austinetc

Currently on Viking Aegir from Budapest on our way to Amsterdam and been informed we are switching to Viking Lif. Thus we switch ships in 3 days while in Nuremberg.

We are scheduled to be on the Lif in late October. (Though who knows at the moment?) If you have the chance, I'd appreciate any comments about your experience with the crew.

(Have you subscribed to the Grand European Tour 2018 thread?)

Wow, so I guess cruisemapper.com is not a good source.

Does anyone know where the Crystal Mahler is currently?

 

Thanks....

According to cruisemapper.com it's in Wismar. It's supposed to be in Budapest. I don't see any Crystal ships in Budapest.

This thread should be retired for age. If anyone wishes to address the subject matter, I recommend they start a new thread.

There is a Grand European Tour 2018 thread that has several posts in the past 8 weeks that discuss water levels on the Rhine and Danube. From what I can read the Rhine is fully open at the moment. cruisemapper.com is a good resource for finding your particular ship, though Viking has been swapping ships left and right.

Let this be a cautionary tale for everyone. Foreign travel rules can be a surprise for many. I'm very sorry that your trip was ruined. I know that your shared experience will cause me to be extra careful.

With all the various rules covering visas for all the countries Viking visits, I can't fault Viking for washing their hands of the challenge. My recent trip to five Asian countries required five visas, all with differing processes. (Among other things, I needed six passport-sized photos. And all five cost me well over $500.)

I am seeing Viking longships well east of Budapest. (cruisemapper.com) Two appear to be docked in Komarno, which is only 60 road miles from Budapest. So perhaps things are improving for the moment.

See this link. The residents think the low water is pretty cool. River boat tourists, not so much. (Reminder! the future is unknowable, especially when Mother Nature is involved.)

https://welovebudapest.com/en/2018/08/21/low-water-levels-in-budapest-reveal-rarely-seen-danube-sights/

jpintrepid: There is a thread regarding the Viking Grand European Tour Amsterdam to Budapest. On it is a series of very well written entries by Pepperwood about Viking's changed plans from Amsterdam to Mainz (on the Rhine). They indeed were given the option to go upriver through the Rhine gorge in a small boat. Overall, the impression I'm getting by reading this thread and several others is that Viking is doing all they can to make their tours worthwhile. It's vital to acknowledge that weather is unpredictable. Viking and every other cruise line is waiting until they are sure that changes must be made. In some cases, the ship's captain is left to make the final decision. Those who like fixed, absolute scheduling are obviously vexed. Those who can go with the flow (so to speak) are having an interesting time.

I've noticed that Viking corporate doesn't initially react well to unplanned events. I've watched from the sidelines while they had to manage two unanticipated events and seen them stumble for the first few days. But in both instances they quickly ramp up customer service and things then go very well. I theorize that they don't staff HQ with an overabundance of personnel, deciding to spend money on shipboard amenities. I can't disagree with their priorities.

Unless the skies open up unexpectedly, you are almost certainly going to be in hotels and buses until Passau. They're probably saying "No changes to the schedule" because even five days is too far into the future for them to announce firm schedule changes. They should be adding "At this time" to their statement. Their contract probably clearly allows them to alter cruise plans to buses vice boats, so low water isn't necessarily a reason to out and out cancel the cruise. To be fair to them, they can't predict the weather. You should maybe be prepared for a message from them in 2/3 days. Each cruise line has provided unique options depending on their specific situation.

Rivercruiseinfo is a unmaintained site. Check it's blog page dates. It's data is not current, regardless of the dates shown.

I suspect this information from their web site under weather pretty much tells you what you can expect for compensation for weather induced changes. Thus the reason why they are not forthcoming.

 

Our sales advisors are happy to provide advice on weather in our destinations. However, weather patterns are becoming less predictable and we cannot be held responsible for any disruption to your holiday itinerary due to bad or un-seasonal weather conditions or pay compensation/refunds for any alternative arrangements or property damage.

Clearly Riviera River Cruises doesn't rely on repeat business.

I'm thankful that I don't work for a river cruise line. I'm thinking that it's been a very bad year for riverboat crewmen. Paris in February had too much water. Over on the Rhine River blog I just read about a cruise that was canceled completely!

I'm assuming cruise lines have a wealth of experience with the flukes of weather patterns and know how long they have to wait before making itinerary changes. It would be really irritating to be traveling on buses while watching rain pour down alongside a flooded river.

It is my understanding that Viking ships can't get to Budapest from Vienna. There are buses taking people part of the way.

We were due to be sailing with Emerald on Sunday, Amsterdam to Frankfurt but they cancelled the trip on Wednesday due to the low water levels. We had received notification from them last Saturday advising of the concern regarding levels and that they had changed the boat and would update us further on Wednesday which they did. We are disappointed as this would have been our first river cruise. We were offered a full refund or a future cruise certificate with 5% off our next booking. We decided to go for the full refund. Fortunately we were able to cancel our Heathrow hotel at no cost to us and we had no pre or post cruise tours booked.

Eek. So sad for you. I wonder if this season is a bellwether event that will get the EU to fund increased dredging operations.

notamermaid: Your insights are excellent and entertaining. Regarding future water levels: While I fully realize that predicting levels two months in advance border on the ridiculous, they also shouldn't be ignored out of hand. "Record heat", "record low water" aren't usually thrown around casually. Justification for my personal concern is that for this trip I chose a two-room suite. (An attempt to connive my wife into finally retiring!) Two-room suites don't translate well into bus seats. I think a call to Viking is in my future.

I've finally found an original specification for Viking longships that says 1.60 cm draft. I'm now assuming that the "1.90" that I've been seeing is a reference to their navigable depth, taking into account your comment about a "hands breadth" safety margin. Would this be correct? I wonder also; are there regulated "passing zones" in the Rhine, or is it at the captains' discretion? I'm reading a lot about traffic delays. (Our Amsterdam to Budapest cruise isn't until late October, when I'm expecting that most of this low water trouble will be over with. Or am I being overly optimistic?)

Notamermaid, wonderful to have you teaching everyone. According to various specs, Viking Longships have a draft of at least 190. I've also seen 195 and 200, but never anything less than 190. Can you explain why Viking would built river boats with a draft that exceeds the typical depth north of Mainz?

We did the free tour of Barcelona. As with others, it's as much a tour to show you where to go as it is a history lesson of the city. Indeed, the operator gave us the option to stay in the city, pointing out where the shuttle bus stop was. I thought the guide did a very good job teaching, entertaining, and keeping to a reasonable pace. Of course, Barcelona is full of great locations, so his job was easier than a guide's task in less exciting cities.

Today we did the free (let's not be pedantic) tour in Trapani, Sicily. It consisted of a bus ride to a gondola, which carried us up to the mountain-top town of Erice. The town is okay, the views are phenomenal. Worth every included penny. Our guide was fine, though somewhat fixated on toilet availability. Apparently the paid excursions weren't very tempting; I think half the ship was on the same tour. We could have taken over the town.

By requiring full payment well in advance, Viking earns interest on our money. If they didn't have that revenue stream they'd probably need to charge more for each cruise. They'll get their money one way or the other. I think I'm alone in actually liking the advanced payment. I paid for my cruise 18 months ago. By now it almost feels as though I'm getting a free cruise. Their other motivation might be that now I've spent 18 months restoring my savings, so I'm financially able to consider their sales pitch for the next cruise. Smart.

One week is finished. The second week looks to be less intense regarding shore time, so we'll be able to experience the ship more. But here is a recap of the first week:

(The first two days were before boarding the Star.)

Arrival, Day one: H10 Metropolitan Hotel: Great hotel! Huge breakfast buffet. Half a block from the Plaza Catalyuna. (Spelling mistakes are what they are. Deal with it.) We jumped right in and did a Viator.com Cooking Class. 20 minutes from the hotel, assuming you know where it is. So assume an hour at least, though the hour spent finding the place is exciting. Excellent! Learned not only Spanish dishes, but also a lot about Barcelona. Jet lag was not a factor at all! An exciting, participatory event.

Day Two: Another Viator.com trip. Their tour affiliate office is 10 minutes from the H10. The Montserrat Monastery was fantastic, even though the view was mostly clouds for our day. The following Cava tour was incredible. Highly recommended.

Day Three: We reserved Sagrada Familia tickets (entry, audio and tower) just the night before and got 9:15 tickets. If you visit Barcelona and don't see this place, you are nuts. The designers who were (and are) designing this church certain fit in this category. Three hours are needed, minimum, unless you reach sensory overload (which happened to us).

Boarding the Star that afternoon was simplicity itself. One note: If you look different than your passport photo, insist on a new photo. They used my passport photo and I've spent the week insisting that I'm really who I say i am. (White hair and beard versus brown hair and clean-shaven.) But the ship is outstanding. Enough said. Anyone with serious issues with the ship needs to chill. It's as perfect as possible.

Day Four: Toulon. We did an excursion to Aix en Provence. Totally forgettable. The guide was very poor, but apart from her, there really wasn't much to it. Maybe with the right guide it would have been better. Toulon itself didn't seem like much either, but friends on other excursions had a good time.

Day Five: Monte Carlo. I accompanied my spouse to Grasse, the perfume capital of the world. Incredible. I spent more money there than she did. Then we visited the living walled village of Saint Paul. Magical place. Small walkways, quaint shops. Very peaceful. Nothing really special, but it has a style that is impossible to duplicate.

Upon our return, we were able to walk around Monte Carlo just as the sun was setting. I had a "James Bond" drink at the Casino for the memories. The Christmas lights were the best I've ever seen. It was also fun to see a Rolls, Porsche, Bentley, Ferrari, Bentley and Smart Car parked outside. (Full disclosure: I once owned a Smart Car. Fine company.)

Day Six: Corsica. We did a Prunneli Tour up a river gorge, then back down. Nothing fantastic, but a little fun none the less. It's not much of a location, so if you want to reenact an "at sea" day, this might be the time to do it. We did find and tour Napoleon's house, but understand that he moved out at age 9. Interesting, but not spine-tingling.

Day Seven: Livorno: We did the Florence/Pisa Tour. Spine-tingling. Pisa is everything one would expect, plus a factor. Florence has building by building history. Plus the shopping. The tour leaves you exhausted and wanting more time. A lot more time.

Day Eight: Rome. We did the After-Closing-Vatican Museum Tour, including the Sistine Chapel. It started with a routine drive around the city, red lights included. It was slow and a little disappointing. But the Museum Tour cannot be beat! The museum reportedly has 19,000 visitors a day. There were about 100 of us, plus a tour guide who knew which displays to discuss. The Sistine Chapel was all it could be. (Note: no photos!! The guides said it over and over and still some ugly Americans didn't listen. Shameful.) I could easily spend two entire days and still miss things. We finished the day with a great meal. It was an expensive tour, but entirely worth it.

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If we were on the Barcelona-Rome Cruise, tomorrow we'd be winging our way back to the states. But we have another week! Ecstasy.

Yes, the Passion Tower elevator takes people up and down. I don't know when they start taking reservations, but be aware that I booked the 9:15 AM Nativity Tower the night before. I doubt there is that much demand. Make sure you include the audio option.

I find the temperature warm on the ship. We've had the thermostat at its lowest setting and I'm still opening the balcony door. To be fair, the outside temp has been higher than the seasonal average so they might not be able to adapt to less external cooling. We prepared for colder days, but it's not right to complain about warm weather. My newly purchased sweaters will just have to deal with non-use.

Today we did Viking's provided tour of Barcelona. It was educational, reasonably paced, and fun. Strolling the tiny streets was such a treat. Yes, cars, motorcycles and bikes tried to share the street, but they did it without rancor. No obnoxious horns blaring. Patience was the rule of the day. Considering the price ($0), it's worthy twice the cost. Though we were put through a heartfelt sermon about the Troubles between Spain and Catalonia for the second time, I admired the guide's well reasoned and impassioned feelings.

The Market on the Rambles is something to see. It defies description. Food, food, food. One example: a display of dozens of olive varieties. If you can go, do it!

The Cruise Critic arranged-event was fabulous. I want to give an unsolicited thank you to Carolyn and her team. The ship's officers also participated and I could not be more thankful for the companionable conversations. I can't count the number of times they asked how they could improve the experience. I failed to come up with a worthy suggestion.

At dinner in the World Cafe my wife asked about chopsticks and a minute later a pair were in her hands. She asked about sticky rice and shortly thereafter was promised some tomorrow. This has been a terrific day and I can't imagine how tomorrow will be better. But I suspect that it shall be.