Viking Legend

[steamboats]

Bill,

 

You won´t have any problems finding someone speaking English in Budapest or Prague. People in Budapest used to speak German but there aren´t many anymore. I spoke English.

 

In Budapest you´ll find Burger King at both ends of the Vaci Utca (the pedestrian zone and main shopping street). Next to both is the Anna Café (obviously they belong to the same owner as they share the toilet).

 

As for Passau they do have the docking space and times online. Check here

 

http://www.stadtwerke-passau.de/ ("Hafen" and then "Liegestelleneinteilung")

 

The Legend is listed for August 11th, 8 am - 2 pm, A14

 

A14 is the last landing area upriver. The landings are marked. No problem for your friends to find it.

 

Unless there aren´t any problems with the river gage or the boat itself the Legend should be able to be in time.

 

steamboats

[billinyucatan]

Steamboats, great information. I visited the website, found the information just as you said and forwarded that info to my friends there. I went to "Hafen" then "Liegestelleneinteilung" .... then under Schiffsname selected VIKING LEGEND and there was all the info for Viking Legend for the next three landings. Great!!!

 

Now, I wonder if Amsterdam and Mainz have similar sites.

 

For those worried about the future river cruises. I will post during last week of August if not some during the cruise .. though not much during the cruise because most of our internet use will be simply checking on our kids. Also, river cruising is different than ocean cruising. Go into it as a different kind of cruising... an adventure through Europe. I have sailed through the carribean when a sail ripped during a storm and I am standing on deck at night trying to sew the sail while throwing up. I had a broken cable once that held up a bronze 6' center board where I had to dive under and thread the wire up into the boat, running out of breath just before I could get it high enough up for someone else to grab and secure. I had my diesel engine fail hundreds of miles from anywhere. I have been stuck in a hurricane wondering if we would come out ok... so noise in a river boat?? No problem! Just a different kind of cruise!

[no fuss travel]

Bill It tried to get on the cruise critic web site while on board and because the internet was so slow, it kept timing out. They were working the bugs out of the system to try to make the internet more efficient, but time will tell. The internet does not work while you are in the locks.

You will have a wonderful cruise and my husband and I found that the bumps in the night did wake us up but we just rolled over and went back to sleep. The only time we could not go back to sleep right away was when the ship was going down 81 feet and the scraping of the ship was too shrill of a noise to sleep through. We just heard from friends we made on the cruise and they told us that just before they were flying from London back home, the pilot announced that it was a brand new plane and they were ready to bolt from the plane after our experiences on the ship.

[billinyucatan]

That's funny... but I don't blame them. Thanks for helping to break in the ship for us. As they were delaying, I was getting worried that our cruise would be the break-in cruise! One week to go for us!

 

When we tell people we are going to Europe... they ask, "Where are you going, London, Paris, Rome?" We say, "No, we are going on a boat to Bratislava and a few other places!" They give us a strange look!

[billinyucatan]

From Twitter, I found http://www.travelagentcentral.com/river-cruises/photo-day-viking-execs-meet-during-inaugural-cruise-16396

 

It seems that quite a few execs from Viking were on the ill-fated inagural cruise of the Viking Legend from Amsterdam to Budapest... so obviously the management is aware of the initial problems. Hopefully, that will speed up solving those initial problems... lets hope.

[steamboats]

Now, I wonder if Amsterdam and Mainz have similar sites.

 

Bill,

 

I haven´t heard of any similar websites like the one for Passau. Ruedesheim used to have a list of ships so does Bamberg. But those are the only websites I know of. Mainz isn´t a big cruise port. So I don´t think they do have anything online. Of course all times are ETA.

 

steamboats

[ddean52]

Bill It tried to get on the cruise critic web site while on board and because the internet was so slow, it kept timing out. They were working the bugs out of the system to try to make the internet more efficient, but time will tell. The internet does not work while you are in the locks.

You will have a wonderful cruise and my husband and I found that the bumps in the night did wake us up but we just rolled over and went back to sleep. The only time we could not go back to sleep right away was when the ship was going down 81 feet and the scraping of the ship was too shrill of a noise to sleep through. We just heard from friends we made on the cruise and they told us that just before they were flying from London back home, the pilot announced that it was a brand new plane and they were ready to bolt from the plane after our experiences on the ship.

 

no fuss,

im on the floor laughing!!

[pacmom]

no fuss,

Your posts are great. Am still laughing about the last one! Back in 2000, I was in the market for a new car--fell in love with PTcruiser. DH convinced me to wait a year--TIL THE BUGS WERE OUT. I did--am still driving it, no bugs. Even with inconviences and each cruise has one or two, it is a wonderful way to travel. Pat

[nrscar]

Hello to all and thanks particularly to No Fuss Travel for these excellent posts. This is wonderful information that I have been following with great interest as we have just booked the Grand European Tour on the Viking Legend for May 2010. I am hoping that many of the problems will be resolved by then, however, based on what I’ve read so far, I think we may go ahead and upgrade our 1st floor cabin to reduce the noise, improve the air quality, and allow me to see out the window! (At 5 feet tall I think I will get very tired of climbing on furniture to see the view J)

 

I greatly appreciate all the information that is shared on the Cruise Critic Message Boards and am looking forward to updates from fellow Viking Legend Cruisers. Thanks for sharing your adventures!

 

Nancy

1st time River Cruiser, 1st time Poster

[billinyucatan]

Steamboats...

 

Thanks for that info. I think I have Mainz set up.. My friends write to me:

 

"unfortunately it is not a lot of time we have, but we will try to use this few hours best we can. We thought that we pick you up in the early morning in Mainz (maybe between 8:00 - 8:30 am) and take you to our home for a good German breakfast (with “wunderbar” German Ham). Than we make a sightseeing tour through Frankfurt ( Mainz is not very interesting). We have great Buildings in Frankfurt (Nickname is Mainhattan) and we will try to make this few hours for you unforgettable. We bring you right in time back to the Dock, sounds this good to you?"

Thus, I will call Viking Monday to see what they have as far as the docking spot and get a confirmation from them what they expect the arrival and departure time will be. We will make it work. Thanks for that information.

[no fuss travel]

From Twitter, I found http://www.travelagentcentral.com/river-cruises/photo-day-viking-execs-meet-during-inaugural-cruise-16396

 

It seems that quite a few execs from Viking were on the ill-fated inagural cruise of the Viking Legend from Amsterdam to Budapest... so obviously the management is aware of the initial problems. Hopefully, that will speed up solving those initial problems... lets hope.

 

Bill what the article did not tell you is that they all got off at Cologne. The trouble started after that. The only reason I know this tidbit is because the party for returning Viking passengers they had this drink supplied by the president that was pure fire water. It is a Norwegian drink and all you can say is WOW!!!!!! There was a fair number of us feeling no pain as we made our way down to dinner that night. No laughing allowed as you picture us walking down the stairs and into the dining room.

 

The executives left the ship according to the Hotel Manager because they had to get back to work. Amazing how nothing happened until after they left. I do think though the ship is appropriately named "Legend" as it is now a legend of Viking cruise lines, first time a Viking ship has ever dropped its anchor, first time a Viking ship has been towed, and the list goes on. Fortunately the majority of the passengers had a good sense of humour and the puns were rolling by the end of the cruise. I am waiting to hear how the cruises go after the maiden one.

[no fuss travel]

Nancy I think you would prefer it if you upgraded your cabin. The other decks did not have the diesel problem and to be honest I would never go on the bottom deck again. I did not like knowing I was sleeping below the water line. They have to add water into the ballast tanks to allow the ship to go under several bridges so when you look out the window from the first deck you are looking right at the water. We did though have fun looking at the ducks who swam right up to our window and were looking at eye level to us.

[billinyucatan]

No fuss travel....

 

You are becoming a legend on this thread!!!

 

A question concerning electrical connections on the ship. Did it have in each cabin one 110 v 60 Hz plug (US standard) and one 220 v (European standard) plug like on other Viking ships? Also did they supply a hair dryer (as I understand is done on other Viking ships)?

 

Is there anything else that they provided or did not provide that we should know to bring concerning the cabin?

 

Also, if we buy some flowers in one of thd dutch flower markets can we bring them on board?

 

Thanks.

[Xoe]

I am new to river cruising in Europe. This thread brings to mind experiences on the two small Windstar ships (Wind Star and Wind Spirit carry 140 pax) which have 2 passenger decks, both below the public area decks. Other than suites, of which there are only a couple, staterooms on both decks are identical except for their relationship to the waterline and the additional flight of stairs to get down to Deck 2. I have enjoyed the sloshing of waves against the portholes when seas were a bit rough, and stairs are not a problem for me (no elevators on Wind Star and Wind Spirit), so I prefer the lower deck, and the lower price is an extra bonus.

 

I am learning it is very different on the river ships, perhaps especially so on the Legend. I am pleased with my reservation of #337, a single room on the top deck, for my Tulips & Windmills cruise next spring, especially after reading these reports. Windows that open are a big plus to me, and the French balcony has great appeal as well.

[no fuss travel]

No fuss travel....

 

You are becoming a legend on this thread!!!

 

A question concerning electrical connections on the ship. Did it have in each cabin one 110 v 60 Hz plug (US standard) and one 220 v (European standard) plug like on other Viking ships? Also did they supply a hair dryer (as I understand is done on other Viking ships)?

 

Is there anything else that they provided or did not provide that we should know to bring concerning the cabin?

 

Also, if we buy some flowers in one of thd dutch flower markets can we bring them on board?

 

Thanks.

 

Yes, they had one 110 volt electrical connection. We did bring a converter with us as we found we usually had more than one thing to charge.

 

Yes a hair dryer was provided.

 

They will give you one large bar of soap for the entire cruise. By the end of the cruise it is getting quite mushy so beware. Basically they provided what a hotel will provide, shampoo, body lotion, shoe cleaner and makeup removal pads. I would bring your own hair conditioner and shampoo. I was not impressed with theirs.

 

People did bring flowers on board.

 

Keep the questions coming. I will keep checking up to Thursday this week. I am going away for the BC long weekend.

[billinyucatan]

You are VERY generous with your time to keep checking this thread and answering our questions concerning this "mystery ship". Thank you so much. You are very helpful.

 

In your 3 days in Prague, were you in the Hilton? If so, what did you think of it and its location? Did you stick mostly to the tourist area/historic center or did you venture out. We heard that prices that are high near the Charles Bridge and that area drop dramatically if you walk a few blocks outside of the central tourist area. Also, there are some neat places just outside of Prague. Of course, 3-nights (which actually is only two complete days since preceding the first night is a 7-hour trip and following the 3rd night is the flight to Amsterdam) does not give abundant time there (though better than say 2.5 hours in Passau!)... just curious on what you wound up doing and what you would recommend to others who take the Prague extension.

 

Again, thanks so much for your generosity and willingness to share your information. This is the only forum and thread where we have been able to get anything on the Viking Legend because it is so new and because there is so much publicity hype out there about it... without meat. Even Twitter came out empty from first-hand experience.

[no fuss travel]

You are VERY generous with your time to keep checking this thread and answering our questions concerning this "mystery ship". Thank you so much. You are very helpful.

 

In your 3 days in Prague, were you in the Hilton? If so, what did you think of it and its location? Did you stick mostly to the tourist area/historic center or did you venture out. We heard that prices that are high near the Charles Bridge and that area drop dramatically if you walk a few blocks outside of the central tourist area. Also, there are some neat places just outside of Prague. Of course, 3-nights (which actually is only two complete days since preceding the first night is a 7-hour trip and following the 3rd night is the flight to Amsterdam) does not give abundant time there (though better than say 2.5 hours in Passau!)... just curious on what you wound up doing and what you would recommend to others who take the Prague extension.

 

Again, thanks so much for your generosity and willingness to share your information. This is the only forum and thread where we have been able to get anything on the Viking Legend because it is so new and because there is so much publicity hype out there about it... without meat. Even Twitter came out empty from first-hand experience.

 

Don't laugh. It is too hot to be outside and weeding the garden, so I am playing with computer instead.

 

On the first day, we had a bit of a late start as we catching up on our sleep from the bumps in the night and the screeching in the night sounds. We found that there was some fairly nice pubs/restaurants right around the Hilton Prague. We walked out of the hotel, turned left walked under the bridge, turned left and then found several restaurants. The food was reasonable. Now to get down to what we did, we took the underground to Charles Bridge where we climbed the tower. An incredible view from the top of the tower, but please be careful as you are coming up the very last step, it is higher than usual and you are trying to hold the door open and watch your step at the same time. Once the husband had finished taking his pictures, we walked down the steps, and walked over the bridge to the castle side. It took us quite a while as he took lots of pictures and I enjoyed looking at the handcrafts and the art work that was displayed on the bridge. We stopped to have lunch in a cute cafe on the other side of the bridge and then wandered up to the castle. We arrived in time for th changing of the guard, went to see the church, the castle, the torture chamber, the Gold Street, wandered through the gardens and then decided after we had walked about 12 km that maybe we would call it a day and head back to the hotel. It started to rain and we thought we would catch a bus direct back to the hotel, but needless to say the map given to us by Viking was slightly inaccurate when it came to the bus lines, so after waiting 40 minutes (the rain finally quit then) we walked over to the underground and went back to the hotel. We then went to the Pallidium and found an Italian restaurant and ate there. By this time it was 8:30 pm so we headed back to the hotel to take advantage of the jacuzzi (not very hot, just bath tub temperature) and called it quits for the day. The next day we took the yellow line and were going to transfer to the green line, but we got lost so we wandered around the main shopping street. We found another one of the towers to climb and going up was fine but there was no handrails and all I could think of was going down again. They had a really nice historical display which was quite fascinating to see. They supplied you with a hand held receiver which gave you the English version of what you were looking at. It was a good description of midevil times. The trip down the stairs was bit of a nightmare as people were coming up and the stairs were really only wide enough for one person to be comfortable. By the time we got to the bottom, I vowed no more towers. We then proceeded to walk to City Centre to see the astronomical clock. We took a beer/wine break at the cafe across from the clock and watched it from the comfort of our table. Drinks here were very expensive. We went to the glass shop that was nearby and were quite entertained looking at their goods. This also helped bypass the time, while there was another rain storm. We then wandered around, found a farmer's market and decided it was lunch time. Found a restaurant off a side street and the food was excellent. Lunch cost us 400 kroner for the two of us including beer and wine. We did a little shopping and then headed back to the hotel to drop off our packages and then took the tram to the miniature Eiffel Tower. The elevator was broken, so you could chose to climb the 326 steps or not climb it. The husband climbed it and I spent an enjoyable hour wandering around the rose garden that is nearby. We then caught a tram to go back to town for dinner and accidentally got the wrong one so we had to get off and get back to town again. Made for a bit of an adventure. Found a restaurant that was air conditioned and a fellow playing the piano. By the time we had dinner, it was time to head back to the hotel as we needed to pack for our flight the next day. We spent a fair amount of time people watching which was fun.

Hope this helps.

[ddean52]

no fuss,

- i'm guessing that a second bar of soap can be procured?

- so with a converter we can take advantage of both outlets?(we will have a lot of electrical gadgets)

-how were the breakfast and lunch buffets?

[no fuss travel]

Breakfasts were good. They were a buffet and certain items did run out during the breakfast time. The one item that ran out that most of the passengers were not happy about was the stewed prunes. Taking into account the average age of the passengers????????

The buffet included fresh sliced fruit, sausages, bacon(very difficult to get only one or two pieces as they tended to fry about 6 or more pieces together and they stuck together), cold cereals, breads, juice. You could order fried eggs, poached eggs(these were my favourite), omelets, blueberry pancakes (these took 7 minutes to cook and I found them to be quite dense, most people seemed to like them), hot porridge. They brought you tea or coffee. They usually had another hot dish which could be pancakes, French toast, or something else.

 

oops, I should have copied your questions down because now I will have to write another answer as I have forgotten the rest of your questions. The phone keeps ringing and disturbing my typing.

[ddean52]

Thanks No Fuss,

 

I know food is a extremely subjective area, but if you could, how would you compare vikings food service versus ocean cruising and or good restaurant food?

not that we are food snobs, but we do enjoy well prepared meals.

[no fuss travel]

no fuss,

- i'm guessing that a second bar of soap can be procured?

- so with a converter we can take advantage of both outlets?(we will have a lot of electrical gadgets)

-how were the breakfast and lunch buffets?

 

I think if you asked the hotel manager probably. The one thing that got to us is that the towels were not always changed when you wanted them changed. If you leave your towels hanging, up they will not change and on the last day they do not change your towels. We found we had to leave the towels on the shower floor to get them changed. They do supply face cloths which is a nice touch.

 

Yes, with a converter you can take advantage of both outlets. My husband did most of the charging so I really did not pay that much attention to what he was doing.

 

Lunch buffets were tasty, but their method of presentation was awkward. They did not always label their salad dressings, so sometimes you did not know what they were. If you have short arms it may be difficult for you to reach some of the salad offerings. Soup and dessert were on the same table, but people lined up for soup blocked the entrance to the other part of the buffet. There was more choice in the restaurant than upstairs in the lounge.

[ddean52]

sorry No Fuss <s>,

so the second week of your cruise, the sun deck was mostly closed? what sort of shading did the sun deck have? what sort of chairs were available on the sun deck?

did you keep active in the various ports? if the legend had not had the issues it suffered from, how would you have other wise rated the ship? thanks. i may post more questions for you (again, sorry, but as our trip draws nearer you become increasingly valuable as a primary source of information)!

Dean:eek::D

[billinyucatan]

How does it feel to be the only source in the world right now that seems to be posting or have posted any first hand information about the Viking Legend!

 

I am thinking that you said there was open seating. Does that mean you can go to eat anytime you wish... or are there set seating times and you have to sign up for one?

 

DDean, we were thinking of just bringing a 3-to-2 adapter connected to a power strip and using the 110 v 60 Hz rather than our adapter on the 220 European circuit.

[no fuss travel]

Thanks No Fuss,

 

I know food is a extremely subjective area, but if you could, how would you compare vikings food service versus ocean cruising and or good restaurant food?

not that we are food snobs, but we do enjoy well prepared meals.

 

Deam

 

The food was on par to the dining room (regular) of RCL. There was two days when I was not all that entranced with the food at dinner. The steak alternative is a rump steak which I do not find all that tender. The alternative Caesar salad has an anchovie (whole one) placed on top of the salad. Needless to say, the anchovie that was on my salad did a fair amount of traveling, but not into my mouth. It was a subject of mirth each time someone at our table ordered the Caesar salad.

 

The afternoon tea desserts were delicious. I was particularly fond of the plum cake.

 

The meals were presented nicely, like they do on the large cruise ships.

[no fuss travel]

sorry No Fuss <s>,

so the second week of your cruise, the sun deck was mostly closed? what sort of shading did the sun deck have? what sort of chairs were available on the sun deck?

did you keep active in the various ports? if the legend had not had the issues it suffered from, how would you have other wise rated the ship? thanks. i may post more questions for you (again, sorry, but as our trip draws nearer you become increasingly valuable as a primary source of information)!

Dean:eek::D

 

Sorry for the mistypo on your name on previous answer.

 

When the sun deck was available, they had two huge canvas covers that gave you plenty of shade. There was 4 or 5 days when the shelters were not up, other than that they were up.

 

The deck chairs are very comfortable. We were wondering where we could buy them at home but forgot to ask the hotel manager where they were manufactured. They have regular chairs, lounging chairs as well a a lounge. The lounge had a top that came down and shaded your face.

 

We were busy the whole time we were in port so did not find we had excess time to spare. I guess the only spot I was not happy about was Nuremburg as we did not get the complete city tour and we were stuck in the city waiting for the ship to catch up and since it was Sunday, everything was closed except for ice cream and also pizza restaurants.

 

By the way everyone raved about the ice cream on the ship. You do not have to eat what is on the menu, they will bring you just about any type of ice cream you ask for if they have it.