pontac

Viking have a crew member at the ship's exit handing out bottles of water to people going on excursions. That's on all cruises, even the one I got back from today where it was cold and most of the time it rained in the morning when excursions departed. I think you'll have enough to pack without adding a water flask but should you do so you can refill it from the bottled water in your cabin or the fountains next to coffee machines. But the bottles handed out when you leave the boat should suffice and you can ask for more than one should you feel the need.

I'm off first thing tomorrow, 28 March, to Amsterdam for Viking's Tulips and Windmills cruise. I'm not taking my laptop and I will be 'digital detoxing'* so I won't be around for the rest of this week or all of next. But, as Arnie said, I'll be back! *Apart from reading books on my Kindle, and I'm not suggesting this friendly forum is toxic.

PS; You don't say when you are doing this cruise, the cruise destinations and excursions can change, also can be different in the opposite direction. I also did the cruise in 2015 from Lyon>Avignon and most excursions were different then. However the wording on the Viking website blurb for the CdN tasting is the same for 2025 but of course we don't know if the winery visited will be the same. If you want do do it yourself, the town of Chateauneuf du Pape is about 18 kilometres from Avignon, so about 25-30 mins by car. You could arrange drop-off & pick-up from the car park there. Walk up hill and you come to Rue Joseph Ducos; there are several winery outlets there. And continue uphill to the top to find the ruined Chateauneuf du Pape itself; short walk. Any questions, I am pleased to answer but I'm off tomorrow on a Viking cruise and won't be back here till I return

Yes, I took this tour last year, albeit in opposite direction - please read my detailed review, link below. See Day 3 for details of the CdP excursion. As per my ending -'Not recommended'. On the other hand, the included excursion to Beaujolais was excellent, everything the expensive optional CdP excursion was not.

Update: I've never been to Peebles, so I hope @Nippy Sweetie will forgive me but I booked Unforgettable Douro 28JUN24 - 08JUL24 with a balcony cabin with Scenic today. Our host on this board @Host Jazzbeau has recommended this cruise as being the only one that takes a bit longer than the others 7 day zip up and down the Douro. Mrs P won't fly TAP after being bumped last time, so we are flying BA/Iberia Business Class via Madrid. This avoids early starts and has the benefit to us of using LHR instead of LGW. The lousy (I don't know if I'm allowed to say 'crap') Scenic website doesn't have ship floorplans, so when offered the choice of two cabins I couldn't see where they were, but I've since dug out the brochure and see I've got the rearmost middle deck. Just glad to get any,

We'd still have to cross to mainland Europe with Eurostar if we were going by train all the way. That'd involve 3 trains London>Paris>Madrid>Porto - 21+ hours If we fly to a nearby city then train then that's worse than taking a connecting flight.

If, as you presumably did, you booked with UK Viking then you'll have got the drinks package. That means you could have any drink from the drinks menu that is not asterisked. The wines served to everyone with lunches and dinners are good, but even better is to peruse the wine list to select a bottle of your choice. And have a glass of Champagne for an aperitif. We were intending using our OBC to buy asterisked bottles.

Mrs. P likes (the idea) of train travel. In fact that was what swung her agreeing to the Bordeaux trip with Scenic. But I found out that Eurostar arrives in the north of Paris but the train to Bordeaux leaves from the south of the city. So I called Scenic and found they didn't provide transfers. When pushed they suggested using the Metro but I didn't reckon two old codgers would enjoy manoeuvring cases down to the Metro, up at the other end, then dragging them to the station, finding the platform and hauling them onto then off the train... Anyway the cruise in 2020 was nixed by Covid and again in 2021. For 2022 I unilaterally switched to air as there's non-stops London to Bordeaux and all we needed was to get our cases to check-in. However Scenic booked us indirect flights involving an outward change at Paris and inward change at Amsterdam and flew us out a day early. (see Review of Beautiful Bordeaux 11 day cruise on Scenic Diamond from 17 August to 27 August 2022 with comparisons to Viking - River Cruising - Cruise Critic Community for the story.) Since Brexit Eurostar travel hasn't been so easy and Eurostar have recently reduced the numbers of passengers per train because of long delays at passport control.

I'm in the country bordering your south, and we don't use TA's. For the 16 river cruises we've taken I have booked direct with the cruise line. But the work involved in this one trip makes me envy those who've found a good TA who knows their business.

I can understand why people use TAs.

Maybe you'd pop-over here and have a word with Mrs P 😉 I meant to quote the bit from my earlier post about the river and excursions not having importance to us.... Then I discovered that just getting to the cruise is of top importance to Mrs P. As an aside, the none of the Cruise line's websites give all the info.....

Well, @CDNPolar I'm tearing out what little hair I've got. Mrs P said over dinner last night that as we had three months, May, June & July this year between cruises she'd like to book the Douro cruise. Oh, and she'd like to go on Saga as they have free chauffeur to/from the airport. So I did what I advise other and looked at the offerings and compared the different companies. With some its impossible to find from their site which airline they use. She won't go in a water-level room, and at this short notice that's all that's left on many, though you have to drill through pages to find that. She'll only go Porto>Porto not via Lisbon She won't fly the Portuguese airline TAP which most use to Porto - (they bumped us last time saying it was because we had a cheap package tour ticket.) She won't have a flight that has connections, it's got to be non-stop. Eureka! I found a Saga (line she wanted), going Porto>Porto with a French Balcony or suite at good prices, flying non-stop with BA. Result! She won't take it because the only non-stop flight BA do that day leaves at 06.30 which is too early, and she won't go the day before and stay in a hotel. I've spent hours on this.....

Answers 1) OBC 2) From Viking (I booked direct with Viking. The OBC was as a result of a complaint I made about the previous cruise) The Silver Spirits package is included in the fare. As we are wine aficionados we intended using the OBC on more expensive wines not included in the package Thanks, @CDNPolar

@CDNPolar He have Viking OBC for first time on our cruise next week. We don't fancy the optional excursions and were intending using the OPC on wine more expensive than covered by the drinks package. Are you saying we cannot do this? If we don't use the OBC this cruise do we lose it, or is it transferred to our next cruise?

I cannot tell from the Amadeus site whether their walking tour of Arles clashes with the Camargue excursion or whether you can do both. An advantage of a guided tour is the guide will probably have photos of van Gogh's pictures to show you as you look at the actual site, photos of the hospital before it was restored and will point out places such as the hose where van Gogh rented rooms when he first came. Also they pay for entrance to the impressive amphitheatre. However, if you don't want or can't go on the walking tour of Arles it's easy to do yourself. The town abuts the river and the sights are close. We went to Arles with Viking last August on a cruise starting in Avignon and ending in Lyon, second time we had been on this route. Arles is on Day 2 of my trip report, link below. (BTW, the Arles T-Shirt has maintained its bright colours after numerous washes and we wished we'd got more.)

Mrs P and I were talking about this at dinner. We now feel the river cruise experience is - for us -what it's all about. We don't really care which country or expeditions.* What I've learned from this board is that us cruisers have different wants about what is offered on board and off board. Old buildings and cathedrals? We live in an old city with a mediaeval centre, roman and pre-roman ruins and an ancient cathedral that tourists come to. But we don't live in a house where someone else buys, prepares and cooks the food and cleans up afterwards. Or someone who makes the bed, cleans and supplies fresh towels twice a day. And there's not a ever changing view out our windows at home either 😁 *Although Mrs P would like to go on the Douro again (without starting in Lisbon) and I'd like to do the Venice lagoon cruise which we haven't done.

Man or Woman's watch? A canny shopper would first make a shortlist of the make & model of watch they want - a German or Swiss made watch is still German or Swiss made no matter where it is sold. Then find out if it is sold locally and what the price is. Without that benchmark a canny shopper doesn't know when they are saving money or paying over the odds. International business is funny, sometimes things can be cheaper in an export market than at home. Maybe bargains on Black Friday? There's only one German or Swiss major city you moor on that cruise where you'll have time to go shopping, and that is Cologne.* The cruise terminates in Basel and has no nights there so unless you have booked to stay on after the cruise your opportunity for buying in Switzerland is limited, as Basel is the only place in Switzerland the cruise stops. Another consideration is tax. VAT (the equivalent of US sales tax) is 19% in Germany and 8.1% in Switzerland. When you buy there you ask for a form from the retailer which gets you a tax refund when you leave the country. You need to research that as some countries you can do it by mail, others you show form when you leave country. It's complicated that if you buy in Germany you enter Switzerland without border formalities and fly out of Switzerland, so I don't know. All in all I'd be tempted to buy direct and pay CA customs duty, buy locally or get it in Oregon. And just relax and enjoy the cruise. * Uhren-Landwehr at Severinstraße 43, Köln ( Köln = Cologne) is a stockist of the Laco Pilot Watch which is made near Heidelberg to which you have an excursion https://www.laco.de/en/watches/pilot-watch-original

I did this journey the other way from Budapest to Bucharest with Viking in 2019 and really enjoyed it. As one travels from the Western sophistication of Budapest through increasingly poor countries, some showing signs of recent warfare. You'll be seeing greater riches as you travel. I wouldn't expect to have the same guides throughout, but a local who speaks the local language and knows their region.

I have been to Budapest four times on Viking cruises and each time the boat has moored close to the Chain Bridge, at or close to this location https://what3words.com/typhoon.leafing.most Lukacs Thermal Baths is 25-30 minutes walk away. Not been on tram but check procedures: A relative (who is a police officer) and partner were fined on a bus there not because they didn't have tickets but because they hadn't validated (stamped) their tickets in the onboard machine.....

Well, are they each so different? And to really know one would have experienced them, and few/none of us have been on them all. Most cruisers stick with the line they know, and don't risk going on another in case they don't enjoy it as much. This very fact, that people rebook cruises on the same line, implies that that cruise line offers a good all round service. I have been mostly on Viking but I have cruised on Scenic and have compared them on my trip report. I think Viking have the edge, but that hasn't stopped me booking another cruise with Scenic this year. I think, from reading this forum, that they are all much of a muchness, and they differ only in minor ways.

There are two questions here. The first is about water levels, and that is entirely in the hands of the rain gods, but you may like to read the threads linked to in this thread: I was on a cruise that stopped at Passau and our excursion walked us around town where we saw high water marks painted on buildings with the date of that flood. When I got home I read that shortly after we'd cruised there without incidence it had suffered a massive flood that drowned cattle in fields. Pictures of Passau showed the top of buildings in a sea of water - one couldn't see what had been land and where the river used to be. That time all sailing was stopped. Things can change very quickly; the situation this week may not be the same next. The second question is what happens if river conditions stop the passage of a cruise boat. You say that transferring to another boat is not fun. I'd say it is a whole lot better to continue one's cruise albeit on another boat than to abandon the cruise, be moved to a hotel and be coached to places. Whether one is transferred to another boat will depend on whether the cruise line you are on has another boat in place. I personally have not been affected, but people I have cruised with have told me about previous cruises where they couldn't pass under a bridge. Another boat doing the the same route in the opposite direction was on the other side of the bridge. So both sets of guests transferred to the other boat which went back. As both boats were identical they stayed in the same cabin number with identical layout and facilities. So, number of boats on the route may be a factor in choosing a cruise line, and the words that the itinerary also operates in the opposite direction is an indication.

Unlike @dd57 we moored at Cadillac and it's a short walk into town, through one of the gatetowers in the walls, as below. Viking have a walking tour of Cadillac which will show you the highlights. On the Medoc excursion, as it's included and finishes with dinner, they split the guests into four coaches, each went to a different Chateau for tasting. If you have a particular preference, have a word before with the Tour Director. (My preference was for Ch Giscours and lo and behold I was allocated to that coach!). All coaches then go to Ch Kirwan (3rd Growth Margaux) for dinner. Kirwan wines were served throughout the meal.. Hint, the most expensive comes last so save yourself for the classed growth wine. The Kirwan dinner was the highlight of the cruise. We moored at Bourg and it was a short - but uphill - walk to the town centre, see below

Avignon is a pretty walled town a few moments by foot from the mooring. The major sight there is the Pope's Palace. ( Avignon, not Rome, was home to the Papacy in the 1300's). I don't know Chateauneuf du Rhone. It looks like you stop there only to let off an excursion and the boat continues along the river, the excursion meeting the boat at Le Pouzin. Thus you either take the excursion, stay on board or go yourself to the small town of Chateauneuf du Rhone as the boat leaves you behind. You don't ask about Arles so I'm guessing you know about it.

I was excited until I looked at the link. There's only a 7night trip in the Bordeaux region, same ports and travelling no further than the other lines. Longer trips are made by combining the 7 night Bordeaux cruise with others. The 16 day trip is the Seine cruise then train from Paris to Bordeaux, the 22 day one combines Seine and Rhone cruises with Bordeaux. They don't name any wineries visited, but they do have 'two-wheel excursions by bike'. Two wheels on a bicycle! Who'd have believed it? They know how to spoil their customers!!

Others use OBC on this board, I understand OBC. It's a shame that a line you thought so highly of has dropped its standards, however they have upped their superlatives. One now cruises in 'Ultra-Luxury' with Scenic. Ultra-Luxury I ask you, what's that when it's at home?