piginmud

We got off Viking Einar today. The captain had to stop sailing to Basel & turn around.  We disembarked in Breisach & they bussed us to Basel. Luckily it was the last night if our trip.  Our Program Director got on the loud speaker to every room at 11pm last night to inform us of the change of plans because we needed to disembark an hour earlier than expected.

All the new passengers were in the Hyperion Hotel waiting to get bussed to Breisach.  

18 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

My pleasure.

 

Kaub gauge at 92cm, not looking too good for next week which I have already hinted at. Figures below 80cm are expected, range 65cm to 80cm. Lowest currently anticipated 14/15 October.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

We don't leave until November 5th... hopefully things will be better by then!!!

debbie

On 10/4/2023 at 6:58 PM, notamermaid said:

Hello piginmud. Thank you for pointing this out, I think I have not mentioned this for a while.

Ships always sail the Rhine and commercial shipping never stops as it is an individual captain's decision to sail or not. Barges and tankers can sail fully loaded or half or even less, so depending on size and load have a draft that will allow them to sail at very low levels. River cruise ships cannot reduce their draft as much. That puts them at a disadvantage so will have to stop sailing when commercial traffic still happens. Again, every captain knows how his (or her) ship will react and decide accordingly. This means that there is a "too low" for each individual river cruise ship that will vary but there is a range of figures at Kaub which indicates problems such as slow sailing or changing a docking location to swapping ships meaning not sailing the Rhine Gorge. It starts at around 90cm and goes down to 40cm, at which point a large chunk of the Rhine river cruise fleet has to stop sailing. In the case of the Viking longships the "adjusted sailing" usually happens before a smaller ship or one of the same size but with a slightly more favourable hull construction gets impacted. Again, your captain will decide for your ship what is safe to do. Even in the drought of 2018 the smallest river cruise ships could still sail along with part-loaded barges and tankers.

 

With that in mind let us interpret Kaub gauge. The level is at 107cm, that is enough for all river cruise ships. Saturday could see the level drop to 94cm. That is okay for all river cruise ships as far as I know but may well require adjusted sailing and perhaps avoiding a docking location which is a bit shallow, like in Cologne. Note that my assessment is based on reports from river cruisers in previous years. The latest long range forecast suggests that on 11 October the gauge may show 80cm which is still okay for sailing but much trickier and gets us in the realm where I could get in trouble if I say too much about sailing or not sailing - see my comment about individual decision.

 

Viking is very experienced in all this and I am convinced will make this run smoothly for you as testified by many past satisfied cruisers.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

Notamermaid, you are a wealth of information.  Thank you so much for this detailed explanation!

Sincerely,

debbie

Hello,

I tried to search this thread but couldn't find what I was looking for.  At what level (meters) is too low for a ship to sale through the Rhine?  We are on Viking's Einar next month and I'm trying to monitor the water levels.

At what point are water levels too low too sail?  I have seen graphs, but honestly it doesn't mean anything to me if I don't know what "too low" levels are?

Thanks for any help you can give!

debbie

19 hours ago, princeton123211 said:

I've done the Hana road about 14-15 times over the years-- personally I enjoy just going all the way around and not covering the same ground we did headed out. You see the island change from lush forest to barren desert and its very pretty. At very least you should drive past Hana to the Seven Pools and at that point it's just fun to keep going. 

 

Some folks will tell you that it's dangerous or that the roads are bad-- its really neither of those things. You do hit some dirt roads and some narrow switchbacks along cliffs along the water so if you are a nervous driver it might not be for you but its nothing that most people can't handle. 

 

Along the way you can stop and see Charles Lindbergh's gravesite, several historic churches, as well as a few more waterfalls. Once you get to the part of the road above Makena Beach there is also a winery. 

 

One of the bigger advantages of going all the way around is that you don't hit the crush of traffic headed back-- relatively few people drive all the way around. 

 

If you do go all thew way around make sure to stop and get something to eat and drink. Once you get past Hana there isn't much at all in terms of food or gas until you get back around the other side. Also be respectful of the locals-- you are not in a touristy side of the island and they aren't always thrilled people are around. Stick to the road and only park in areas that are designated. 

Awesome advice, thank you for all that information!!

On 4/18/2022 at 10:24 PM, BermudaBound2014 said:

I think it’s better to drive yourself. I’ve driven road to Hana 9 times since January in a Nissan rouge. The narrower the car the better. Last year in a convertible (very wide) it was MUCH more difficult. I would not call it “scary”. You do need to be aware, always. Locals drive aggressively so best to move out of their way quickly. It’s a long day for the driver, but there is great hiking and the views are exceptional. Shaka or the gypsy app is a must if you are driving independent of a tour.

 

However; if you are doing the tour with valley Isle is there is nothing to be nervous of. They do this daily. My first trip to Hana was with valley isle years ago. 

Hi, we'll be doing this for the first time on Day 1 of an overnight in Maui (from the POA).  Do you suggest turning around once we get to Hana and head back to the ship or drive all the way around the island to enjoy more sightseeing?  Thanks!!!

10 minutes ago, notamermaid said:

Thanks. It could be, at least for a few years that is. I assume I was mistaken and perhaps thought of a different itinerary.

 

notamermaid

 

No worries - I think someone else posted as well that maybe you were thinking of a different itinerary.  I'm a newbie to Viking (this being my first cruise with them), so I didn't know if it was ever different.  Oh BTW, it won't be my last cruise with them 😉 

On 4/27/2022 at 9:58 PM, Cruizn Mama said:

Piginmud, are any cruisers on the Viking longships eating on the upstairs level which is more open air and outdoors-like?  Or is everyone ok with eating inside?  Thanks!

 

Well eating outside was an option  outside the Aquavit but... during our particular week on the cruise it was VERY cold!  On 2 days we even had snow! (March 30-April 6).  Several people (including ourselves) ate in the Aquavit for lunch and sometimes dinner.  Hardly no one was outside on the sun deck except for when we did the scenic Budapest night cruise (which was gorgeous!) and when we sailed through the Wachau Valley.

On 4/23/2022 at 3:55 PM, Cruizn Mama said:

We are slated for the June 22 sailing from Budapest to Passau, with a pre-trip extensions in Budapest and post-trip in Prague.  We have many concerns including how does it feel to be traveling during Covid times, specifically:  on the airplanes, on the boat, in the hotels and during tours?  What is the climate in each of these countries?  Are people masking, percentage wise?  Did you feel safe?  (Maybe that's a silly question.)  I would love to really hear these sorts of questions addressed.  We are 2 couples traveling and so far, we are all boosted, but 1 spouse in 1 couple had the misfortune to catch Covid at the end of December and 1 spouse in the other managed to be hospitalized with the latest variant just last month, despite having a booster dose and being very careful!  No one wants to start a trip and be quarantined in the beginning or middle of it, or worse, end up in a hospital where the caregivers are not speaking English or up to date with American medicine.  This is the 3rd try for this trip and we have these worries, but will travel ever be back to a normal state?  And to those of you who think this is a common cold, I'm sorry for your misunderstanding of what it means to be older and less immune to disease.

I personally am not worried about the whole covid thing, so if you are really worried about it, you might want to delay your cruise.  We did daily covid tests on the ship and we did notice several suitcases being taken off the ship at various ports because people obviously tested positive and had to be taken off the ship.  There is not a lot of people masking.  On our cruise it was mandatory to mask the first couple days, and then Viking made it a rule that as of April 1st, masks were not mandatory.  But after a few people on the cruise tested positive, they were highly recommending everyone to wear the masks.  Everyone was masked on our flight, but as I read now, it's not mandatory on a number of the bigger airlines.  I felt safe, but your mileage may vary 🙂  Even though everyone who boarded the ship was supposed to be fully vaccinated *and* boosted, there were still people who caught it on the trip 😞  The hard part is that when you do test positive, they take you off the ship to a local hotel and you can't even quarantine in your cabin.  It was also our 3rd try on this trip and we took it and loved it.  But I could see how if you tested positive and had to be taken off the ship that this would be a terrible experience.  I guess it's for you to decide if it's worth it.  Maybe they will eventually stop the daily covid testing and then at least that aspect of the trip won't be so worrisome 😞

On 4/23/2022 at 9:55 AM, Viking2020 said:

We are doing a pre cruise in Budapest. Any thing you really liked? We are doing the Highlights tour but will have more time to see more. 

We did the highlights tour and it was very good - although a lot of walking!  My sister and I took a cab from the hotel (Intercontinental) on the first day we arrived to the Great Market Hall.  Then we walked back on Vaci Utca (street) to the hotel.  It was about a 25 minute walk (if you didn't stop at all the shops).  The city is very easy to navigate, everyone speaks english, and you can get to a lot of the attractions on your own. St. Stephen's Basilica was a highlight for us (we bought the tickets ourselves at the ticket office - it was like $4-5 person for the church and the tower at the top).  Then we walked to Dohany Street Synagogue (I bought the tickets online).  We never made it to the ruin bars, but I've heard they are really fun.  Andrassy Avenue is basically a street filled with high end shops like Michael Kors, Gucci, etc.  So if you are into that go, otherwise avoid it.  Go to Hero's Square if you can, it looked neat.  We saw it from the bus on the included tour, but it's not the same.  Some people went to Buda Castle District on their own, but that's also part of the included tour.  Budapest is a very reasonably priced city and you can get a nice meal for about $20/person!

On 4/22/2022 at 2:00 PM, notamermaid said:

One simple question. Passau did not used to be an embarkation port for Viking. Did you do this as a standard itinerary or was there a change, i.e. Vilshofen and possibly Regensburg/Nuremberg cut out?

 

notamermaid

 

It was the standard itinerary on our cruise.  Even when we originally booked it for March 2020, Passau was the final destination.  We did the 7 day Danube Waltz and it was always on the itinerary?

On 4/21/2022 at 1:01 PM, meg1021 said:

Thanks for your kind offer to provide info.  We just booked a 14 night Amsterdam to Budapest river cruise, and are first time river cruisers, and first time cruising with Viking.  You mentioned gratuities.  Does Viking allow you to put gratuities on your onboard account?  Or are you required to pay in Euros?  What about Covid testing protocols?  As of now, we will be required to provide a negative PCR test, done within 72 hours of boarding.  We are planning on arriving in Amsterdam one day before boarding, and planning on getting a PCR test in the airport, after we go through security.  I'm concerned that if we use a service like MedExpress, our PCR results will not be back in a timely manner.  (On our January Royal Caribbean cruise, a negative antigen test was required 48 hours before boarding, and many local CVS and Walgreens had testing appointments, and results back within one hour, making the process somewhat simpler.  Our MedExpress sends out PCR tests to LabCorp, therefore test results take longer.)  What would be your testing recommendation?  Do you know of anyone who took the Klimt Workshop tour in Vienna?  If  so, what was their assessment?  In Passau, did anyone take the full day Saltzberg tour?

 

Thanks once again for you help.

You can put the gratuities on your onboard account.  It comes off your credit card in euros, but of course the banks do the conversion.  We did daily covid tests on the ship!  Since we did the Budapest pre-cruise extension, we just had to do our own covid tests 72 hours prior to boarding our flight - that might be different for you are doing it on your own and if you didn't book your pre-cruise vacation with Viking, I'm not sure.  My sister and I both did our pre-covid testing at a CVS pharmacy in NJ and we had our results back in 1 day.  No, sorry I don't know anyone who did that Klimt tour and I don't think it was even offered on our cruise?  Also, the Saltzberg tour wasn't offered on our cruise either.  Maybe because you are doing a different one, a 14 day tour vs our 7 day cruise?  Any more questions, please feel free to ask away!

On 4/21/2022 at 9:21 AM, 2017newcruiser said:

Thanks for all the info - 

 

I have a question regarding the ship dock in Budapest.  Is it situated in a area that is walkable if we wanted to go from the ship to explore interesting areas  out on our own?

Would you recommend a few extra days in Budapest prior to getting on our boat?

Yes it was definitely walkable to certain areas.  We were about 5 minutes to the Great Market Hall. And Vaci Utca (a nice pedestrian street with shops)  My sister and I walked from the Dohany Street Synagogue (we did the 2 night pre-cruise extension & walked from our hotel to various places - St. Stephen's Church & the synagogue) to the dock which was a 25 minute walk.  I definitely would recommend a few days in Budapest before the cruise!  Budapest was so nice and there were so many things to see.  If you do the pre-cruise extension with Viking, there's tours you can book with them, but it's very easy to navigate the city on your own.  Everyone speaks english very well.  Feel free to ask away if you need more information.

On 4/21/2022 at 8:38 AM, travelingman said:

Hi.  thanks for willingness to answer questions.  And, glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Where was the ship docked at in Budapest please?

Also, on your panoramic Budapest tour were you able to get off the bus at Buda Castle  and the Fisherman's Bastion and tour any of the area and buildings?

 

Thanks.

Stan

The ship was docked about a 5 minute walk to the Great Market Hall.  I forget the exact Dock # but it was very close to the Elizabeth Bridge.  Hope that helps.  Yes, we were able to get off the bus at Buda Castle but honestly there was no tour or walking the grounds of the castle itself.  We toured the Matthias church and then had some free time (not very much) of the area.  Our tour guide suggested we not pay to walk through Fisherman's Bastion because you got just as good of a view from the grounds as you did walking through the gate area.  I don't believe there were any other buildings to view or walk through.  There were shops but we literally only had about 30-45 minutes and it wasn't enough time.

On 4/25/2022 at 10:22 AM, Bill Y said:

As Austria has different entry requirements at least on paper to other European countries, what happened when the ship crossed into Austria were there any inspections of vaccine certification and test results? Or did Austrian officials at ports do these inspections in order to allow passengers to go ashore? Or were the only checks done at embarkation?

I'm sure there was inspections of the test results, but we weren't involved.  We just had to do the daily covid testing and then if there were any positive people, they were taken off the ship.  The only check for vaccination records and negative covid tests (done by us) were done when we boarded the ship.

On 4/14/2022 at 3:27 AM, Canal archive said:

Regardless of the cruise line Ceszky is wonderful look out for the lady walking her Ferret on a lead and the toy shops where all the stock is made from wood.

We didn't see the lady walking her ferret lol!  But we did go into the toy shops with the wood, that was real nice stuff! 

On 4/13/2022 at 10:39 PM, TeddysDad said:

I am so glad to see your post!! We are doing the May 11th Ingvi from Budapest to Passau.  What excursions did you do?  What ones were the best and which ones were just so so?  We are doing the Ceszky Krumlov tour.  Other than that, we were just doing the included ones.  Did you go to any of the baths in Budapest?  How were the water levels?

 

We had the pre-cruise excursion in Budapest and we did the Highlights of Budapest tour.  It was pretty good and we were able to meet some of our shipmates before we got on, which was nice.  It was a complete walking tour and it was 4 hours, so be prepared if you are doing that.  We didn't do the Szentendre tour but our new friends did.  Sounded like it was described.  Very artsy little town, okay, if you like that kind of stuff.

On the ship we did the Panoramic Budapest tour (which was a bus tour around the city & then up to the Buda Castle).  That was nice.  We purposely didn't do the castle on our own because I knew we'd be doing it on our ship tour.  We saw the synagogue on our own and honestly, it's cheaper to buy the tickets yourself and do it on your own.  It's not really that far of a walk from the ship.  Or you could always take a cab.  Honestly... I thought the synagogue was "okay".  It wasn't anything THAT special.  I read that it's one of the "top 10" sites in Budapest, but I didn't think it was that awesome.  But what I did think was awesome (we did it on our own) was St. Stephen's Basilica!  It's a bit away from where the ship docked, but go there and buy tickets and do the tower at the top.  Well worth it!

You don't get to Bratislava until the afternoon, so there are no morning tours.  We did the included Panoramic Bratislava and that was nice walking around the city.  All the tour guides (except for the one we had in Passau) were great.

We did Panoramic Vienna which was mostly a bus tour and honestly, it was a bit of a tease because you saw all these gorgeous sites but couldn't get any good pictures or see them that well.  But you are only there for one day so it's hard to see all these sites.  If you really wanted to see Vienna, I would suggest one of those "Tours by Locals" and you may get to see more.  In the afternoon we did the Schonbrunn Palace tour which was nice but not "awesome".  The part that was awesome (to me) was that there was an Easter market going on outside of the palace LOL.

In Krems the only thing to do is the Gottweig Abbey which is spectacular.  We were there on a Sunday, so all the stores in Krems were closed.  We walked around the city and went to the church at the top of the hill (a bit of a climb but worth it!).  Viking has shuttle buses to and from the city at various times, it was nice.

We did the Cesky Krumlov tour as well and it was very nice.  It was about 1 hour 20 minute drive through nice countryside.  They made one stop for restrooms and if you wanted to buy anything.  You walk up to the castle and then around town, then you have plenty of free time to explore and shop.  There's an information office right in the main square (where they leave you after lunch), with free wifi, stamps, postcards, money exchange.  Beware!  Viking tells you that they will accept euros and US dollars, but most stores didn't!  You can use credit cards though in I think all the stores.  There was only 1 store that accepted US dollars.  But if you wanted to use Czech crowns, you can exchange at the information office.

We did the Passau walking tour (which as I said above, our tour guide wasn't great), but it's still a nice city.  And St. Michael's cathedral is AWESOME.  The only problem is that it's under construction right now so you can't see the main alter and the areas around it.  But still, there was enough to see and it's spectacular.  In the afternoon we did the Bavarian Farm & Countryside.  Most people seem to go to a cow farm, but we went to a pig farm (which was awesome for me because I LOVE pigs!).  Caution... on your customs forms you have to declare any farms you visited and I posted something on the Viking facebook page and there were lots of stories about how people's food was confiscated and how some people were detained and sanitized shoes.

Hopefully I answered any questions!  If not, feel free to ask away!

On 4/13/2022 at 5:43 PM, doxielover47 said:

Hi Debbie, We are doing the Zurich to Paris Viking River cruise and would like to know if you tipped your room steward, etc. in excess of the gratuities which we have prepaid. I'm having a terrible time trying to find info on that... Thanks much for taking questions and hope you had a blast.

We both did but, it's definitely not *required*.  We did just because she was so good.  And my sister tipped the bar staff a little extra because they were so good to her and her friends.  I didn't "use" the bar that much, so I didn't.  It's totally discretionary, but Viking doesn't make it seem like you "have" to.  They offer you envelopes at the end of the trip if you want.

On 4/13/2022 at 3:18 PM, lorif said:

Hi Debbie, thanks for offering 🙂

Not specific to Viking, but to Budapest and the Danube, did you notice any disruptions linked to Russia/Ukraine? 

Thanks, Lori

Not at all Lori.  You really wouldn't have known there was a war going on not too far away.  The only way we knew (aside from the obvious that we knew) was a family from the Ukraine was staying at our hotel and the lady showed me a picture of her house (which was now rubble on the ground).  So sad!

If anyone has any questions about this cruise, please feel free to ask away.  We did the Viking Ingvi from Budapest to Passau with a 2 night pre-cruise extension in Budapest.  I may not have all the answers, but I'll probably have a lot 🙂

debbie

On 4/2/2022 at 2:48 PM, GoGAdawgsWin said:

Hi,

we’re considering a package deal from Viking for the 7 day Amsterdam-Basel cruise in late October 22.  Our first river and international cruise.

the deal includes airfare.

anyone have experience with included air particularly these questions-

1.  We live in Atlanta and have daily non-stops to Amsterdam.  Are we most likely to fly non-stop?  Really don’t want the 30 hour 6 stop flights I see on kayak.  
2. I realize the included flight is basic economy,  do you still get free check bag?

3.  If on Delta will my status help with seat selection if booked through Viking?

4. is it possible to arrive a day early on included air and not use Viking pre cruise package?  I’d like to get in a day early and tour Amsterdam on my own and acclimate to time change.

 

thanks and safe travels,

 

Just off the Danube Waltz & I can answer some of your questions.

1)  Choosing Viking air, you may get lucky for a non-stop, but not likely

2)  Yes, you will get a free checked bag with basic economy!  And we also brought on a carry on bag as well.

3)  No it won't!  My sister had tons of free miles on her credit cards and through United, and we weren't able to use them because *she* didn't book the airfare herself.

Good luck!

debbie

On 3/16/2022 at 3:53 PM, Napoli4 said:

Getting ready to book our very first river cruise for this May/June - eeek!  Our daughter just left to study in Stuttgart for 6 months, and we're planning a visit but would like to add a river cruise (just for my husband and I) on the itinerary.  We like the Amsterdam to Basel itinerary because we can fly to Amsterdam, do the cruise, and then train over to Stuttgart to meet up with her.   There are so many questions!  Do Viking boats dock close to the town centers?  Is a veranda room worth the extra money, or is a French balcony room plenty? What is the average age of Viking guests?  Is there a 'better' company than Viking (and why)?  Thanks in advance for any advice!

We were just on the Danube Waltz and we had a balcony room.  Honestly, a french balcony would be just as good.  We hardly ever used the balcony.  One reason was that the weather wasn't very good (your weather in May/June will be better), but honestly, when you want to sit outside, you'll go up to the top deck to see the panoramic views instead of just from one side.  You mainly sail at night and there's nothing to see on your balcony during the day except 1 of 3 things:  1) the side of another Viking ship parked next to you, 2) the dock where you are "parked", or 3) the other side of the river (which isn't much to see).  Either way, you'll enjoy yourself!

Thank you everyone for your replies.  It seems like doing the Viking pre-cruise excursion is probably the best and easiest for us to do.  I might save "a little" money doing it on my own, but really not much.  And it sounds like the Viking pre-cruise excursion is definitely worth the money.

Thanks again!

debbie

I thought I had read on the boards here that in order to do a pre-cruise excursion on your own (we want to come into Budapest 2 days early), that Viking would charge $50-100pp to customize the flights.  I called them today and they want $150pp to make the change.  I haven't read about anyone getting charged the full $150pp to change the date/flight.  Has anyone else paid this much?

Now I'm wondering if it's just better to book their pre-cruise 2 day Budapest excursion for $399pp?

Thanks!

debbie

Yes you can walk to St-louis cathedral, the fort, the library and the spice market from there !! I didn't find Fort-de-France run down ! !! Not as poor as all the other ports we visit !!

I was there in January of 2016 and didn't like it at all. I thought the town was dirty and the locals weren't very friendly at all. They didn't seem to care that much about your business. I read in a different thread that they only get 18% of their income from tourism, so maybe that's why.

I think on my upcoming cruise I'm just going to stay on the ship.

debbie