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The lounge usually closes down at midnight. Northbound was more active than southbound because there’s more passengers. We had a group of Australians on ours northbound and they kept things lively. It tended to be very quiet by the fireplaces. We found the lunches to be lacking so we ate in the cafe which had a lot of options. The finnbif was fantastic. Each of our dinners in Hildring were great too and they managed my mother’s dietary restrictions well. Just remember that your meals are at set times by groups if it’s still the same. Sign up for your dining times shortly after you board to get the times you desire. We did the Art nouveau walk, Trondheim by vintage train, Experience Bodø and Saltstraumen, dog sledding in Tromsø, North Cape, and the bus tour in Hammerfest. We were supposed to do the Russian Border trip in Kirkenes but I think we might have been the only ones who signed up so they canceled it. We walked around town instead.

Feel free to ask me any questions. I was originally supposed to be on Polaris but had to rebook onto Castor this past January. Took my mother with me and he had an absolutely fantastic time. We only experienced very minor issues but they weren’t a big deal.

I booked January 2023 in November 2022. At least now, you can book in USD. We had starboard Seaview Deluxe cabins but spent very little time in them even when I was working. There are so many comfortable areas to sit and watch the scenery go by. I do think we spent most of our time on the starboard side but a lot of time in the evenings in the front seating in the bar.

Yes,the onboard shop does sell warm clothing. Being that it’s Norway, it’s not cheap. For some excursions, warm clothing is provided (dog/reindeer sledding, snowmobiling, etc.). Booked our trip directly with Havila. I believe that’s the only option.

Light clothing you can layer would be good enough. For September, I definitely wouldn’t bring anything bulky. We lived for four days without our checked luggage in January but had worn heavier coats on the plane.

Viva has English speaking crew. English speaking guides would be a function of how many English-only speakers are on the boat. They did not fire any for me on the Danube last year as I was the only non-German speaker but excursions weren’t included in the fare and I didn’t need them.

Viva also has a number of Germany focused cruises.

II forgot to mention that I’m the one in Orange with the terrible brown wig.

As I recall, they will straighten up the cabin daily but only change sheets/duvet cover when you decide. Same goes with towels. The laundry room is a great service and made us realize we had waaaay over packed especially since our checked luggage didn’t catch up with us until Bodø

The 70’s party on the Maria Theresa in April was a blast. You could tell there was a big purchase of $25 costumes from Amazon. However, they occasionally played music that wasn’t from the 70’s.

I cruised in January 2023 with my mother and had a fantastic time. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Based on my experience latest year at this time, there should be no issues between Budapest and Bucharest. While ship issues were experienced upstream of Passau, we had no issues from Budapest to Donji Milanovac.

Pollux arrived in Bergen a few hours ago.

Polaris arrived in Bergen today! Pollux isn’t too far behind.

With all our dialects, it seems like there’s more than one American language in the US.

I dad round trip to the Iron Gates with Viva last August. Excursions aren’t included on Viva so I did most of it on my own. Novi Sad is the capital of the ethnic Hungarian portion of Serbia. The town is small and very walkable. The offered excursion was a city walk followed by a visit to an apiary. I just did a city walk on my own and enjoyed some time in a cafe. In Belgrade, we docked right near the Belgrade Fortress. I walked through the fortress and the zoo right next to it. It was blazing hot and there’s a very long and steep staircase to get up to the fortress so that’s all I did. If you have an option for a visit to Lepenski Vir, I’d skip it unless you’ve never been to a Neolithic village before. Golubac fortress was interesting but it was extremely warm with little shade there.

I did a round trip from Passau to the Iron Gates on Viva last year and loved it. I did live blog it here but I think I tailed off at the end. Excursions aren’t included on Viva so I was on my own for Novi Sad and Belgrade which was fine as I was the only non-German speaker on the boat. I did one excursion which included Lepenski Vir and Golubac Fort but had I realized that we were being picked up at the fort, I would have stayed on the boat and done the fort on my own.

My mantra is don’t stress out about things I cannot control.

I did Enchanting Danube in the reverse direction in April. Looking at the itinerary for Delightful Danube, it looks like you miss the stops in Bratislava and Linz and an overnight in Passau. I’d prefer the Enchanting Danube itinerary. We loved the walking tour in Bratislava and the Linz stop has an option to go to Salzburg which you don’t get on Delightful Danube.

Morgan’s video on his Viva cruise is what made me look and take my Viva cruise last year.

Had a fantastic time on Castor in January of this year. Biggest thing is that you don’t need to pack as much as you think. The laundry facilities are great and easy to use. If you’re not going for Havila Gold, I’d suggest getting it as it provides more choices and you can eat in Havly Cafe at no cost. You also get one meal in Havrand in each direction. We also bought both alcoholic and nonalcoholic drink packages. Alcoholic packages can be shared while nonalcoholic packages can’t. If you’re doing the round trip, there are more options for excursions going north than south. There are lots of places on the boat to relax. There’s isn’t any entertainment but you’ll have the advantage of the outside deck.

Have a trip planned? Boats are fantastic.

I took a cruise a week later than yours last year. Didn’t go all the way down to Romania but we did go as far as the Iron Gates in Serbia. There were no water issues on that portion of the Danube at that time. All the water issues were further upstream. I would expect that if there’s water issues, they’ll find a spot to park the boat and either switch you to another boat or transfer you. If you look at last year’s thread, I think you’ll find there’s very little discussion about issues past Budapest because either there aren’t any or it’s just not that popular and area to cruise.

I was on Viva last year. Don’t think there were any age restrictions but at 55, I was definitely among the younger in the group. Feel free to message me with any questions. I also live blogged my trip.

Don’t have to worry about detergent. It’s automatically dispensed to the washer.