Viking Grand European Rivers 6/25/06

[Venturagirl]

You mentioned that people 'dressed' for dinner. Our travel agent was very quick to say that the cruise was casual so not to take the 'usual cruise formal stuff' and I was hoping the same pair of dress slacks could do all week. Hubby was looking forward to no sportcoat, etc. .

 

I agree with your travel agent that the usual cruise formal clothes are not needed. However, I, too, thought that "casual" meant that you could go to dinner in the same clothes you had worn for touring during the day (unless you were wearing shorts or sweats, which I knew weren't dinner- appropriate). Therefore, I only brought a few outfits, e.g. nice slacks and tops, thinking I would wear them on the Captain's night and the Farewell night. And I didn't bring a sport coat for DH.

 

What happened, though, was that the other passengers always changed their clothes for the evening, and many women changed into dresses or skirts -- not fancy ones, just dresses that you might wear to church or temple, for example. So I felt uncomfortable the one night I wore my daytime clothes, which tended to be khakis or sail-cloth type pants and casual tops. That meant I had to be creative in mixing and matching my limited wardrobe for 14 days so it appeared that I, too, was dressing for dinner. And by necessity, I ended up alternating my two pairs of nice slacks. I would have preferred to have more choices. It would have been especially difficult if we had gone to the Vienna concert.

 

Does that help?

[daryleann]

I know what you mean about 'others dressed for dinner.' When we have done Globus or Trafalgar tours, everyone seems to 'dress' and I have usually just worn what I wore in town, etc. But I also just changed to another outfit - from another day! That way I was 'cleaned up' and no one really pays that much attention, or so I've been told. But since you and I noticed, then obviously others do pay attention! :p

But guess I will continue to wear what I like... I don't wear jeans, so I can 'pass,' hopefully.;)

[hobse]

We had a mostly different experience. Most people on our cruise did not specifically "dress up" for dinner. Many kept on what they had worn during the day, and sometimes that depends on how late you return from a tour. On the two "dressier" nights, some men wore a sportcoat, most did not. We saw everything--jeans, khakis, slacks with golf shirts, dress shirts, sweaters. I don't recall any women wearing dresses on our cruise. It was all very relaxed and casual, which we enjoyed.

[BJS]

It may have been because we had a large contingent of English, Scottish and Australian passengers on board.

 

Even on the ocean cruises we have been on those from Great Britian will often dress in dresses and men in sports coats on all of the casual nights while those from the USA are in cotton pants & tops, or Dockers and golf shirts. It just depends on the countries your fellow cruisers come from how they dress.

 

Viking says "In general, you want casual leisure clothing that is comfortable and wears well....There are no "formal" nights or dress requirements, though many people dress smart-casual for dinner and dressier for the Captain's Dinner. You will want to bring along one or two nicer outfits. Tie and jacket are not required for men, though some men do wear a jacket to dinner." They say pack light and save room for souveniers.

 

Unless you feel uncomfortable doing so, following the above should be more than adequate.

[Billybob62]

Judy: I will particualrly interested in your report on the Vantage cruise. We will be taking our second Vantage trip next month on the Paul Gauguin and are seriously considering the Eastern Euorpean cruise from Vienna to the Black Sea next year. There are so many cruise companies to choose from, we want to make sure that we find one of the best. Have you been on other Vantage tours, and if so, what has been your experience? :) :)

[Hlitner]

Venturagril, what a fabulous review. We are thinking of booking the same cruise for next May and have a few questions. Where there toilets on the tour buses? Where you allowed to bring local wines into the dining room....was their a corkage fee? You mentioned that most dinners were open sitting at 7....does this mean everyone had to eat at 7 or could you come to dinner at a later time such as 8?

 

Hank

[Venturagirl]

Hi, Hank,

 

There was a toilet on the bus that took us on our longest bus trip from Wurzburg to Rothenburg and back to the ship. I'm not sure about there being any on our short trips to visit sights in Amsterdam, Nurmberg, Vienna and Budapest. They really wouldn't be needed because we weren't on the buses very long and we were constantly stopping and getting off the bus to see the sights where we could find facilities if needed.

 

You could bring wines to the dining room. We didn't do it, but I think I recall that the corkage fee was 7.50 euros. Quite a few people would take a bottle of wine up to the Sun Deck after dinner and share it with friends, thus avoiding the fee.

 

When dinner is at 7:00, everyone comes to the dining room at 7. They have a captive audience, anyway, because everyone attends the daily briefings at 6:30 pm to find out what the schedule will be for the following day. After the briefing, the dining room is opened and everyone goes directly from the lounge to the restaurant. The only time I saw people coming in late was the night the soccer game was on; in that instance some die-hard British fans stayed in the lounge after the briefing to see the end of the game and came into the dining room as a group about a half-hour late, announcing the results to the rest of us. They were served their full dinner without any problem.

 

If you think of anything else, feel free to ask. It was a wonderful trip. :)

[Hlitner]

Venturagirl, Many many thanks. We are very active contributors to the Europe board and a few of the cruise line boards, but after cruising on over 40 ships we thought it was time to try the rivers. Our only river cruising was a short 5 days on the Yantzee, but we have only explored Europe in rental cars. We are really looking forward to leaving the driving to someone else. Again thanks and just to let your know your efforts are really appreciated.

 

Hank

[DON M.]

Venturagirl, Many many thanks. We are very active contributors to the Europe board and a few of the cruise line boards, but after cruising on over 40 ships we thought it was time to try the rivers. Our only river cruising was a short 5 days on the Yantzee, but we have only explored Europe in rental cars. We are really looking forward to leaving the driving to someone else. Again thanks and just to let your know your efforts are really appreciated.

 

Hank

Hi Hank, You and Kathy cant take a river cruise, there is no time in the cities to rent a car-lol. Hope you are doing well, Linda and I, took our first river cruise(the Danube with Amadeus), in July. The ship was beautiful, the service was immpecable and the cities visited were full of interesting sights. The highlight, however, was our 5 day pre-cruise in Prague, what a fabulous city in my opinion. After many ocean cruises( about 1/3 of yours) I found the river cruise experience is one that takes a totally different mind set and modus-operidi. You will certainly have alot of time to read that favorite book of yours on the Sun Deck. Don

[Hlitner]

Hi Don and Linda, For those wondering, we met these folks on a prior cruise and actually managed to survive :) Kathy and I send our best to your both and I suspect we shall one day cross paths somewhere on land or sea. We had considered Uniworld, Amadeus, Deilmann, and Viking. The idea was to take a transatlantic next spring (have to now take one of these every year) and than grab some kind of river cruise that is a good connection to transatlantic. It turned out that the Viking 14 day cruise that was reviewed by Venturagirl fit perfectly with our ocean crossing. It will get us all the way from Amsterdam to Budapest, but unfortunately not to Prague. I guess we could try to get to Prague from Budapest...but not sure if that is in the cards. If we miss Prague on this trip, than its something to do next time.

 

Hank

[bildef]

Venturagirl--Thanks for a most informative posting. I have printed all 21 pages for my wife to read at her leisure. We are going on the July 8, 2007 sailing from Amsterdam. We have been on a number of ocean cruises and on two previous Viking cruises. We did China and Russia and thoroughly enjoyed both. Really looking forward to the cruise. We are going into Amsterdam early and staying in Budapest, then train to Prague. Thanks again. Bill

[Venturagirl]

Thanks! I can't believe it has been a year since we cruised. Except for a trip to Thailand, all my vacation time this year will be spent in the U.S. Hopefully I'll get back to cruising next year. I still read the postings on this board for vicarious pleasure. Please let us know how you enjoyed your cruise when you return! :)

[slineberry528]

I am ready for a river cruise. I will have to put it on my list for 2008.

Thanks for the great review!!

[mycoda]

Ventura Girl THanks for all the post on your river cruise. ;) :) :cool: :o It was very helpful.