Just finished river cruise Basel to amsterdam on ship eir. Our first Viking cruise. A few surprises worth mentioning..Viking rafts up another ship usually at night while sleeping at most every port. If you’re unlucky to be on the rafted ship side it’s very annoying to throw open your curtain and find yourself staring at another stateroom only a few feet away. Most often these rafted ships leave around the time your ship leaves so they’re there all day…kinda defeats the purpose of looking forward to those sunsets or sunrises from your room. There are no tables for two in the restaurant. If you and your partner want to have breakfast, lunch i or dinner together at a table for two, you’ll need to go outside on the aqua deck or the lounge. There are no clocks in the rooms. We’re not clock watchers per se but having a clock for occasional reference would have been nice. Okay - the good stuff…the staff are totally committed to 100% customer satisfaction and they deliver. There are always tours going on either included or optional. Our flights and airport experiences were positively terrible…not Viking’s fault but definitely a downer on the trip experience. We won’t do a river cruise again but that’s our call. If none if the above issues bother you then select Viking for their professionalism and class act
Posted by
11159 posts
We started taking river cruises in 2002, 2003 and on. All of what you describe was the same back then, tying up with other ships next to, in front of and behind your ship when docking. Not desirable at all!
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6547 posts
A river cruise was in my wife’s bucket list so we went on one in 2015. It confirmed what we already knew, that cruising and tours are not for us.
Posted by
Salt Lake City
1482 posts
My wife took the Amsterdam to Budapest Viking cruise with her sister a few years ago and loved it. I could not imagine myself enjoying it quite so much, or for so long.
This spring we took an 8 day Budapest to Passau cruise. We spent 2 pre-cruise days in Budapest and 8 days after the cruise traveling Germany by train. The Viking service was great as the OP mentioned. The food was okay. I just thought of our small room as a place to shower and sleep. We both enjoyed our portion of the trip more, but it was all okay. I liked not unpacking/packing for eight days. I rarely went with the guided tours but rather just walked about on my own. Cruising the Wachau Valley in the daytime was scenic. The trip was too long.
We are doing a Christmas Market Cruise this December, the same trip that the OP took. We will arrive 4 days early to visit Aschaffenburg and Freiburg with their markets before we proceed to Basel. As long I can get off the boat everyday for a walk, I will be fine. The payback for me will be a spring trip by train.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
699 posts
Chip19474,
Will be doing this cruise in October. Can you tell us what ship offered tours you did and what you did in each port. Trying to plan . Thanks