild..  truly magical.

Thanks again for your all your comments.. so very sweet.😊

[mozfoz]

"We are veterans of many river and ocean cruises and have truly loved each and every one".

 

"When I booked this cruise I didn't realize that it's actually only a 7 day cruise with 2 nights at a hotel in Budapest in the beginning and one night at a hotel in Bucharest at the end tacked on".

 

How did this happen? Just curious.

[FetaCheese]

20 minutes ago, mozfoz said:

"We are veterans of many river and ocean cruises and have truly loved each and every one".

 

"When I booked this cruise I didn't realize that it's actually only a 7 day cruise with 2 nights at a hotel in Budapest in the beginning and one night at a hotel in Bucharest at the end tacked on".

 

How did this happen? Just curious.

Very clear in V brochures, and website itin.  Voyage map shows motorcoach, river routes.

 

[Sleep7]

10 hours ago, mozfoz said:

"We are veterans of many river and ocean cruises and have truly loved each and every one".

 

"When I booked this cruise I didn't realize that it's actually only a 7 day cruise with 2 nights at a hotel in Budapest in the beginning and one night at a hotel in Bucharest at the end tacked on".

 

How did this happen? Just curious.

 

10 hours ago, FetaCheese said:

Very clear in V brochures, and website itin.  Voyage map shows motorcoach, river routes.

 

 

🙋‍♀️Good morning mozfoz and FetaCheese!

Of course you are both right about how did that happen when it was 💯 stated on the Viking website.🫣

Totally on me that I didn't read further into the daily itinerary before I booked the cruise.

I did click on the day by day overview and saw the outline of the trip but didn't click on each day to see where of course it clearly says.. "check into hotel.. check out of hotel.. etc."

I guess I had an 11 day cruise in mind and didn't follow up on the specifics of it.

It's funny.. I actually discussed this with more than a few people on the ship who thought exactly the same thing!  Maybe they were just being nice.😊

I also thought that Bucharest was on the Danube but that's a whole other can of geography worms.

Anywhoodle.. it was all wonderful.  Maybe taught me a lesson that if I packed lighter.. moving from hotel to ship to hotel would be less of a bother.. and next time to read the day by day detailed descriptions in the future.

And to limit run on sentences!😁

 

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, Sleep7 said:

Anywhoodle.. it was all wonderful.  Maybe taught me a lesson that if I packed lighter.. moving from hotel to ship to hotel would be less of a bother..

In addition to packing lighter, using packing cubes makes it much easier to deal with short stays. I use them by type of garment, so if I am looking for a top, I can pull all the pants out in one cube without opening it, and only need to open the cube with the tops. You don’t make a mess rooting around in your suitcase.