bellemere

Be sure to look for the dry dock where the Titanic was built. It was very close to the museum. Also across from the Museum is the SS Nomadic which was built as a tender for the Titanic and you can tour the tender.

If you are not using the ship's excursions, when can you get off the ship if you are using the trains or Rome Cabs to get to Rome?

Thanks for the possible ways to get to Rome. We are stopping here midway of the cruise so it is to Rome and then back to the port.

We are a party of two.

Thanks for possible tour group service

When you visit the home page for Cunard and under heading Cunard Experience you can find possible shore excursions for different ports that Cunard travels to.

For Rome, there are 15 given as possible excursions for Rome.

Now that we are booked, I see there are only 5 excursions listed in the Voyage Personaliser. We are about 3 months out from our voyage. Will more be added or will there be more available when we board the ship?

Thanks for the help.

On our eighth day of the cruise we will dock at Civitavecchia. Does Cunard provide transportation into Rome if you are not taking one of their excursions? Is it free?

Just a reminder you will need a visa for St. Petersburg if you are not with an excursion from the ship or a recognized tour group in St. Petersburg.

We always take our Goretex rain jackets from LL Bean. They are great in rain and windy weather. We just layer underneath them with sweaters. They are light weight and easy to pack plus they have a hood. Only time we do not take them is when we on Christmas market tours.

Thanks for this site.

Thanks for the ideas. Also good to have the wisdom of those who go before you.

On the Queen Victoria for a trip from Rome to Barcelona.

What excursions would you highlight as not to be missed on this trip?

Ports are Rome, Naples, Florence, Genoa, Monte Carlo, Valencia, Barcelona.

Also Cagliari and Ajaccio.

Did you do it on your own, ship excursion, or private company?

Doing planning now so would like some help.

Thank you.

We have always chosen the early seating for dinner in the Britannia so we could enjoy the first evening program in the theater. Even when we have been fortunate to be in the Princess Grill and choose our dining time, we always plan our dinner time to allow us to attend the first show in the theater with a snack following the program in the buffet restaurant.

We used Genvisa. We did not hesitate to call them for help with the questions. Also Viking had posted a sample of a visa application which was very helpful. Yes it cost to use them but the help and timely processing of the visa was worth it.

The river cruise in Russian was very good, informative, and memorable.

We also journal on our trips so our journals were very helpful with dates for different trips abroad we had to list on the application.

Thanks for the replies.

We had a wonderful trip on the Viking Longship Mimir. Service, food and excursions were all good. As we returned from Delft excursion, I was carrying a bouquet of 50 tulips I had bought for 6 euros at the flower market in Delft to have in our room. As we entered the ship, the concierge asked if I needed a vase. In five minutes the cabin steward was there with a vase filled with water. Staff was friendly and helpful. We enjoyed our lunches and several dinners on the Aquavit Terrace. It was chilly some days so there were lap blankets to use if eating on the Terrace.

Yes, you are not going to dock next to the Centraal Train Station all of the time. When we arrived we were docked about a 20 minute walk to the train station area near the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam and were docked next to another ship called rafting. With river cruising so popular now and lots more ships than when we first started doing river cruises, the docking locations are not always the best. When we returned at the end of the trip, we were docked by the train station. You can check the web site for the Port of Amsterdam to see docking locations on a given day.

We used their air and transfers which worked well for us as it did when we went to China with them.

We went late in April so the tulips would be in bloom. We timed it perfectly. However, there were a few days of wind, some icy rain, and even a little snow. Be sure to take gloves and winter hats. Some people had to buy items to wear.

Have purchased air thru Viking which includes transfers for our Danube Waltz cruise.

Has anyone used the Viking transfer from Munich airport to Passau?

How long is the transfer? Did you have to wait long at the airport to be transferred to the ship?

Thanks for your help.

Thank you for your help.

Where is the online booking form for the transfer from Rome to port on the Cunard web site?

Thanks.

Since signing up for optional excursions for river cruises is new this year, you should check back from time to time because offerings do change. There are some optional excursions that you find out about when you board the ship that are not on the web site. Before I went I was assured in email and by talking with customer service that I could sign up on the ship.

We just returned yesterday from Tulips and Windmills with Viking. It was our seventh cruise with Viking. We did not sign up ahead of time for optional excursions. We waited till on the ship and heard the explanations. We had no problem but I would suggest signing up as soon as possible.

Eaglewatchers,

Thank you for your reply.

We will be on the Viking Mimir.

Appreciated hearing about the palace and Kroller Muller Museum and how they worked the Keukenhof Gardens with Haarlem. Not sure what we will do. We have always enjoyed the daily presentations by the program director which helped us to decide if we want to do an optional tour. They have certainly added more optional tours since our first trip with them. Since my Hubbie is very interested in World War I and II history, we will probably op for the Market Garden tour.

The Resistance Museum is on our list of things to do in Amsterdam.

I enjoyed your post on comparing Viking River to Viking Ocean.

We have done several Viking River Cruises and enjoyed them.

Have investigated the ocean cruises but wish we did not have pay the whole amount so far in advance.

We leave in a few weeks on the Viking Tulips and Windmills.

I would like to hear more about your experience with this trip.

Thanks for your help.

How true! Anticipation is an important of a trip. We are anticipating our trip in October on the Queen Victoria.

Hope to hear from others just returned from this cruise.

Thanks.

There are so many more ships on the European rivers now that rafting is very common. The charm is just walking off the ship and into town.

Despite that it does not always happen, we have enjoyed our times.

GACRUISER456: your answers were just what I wanted. Did you get any feedback on the optional to Delft?

Your feedback only makes us more excited about going.