suspaul

Just left Viking Alsvin this am around 7am and being bused from Treis Karden to Paris via a stops in Luxembourg and Reims before reaching Paris this evening.

Have been doing Christmas in the Rhine & Moselle, Zurich - Paris with hotel stays in each end.  Boarded the Idi (change of boats) on 12.8, cruised to Strasbourg where we docked for several nights outside of town.  We’ve had 1 night cruising.  Did the dreaded ship swap to the Alsvin and spent the last 4 days/nights docked in Treis Karden.  Sadly due to high water levels we’ve been bused everywhere and had quite a few excursions cancelled.

Hope future cruises have better luck!

Hi, we’ve been to Vietnam twice, our first time was with Avalon Waterways, can’t say enough wonderful things about this trip.  Total of 28 travelers, very nice, small river ship, excellent tours and staff, wouldn’t hesitate to say…take a look.

But, that isn’t what you asked,  our first time was in early January and it was quite warm.  We’re from the Gulf Coast in Texas so know what heat & humidity are and this was equally hot and HUMID as our summer temps.  The 2nd time was on our own in early December, not as hot but wetter.

Personally we can’t imagine going in July & August.  Have you looked at typical temps for that time of year in the towns along the river and in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh.  I do get that the costs would be reduced so if heat and humidity doesn’t bother you, go for it.  It is a wonderful trip to a welcoming and beautiful country.

Here’s a tip…right before we left,  I went to WalMart and bought 6-7 thin, short sleeved inexpensive tee shirts.  Something that could be washed in the sink or shower and quik drying.  They were life savers.  We found we’d shower 2-3 times a day.  Bring very lightweight clothing, good walking shoes, baggy pants and a good hat.  Oh and plenty of sunscreen.  
 

Just an aside, on our Avalon ship we had to remove our shoes when getting back on board, the crew would take our shoes and wash them and we’d wear slippers or sandals.  They were very particular about outside shoes.  May not be the case with other companies.

Enjoy, you won’t be disappointed!

Viking appears not to ask for proof of vaccination any longer and beware, COVID is still out there.  Have friends who just returned from the Grand European - all 4 came home COVID positive.

We also returned last week from a river cruise in France, tho not Viking, again, husband came home positive along with 2 friends.  All are fully vaccinated.  Just know, take precautions, excursions are in full buses and with so many now traveling again it’s just a fact of life.  
 

This is not just a Viking issue, our cruise line did not ask for vaccination proof either.

On 10/6/2022 at 1:16 PM, Wayfairers said:

We are looking at a Mekong River cruise next spring.  What line did you cruise with and got any pointers on booking or for the cruise?  It looks like Viking cruise is full.

Hello!

We did this tour/cruise with Avalon Waterways in early 2016.  We preferred the itinerary to Viking or any other.  It was excellent, very small river ship, we had a total of 28, 4 of this # only did the Mekong cruise.  Very spacious cabins and nice public area, fantastic crew and tour guides extraordinaire, I just can’t say enough good about Avalon, and with the group being small, you pretty much got to know everyone, we had a wonderful trip.  As a matter of fact, we enjoyed it so much we did a return visit to Central Vietnam on a private tour, December 2019.  
 

If you have an interest -  find an itinerary that suits you and just GO!

Sounds like someone is having a bad day!

In 2016 we did the Mekong and land in Saigon-Ho Chi Minh City  and Hanoi with Avalon.  Can’t say enough wonderful things about them, especially on this tour/cruise.  We had a total of 28 passengers, 4 of them did the cruise portion only, so our #’s dropped to 24.  
 

It has been the best of all of our cruises, be it river or ocean.  Avalon paid attention to every detail, lovely land accommodations and large and spacious cabins on the river cruise portion. Excellent food and crew, wonderful excursions and enough free time in ports to do your own touring if wanted.  Just perfect.

We enjoyed Vietnam and Cambodia (not as much) that we booked a return trip to visit Central Vietnam in 2019 with a customized land tour, no river cruise.

We would definitely recommend Avalon for the Mekong.  
 

 This is not a comparison as we’ve only cruised with Avalon but it was fantastic.

1 hour ago, trtog7 said:

We know that he will be limited as to what he can see but anything is better than not going. And we are sure there will be wonderful things to see cruising the Danube

Enjoy your travels, take it easy and take in the scenery and surroundings.

21 hours ago, skinnylegs said:

Hi, we need transport for 4 from Prague to Passau to join our Uniworld Danube cruise. We chose to do this pre-cruise city on our own. We'd like to stop in Cesky Krumlov for a few hours. Has anyone used a car service that they would recommend?  We are considering Prague Transport. Our travel advisor also mentioned Carey International. Thank you!

A few years ago we used this company, link below, for multi city and multi country travel between Prague to Nuremberg, Nuremberg to Vienna and Vienna to Budapest.  Excellent company, quick response to help us book the above over a 2 week period..  You can choose your vehicle size and get an instant quote, new, clean vehicles and each of our drivers were very nice.  
we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them.  Have a great trip.

https://myeurotaxi.com/

On 4/18/2022 at 5:47 PM, Mich3554 said:

I actually asked to purchase the throw on our first cruise.  The colors in it go great with our living room and it gets used all winter long.  They sold me a brand new one, still in the wrapper.  

I love the throws too….next cruise in December one will be coming home with me….I’ll pay for it 🙂

Somehow we’ve become just the opposite of light packers, don’t know what’s happened.  We used to be really good but now…not so much.  We’ll be heading to Norway in several weeks, I shudder to even think of that -between layers and coats, boots, etc I’m overwhelmed just thinking if it.  We’ve traveled quite a bit with Viking and I know all about the self service laundry rooms, dry cleaning but…..  

Quick question….which side of the ship is preferable for the cruise above, leaving Bergen to Tilbury?  Port or starboard?

Silly question but would love your thoughts.

Thanks in advance for help

I wonder also, we have a sizable Viking OBC and my understanding is use it prior or lose it, whatever amount is leftover.  We sail 🤞🏼 in March and still have over $600 OBC left, we would have used it for massages or onboard shops but even spa services can not be paid for with their OBC.

Hmmmm, never had trouble spending money before 🤣

We’re on the Edge now, embarked in Port Everglades yesterday 12.19, 

asking crew and hearing by ‘word of mouth’, we’ve been told there are 1000 onboard.

So far no need to mask up inside the ship but that may change as several other lines have just implemented masks on the ships.

Our 1st port was Nassau, today the 20th, in the Dailies it stated Nassau, Costa Maya & Roatan required masks indoors as well as outdoors.  We walked into town and saw about 50-70% wearing masks walking around.

it stated Cozumel requires masks indoors only.

17 hours ago, edgee said:

Booking a cruise without using a TA is a way to pay 5 to 12% more for your cruise.  Simple as that.

edgee……dI’m so sorry for misquoting your post, you’re correct.  Please, please disregard my response.  Next time I promise to read the original post 😞. 

We just booked yesterday for 12.19-12.26 on the Edge.  We booked a Celebrity Suite, got military discount, the special of the 4 suite perks, $900 OBC from Celebrity plus a $600 cash back check from our TA.  Very glad to have gotten in on their Black Friday Sale.

Really looking forward to it, less than 2 weeks away.

I feel multiple tests are the way to go.  We returned this past Wednesday  from Viking Paris to the Swiss Alps.  We took a test on Monday 11.1 and again Wednesday 11.3 prior to our flights to Paris.  The first test took care of requirements for the airlines and the 2nd would take care of Vikings requirements as we went in early on our own.  We were never asked by Viking to see any results upon hotel check-in in Paris.

Another good reason for multiple tests, IMHO, we decided to be tested on our return home and went to our local university for free testing yesterday.  This morning I received a ‘Rejected’ notice, it seems my test leaked in transit thus the ‘rejected’ - my husband tested negative.  Just thinking back, what a wrench in the works this could have thrown us had it been on departure.

22 hours ago, Wings55 said:

We are 15 days out from our departure to Paris and Ama has yet to send us our E-docs or flight information. They have offered no information about COVID restrictions or advice. I did call them a few days ago and they provided our flight data which I appreciated but let's face it, that's the least of our concerns right now. 🤷‍♂️

Hi, we’re on an AMA pretrip and cruise in December 🤞🏼.  Have you gone into their website https://www.amawaterways.com, top right corner is the header My Cruise, click into that,  you’ll need your booking number, there’s a wealth of information and lots of info you’ll need provide.  Also there is an online health questionnaire you’ll need to fill out NOW.  
 

Sorry if you’re aware of this, just wanted to pass along what I found today.  I haven’t heard anything from our TA or AMA.  Also saw that AMA is requiring all guests to be fully vaccinated.  
 

Enjoy your travels.

Fingers crossed this happens 🤞🏼   We’re scheduled on our first post-Covid river cruise beginning with 4 nights stay in Switzerland prior to embarking in mid December.

Thanks for sharing!

On 1/21/2021 at 10:45 AM, What was that? said:

OTJ - I got mine, too, and there is a story to tell on the Aquavit Terrace about the process that I am sure will improve with age. Progress on the Covid VAX has been slow, but I imagine as states get more sites in operation it will go faster. [Here I removed a comment that some might have been perceived as political - who needs that?] "Fortunately" we are old enough (75+) to be early in line but our kids have been locking down very strictly, and it looks like it will be for the long haul.

My Optimism Meter for our Jan 2022 cruise has risen from "Cautiously" to "Gaining Confidence", and for our April 2022 river cruise it is rising past "Pretty Confident." I am starting to do research on flights (too early to book, I know, but learning what might be available helps me plan).

 We’re right there with you!  Have Northern Lights, reschedule twice 🤞🏼now March 2022 and meeting friends on the Grand European (2nd time) June 2022.

We’re very fortunate, tho we live in South Carolina we’re part of the greater Charlotte, NC metro area and they opened vaccines to 65+ mid January.  We received our first Pfizer vaccine 1/24 and scheduled for the 2nd this coming Sunday, 2/14 ❤️ Day!  There’s still a long way to go but it’s a start!

We got the email cancelling all Viking cruises thru 3.31.2021 and some into April tho they didn’t note which ones.  We were scheduled on 10 March, Northern Lights tho we knew we would not be going just waiting for the official word.  After 3 cruises being cancelled this year for us, it was no surprise.

We’re still undecided about taking the 125% voucher or a cash refund as we’ve done with the others.  

If you’re avid bikers perhaps look into a European biking tour.  It may meet your needs and wants and also rule out “stragglers”.

40 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Has anyone noticed if AMA has jacked up their prices for next year?  My May cruise cancelled and I took the 115% FCC.  When I look at doing a May 2021 cruise the price for the cruise eats up all of the extra FCC.  So did I really get any benefit with FCC?

 I’d say yes, you did get benefit from the 115% FCC, at least you have the extra $ to rebook a cruise next year.  Even if it means using the extra 15% to cover the rise in costs you’ll still be able to book.  With the losses the cruise industry is taking this year it’s no wonder that prices will increase and probably will be knocking some of us out of being able to cruise.  Just my opinion. 

2 hours ago, bbtondo said:

We have a Jan 2021 Aus/NZ cruise booked.  It is our first Viking Ocean cruise and we are so looking forward to it.

 

Unfortunately, unless a miracle vaccine or cure arises before our June 2020 final payment, we are cancelling.  We just had our first Oceania Med cruise cancelled by O and still have not received the refund we requested.

 

Don't want to put good money after bad.  I can only imagine how much $$ a world cruise is.  I just prefer my money in my hands.  We can always rebook when the time comes.

 

Just my point of view.  Good luck with your decision!

bbtondo, just wanted to throw something out there, it may/may not be a consideration for your upcoming cruise.  If you DO make the final payment in June and the virus is still unresolved, as long as you cancel 120+ prior to your departure you would be eligible for a full refund less a $100 per person penalty.  As I’m sure you know, after the 120 days out the penalties become steeper so maybe it’s something to check into and think about.

We had a July 2020 Viking ocean cruise PIF however in late March we decided to pull the plug (at about 125 days out) and canceled 3.23.  We received our refund back to our credit card by 4.13, less the $100 pp but Viking applied that to a FCV so essentially we’re not out anything, even if we had lost the $200 it was worth it to us.  
 

just a thought.

We’ve cancelled our July Viking ocean cruise and rebooked for June 2021, had a Viking river in early May that was cancelled and don’t know when/if we’ll  reschedule.  
We do have a mid December AMA river cruise with hotel stays in Switzerland pre-cruise and plan to spend New Years in Amsterdam.  Not cancelling any of this until we see how the Covid19 situation stabilizes or not.  

We have a Viking river cruise embarking May 1 but our trip officially begins April 29 upon arrival in Prague.  When I got in touch with Viking a few weeks back once they out out the new temporary policy I was told we did NOT fall under those guidelines since our ship embarkation date is May 1.  
 

Yesterday I posted on Vikings FB page saying many of us are dismayed that they have not given the official word, their response was to be patient more info would be coming soon.  Really!!!  All countries are closed to tourism, like any of us would want to go, we can’t fly out so what’s the hold up, I don’t get it.
 

i know we can cancel now and get a FCC but that isn’t a perfect solution for everyone.  And you can’t file on insurance since it’s not officially cancelled.  
 

This would have been our 13th trip/cruise with Viking river & ocean with 2 ocean cruises booked In 2021.  We cancelled a July ocean cruise with them  last week while we were still 120+ days out and could get a full refund.

Please speak up.