NJBeaglemom

Roy,

I am looking forward to this. We had a Cunard trip booked for May this year, but had to cancel due to a trip postponed from 2020 actually going to happen this year. We are probably going to do Cunard in 2024 and I have always liked your honest and balanced commentary. 

We've booked our first Cunard cruise for May 2022 - Northern Europe 7 day RT Southhampton. We have a land tour for September 2021 that we hope will go that was postponed from last September.

Blog is current up to Monday. Internet has been giving me a few problems and yesterday we were gone all day.

A few observations:

Lovely ship, great crew.

We have enjoyed the excursions thus far.

Food: My husband is a Vegan and they are doing a great job with food for him

No issues with water levels

My only complaint is the mattress is way too hard and being in an aquarium class room while cruising is  noisy. Make sure you have earplugs. 

N-

Viking has kept us so busy I haven't had a chance to post. Munich is a lovely city with very friendly people. Viking gave us a wonderful guide-funny, very entertaining and educational.

Neuschwanstein (sp) Castle was amazing. It was a picture postcard day to view it.

First blog is up.

Nancy

Thanks to everyone for all the wealth of information I found on river cruising here. Most of my questions were asked before, so I was able to find answers. We have only done Ocean cruises, so this will be a new experience for us. 

We leave Thursday to fly to Munich for a pre-extension to Munich and Salzburg. This will be a first as well since we have never paid for a pre-excursion . We usually just fly in a couple of days early and do things on our own. However, we will be traveling with a group of 10, so we just went with what everyone else was doing. We actually only know 4 of them. 

We got the Viking Air Plus so we could pick our flights - Philadelphia to Frankfort then Munich, with a good layover. 

Hopefully, the internet will cooperate and I can do a live report as we go. I will try to include a few pictures as well.  I also have a travel blog. The link is in my signature. There is no sign in required and you can view it without creating an account. 

Nancy

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Now onto some fun and learning. Schloss Neuschwanstein, perhaps the most iconic of fairytale castles: https://m.dw.com/en/unbroken-enchantment-neuschwanstein-castle-turns-150/a-50282160

 

notamermaid

 

That was great! Thanks for posting that link. We leave in one week and will be seeing the castle on Saturday that 14th.

8 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

As pointed out by @Got2Cruise,  what can be done in a river cruise galley isn't the same as what can be done on the ocean. I don't think that your Crystal ocean experience necessarily would be the same even on Crystal river.

I didn't say it would be.  I just said I found them accommodating and that may translate to their river cruises as well and would be worth investigating. 

On 8/20/2019 at 12:22 PM, Bo1953 said:

Hello all,

 

This topic just hit me after reading a few reviews here on the RC board....

 

Euro sailings, I Am vegan, who can recommend good lines for this?

 

Steamed, boiled and/or grilled vegetables constantly every night is not my desire for six to nine (6-9) nights while sailing... LOL

 

TIA for your thoughts and input on this...

 

bon appetite and bon voyage

My husband is also a Vegan. We are taking our first river cruise on Viking in 3 weeks, so I can let you know how it goes with them. We have informed them that he is Vegan and will follow up on board. 

As an aside, we have sailed with Crystal and they were very good at accommodating his diet.

Nancy

On 7/5/2019 at 11:16 AM, wags said:

We just returned from our 06/25-07/02 Viking Hermod cruise from Passau to Budapest.

If I can answer any questions just ask.

 

Okay, I'm asking 🙂

My husband and I will be on the Hermod in September, Passau to Budapest. It will be our first river cruise. How were the included excursions? How much time did you have to explore on your own? 

On 5/14/2019 at 10:10 AM, Roland4 said:

 

We spent three days in Passau last September when our Tauck cruise got cut off there due to no water beyond Passau. While Crystal operated a shuttle, it is a very easy town to walk from anywhere along the river the ship happens to be docked. Lots of small (and large) restaurants to choose from. It is definitely worth the walk to go to the park at end of the "island" where the three rivers come together. 

Thanks! We'll be there in September, so hopefully there will be no water issues this year.

I will mark down the park. 

Nancy

"We were on tour yesterday  afternoon which was a four hour tour of  Mauthasuen-Gusen  concentration camp memorial.  This was the first time we have visited a former concentration camp.  "

Very sobering isn't it? We have been to Neungamme. (which was a work camp, but as our guide said, they were all death camps.)  I just recently found out my Dad's family was from Belarus and his parents were some of the fortunate ones to make it out after WW1. Any relatives that didn't probably ended up in a concentration camp or were murdered by the Nazis when they invaded in 1941. 

On a brighter note, I look forward to your post on Passau, as we will start our river cruise there.

Nancy

Looking forward to reading about your river cruise since we will be on our first one in September.  Safe travels.

Nancy

Bon voyage and safe travels!

Nancy

I don't know about tours from a cruise ship, but I don't think you'd need one. The Botanical Gardens are lovely and, having just been there, I would want to take my time. We did it in around 90 minutes, but we had other things to see and that's all we could allow.

As for Akaka Falls, same. You pay $5 to park in the lot, or $1 each if you park outside the gate and walk in, walk down a path and that is all there is to it. The hiking trails were closed when we were there due to storm damage and fallen trees. No need for a tour.

If I am remembering correctly, there are a couple of HUGE Banyon trees at a park in the little town near the Falls that are worth a look. They shade an entire park.

Looking forward to reading about it!

Nancy

I don't know what it is about that rooftop garden I don't like. Maybe when it grows out a bit it will look better.

Nancy

Thanks for taking the time to blog and allowing us to come along. Looking forward to it.

Nancy

Hi, NJBeaglemom. I'd say the average age on this trip -- and will ask American Queen for more specifics -- is between 50 - 70. It's an active, engaged, well-traveled group, at least from the conversations I've had. It would depend on the young 'un -- if they're comfortable with traveling with people of all ages, yes. If they're looking for pals, maybe not. Make sense?

 

Carolyn

Yep, perfect sense. We are considering 2018 with the family. Thanks for the info!

Nancy

Carolyn,

What would you say is the average age aboard? Would a 25-35 year old feel out of place?

Nancy

We are considering one of these cruises, so I am looking forward to it.

Nancy

I'm rather partial to clam chowder in a sourdough bowl. Great lunch item. Wonderful sourdough bread in SF. Make sure you try some.

Beautiful pictures and they bring back nice memories. Thanks for sharing them.

Shout wipes work well for spills on clothing. The baby powder is a definite take along. It really does get grease and oil out. One of those travel sizes is all you need and it will last a long time.

Thanks from me, too. We'll be in London after our cruise.:D

Sorry, what is PG?

Paul Gauguin --cruise ship that stays exclusively in French Polynesia. They also have a smaller ship Tera Moana which does Europe, Caribbean and Latin America.