pontac

Very thoughtful and true. Viking markets different boats to different markets, so if one were to book a cruise with Viking USA the boat used may be full of US passengers. That's not necessarily true of boats marketed in other countries. (unsold places may be offered to other countries near cruise time. It happened to me, I went on a boat not listed on the Viking UK site and we found ourselves one of 6 Brits on a boat of Americans. Lovely people, I'm not complaining, just saying.) As your first para goes, this is a personal choice. I took a Viking and a Scenic cruise last year and I thought the Viking was more upscale. Depends on measurement criteria, and cabin booked. And cost!

Easy. You were young. 😉

Veranda rooms are 205 sq ft, and they're obviously larger than French balcony. But the thread is titled Comparing Viking Standard & French balcony cabin sizes I didn't include veranda rooms. Unfortunately storage on the shelf (actually a window sill) blocks light from the window, and the lack of light, compared with the French balcony room, does not give a feeling of extra space IMO. (In fact booking the standard room does the opposite with your wallet 😁) .

Quite understandable, you're coming a long way. These destinations are a lot closer to us, also we've sailed many of the routes before, and been on the excursions.

I agree. One spends so little time in the cabin.

I realise the diagrams are not architects drawings, and as the boats are designed and built in Europe the measurements used would be metric and thus the space converted to square feet is an approximation. Yes, the cabins on the middle deck are off set, but the French window cabins have the extra space afforded by going to the edge of the boat. Standard cabins on the lower deck have a wide bulkhead. I contend the floor space is the same, and people who book the standard cabin to get more space may have a cabin measured as 150 sq ft, but 15 sq ft of that space is unusable - or a small amount may be used as a shelf but one cannot stand there. Again its a diagram but it seems that the standard and French balcony cabins have the same width. I've drawn a vertical red line down from the front French balcony cabin (200) to the lower deck diagram. There are 9 cabins on each deck between the line and the crew staircase

But its nice and quiet on t boat for those remaining on board who skip to excursion. 😁

Now, that looks like a real car!

Yes, but the upper decks don't have the wide bulk head of the lower deck. I'm not comparing French balcony with Veranda rooms, but French balcony with Standard (lower deck) rooms.

The downside of upgrades is you get a taste for the more expensive 😁. As Mrs Pontac (not Pontiac - don't give her ideas!) couldn't see out the window she found the room gloomy, not something one finds in a French balcony where the river facing wall is glass

This difference has been mentioned before, and so I looked at the cabin diagrams and I cannot see an additional 15 sq ft of floor space in the Standard cabin. I've started a new thread about it, have a look and tell me where I've gone wrong.

It's been often said on this forum that one gets less space by booking a French Balcony cabin than a standard cabin. I have cruised in both and I didn't notice any difference. Viking's website says the Standard cabin is 150 sq ft whereas the French balcony cabin is 135 sq ft. The difference in space was mentioned again today, causing me to go to Viking's website and compare the two layout diagrams. This is the French balcony cabin and this is the Standard cabin All cabins have a Queen sized Viking Explorer bed. Strenuous research (i.e. a quick glance at Wikipedia) shows there is no standard size for a Queen size bed, but I assume all the beds on Viking are the same. I do not see an extra 15sq ft of floor space on the Standard room. Looking at the right side of the diagrams, between the shower room and bed is a small bedside unit, and on the other side of the bed is a larger unit. between the bed and wall. I think the length of the Standard cabin is measured from the window, and thus the Standard has no more floor space than the French balcony. Perhaps someone cleverer than me can find those 15 sq ft.

We've cruised in three Viking Longship cabin types so far, the cheapest ones on the lowest deck, french balcony and veranda. I'm quite happy in the cheapest, but Mrs Pontac is shorter than me and she can't see out the window, and she insisted on booking other decks. I honestly didn't notice the lower deck rooms are larger or the french balcony is smaller. We spend little time in the room when we are not asleep.

No worries. Leave it to Viking. Your bags will be taken from the coach when it stops at the boat and taken to the room. You could cross out the room number on the tag and write in the new one, or just tell boat reception when you check in. There's not many cabins on a river boat, it's not a big deal.* Congrats on the upgrade! You'll have a great trip (Does not matter where the cruise is going, you'll have a great time). *If you hadn't checked MVJ then the first you'll have known of the upgrade was when you checked in, and they'd have taken care of getting your bags to the new cabin. So, don't worry.

The problem with the Reviews section is that it is primarily a review of the boat, not the itinerary. And if you travel on a line that has multiple boats of identical design then there's nothing to say about the boat on subsequent cruises Some cruise companies have multiple boats on the same itinerary, so there might be a review of the itinerary you are going on posted under a different boat to the one you are going on. I did post in the reviews section on a trip, but now I post a detailed review on this forum (click on the Trip Report links in my signature below). Why not say what itinerary and cruise line you want to know about? Someone here might have done it. I don't understand most of this this, but if you were asked for 2998 last week and only 399 this then it sound like you got a bargain, and the kids have an extra 2599 to look forward to..

Worth asking, but I cannot see a problem. The cruiser departing the UK is the OPs mother and her husband who live in the UK. As far at Viking are concerned the booking is made via a TA for passengers with a UK address and Viking are paid by a UK based TA. Borders only concern is the passports, the plane ticket is booked by Viking and the only concern the plane operator will have is whether the passports are valid for the country visited - usually mustn't expire within 6 months of flight. It's not clear where the UK based couple have UK or USA passports, but either should be valid and neither country is in the EU. I do wish @ByTheOcean success, buying a cruise for relatives is a wonderful and generous gift, and I do hope @ByTheOcean will report back with what eventually happened.

I think the easiest way is as @*Miss G* suggests, or as @Host Jazzbeau says. There aren't many travel agents left in UK but I'm sure that if you do what our host says and Google for UK river cruising agents you'll find one Viking (and others, it's not just a Viking thing) detect where your server is and switch to the website of that country. Thus I am unable to look at US based sites. So hide the location of your server by using a VPN (Virtual Private Network). You can find a free one via Google. To answer your question People in the UK can book and pay online. UK prices include flights (and on some cruises the option train travel ) to/from the cruise, gratuities and on some cruises the Silver Spirits drinks packages. Plus full payment isn't due till 11 weeks before travel. So T&Cs are different from the USA

But there are some 6 year old articles still listed. Things change fast, and really any article not dated the current year will be out of date. I read articles on a line I know well - Viking - and on Scenic with whom I've cruised once. It wasn't clear in some articles whether the writer was writing about their own experiences or repeating what the brochures said. And then there were the contradictions. One article said that Viking's menu 'doesn't have as much regional focus as you might expect' (1) (expectations aren't qualified), but another article said that Viking served 'tasty dishes that showcase regional specialties', (2) while another said of Viking 'local cuisine is a big part of the menu.' (3) One article started 'I have been lucky enough to sail quite a bit since the restart of cruising, but not on a river ship, so I was wondering just what things would be like back on board. It turns out that the experience on Viking Radgrid is almost exactly as I remembered it.' (4) If the author had never been on a river cruise, how could his first one be 'almost exactly as I remembered it.' ? He also said the breakfast buffet 'it was nice to have the option of a lavish Champagne breakfast buffet each morning'. (4) I have never known Viking to have Champagne on the breakfast buffet. Champagne is restricted to those that have Silver Spirits package. 'Dinner is four courses, and usually begins at 7:30 p.m. Breakfast and lunch are buffets' (1) Dinner is usually served at 7pm. This article, dated May 2023 plus others said that lunch in the Aquavit lounge is a buffet and that the lounge served a restricted menu. This was the case, but in 2023 Viking changed to a full waiter service with an identical menu to the main restaurant. The article Scenic vs. Viking River Cruises, updated April 19, 2023 says 'However, with Scenic this fare also included complimentary private door-to-door transfers.',(2) no more alas, 2023 saw the end of this except for those who'd cruised several times previously with Scenic. It's probably impossible to have 100% accuracy as the offerings change frequently, but I'd expect more editorial control over articles to ensure consistency between them and to remove padding. Also I'd like to know if the author has personal experience and whether the cruise was paid for or was complimentary. The site they are on is named CruiseCritic. (1) Viking River Cruise Ships: Everything You Need to Know About a Viking Longship Updated May 11, 2023 (2) Scenic vs. Viking River Cruises Updated April 19, 2023 (3) Viking River Cruise vs. Viking Ocean Cruise Updated February 07, 2020 (4) Sailing on a Viking Longship: The European River Cruise Magic Is Still There in 2022 Updated March 24, 2022

I was thinking last night about cruising vs off-boat excursions. Some here say that off-boat excursions are the most important thing about a cruise to them. in other words the boat is used as a floating hotel to take passengers from site to site. I understand and sympathise with that view. As I've said. I cannot recall a cruise of the 13 I've taken that didn't have at least one excursion a day. But for me the excursions are incidental, I don't choose a cruise by the excursions offered*. For me, the cosseting and relaxation of the cruise is the attraction. And I prefer excursions to take place after lunch, I like a leisurely breakfast reading the newspapers rather than an early start to get on an excursion. So, the cruise companies are trying to please guests who have different priorities. *OTOH I cancelled a cruise (Viking's Great Lakes, Duluth to Toronto) when I found out how strenuous their excursions were

I've cruised past those castles three times (so far), but sailing the middle Rhine to view the castles takes just half a day; there's a stop with excursion during the other half. It's Koblenz on Rhine Getaway cruise (afternoon Basel>Amsterdam direction, in the morning the other direction)and Mainz in Treasures of the Rhine.

Then such a cruise is easy to avoid before booking by looking at its itinerary on the cruise company's website or in its brochure. I cannot recall taking a cruise that has a day without a stop and excursion.

Forgive me as I've not done a sea cruise, but doesn't 'sea day' mean a day when the ship is crossing an ocean and all there is to see in any direction is sea? That's different from a day cruising on a river where there are river banks on either side to view. On the Mosel in April we didn't take an included excursion to Trier so we could stay on the boat as it cruised along the Mosel and we admired the ever changing views on both banks, like below

I've been on that cruise. If you are interested in wine then it's great to be in the world's largest fine wine region. With the Viking cruise you have dinner one night in Ch Kirwan, a third growth in Margaux, where they served their top wine. It was a highlight of the trip. You're worried you'll be the only ones not retired. I guess you really mean will other guests be decrepit, sitting mumbling and dribbling. No. All guests will have had to travel - from the American continent or Australia is a long haul and not something decrepit do, plus there's a lot of activity on a river cruise. Meal times are free seating, so if you share a table with people you don't get on with, don't sit with them again. I took the cruise of Bordeaux when I was retired - but I retired in my 50s. There's not many cruise companies operating the Bordeaux cruise. I've been with Viking and Scenic. Viking have a better designed boat, seems more airy and spacious. Scenic use a narrow gangplank from their high reception with rope hand 'rails' to access the boat, which I did not like. Viking's lower floor reception matches the levels of landing stages. You are not the first person to post fears of being the youngest guest on board, if you look back through the forum you'll find the threads with responses from members of this board. I think you'll enjoy the cruise and you won't even notice the ages of other guests. Cheers Me with Champagne, Blaye castle in background. There's a comprehensive wine shop operated by the Blaye wine association showcasing all the wines from Blaye facing the castle entrance

So true. So if you sleep naked, don't pull open the curtains when you get out of bed in the morning. There could be someone else's window alongside yours 😁

That's true. Boats of same design can walk through reception area, but moored to a boat that doesn't have a reception area that aligns means - if that other boat is between yours and the river bank - going up to sundeck, crossing over to the other boats sun deck then down their stairs.