jrkstl

1 hour ago, mebbob said:

We will be taking Viking's "Passage to Eastern Europe" cruise from Budapest to Bucharest in late August.  Starting to look through excursions now and looking for recommendations, positive or negative.  Thanks!

Greetings! Did this cruise with Viking last year and loved it. TONS of information for you here in last year’s Roll Call thread 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2536236-all-viking-2019-passage-to-eastern-europe/

Enjoy!

Jeff

Update - we just received official word from Viking. Right now, all Viking Yangtze cruises through June of 2020 have been cancelled. They are offering either a full refund, or a $500.00 PP rebooking credit on a different itinerary. We had already made our mind up to rebook on an ocean cruise, so hopefully they'll honor the credit there.

Jeff

We are scheduled for Viking China in early June, but have started the conversation of what we want to/can do. Hoping to have more clarity this week.

Ugh.

Jeff

FYI - we've used Viking's pre and post excursions many times, and have been happy with all of them. 

I'm a trip planner, and would be quite comfortable making arrangements, but it is soooo nice to not have to worry about it. 

Next year we are taking our first post-cruise deviation on our own - 3 days at Disney Shanghai 🙂

Word of caution - pre and post excursions sell out frequently, so book them ASAP.

Happy travels!

Jeff

Just to add to the conversation - our early April Danube cruise from Budapest to Bucharest encountered heavy winds lasting a few days that created problems, delays, schedule changes and nearly cancelled three days of cruising. So yes, water levels are definitely a thing, but wind events can be an issue as well. Who knew?

We had a fabulous time (Viking handled the last-minute changes exceptionally well I might add), but I never considered that a wind event could be so problematic. 

Jeff

FYI, I believe that some of the newer Longships have more.

That is, if I recall correctly! Our Rhine cruise in 2017 was on a ship that was only about a year old, and I believe that it had more USB ports than the slightly older ships.

Don’t quote me on that 😀

Jeff

China next year, and we just booked the Douro River for Spring of 2021.

Clearly, we are addicted 😃

Jeff

4 hours ago, mhb1757 said:

Good choice on flights. Amsterdam is (IMHO) the easiest hub in Europe. SO much faster and easier to navigate than London, Paris or Frankfort. 

Agree 1000 % !

Jeff

We cruised the Bordeaux region in 2016 with Viking and it was a wonderful trip.

Would love to go back and do it all over again, actually.

Not a ton of actual cruising, but it was a great itinerary.

Jeff

We did the Budapest-Bucharest itinerary in April of this year with Viking, and did the following:

In Budapest (since we were there for a couple of days) we got some Forints at an ATM for small purchases. We also used our CC for larger purchases

In Croatia, we paid for the few items bought in US dollars (vendors here, including winery in Ilok took both Euros and USD as well as local currency)

In Belgrade, we again got a small amount of Dinar at an ATM, but used our CC here as well.

In Bulgaria, we just paid with CC. 

And in Romania, we used the ATM again for a small amount of Lei to use on little purchases, but used the CC for larger purchases.

We found that most smaller vendors pretty much throughout the trip would take USD, Euro or local currency and were happy to accept whatever you had.

At the end of the trip, I think that we only had a 5 Lei bill left over 🙂

LOVED this trip, and your money goes *very* far in this part of the world.

Enjoy!
 

Jeff

2 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Jeff, did I ever say thank you? Chateau des Flecheres was one of the highlights of the trip. Better even than visiting Napoleon's Malmaison on the second part of our adventure. I don't know that we would have even considered it had you not talked about.

Oh I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!! It really is a wonderful place, isn’t it??

Jeff

Just returned home from Viking's "Passage to Eastern Europe" itinerary from Budapest to Bucharest. 

We loved the trip, especially seeing things that weren't so "postcard" perfect.  I found most areas to be quite beautiful, and the people encountered along the trip were very warm and friendly. And we totally fell in love with Romania (especially the Transylvania region.)

I would highly recommend this trip - especially to those that are looking for a different, less-traveled slice of Europe.

Jeff
 

Just a couple more notes 🙂

The first night in Bucharest is actually part of the cruise, so the night in Brasov is actually the first night of the extension.

We were staying in Bucharest at the JW Marriott Grand Hotel (VERY nice!), and they stored our luggage in a locked room near the check in area.

Again - you have the option to take all of your items with you.

If you decide to do this itinerary - PLEASE don't miss Transylvania! It was a very striking part of Europe, and not to be missed.

Agree re: Climate Change, and it's getting to be a tad scary regarding weather patterns, etc. I've noticed that air turbulence is happening more frequently as well. Scary stuff!

Jeff

6 hours ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

Jeff..still a bit confused. So you're saying you could leave luggage in your room at Bucharest while you were overnighting in Brasov? And then...what...returned to the same room in Bucharest for the 3rd evening? I'm sure it worked out fine, but not crazy about having to split up luggage and have just an overnight bag for the one night in Brasov. Just sounds a bit much. As we get older, I'm starting to think the simpler the better!  I was hoping they'd do 1 night in Brasov, then 2 consecutive. As you mentioned, it may depend on what is available when.  

They gave us the option to leave whatever we didn’t want to take, but you could bring everything if you wanted. You check out of the hotel in Bucharest after the first night and they put your bag in storage (if you want). You then have your night in Braşov and then come back to the same hotel in Bucharest and then check in again for your two additional nights. Mind you, check in consisted of them handing you an envelope with your room keys. For us it was nicely done, and once we walked into our new room in Bucharest, the bags we left behind were waiting for us in the room.

Regarding the waves, it was extreme for a river cruise (been on five now and have never felt anything like it) but nothing compared to what you experienced! We felt it more since we were in the lower level rooms. Regardless, it was an unusual weather event, and I doubt that this sort of thing is very common. We never felt unsafe, mind you.

Jeff

8 hours ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

Jeff...ok....tell me how this extension worked. If I'm correct, I'm betting that you had one night in Brasov, then two consecutive nights at Bucharest?  What concerns me is that doing the cruise in reverse seems to result in the extension being broken up- 1 night in Bucharest, then the one night in Brasov, then back again to Bucharest ...a bit of extra moving about. The reason this trip interests us is that over the years we considered an Amsterdam to the Black Sea cruise (with Tauck) but then the scheduling dates and just the length of it seemed a bit much, so we opted to  do AMS-BUD, and really enjoyed it, but now would still like to do the other part continuing east. 

 

We're looking at various trips that would make use of the voucher we got from Viking. (We were on the 3/14 Sky sailing that was evacuated by helicopter). 

Hello again.

Once we disembarked from the ship in Giurgiu, we were taken to Bucharest for our tour of the city, village museum, lunch, and then inside the Parliament. You had the option of Parliament, or Old Town walking tour - both included lunch and the village museum. After Parliament, we were taken to our hotel for the night. The trip to Transylvania left the next morning. We headed to Bran Castle on the first day, overnighted in Braşov, then toured Peles Castle the next morning before heading back to Bucharest. The order of castles may vary depending on time of year. We did Peles second since it was still during their Winter schedule, and they were closed on the first day. You will then come back to the same hotel in Bucharest, which is nice as they let you leave luggage there so you don’t have to schlep all of it to Transylvania. We then had a full free day in Bucharest, early bedtime, then very early wake up for our transfer to the airport.

We thought the schedule was ideal, as it gave you extra free time to see what you want in Bucharest. Would have loved a bit more free time in Braşov, but you still get a good feel of it for the time that you’re there.

If you’re considering this trip extension, please beware that it sells out far in advance. We booked our “Passage” cruise plus extension one year in advance.

Hope this helps!

Jeff

1 hour ago, gretschwhtfalcon said:

Hi Jeff...did you do either of the Viking extensions? That's the main thing I have questions about. 

Hello! 

We we did the cruise from Budapest to Bucharest, and then did the trip extension to Transylvania. 

LOVED it! 

Please ask away 🙂

Jeff

Greetings!

Just back from this itinerary (home last Friday) and we LOVED it.

As pontac linked to above, there is a ton of info on the thread in the Roll Call section.

If you have a specific question that I can answer, please let me know.

Jeff

5 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

However, we both agreed that the included wine tasting was fun and that Chateau des Flecheres was one of the highlights of our trip. Thank, Philw for the recommendation!

 

Chateau des Flecheres was a major highlight for us too last year! Highly recommended!

Hope that your trip continues to go well 🙂

Jeff

Our first cruise (of any type) was the Romantic Danube, from Budapest to Nuremberg in August of 2015. I would highly recommend it as it includes quite a few of the highlights along this part of the Danube. 

Maybe you could do a pre-cruise stay in Budapest, then I would recommend the post-cruise trip to Prague. We did this and it was a great trip, and a perfect way to end our cruise.

Regarding non-stop flights from New England. I kinda doubt that it would be possible as non-stop flights into Budapest/Prague, etc. aren't as easy to come by. I'd do some research first and then purchase Viking Air Plus to have a say in your flights. Since we usually have to connect (from St. Louis), we prefer doing this in Amsterdam as it is a much easier airport to deal with than say CDG (Paris) etc. 

Regarding time of year to travel - keep in mind that it might be hot. We experienced 100 degree days in both Germany and Prague...

Enjoy!

Jeff

I absolutely second the rave review for the Top of Cologne tour. It was a major highlight of our trip! I would love to do it again too 🙂

Jeff

Cruiselvr,

Our very first cruise of any type was the Romantic Danube in 2015, and due to low water we encountered a ship swap midway through the trip. You know what? The lunch we had in a lovely beer garden in Passau was one of our favorite things, and Viking handled the swap so beautifully that we really didn’t care.

In a few days we are embarking on Viking cruise number 5, so obviously it didn’t turn us away 😀.

You’ll be in very good hands, so please don’t worry!

Happy travels!

Jeff

14 minutes ago, badtwin said:

DH and I booked our first river cruise yesterday. Viking Grand European, Amsterdam to Budapest September 29.  

 

I was looking at the roll calls and was confused - seemed like all the same cruise were on a single thread, regardless of departure.  This does not seem efficient.  Am I missing something?

This is correct. Since river cruise ships are typically under 200 passengers per sailing, it is extremely rare when two forum members are booked on the exact cruise. Having all sailings for a particular year allows for a full discussion, and is a great way to keep up with cruise info on a specific itinerary. 

Jeff

I know that I'm in the minority, but I think that the drag cruise could be a ton of fun 🙂 

Although, Phi-Phi O'Hara would need to go away...

YMMV 😉

Jeff

We leave for our 5th Viking cruise in three weeks - it’s the “Passage to Eastern Europe” itinerary from Budapest to Bucharest. Doing the post-cruise trip to Transylvania. 

Can’t believe that time is almost here 

Jeff

Reasons we only book with an agent:

Knowledge

They stand behind you, and can negotiate with the cruise line for you

They can sometimes get things done for you that would normally cost extra

Support of a local business

Knowledge, again

Travel Insurance - better rates, etc. than if you buy through the cruise line.

Here's an example. On a recent cruise, we were initially quoted a low price for purchasing air fare, but we always book standard rooms, and the sale was for higher fare cabins. Once the cruise line rep noticed the mistaken quote, our agent went to bat for us and got us booked for the low, mistaken air quote - this saved us hundreds of dollars! 

And all of the above costs us nothing extra!

Jeff