Viking Legend

[steamboats]

Besides McDonalds or Burger King you will also find free restrooms in department stores like Kaufhof or Karstadt and Hertie here in Germany.

 

ConradMZ,

 

Bill must be at our side of the pond already and on his cruise :D. So he might not read your posting. But I think it´s valuable for other readers too and added my two cents.

 

steamboats

[ddean52]

Besides McDonalds or Burger King you will also find free restrooms in department stores like Kaufhof or Karstadt and Hertie here in Germany.

 

ConradMZ,

 

Bill must be at our side of the pond already and on his cruise :D. So he might not read your posting. But I think it´s valuable for other readers too and added my two cents.

 

steamboats

 

Steamboats,

Thanks for the update! We transverse the pond next wed. so all updates are very much welcomed!

Dean

[no fuss travel]

BillinYucatan had some questions about Mainz and restrooms:

 

In Mainz, all Viking ships dock at the Viking dock, which is located at the Rheingoldhalle, between city hall and the Hilton. Usually, the ships arrive during the night or in the early morning. Walking tours are scheduled for 8:30 (occasionally 9), and last for about two hours, including the Gutenberg Museum and the cathedral, after which passengers have free time until about 12:30 pm.

 

As for restrooms, there are both free and pay restrooms in Mainz. The restrooms at the Gutenberg Museum are probably the best choice for cruise passengers whose admission is pre-paid, anyway. There is also a McDonald's just a block or two west of the cathedral, right in the middle of the downtown pedestrian zone, as well as a free city restroom on the marketplace involving some stairs.

 

Just remember to bring some toilet paper with you from the ship. The free washrooms in the Gutenberg Museum ran out of toilet paper in the ladies. They were lovely and clean, but decidedly short on tp. I have learned with travelling over the years to always carry an emergency wad of tp for situations like this.

[no fuss travel]

Besides McDonalds or Burger King you will also find free restrooms in department stores like Kaufhof or Karstadt and Hertie here in Germany.

 

ConradMZ,

 

Bill must be at our side of the pond already and on his cruise :D. So he might not read your posting. But I think it´s valuable for other readers too and added my two cents.

 

steamboats

 

Steamboats, the only problem is that some of the towns are so small that Viking visits that they do not have the department stores. When we were in Mainz, you had to use a code to use the MacDonalds washroom which you got when you purchased food. Needless to say, you tour guide will usually tell you what the code is so that you do not need to make a purchase.

[steamboats]

no fuss travel,

 

You´re right that small towns do not have department stores but Mainz should have.

 

O.k., I read about the 4 digits code McDonalds wanted to hand out for using the bathrooms. But I never heard that they´re doing it already. And actually one of my neighbors is working for McDonalds (Germany, here in Munich). And she didn´t tell me either. Anyway I usally buy a 1 Euro coke and use the restroom :D. And the McCafé has pretty good coffee (way cheaper than any other coffee shops around).

 

steamboats

[no fuss travel]

Steamboat

We are starting to get that way here as well in certain areas of town. They are locking the toilets to ensure that they are not used inappropriately. You have to ask for a key in order to use them. This happens in gas stations. So far MacDonalds has not done it.

 

It was only in one MacDonald's that we ran into having to use a 4 digit code. Maybe they are trying it out in that particular city.

[jcrandle]

We were in Prague earlier this year, and McDonalds required your receipt for free entry into the toilet or you could pay the equivalent of $.50 US and enter. If you paid, you got a receipt that was good for the same amount off a purchase of food or drink.

[webfoot]

Last year we ran into something similar in Budapest. However, this year in Paris, there was no charge for the 'facilities' ...

[no fuss travel]

We cannot wish you a Bon Voyage then until next Wednesday? Or can I wish you a Bon Voyage early just to make sure that you receive it?:D

[steamboats]

Last year we ran into something similar in Budapest. However, this year in Paris, there was no charge for the 'facilities' ...

 

Haven´t used McDonalds in Budapest this May. But I can say that Burger King at Vaci Utca (both ends) was for free:D.

 

steamboats

[no fuss travel]

Hopefully this will work. I have uploaded pictures of cabin 100 on Viking Legend for you to see. The layout is basically the same for all cabins with the exception of the window.

[no fuss travel]

More pictures of the ship. I will keep uploading a few more as we progressed along the cruise. Oops. this one did not work

[no fuss travel]

Hope this works

[billinyucatan]

I used the Nurnburg Burger King for Toilet with no charge, no purchase, no problem.

 

We ate with some folks on the first deck last night. They are not happy as we because the top deck is closed from Mainz to perhaps Passau. They have no view from their room. On third deck with "French balcony", there is a great view.. and of course there are spots on the ship that folks can go for views.. just not on the top sun deck.

 

They thought the ship was screeching when we go up and down locks but actually the screeching is not the ship...from our balcony we can see the sound comes from the floating metal floats that go up and down the locks as wells as the water valves. The ship is not scraping the sides. The captain does a great job. It is just an illusion. The noise is evidently pretty strong on the first deck. The third deck rooms can be much quieter especially with the doors closed.

 

We continue to enjoy the ship and the cruise. I continue to give it 5 stars out of 5 for food, service, and all other categories. As we move along we only hear the rustle of the water along side the ship as the new diesel-electricmotors run very quiet. It is great.

 

I do think it is worth the extra money to get an upper deck (deck 2 or 3) room. The happiness of the passengers is great on the upper decks. Only the lower deck passengers have expressed some disapointment becuase of the sun deck closing.

 

THere is really no way to open the sun deck because of the low decks. .. but if you do not expect that for so many days and have a low deck room, it can be disapointing.

 

We are quite happy that we chose Viking Legend for this cruise. We enter Regensburg soon.

[ddean52]

Hopefully this will work. I have uploaded pictures of cabin 100 on Viking Legend for you to see. The layout is basically the same for all cabins with the exception of the window.

 

thanks for the pictures!!!

[no fuss travel]

Dean

 

I will post some more once my son set me up so that I can again. He knows exactly which buttons to press to get the pictures loaded whereas sometimes I am totally computer challenged.:D

[ddean52]

LOL...so is Alice! Thank you!

Dean

ps..do you know where in Budapest we can buy a bottle of scotch for our cruise??

[no fuss travel]

Note the clearance as the ship is going under a bridge. You can barely see the roof of the bridge.

 

The second photo shows you how low down you are on the first deck. We were getting quite amused of the swans looking in as we were getting ready to go for dinner.

Now here's hoping the pictures are here for you to see.

[ddean52]

the pics are great, thanks so much! not much room between bridge and deck, reminds me of the panama canal.

[no fuss travel]

More pictures. I will keep uploading ship pictures only so that you can see what the lounge looked liked and the sun deck and other parts of the ship.

 

This one shows the ship being towed. Note it took two tugboats. The first picture shows show how high the water line is on the first deck. You can see why the cabins are so noisy as the water magnifies the sounds of other ship engines and everything else.

[no fuss travel]

More pictures. The sundeck. These lounges are very comfortable to sit on. The Captain at the bridge. The main officers of the ship including the chef. Another picture of the sundeck.

[ddean52]

perfect timing. wetting our apatite

[no fuss travel]

More pictures. Pictures of the ship while we were in Amsterdam, I believe. We had an incredible sunset that first night.

[no fuss travel]

The lounge. One of the many barges that we passed along the river.

[ddean52]

No Fuss,

on legend,in the tiny 'store' are items like aspirin sold?

Dean