Phutch9136

6 hours ago, notamermaid said:

It is doing already but the volume of water needs a day or two to get to the Rhine and then a bit more time to get where river cruise ships sail. I am not sure about the time frame in detail. So after that rain which has come through the Canal already (the section of navigable river that is in France) and is causing this peak at Maxau gauge (near Karlsruhe in Germany) we will see how this current volume of water in the High Rhine between Konstanz and Basel changes the level in Germany over the next three days. The French authorities have put "their" river on flood warning yellow (that is mild).

 

It does have a small impact on navigation but such details only those directly sailing on the river can tell you. Basel is on navigational flood mark I. For Maxau I can tell you that it is on navigational flood mark I so extra vigilance for sailing is warranted. While there is much water coming from Switzerland, overall on the map this does not look too dramatic:

 

We will see how it goes during the week.

 

As not much volume of water is coming from the right tributaries of the Rhine in Germany, I see no problems at all for the river downstream of Worms (and little risk at Worms at that).

 

notamermaid

 

 

We set sail from Basel to Trier (Swiss Alps to Paris) on July 1. Arriving Zurich on Saturday 

We have had luck going exactly at 7pm and sitting at a 4 top. Our cruise mates came in closer to 8pm so most of our meal we seated alone. Ask the host when you enter and they will sit the other two people at your table last essentially filling in the rest of dining room first. Hope this tip helps 

I’m so surprised they are trying to make you pay the supplement. If you were traveling with an unrelated companion you most certainly are not responsible for their actions in any way. It’s up to them to cancel for their own reasons and you don’t have any part of that decision. If you have a Travel Insurance plan definitely call and ask if WS is allowed to charge this. Look for the contract of Carriage documents in your booking for you to read again for clarity. Sounds like WS is assuming you’re making it up to sail at a lower than single rate. However as a couple that doesn’t play out it’s too costly 

Absolutely you need travel insurance. Don’t travel without it. Even covers reimbursement for lost baggage which is common. We use Allianz. You can speak to a person or buy online on your own. Rate goes up as you age. 

Agree with pontac assessment. Use google maps to see how far some of the paid excursions are from the ship. Easy to enter location as Viking dock Vienna, for example, to Saltzburg. With traffic it can be a 2.5 hour commute each way. Viking buses are very quiet and comfortable. Ride up to the Black Forest was very scenic and I enjoyed the small hike we did. Skip the Rudesheim restaurant excursion! The food served to the group was inedible. While customers around us were ordering off the menu and getting fabulous dishes. Tiny town, go to the restaurant on your own reservation, you don’t need to be with the group. Ask Viking front desk to make reservations for you. Short pleasant walk. 

Be aware when description says “time on own” it’s very limited, they don’t want you to wander far from them. There’s nothing wrong with this scenario if that is your touring and mobility style. 

On 6/14/2024 at 1:40 PM, RDVIK2016 said:

In case PHutch doesn't see your question try Hutkönig am Dom - right across the square from the cathedral.  That's probably the place their talking about. If you are interested in traditional Bavarian clothing - Tracht - there are multiple stores. Moser has an outlet-type store as well as its city center store, but the outlet is not in the center of town. I got a shirt and vest there once.

Thank you Bob. I believe that is the shop location. They also made the fantastic hats for Johnny Depp, Alice movie but their history goes back far beyond that. We saw Tracht shops on our trip. Fascinating. 

Be aware booking through Viking can be significantly less $ even though it’s not free air anymore. The $799 roundtrip we paid to Viking and the extra $100 for Airplus is 50% of what my flights have been posting for nonstop East Coast US as I tracked in Google flights. We were thrilled we booked through Viking last summer when NYC airports were on a full ground stop for 3 days due to strong storms over the Atlantic. Viking rebooked us at 1:30am when we were finally cancelled and we left the next night. Others we met onboard who booked their own flights missed the first 3 days prestay because they couldn’t get booked onto a flight by any airline due to the massive rebookings from 3 airports. That $100 per person paid off for us indeed! Also, you do have control regarding your preferred airline, flight times and seating choices. You book with Viking as you would with the airline or online, if you pay for Airplus. Because of their relationship with the airlines you we actually had priority over those booking on their own. 

Thanks you soooo much for your monitoring. Enjoy your pleasant weather and your rest

Where Is the Viking Hild at the moment? Cannot seem to get accurate info from marine traffic but I have not created an account so that may be why. Looks like it’s been in Mainz for 3 days!  We sail from Basel to Trier July 1. Thank you for all your help over our 3 trips. Very informative 

@Newby2272 we experienced this last year end of June. Not a long trip by bus. We did not encounter traffic. About 45 minutes. Regensburg is lovely! Most Shops are closed on Sunday. Good walking tour. If you’re interested, go into the famous hat shop. The bakery nearby was fabulous of course. Our transfer from Prague was 4.5 hours on the bus! One stop. We took rural route due to extreme highway construction and congestion. Pretty ride but whew! that’s a long ride. 

Our Basel to Amsterdam 2021 with Lucerne prestay flew in to Zurich. 90 minutes private car provided by Viking to Lucerne 3 nights. Big bus Lucerne to Basel. We liked this direction. Very active in beginning when we had energy to enjoy. If you suffer from jetlag you may consider starting in Amsterdam and having a relaxing time the first few days. Watch out for the bikes!  Yikes!

We have taken 3 Viking cruises and never experienced these items being complained about. Certainly river cruises are not for you, which is okay!  My husband and I have enjoyed eating at a table for 4 nightly with just the 2 of us.  You absolutely can receive breakfast up until 10:30am, we had done this multiple times on our cruise last year. We found the crew so pleasant on all our ships but we do preempt this with being kind and happy to them…

Viking lists the vintner on their website under Sample Menus. Wines are fine a tad sweet for my tastes, definitely free flowing, we could never drink enough to justify the beverage package. You are allowed to buy wines in towns and drink on board. No corkage fees. You can also bring to dining room with your name on it to be served, so you’re not carrying down to dinner. Room size is adequate, don’t let numbers fool you. Veranda vs french is minuscule difference. Advantage is to sit outside while cabin mate is getting ready, BUT depending on season weather. If you’re doing excursions skip verandas you won’t have time to use it. Viking cruises are busy