beemer2

Hello Annette,

Were you pleased overall with the itinerary? After your two days in Berlin at what time were you transported to the ship?

Is there anything that you would have liked changed on this cruise?

Ian

As noone can forecast the rainfalls in three weeks time, it is hard to give any "news". So far this year the Elbe has had low waterlevels, but mostly enough to have the cruises sailing. There had been no-sailings earlier in the year. For the time being the water levels are low but sufficient to allow sailings. With more rainfalls expected the next days there is a good chance that things wont change in the next say ten days. But if the Viking Astrild will be leaving Wittenberg on Sept 9th upriver (the first three days of your trip will be on land anyway), it is too early to say.

Many thanks for your comments. My friend at 17 years old having spent his life in Wittenberg escaped to the West in 1960. When I visit Luther's church I will pray for rain :) (well just enough rain to sail)

Ian

Good afternoon Ian.

 

You can always check out my review though it was on the reverse course, Prague to Berlin...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2013/07/26/viking-clara-schumann-prague-to-berlin/

 

 

 

One excursion I would definitely recommend is to the Jewish cemetery at Terazin...

 

Hi Richard,

You review is one of the best I have read on CruiseCritic. Thanks for the link.

Last year there was one review of Prague to Berlin where the Viking ship never sailed and everyone was bussed every day.

Having previously sailed with Viking River we have no fear about the service on board or quality of the ship or quality of the excursions. Our only concern is being docked in an out of the way location and being bussed for what can be more than two hours each way every day.

Viking's notification of fail to sail has in the past been variable with some not learning about it until embarcation day. In hindsight we should have Googled about the Elbe water levels before booking. We would still have gone with Viking but perhaps gone on the Portugal cruise instead.

I'll post about our September cruise.

BTW - We have a big framed print of Jack Vetriano's. "The Dancers" on our lounge wall.

thanks,

Ian

I have looked at a couple of threads mentioning Viking Elbe cruises. We travel 6th September Berlin to Prague but I have read nothing about earlier or current cruises for this route. As everyone knows low water can kill this cruise and I wish that there had been similar responses to those we got last year on our Rhine cruise which conversely suffered from high water.

So come on folks, whats the news?

Ian

Concerning Elbe water level:

Assuming a deposit has already been paid for a 2017 Elbe cruise what rights do I have to either change the date of departure or to change Viking cruise without losing money?

Ian

Glad you enjoyed the tattoo. Bye the way it's spelt Edinburgh ☺

For those that are interested in seeing it you can here:

http://www.musicscotland.com/cd/edinburgh-military-tattoo.html?gclid=CLehsr_N984CFdRuGwodaHMB_Q

Ian

Wonderful it only gets better, I think we had better ask a Scots man about the under kilt wear. Although going commando might upset a previous contributor with the towels etc. CA

To answer your question I'll use a very old saying......

"There's nothing worn under a Scotsman's kilt, it's all in perfect working order" :)

Ian

I was on Viking AMS to Basel this June and never saw anyone wearing shorts at dinner. That said I'm wondering how long the thread might be if I wore a kilt at dinner?

Ian (Scotland)

I'm hoping it will be quieter. Our previous stateroom was at the stern and noisy during the night especially through ths locks.

Ian

Yes, we are on Viking for th Berlin to Prague trip and I am going to keep my fingers crossed that the trip won't be problematic due to the river level. I'm wondering what one does when one day is supposed to be cruising--does that mean a whole day on a bus--oh no!!

Phillygirl,

What Viking ship will you be on? The two new 90 passenger ships Astrild and Beyla are much lighter than the longships because they have one deck less and use lighter materials. This means they can sail in 18" shallower water.

We are sailing on the Alsrild in September 2017

Ian

Its all about being educated about image file sizes. There are many free apps that will convert high MB image files to a perfectly screen viewable 100kB file that will avoid clogging up the available wi-fi bandwidth.

I am just off the Viking Eistla and in one of the rearmost cabin. I had no problems with Wi-Fi

Ian

One of those occasions where having a large fleet pays off.

 

Not too many others would have 'an extra ship' :)

Ah! but I'm still "waiting for my ship to come in" :)

Ian

Kirk,

Im pleased that the affected folk are getting an upgrade. The replacement ship, which i will be on next week, is the identical Viking Eistla.

Ian

Kirk,

thanks,

Ian

Kirk,

Are you aware how the affected passengers are being accommodated?

Ian

Uk and customer services managment are discussing the situation with US VP level.

Is the ship still at cologne? There is (was) a major dry dock at nearby Duisburg.

Ian

Mark,

Yes afaik it was fully booked. We are on the second level which i assume is the level that was damaged.

Ian

One of those aft portside cabins was to be ours next week :(

When I called Viking UK at 10:00 they had not heard anything about the incident.

Ian

Kirk,

Thanks for posting this. Our Mani trip Amsterdam to Basel is due to start on the 17th. If you hear any further news about what Viking plan to do please post it here.

Ian