cleophus12

Have formal nights changed since the Oasis is leaving PC now or are they still 2 and 5?

Have formal nights changed since the Oasis is leaving PC now or are they still 2 and 5?

Another vote for Navigator

And how would one sign up for the mixology martini class? Online or onboard? Where if onboard?

Just returned from Viking's Rhine Getaway. The trip to the Black Forest required a bus ride, and once we arrived, there wasn't too much to see. The ride was really the main attraction. Only a beautiful snowfall made that trip worthwhile. The bus took us into Strasbourg, but once we got to the old city, it was very easy to walk around. We were also delivered by bus into Heidleberg, but the town itself if very walkable. The bus ride to the castle was helpful since the castle sits up high and could be a tough walk I think. Rudesheim did not require bus transportation. You are not locked into a tour just because you take the bus into town. Just let your guide know you are going your own way so they won't be looking for you.

We extended our post cruise for 3 days in Amsterdam. We took one of those days for a train trip to Paris. We were a little too tired to get all we could have out or Paris, but it was a great way to get a taste of the city. Amsterdam was fun too.

robinlynn, Hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise.

We were only docked next to another ship one evening, and they left earlier than we did.

Our trip was 3/23-30. I had checked the weather report for several weeks ahead of time. Our original forecast was fairly dismal. However, as we got closer, the weather improved greatly and our actual weather was wonderful. We only needed our coats on the snowy day in the Black Forest and on the morning in Strasbourg. Otherwise, a scarf and sweater were all we needed. We had beautiful sunny days in the mid to upper 50's. Hope yours is as wonderful.

We did not speak with anyone who had been to Lake Geneva.

Our Alsace wine tasting was canceled because not enough people signed up for it.

Our Rhine Getaway left from Basel and finished in Amsterdam. Our arrival in Basel was super simple. The Viking folks were there to meet us and take us to their new Mercedes buses which would take us directly to the boat. Once we claimed our luggage, we were on our way. We had flown all night and arrived at the boat around 12:30-1:00 PM. Lunch was being served in the lounge, so we had a light lunch of sandwiches and salads. A walking tour of Basel was being offered at 1 and 3 and since we had missed the 1:00 tour, we went at 3. I had done some research on things to see and do in Basel, and I had not found much to spark my interest other than just seeing a few sights, so the walking tour seemed like the thing to do. Otherwise, we would have been taking a nap, and that is not the way to start a European vacation if you want to get on a proper sleep schedule. Our tour guide was a young man who seemed like he might be rather new at the touring business. He spoke English but had difficulty with much of his translation. The reason we suspected he is new at this was because he had no commentary to speak of outside of the places and landmarks he was showing us. I always like to know about the place and its people, and he had little to offer on those subjects. While I had heard that Viking guides did not mind you striking out on your own, this guide seemed to become very flustered when several of us wanted to break away from the group to visit a church that was not on his itinerary. He did, however, let us go and we all met him back for the return trip to the ship. Perhaps he was afraid of losing us before we even left the port. He was a nice young man, but not the most informative of guides. Basel is a large city and while there may be far more to see than we did, it is not a place I long to return to.

From Basel we sailed about 7 pm for Breisach, Germany and the Black Forest area. The weather was fairly cool in Basel, and by the time we woke up in Germany, we were receiving some snow. We had docked some time during the night and I never heard a thing. If you are going to get snow on a river cruise, this is where you want to have it. The trees weighted down with snow made for a magical sight. We left Breisach at 8:30 for our excursion. (When they say 8:30, you better believe they mean it. We were always on the road by 8:31!) The stop at St. Peter’s church was perfectly lovely, and then we made our way to the cuckoo clock shop. While the shopping area was cute, it was all a bit too touristy for my taste—one of those places you sort of feel was built for and kept in business by the cruise lines. But the grounds were lovely and the Black Forest cake was quite good. Frankly, without the snow I think I could have taken or left this trip. We were back at the ship by 12:30 and had our mandatory muster drill—took about 10-15 minutes and then had lunch. After lunch we walked up the hill to St Stephen’s Munster which dominates the Breisach skyline. By this time it had begun to sprinkle rain, and while we were in the church it poured. We took “sanctuary” inside a bar right outside the church! This was one of the things we found so amusing throughout our tours—bars tend to be right outside of churches. In fact we saw one bar that was attached to a church and parishioners must go through the bar to get in or out of the church. By the time we finished our Black Forest beer, the rain had stopped and we walked through the town and back to the ship. One couple in our group did the optional WWII excursion to Colmar and absolutely loved it. They had an amazing guide and a truly memorable afternoon. They did say they were driven through the town of Colmar which is another excursion, and they didn’t think that excursion would be as worthwhile as the WWII trip. The captain hosted a cocktail party at 6:45 and dinner was at 7. Evening’s entertainment was a quartet called the Black Forest Voices. They were cute, but not enough to keep me awake.

Each evening before dinner George, our Program Director, would host an informative talk about the next day’s events. Each talk was very thorough and we got a good feel for what we would be doing the next day so there would be no surprises.

Our next stop was Strasbourg, France. We actually docked at Kehl, but Viking runs shuttles each hour back and forth from Strasbourg. We began the day with a walking tour of the old town which was really pretty. Our tour ended at the Cathedral with its astrological clock. Beautiful and amazing in every way. We braved the 330 steps up to the spire and it was well worth it for the view. Even those of us with fears of heights and closed in places were able to make the climb successfully. We ate lunch in an Italian Bistro (in France!—what was wrong with us?) and then went back to revisit some shops we had seen earlier in the old city. (I enjoyed the Christmas shop. I work in a Christmas shop at home and was able to purchase a pyramid cheaper than I can get it wholesale at work. Very pleased with my find!) We also bought some candy and gingerbread and took the 3:30 shuttle back to the boat. The ship was parked directly in front of a bridge that connects France and Germany, so we walked the bridge and then a block or two of Kehl. The chef was demonstrating how to make an onion tart--Flammkuchen, maybe? (a regional specialty) and I went to that. They served champagne at the demonstration and we got to sample the tart when he was done. I must say, there is no shortage of alcohol on these ships. Whether that’s good or bad, I’m not entirely sure:) I ordered the Sea Bass for dinner and it was not fileted. It was full of bones so I did send it back and got Weinerschnitzel in its place. Now that was good! Most of the folks at our table had it, and no one was disappointed. George hosted a trivia game in the lounge at 9:15. Lots of fun.

Heidleberg was our next stop. Buses took us to the Castle. Amazing ruins and beautiful views. Our guide here was Dana from Transylvania who called herself Draculina. She was really good. We did not go into the castle except to view the large wine barrels. After the tour we were dropped off in town to see the sights on our own. Some lovely little shops in town and my first Kathe Wolfhart Christmas store! Returned to ship for lunch and we left Heidleberg early to sail for Rudesheim where we docked about 4:30. We did not do the optional dinner excursion but walked into town on our own. Beautiful walk, but other than a few restaurants and bars nothing was open, so no shopping for us. I assume once the season cranks up, more stores will stay open later for guests, but on this night nothing. We walked along the Drosselgasse and looked for a restaurant for dinner and wound up in the same restaurant the shore excursion was in. I believe the name was Rudesheim Schloss. We were of course in another room, but enjoyed the band and all the festivities going on in the restaurant. Great night. While the ship was here the Sun Viking pulled up right next to us and used us as a dock. We could literally touch the ship from our window. Their passengers had to walk through our lobby to disembark. Interesting way of doing things.

Our sailing day was next. We stayed in Rudesheim until 9 am and left to cruise the middle Rhine. This had been billed as a highlight of our cruise, and it did not disappoint. The weather was lovely (cool on the sun deck, but gorgeous). The biggest disappointment of the day was the ship’s PA system. It continually cut in and out making the narration hard to understand in places. Viking needs to fix this ship’s PA system as this was not the only time it caused problems. We docked in Koblenz around 1-2 and were driven to Marksburg Castle for the afternoon tour. The castle is remarkable and the tour is quite thorough. Buses get you as close as possible, but there is still a good climb to the entrance gate and the uneven stone floor of the castle makes getting around somewhat difficult for some patrons. The plaza and statue at the “corner of Germany” is also quite something. Climb up to the statue for great views. We had hoped to ride the chairlift over the river, but it was closed for maintenance while we were there. We left around 4 am to sail for Cologne. Music trivia was the evening’s entertainment.

We arrived in Cologne around 9 and took the walking tour to the Dom. Today’s guide was my least favorite as he mostly talked about trivial stuff (the pictures on the Euro and just stuff), but the Dom was completely amazing. Best cathedral so far. We walked back to the boat for lunch, then the guys in our group went back to the Cathedral to climb the 509 steps to the top. Girls went shopping for chocolate mostly. We visited the Lindt chocolate factory but only went to the gift shop and did not do the tour. Several of the folks in our group did the optional evening beer crawl to bars in town. It was fun and our guide was great. I will say that this tour could probably be done on your own because you just go in the bar, have a drink, and leave. However, we were there on a Friday night, and the bars were packed so it was nice not to have to wait for a table. We always had a place waiting for us. He also chose places that would offer us a variety of tastes of the local Kolsch beers. We sailed at 11:15 for Kinderdijk where we arrived about 2pm on Saturday.

While Kinderdijk is charming, it exists solely for the purposes of tourism these days. The windmills do not serve any workable function anymore. It was interesting to go inside and observe that way of life, but there is nothing else there. We enjoyed the walk and returned to the boat. It was a nice day for sitting on the sun deck, so we made use of it while we waited on the rest of the passengers to return to the boat. Nice view of the windmills, and really, where else are you going to see this kind of scenery? We left Kinderdijk about 5-6 and arrived in Amsterdam before I went to sleep (around midnight).

Disembarkation was super simple. There is no rush to get off the boat (so unlike an ocean cruise). You can have a leisurely breakfast in the dining room which is served until 9. We were taking a taxi to our hotel and our ship’s concierge arranged the taxis for us even though we did not purchase Viking transfers. We put our luggage out at 9, it was picked up and taken off the ship, and we collected it when we walked off at 10. No problem. When all our luggage wouldn’t fit into the two taxis, Svetlana called another to carry the extra bags and we were on our way.

Viking makes every element of their vacation package simple. From airport transfers to excursion transportation to bringing wine to the dinner table to purchasing shore excursions to disembarkation—they have mastered the art of simplifying everything for their passengers. It is a great way to vacation.

One more thing I should mention while this is all fresh: We let Viking book our air and while some have had trouble with it, we did not. Some of our group did not have the best flight schedule, but ours going to Basel only involved one stop in Munich. However, while we were there, Lufthansa announced a strike that went into effect the day we were leaving (April 2). Although we did not book our 3 day extension in Amsterdam through Viking, we had paid the air deviation fee so they had booked our air home also. When the strike was announced we called our travel agent at home who promptly called Viking and they went to work on getting us home another way. The Viking agent called me personally a couple of times as well as our travel agent to keep us up to date on the situation. They could not have been more helpful. Lufthansa, on the other hand, was no help whatsoever. Upon going to their website to check my itinerary, it showed our flight was canceled and gave a service number to call. When I called I got a recording that their lines were busy and to call back later; no options to choose from for help, just call back which I did for two days to no avail. We were very grateful to have Viking air and our travel agent working for us.

Just returned from the Viking Rhine Getaway Basel to Amsterdam on the Helvetia and wanted to post a few thoughts. These boards were a huge help (as always) because I found the resources for river cruising to be fairly limited on the internet. Most of the information just comes from the cruise lines’ websites, and I prefer the expert opinions of travelers themselves. That’s why I love Cruise Critic.

First of all, we are loyal ocean cruisers and have cruised several lines. When we first started cruising thirty years ago, the staff was always so friendly, and it seemed like it was because they enjoyed their jobs and not because they were looking for a good tip. I have seen that attitude change some over the years, but the Helvetia staff was genuinely friendly. They could not do enough to make our stay enjoyable. Perhaps the staff’s attitude has something to do with Viking’s tipping policy which was different from any I have ever seen. There are two recommended tips: $168 for the crew and $28 for the Program Director. Since the tip is shared among the crew, I guess they all want to earn their share.

I confess to being a little worried about the condition of the Helvetia. With their focus on the new long ships, I was afraid Viking might be letting other ships suffer. My fears were completely unfounded. The ship is lovely and in excellent condition. The biggest problem is with the ship’s PA system, but that should be an easy fix which I hope Viking will do something about promptly. Our stateroom was perfect (room 205) and was so convenient to everything. The restaurant, lounge, coffee service, and entrance were all within a few steps of our room. We could hear lots of plumbing (flushing, showers) during busy times of day (morning and at bedtime), but otherwise the room was very quiet. I think I have to have a balcony when I cruise the ocean, so I was afraid I would miss my balcony, but I didn’t. The large windows open wide at waist level, so when we had our window opened (which was often) we felt like we had a balcony.

One of my first thoughts about being a new river cruiser is that you can forget pretty much everything you think you know about cruising when you are on the river because this is a completely different animal—and I mean that in a good way. Ocean ships have a lot of rules, and I understand why. When you have so many people of so many ages on a ship, you have to establish guidelines to keep chaos from erupting at every turn. It was fairly easy to spot the seasoned ocean cruiser because they would ask questions like, “May I take this drink, food, etc., to a particular location to drink/eat it?” The answer was always, “Well, of course!” There were no restrictions on where alcohol or food could be taken onboard. And the allowance of outside alcohol was very different from the ocean cruises. A trip so free of rules and schedules was very relaxing.

The Program Director, George, was amazing. I personally think he is a triplet because he was everywhere! He was on every offered shore excursion and on most of the optional ones. Who knows when/if he actually sleeps! He was very personable and knew the names of several of our group members within a day or two (not sure if that was a good or bad thing!) The Concierge staff was also extremely helpful. They could not do enough for us. They even arranged departure taxi s for 14 of us in Amsterdam even though we had not purchased transfers from Viking. They were truly awesome.

Ours was the first Rhine Getaway of the season so we had a crew that appeared to be fairly new to each other. They were not new to Viking or to cruise service, but were not entirely comfortable with each other. For instance in the dining room when we asked for an additional entrée, we were usually told, “I will see if we can do this.” And when we ordered a cheese plate and dessert, we were told we could have one or the other, but not both in more than one instance. That’s no big deal, but I think it speaks to the crew’s comfort level with what they felt they may and may not do. Perhaps they didn’t know how much leeway they had with their superiors yet. Meal service in the dining room was also somewhat slow. Now this isn’t really a problem because there is nowhere you have to be after dinner anyway, but at our table for eight or ten, the food came out at wildly varying times. Some of us would order the same thing, and a few would get theirs quickly while others would not get theirs for another fifteen minutes or so. Now the tour of the galley may explain this because in such small quarters, they clearly do not have room to keep 200 meals ready at all times. Or it could just be that our group was confusing the staff with some of the requests that were being made on occasion. The food was very good, but there wasn’t a meal that was just a total Wow--although I will say the German night buffet throughout the ship offered a number of excellent choices. Another issue that may be because we were the first cruise of the season had to do with our tour guides. Most of them (not all) seemed a little green--like they didn't all have their spiel down quite yet. They lacked a certain energy and enthusiasm in some cases.

Overall, our trip was terrific and I hope to post a trip report on ports of call later. I would cruise with Viking again in a heartbeat. Their itineraries are great and they offer a product that is accessible to all age groups. We did have a few younger couples with us (Under 50), and they were not bored. The pace was a little slow for them—morning shore excursions provide a taste of a port, but if one was exploring on his or her own, you could cover a lot more ground. And except for the late evening/early morning departures from Rudesheim and Cologne, there wasn’t much to offer in the way of night life. However, I was happy enough not to have to go anywhere at night except to bed. Again, I think that contributed to the relaxation level of the trip.

We had an 11:30 for the Fantasy and virtually walked right on with little waiting time in the terminal. We had whatever the earliest time is now for the Dream and had to wait a brief time just because it took a little time to get everyone situated who wants to come in early. In both cases we had an early boarding number once we got there. The early PAT on the Dream got us onboard well before the crowds and Cabanas wasn't crowded at all then. I love having as much of the day as I can get in onboard for the first day.

Do you not want to do online check in? It would save you some of those worries.

Husband wore Khakis and a dress shirt. Daughter and I wore dresses--not too dressy, just fun. DH loves that he no longer has to pack a suit and dress shoes. Men's shoes take up too much room in the suitcase anyway!

There is actually plenty of shade on CC as you move further back from the water. And the further back you go, the more hammock access you have too! I'd try to get the family off the ship as early as possible to claim one of these spots, however. They do tend to fill rather quickly.

Hi, SfromATX: We are on that cruise also. See you there!

I have been scouring these boards for months in preparation for our Rhine Getaway at the end of March. Your review was most helpful and answered most of my questions. I do have one other though: is coffee available for early risers without going to the dining room? We will be on the Helvetia.

Maybe this will make you feel better about using Viking air. We booked the Rhine Getaway with a group of folks. They had booked much earlier than us. When air was assigned, we (the late bookers) got the better flight. We were told (not by anyone official, of course) that the early bookers got the cheaper flights, and by the time we booked all the cheap flights were gone so we got the better one (only one stop). I don't know how much truth there is in that, but we are very happy with our flight schedule.

We are doing the Rhine Getaway in March. I have enjoyed reading your posts and have learned alot from them. I noticed that you shared Lori Dobson's blog with someone earlier and was wondering if you would do the same for me. Many thanks. llbeason@charter.net

I realize your cruise was in December so the Christmas Markets were in full swing. I work in a Christmas Shoppe here at home, so I was wondering where would be the best place to shop for Christmas items in March. Don't some of these towns have some lovely Christmas shops that are open all year around?

We sailed Costa in the Med a few years back and were constantly aware of the language barrier. We were in a minority of about 150 English speaking passengers. About 1 am one night the alarm went off. Not even one passenger on our deck came out of their cabin to see what was going on. I was petrified. We got our life jackets out and waited for instructions. About 10 minutes later an announcement came in 8 languages, the last of which was English. After the

Concordia disaster, I became more fully aware of how frightening and chaotic a true disaster can be.

So is it safe for me to assume from your post that the town area of Kona is close enough to the pier to walk? Do we need a rental car to get to the town area?

So is it safe for me to assume from your post that the town area of Kona is close enough to the pier to walk? Do we need a rental car to get to the town area?

I have searched this thread, so if this question has been asked please forgive me. What would be our best bet for transportation from YVR to the Westin Bayshore? I'm not crazy about manhandling all my luggage, so I'd like the simplest solution. How much would a cab cost? BTW, this thread is a wealth of information. Thanks so much for all the time you put into it.