pontac

@Sun Lover Further to my earlier reply, our friend who were on the Viking Rhone tour at the same time asked me the same question, and were surprised I didn't know the answer because on their boat a daily announcement was made about the results of testing. On two occasions someone tested positive and they and their partner were transferred to 'a five star hotel'. No such announcements were made on our boat. I would prefer to be isolated in a hotel room rather than in a main deck, french window or veranda cabin.

@patrickmoran further to me previous reply to you. I don't want to mislead you, because I have just counted the passengers (by using the disembarkation info) and I see the boat had 88 passengers out of a 190 capacity, so my experience of having tables to ourselves will unlikely to be the same on a full boat.

Which ones?

I don't think Viking post the times. The Viking Daily you get the evening before tells you the time of arrival and departure. I have given the Koblenz times in my previous post and the Speyer time earlier in this thread. I am happy to give times of other stops. On my trip we invariably arrived earlier than the estimated time, but I heard the Captain telling the Hotel Manager he was worried about some lock which were supposed to be open 24 hours, were closed during part of the night, so we may have left some moorings earlier than stated.

If you want to go on Marksburg Castle tour I suggest you do so, and on your return do your own walking tour of Koblenz. There are street maps on reception for you, and a few minutes research on the web will give you enough info on the sights of Koblenz. Boat moors in Koblenz at 1pm and doesn't leave till 3am next morning so you have afternoon and evening to explore. We took optional Mosel wine tasting which also clashes with included walking tour, so walked Koblenz on our own afterwards. We have taken the Marksburg Castle tour on a previous Viking cruise, and it is well worth going to.

Maybe I should get out more........

No, that's not allowed*. Traditional Method/Methode traditionelle is used to denote bottle fermented wines, unless other protected terms are used , such as Cava in Spain and Cremant** in France. *except in Champagne where no one uses it because the designation Champagne defines the method of making (and lots more as well. Methode champenoise is not allowed because it uses the 'C' word. As a wine maker/grower & owner in Champagne explained to me, the methode champenoise involves a lot more than just the method of putting bubbles in the wine, from the varieties uses, to how close they are planted, that grapes must be hand picked etc etc -all are encompassed by the Champagne laws.) * Cremant used to be a Champagne term for a fizz with lower pressure. They gave up the term as a quid quo pro for protection on methode champenoise. Before that happened you could by a Mumm Cramant Cremant, a less fizzy Champagne grown in the Cramant region)

Those that went on the Dine in Rudesheim evening enjoyed it. I've not been. I understand that guests from another Viking boat went the same evening and I would guess that the venue is a touristy place that can handle a large number of people. If you want more authentic restaurant dining then doing it yourself would be the way to do it, and probably no more expensive. It depends what cruise you are on, but there are probably several locations where you can dine out - it doesn't have to be Rudesheim and at some you can explore the town in the afternoon to choose where to dine in the evening. But be aware there is 'A Taste of Germany' dinner on board every Viking river trip I've been on going along the Rhine, with a buffet of local meats both hot and cold, sausages, pretzels, cheeses, etc. Previous years they have a local oompah band come on-board playing in the restaurant, but this time (Rhine Getaway 23-20 April) they didn't - I don't know if this was a permanent change or the musicians were unwell.

This was the first time we had the drinks package - it was a promotion so we didn't pay for it - and I was very pleased to be able to pick something from the 4 page wine list at meal times. The house wines are usually good, but this time the white was a Chardonnay (which is not a wine we'd buy) and the red about which Heinrich doesn't disclose what's in the bottle, which is a poor sign and the web suggests its all or mostly Dornfelder, a grape with no merits IMO. We took the Viking Bordeaux cruise in 2015 and then they made no bones about it being a wine cruise. They had their own sommelier on board and the house wine changed every day reflecting the Appellation we were in. For the first few years, when Viking had way fewer boats, the house wines were labelled especially for Viking and came from Morwald winery in Austria and were a Gruner Veltliner and Zweigelt, both excellent wines with which we were very happy. (An exception was the sparkling wine which they illegally called Champagne and was a semi-sweet German Sekt and which we couldn't finish the first glass and refused all further).

Is there any chance you could have a discount or OBC instead of the Silver Spirits package?

Rhine Getaway goes Basel (Switzerland) to Amsterdam (Netherlands) -and vice versa- in 7 days. Got back home today, Saturday 30 April. Situations change fast but currently Viking require passengers and crew to wear masks when walking around ship, and on coaches and tours. Depending on which country you are in, it's that nations law that you wear masks on public transport, and that incudes coaches. Masks not needed when sitting. Viking supply FFP2 masks in your cabin, reception and bar -- just help yourself -they are free. Every night you get a tube and envelope in your cabin and you have to supply a spit sample next morning before breakfast (spit in tube, seal it with screwcap and put in envelope) These are taken by a courier to a lab for a PCR test. People who need a negative PCR test certificate before flying can collect one at reception their last day. Netherlands require all passengers and crew in planes flying out of and into Netherlands to wear masks. Mask are required at Schipol airport; staff hand out free disposable masks.