RMLincoln

Yes,she ate at the buffet -- and if you ask they do have gluten free bread for sandwiches and toast

But be careful about GF bread... some of them have dairy in them. We brought a small loaf on board so no worries.

They'll offer GF pasta too! m--

Our granddaughter needed GF/DF along with a bunch of other restrictions: eggs, soy, legumes, only poultry (no meat or fish), no tree nuts; lethal to peanuts and peanut derivatives! She did fine but figured most of it out for herself. We managed a couple of room service breakfasts which she absolutely loved. I think HAL does a very good job with personal attention.

She knew to request "no stuffing", "no sauce", "no gravy" when she made her dinner selections for the next night (just wrote it in the margin). The dinner menu selections had to be handed in at lunch the next day at the latest.

At the Lido Buffet we talked with the Lido Chef and he pointed us in the right direction. She had a fabulous time but stuck to the basics, especially for desserts when her choices were often sorbet or fresh fruit. We had to ask to see the sorbet ingredients label to make sure it was egg white free and they were very good to bring the container out to our table so we could check. They really don't want people getting sick or worse so they cooperated fully and cheerfully.

We did bring a few things on board with us: her favorite safe salad dressing, her squeeze margarine to put on baked potatoes and a few GF/DF snacks for shore excursions. She took a small tote into the MDR with her extras, very easy. We requested a refrigerator for the room ($2 per day... go to the front desk upon embarkation and be sure they have it arranged, and then you pay the fee there - after you pay the fee the room steward will set it up). Bring a triple-tap outlet expander because the frig will plug into the only outlet in the room, either under the desk or on the desk.

The Lido has many choices for milk alternatives: Almond, coconut, soy, rice, lactose free but you'll probably have to ask for what you want, not all of them are out.

Happy planning! m--

Best upgrade I got was when I got the room number at the pier. Fingers crossed for you! m--

Looks like the Westmark is $279 on Booking dot com. There are four or five airport options with the least expensive at $130 for that night (queen beds, no kings listed) which is a substantial savings over the Westmark, if it meets your needs. Others were $160, $210 $230... so not as much savings at these once you add in more taxi fares. I'd want to check also if the airport hotels have restaurants in walking distance... I didn't check that.

For myself, I'd make a reservation at a less expensive choice for the recovery day but make sure it is cancelable, and I'd keep checking the Westmark (or are there any other options close to it?) for a better deal.

Sounds like a wonderful trip in Alaska! m--

http://amazingvoyages2.blogspot.ca/

Thank you. I've made it a favorite! m--

In Novemebr on Maasdam DH had a birthday and I identified it in the Passenger Information Form before boarding. Our MDR waiter brought a small cake t our table and a small group of them sang the birthday song. We had open dining but were pretty much sitting at the same table each night.

No balloons from room stewards, no card from captain; we have had both in the past but not recently. m--

I love to read the two world cruise blogs that are posting on CC. I'm also very much enjoying Jeff's blog. Are there any other world cruise bloggers? I can't seem to get enough of all their adventures. :D

How do I get to Jeff's blog? Thanks, m--

Thanks for your review of your Eurodam experience. We haven't been on the newer HAL ships yet but hope to. Sounds nice. m--

What about Tulum? You will stop in Costa Maya. Will there be an excursion to Tulum? I think that is such a magnificent setting on the cliffs above the colorful sea. A complex of many buildings and temples to walk around, good signage in Spanish and English, a city on the sea, alas it's location on the sea was its demise being so visible and accessible by the conquerors.

Altun Ha is not too far from Beleize City and very interesting Also interesting was Cahal Pech but a long bus ride from Belize City to the other side of the country (not a very wide country). So I would not recommend a taxi to that ruin. And those ruins are in the jungle, partially excavated quite recently. Both interesting and quite enjoyable, lots to learn about the Mayan culture but neither is spectacular. And neither has the impact of the Tulum setting.

Belize has the second largest reef system in the world, so that may be a more impressive place to explore if you decide the ruins are not a big draw for you. Enjoy! m--

I didn't buy beer but wine was $10-12 per glass and I'm guessing that beer is not much less, but of course the glass is bigger!

I don't know what you'll be drinking your 2 liters of liquor with, maybe bring your mixers aboard also. I didn't have ice service or a refrigerator but I've read on these boards that you can get a glass of ice in the cafeteria. m--

Terri, thanks for sharing the good news of this step.... one step at a time. Glad you reached out to your many friends here. We're all pulling for you through this difficult time. It's human to be sad and disappointed but we hope it shifts for you soon and this crisis resolves. Keep us posted!

Hopefully you will be able to pick up another vacation break soon, maybe a quickie, last minute surprise good deal? Blessings to all involved, m--

I was surprised to see only 3 formal nights on our last 21 night cruise. To me, that makes it all the more difficult to justify packing bulky gentleman's formal attire, especially DH's size 14 dress shoes.

But that's a choice we have to weigh against our itinerary, how much stuff we can schlep and the benefit of having it for just 3 nights (last trip had 3 formal nights on HAL out of 65 nights total on our multi-faceted European tour, so no jacket.... needed a warm coat instead for the arctic). We can eat "in" or go to the buffet. Lots of options. m--

Greetings BHL! Thank for your input.... I haven't seen any email offers but we booked through a TA. I hope your Hurtigruten cruise was everything you wanted it to be. I remember when we were planning together, sharing questions. Have you reviewed it somewhere? I'd love to hear your views. m--

Maureen,

 

Thank you for reviewing your Maasdam cruise.

Have enjoyed reading your reports, you have had a wonderful holiday.

 

We hope Richard's knee has fully recovered.

Thank you for your kind thoughts J. We are glad to be home, hoping for more snow to abate the upcoming May-June-July fire season. Richard's knee is mostly recovered but he does find it gets "tired" easily so he's bicycling to strengthen it. He actually did a huge amount before it started bothering him at all: he climbed to the top of the Cologne Cathedral tower (535 steps) plus many castles and fortresses, then all the Metro stops ups and down in Rome etc. Just need the time now for some recovery and renewal. Happy New Year to you both. m--

Maureen,

Thank you so much! Your review is wonderful! We have been considering the cruises you have taken and you helped us a lot.

Why did you choose Viking River Cruises over the other lines?

Thanks again!

Bill :)

Thanks you CB. We chose Viking mostly on timing/itinerary and then price. But mostly itinerary because we wanted to do the long trip and stop in Vienna, not knowing if we would have another chance. Viking has a lot of ships on a lot of rivers and a lot of dates to choose from. Another consideration is that there are many other river cruise lines but we wanted one that was English-language oriented - many are too European for us.

I have cousins who have been cruising on Uniworld for many years and love that line but it didn't mesh with your complex itinerary.

I should mention that November is a lower price for a reason.. the weather is not the best. But that's what worked for us and all together we had a truly amazing trip. Happy planning. m--

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: After a lot of adventure, boarding Maasdam was like coming home: not perfect but comfortable and reliable. I breathed several sighs of relief that we made it! The Atlantic Adventurer is a great itinerary with many lesser-frequented ports to broaden out the experiences of those who have been to Med ports before. Joining mid-cruise was a bit awkward but fun to hear about the experiences of the first half. I wish we had had a couple of days to rest but we jumped right into Naples, Sorrento, Messina, Palermo, Cagliari… before we had a rest day. Then we were on to Cartagena, Gibraltar, Cadiz and Casablanca. This too is a very busy schedule but we had rest for the stretch to the Azores and then the long break with 6 days to Half Moon Cay.

As most folks on this board know HAL well, I won’t dwell in specifics here, just my impressions. For us it was a wonderful way to wind down our complex European adventure. But I must admit we were already somewhat tired and somewhat saturated. Richard’s knee started “talking to him” and by Sicily he was icing it and resting it as much as possible. So we didn’t get the full benefit of some of the ports, but that’s the human experience. Still it was great to be on Maasdam again, our 5th cruise on her. Time to enjoy the total spectrum of variety in food offerings, as well as a broad spectrum of entertainment options. And room service, especially while he iced and rested his knee, what a treat! And 2 room stewards who didn’t balk at finding us two pillows to replace the feather pillow (allergy issue). We were feeling that pampered feeling.

I washed just about everything we had with us in the self-service laundry and settled in to relax and enjoy. First I hit the port talks to gain some insight for the upcoming days. It wasn’t the very personal experience that we’d had on Viking but we were able to corner the presenter that evening at her very limited desk hours and get a few tips.

Our entertainment focus was on listening to the classical Adagio Strings, seeing the shows, enjoying the guest lecturers, afternoon trivia and dropping in at the Digital Workshop classes – made for a full schedule. We’d seen all the cast shows before but we enjoyed them all again – I think the young, enthusiastic, very talented singers and dancers are a treat; some of the headliners appealed to me more than others but I think it’s wonderful to have these options. The Neptunes played every night in the Ocean Bar for dancing; the piano man and a guitarist also had good crowds every evening. Plus we had 2 lecturers presenting every sea day, many different computer classes and tons of other options on our cabin TV along with a thousand complimentary DVDs to select from, and the cozy well-stocked library! And bunches of things we didn’t do – bridge classes, dancing classes, crafts classes, wellness seminars, wine tastings, spa offerings, culinary classes…. so very much! I know, things have changed, and yes, we miss the string quartets but it’s all still pretty darned good to come home to!

SHIP: Maasdam is an older, elegant, mid-size ship with a wonderful walk-around promenade deck, lots of comfy public space, lounges, a magnificent library with a librarian!! What a treat. We had pools and a hot tub (only one was working the whole time but that didn’t seem to preclude our use of it). We really felt the shift in our experience and the sense of expansiveness in spite of our 1200 passenger friends.

DINING: Very Good to Excellent, some may disagree but let me tell you why I think so.

The variety of choices must really be emphasized and this was so much more appreciated after our previous experiences: everything is available from hot dogs to chateaubriand, meatloaf to a seafood extravaganza; sushi, pasta mixed to order, carving stations; themed lunchtime outdoor buffets of various flavors - Mediterranean, Indonesian, German… the everyday afternoon tea and the specialty teas - Viennese tea, Indonesian tea. These are events we almost take for granted on HAL, but how special the crew makes it for us. Not every meal was exceptional or perfect but the choices are what I was suddenly aware of once again, almost like my first cruise. Even the Lido with all the possibilities was such a treat: American, Asian, English, Italian…. So the cheeses weren’t quite like the selections we’d had elsewhere, ok, and maybe the ice cream isn’t the richest but it was available from 11 am until dinnertime, with cookies… just what I needed more of! We mostly took breakfast I the Lido, lunch in Lido or Dive-In Grill and dinner in the MDR, enjoying our dinners early at a 2-top during open dining. Dining early when it wasn’t too busy gave our waiters and wine steward time to share with us, show us pictures of their family, talk to us about how their loved ones were faring in the aftermath of the typhoon…. nice interactions. Imam arranged for us to have the same table each night that we wanted to eat early – or we could go do something else if it suited us. Choices! We had our first dinner in the Pinnacle Grill which is a special experience. OK, so we had to purchase a couple of bottles of wine on our own, at least we got to enjoy the wines of our choice.

I really felt a new awareness of the wonderful dining on HAL. And yes, I know, it’s not what it used to be and all that, but it’s still to be appreciated. The beauty of the elegant 2 story dining room, with the ceiling of glass-flower lights and the chairs all dressed in white for formal nights. And being able to converse without shouting, nice!

CABINS: Our room was OV on Lower Promenade deck in the bow (H with partial obstructed view, but our <180 degree view was quite good enough for us and just steps away from outside. And we had a loveseat and a chair!!! Plus a height-adjustable table; plenty of closet space, a bath tub that I actually soaked in one night and room enough for both us to share the space comfortably. It was so welcome!

SHORE EXCURSIONS: HAL offers multiple excursions in every port including the options of private cars or mini-vans, best if you can get a group together to share the cost - I would love to do this but haven’t had that opportunity yet. We purchased 4 ship excursions which ranged from $60 – 90pp. In Naples we shared a taxi on-our-own to the Archeologic Museo to enjoy the antiquities from Pomeii, Herculaneum and other ages and locations. What a magnificent museum. Another unique archeologic museum we enjoyedwas right next to the pier in Cartagena: the Underwater Museum which traces history through shipwrecks and recovered cargo; a modern museum with multi-media presentations of the fascinating history of commerce in the Mediterranean from pre-Phonecians to modern time. Now on to the ship-tours: Our Sorrento tour was the basics: a bus sightseeing tour of the beautiful coastal views with photo stops, then a short walking tour of the historic district plus a stop at a unique wood crafts business. Beautiful wood inlay is a local craft used in the cathedral floors that we wanted to see but by the time our tour was over the cathedral was closed for the afternoon and we missed it – next time. Our tour in Messina, Sicily, to Taormina and the Greco-Roman amphitheater was excellent, wonderful history and amazing views, and Gibraltar was even better! We toured the whole of it including cable car to the Top of the Rock, the museum, the lighthouse (outside) and the inside of the historic siege tunnels (which was quite a strenuous day). In Casablanca, Morocco, we chose the only tour that went inside the very impressive Hasad II mosque. But on all HAL tours we sorely missed the QuietVox receivers and missed nearly as much as we gained from the tour guides. I’d love to be able to even rent one for the cruise, they make such a big difference in the touring experience.

PRICING: For our OV (partially obstructed) room we paid $118pp/night plus gratuity of $11.50pp/night, which for us was mostly offset by onboard credit from our PCC and the stockholders benefit. At these prices we feel that HAL value is hard to beat. We purchased a $100 internet package and some wine, not as much of either as were included on the Viking cruise but enough for our desires, plus if one were to add-in about $100 per port for a ship shore excursion in every port you’d still be a lot lower cost per-day than Viking and a lot more comfortable. But, it’s a different experience, so really hard to compare directly!

GOOD, BAD AND UGLY: Well, I think you get my flavor that a HAL cruise has excellent value and wonderful variety for dining and entertainment options. There’s really little that I can say was bad - maybe the internet going out at times, yes that was bad. But my long-time philosophy is that, “It’s hard to have a BAD day on a cruise ship!” Sure, HAL could improve in a lot of areas: internet, their general technology is 20 years behind, such as having nothing like the QuietVox receivers for tours or having non-interactive TVs (Are they still putting these in the new ships? Ugh.), more personal port advice, real port maps, etc. and many things that have been brought up on these boards. As for the UGLY, well unfortunately the only thing that comes to mind is that there always seem to be some passengers on HAL who make it ugly by being demanding, unreasonable, whining and generally spreading their unhappiness. I didn’t see this on the other ships, even when there were complaints or disappointments about something or other it was done in a polite way over a justifiable issue but not with flagrancy that dampens those around them. I try to avoid negative people but sometimes, like on shore excursions, it’s hard to get away from them; maybe that’s just part of the “big ship” experience.

I’d rather remember our Atlantic Adventurer return cruise for it’s sunny, bright ports of deep history, comfortable, elegant surroundings, attentive crew members who sincerely strive to pamper, the wonderful variety of dining, entertainment and enrichment opportunities, and the many engaging and upbeat guests whom I had the pleasure to share this experience with. Makes we want to go again!

Thanks for sharing this review with me. I love reading reviews and live reports on the boards and this is my way to give back.

Blessings to all, you are all dear to me! m--

One note on Viking - they aren't catering to luxury or premium cruisers. It's the Carnoval of river cruisers. That's not bad, it just is their way of doing things.

 

Great reviews so far!

Hmmmmm. I'm not sure that I fully agree. I think it's hard to compare..... there are cheaper river cruises that don't include as much - Vantage for example. And more upscale, more expensive river cruises, maybe Uniworld. Viking may be comparable to Carnival in that Viking has been expanding rapidly and has a lot of ships, the most in the market.

If I were paying Carnival prices I could overlook a lot. But Viking claims: [taken directly from their brochure]

"unparalleled service and deluxe amenities".... "inclusive cruising" ... "no detail escapes our attention... that's what sets us apart from our competitors"

To me, that all sounds like they want to attract premium cruisers. And they get well traveled, sophisticated cruisers who expect and deserve a little more for the pricing. Maybe I'm naïve or was so going into this. But I wasn't alone, there were quite a few who felt that Viking didn't meet all of our expectation, even though they did excel in some areas.

So I think it's complex and hard to make the comparison but important to understand what type of experience one is in for when booking. m--

Sammiedawg: Thanks for your input on your Viking experience. When I wrote the review I thought, oh people are going to think I'm really picky! Yes, we also had many Oceania cruisers on board, Seabourn and Regent cruisers too who weren't impressed with Viking's food, as were the Princess and HAL cruisers. We're all used to better and expected better. But we also had a good time with a very different type of cruise experience. If we go again it would surely be for the touring and river experience and not for the gastronomy.... which I could live with fine but I do resent the high pricing. Nice that you snagged a great deal!

Cruisemom42: Glad you found some solo discounts. Make sure you know the vintage of the ship before you book- the Lofotens of circa 1965 is a beloved ship by many but a safety hazard relic to others; it's a whole different experience than the modern ships - such as bathrooms down the hall for some rooms.

Thank you all for your kind comments. Writing the reviews is fun, reliving the journey. :)

I have to be in town all day tomorrow and have a fire department meeting in the evening, so Maasdam thoughts will be later in the week.

Cheers, m--

I'm fascinated by your Hurtigruten experience. Thanks for your detailed review.

 

Any idea if there are rooms or rates for solo passengers?

I think they have some solo rooms but they may be limited to their older vessels. Maybe Ruth will chime in..... I think she will know more for sure.

m--

A CCer, Ukalady, blogged this cruise in August. This is the link to her blog; there’s a click in the upper right for her menus and optional excursion prices under “Photos”. Plus she has lots of imbedded photos in the blog. http://rivercruisenewbie.wordpress.com

Also: I must mention that I’ve learned that river cruises in general, and especially on the Rhine, have weather-related risks for interruptions in river service due to low or high water (rocks or bridges). Viking has a lot of ships on the river and is usually able to complete a cruise itinerary even if it requires guests to pack up, leave one ship and be bused to another ship beyond the obstacles - not ideal. We had no issues in November but this is a chilly and wet month to choose. So if you are interested in such a cruise, my advice is to study up; there’s a lot of info on the boards for river cruising.

Cheers, m--

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: This 14 night cruise left Amsterdam very late at night on embarkation day and traveled through canals across the Netherlands, then upstream on the Rhine River to the Main River, across the modern (1992) Main-Danube canal, and finally downstream on the Danube River to Budapest. It travels deep through European countryside and deep history: Roman to medieval to modern). This is a very intense touring experience (think 14 ports days in a row). Approximately half-day complimentary tours are provided every day to historical sights and points of interest. It is an excellent way to experience many inland places while being well cared for and unpacking only once (usually). There are opportunities for on-your-own time at each stop plus Viking offered about 9 additional-fee excursions, sometimes in conflict with the included tours. Viking also has add-ons for each end of this journey, plus an add-on to Prague.

Daily entertainment on board is the piano lounge; the cabins’ interactive TVs have extensive on-demand, complimentary movies, location maps, news channels, weather forecasts for the itinerary towns coming up, and many genre of music. There were also enrichment presentations by guest lecturers or the Program Director, a glass-blowing demonstration (and buying opportunity), and three traditional musical presentations brought onboard. Many guests enjoyed their down time in the lounge with coffee or drinks and conversation, reading or complimentary “webbing.” But there isn’t a lot of down time!

We transited 67 locks on this itinerary with the high point at 1332 feet above sea level – some locks were as high as 80 feet and quite impressive. The lock transits are slow and often noisy with the ship sometimes banging and lurching into and through the narrow passage. Locks can make timing events difficult as the ship has to wait for the lock-master to load and unload the locks according to the needs of river traffic. Once the ship was a couple of hours behind schedule in picking us up from our afternoon tour, so the Program Director arranged for 2 cafes in the small town we were visiting (Bamberg) to serve our divided group snacks and a drink each, more importantly inside, out of the chilling air after dusk, so were well cared for

Being on the river was a very enjoyable part of this cruise for me/us. We enjoyed watching the river barges, the changing shoreline, the locks, medieval and modern towns, many bridges and the ever picturesque scenery, sometimes beautiful sunrises through the morning mists. I’m very glad I was in a room with full glass wall for viewing so I could really take in the river experience.

Passengers were almost all North American; English was the language of the ship and all staff spoke very good English though most of them were from eastern European regions. Passengers were mostly active, mature adults, up for the rigors of this type of touring (walking, stairs, steep sidewalks, cobblestones.) Those with mobility issues were accommodated when possible but would not be able to experience activities to the fullest. See note below on Leisure tours under Shore Excursions. Passenger are generally very well-traveled, many on luxury cruise lines which are more on a par with the pricing of the better rooms on river cruises.

A Viking river cruise comes with a very busy Program Director and a Concierge. They are the main connection of passengers to staff and make all arrangements for the guests. I feel like they took excellent care of us throughout the cruise, everything from the normal flow of activities to personal requests and emergency requirements. Muster was in the lounge the first afternoon after departure.

SHIP: Embla is a Viking “longship” built in 2012, one of many of their longships, all nearly identical. She is a very modern ship, with attractive Scandinavian design and decor, very bright with light woods, lots of marble and glass. It is basically 3 decks plus the outside top sky deck with loungers, a walking track and the wheelhouse (Sky deck was closed 5 days on this itinerary so it could be “flattened” for low bridges; the wheelhouse hydraulically lowers too.) There is one very small elevator at the mid-ship, 2-deck atrium.

We were 186 passengers who fit on the ship well enough. The ship is roughly one third public space, two-thirds cabins. 24 hr. reception is at the mid-ship atrium; the main dining room seats all guests in one sitting and is forward of the atrium on mid-deck; the bar, lounge (outfitted in couches, easy chairs and coffee tables) and the Aquavit Terrace (an all glass, indoor/outdoor light-buffet area) are forward on the upper deck (above the dining room.) The lounge almost seats everyone, making up the difference with a few folding chairs; the lounge is the main meeting room of the ship and used for daily briefings, presentations and entertainment. There is a small dance floor in front of the attractive 3-sided, illuminated bar plus a piano that was played during lunch, cocktail time and evenings by a very talented pianist/singer who was on board throughout our cruise.

The reception area has a multi-shelf unit of gifts for purchase, the only “shop” on board. There are no hot tubs, pools, saunas, fitness rooms. There is a small area of the upstairs atrium off the lounge with a few library books, two computers and a couple of comfy lounge chairs. Outside the lounge are complimentary 24 hr. coffee machines which make: espresso, cappuccino, latte, hot chocolate and regular and decaf coffee plus hot water for the wide selection of teas. Breakfast pastries are available here in the morning and cookies the rest of the day until 5pm (sharp!). WiFi on board is complimentary, very fast and worked everywhere, though their terms request not to up or download large files or stream videos. There is no self-service laundry but they do have by-the-item valet laundry, discouragingly expensive. There is no physician on board but urgent needs brought to the attention of the staff will be arranged for in port (as happened on our cruise for a gentleman who needed serious medical attention) – you are never far from somewhere.

DINING: Surprising, to us, Fair to Very Good

This was not the dining experience we expected but we didn’t go hungry. We had choices at all meals but we found the food locations, availability, preparation and service very inconsistent and sometimes poorly communicated. IMO, it all looked much better on paper than it unfolded and tasted in reality.

Breakfast included made to order (by one person) omelets and eggs plus a buffet of bacon/sausage, cold meats, excellent cheeses, breads (and a toaster), pastries, fruits, cereals, vegetables, smoked salmon and condiments. French toast or pancakes, juice, coffee and tea were served by the servers. A continental breakfast spread was available upstairs in the Aquavit Terrace, a room which had only had seating for maybe 20-25 inside. Breakfast in the main dining room general worked well enough and is on the “very good” end of the spectrum for me.

Lunch was available every day even though some days, depending on the timing, it was more desirable for guests to stay in town after a complimentary tour. Lunch was an awkward combination of buffet and menu selections. The buffet included a small salad bar of a few items, sliced meats and excellent cheeses; the morning omelet maker mixed pasta dishes to-order at lunch. One day on the buffet there was a bowl of pork tartar – really? raw pork? Well, to each their own…. The first lunch was chaotic with a crowd trying to make salads at the buffet counter, so many of us were asked to take seats at tables, review the menu, order our selections and then make a salad. (Lunch was usually a menu of 2 selections.) This we did although the two menu selections were not of interest to us – a corned beef sandwich or a clear soup with beef chunks. When I went to make my salad the shrimp, crab and avocado cups that had been out earlier were no longer there; I asked a waiter for these but I was told they had no more! Later on I found out that the Acquavit Terrace upstairs had had a fajita bar, salad bar and soup which I would have enjoyed much more, had I known – lesson learned. After that incident I made a point to go upstairs first to view the offerings and compare them to the posted menu for downstairs, then tour the downstairs buffet for the selections of the day before I decided. But a decision to eat upstairs often meant sitting in the lounge at a coffee table with my meal in my lap; only twice was it comfortable enough to sit at the outside tables. The reconnaissance was a nuisance but I didn’t want to get skunked again. Generally for me lunch fell on the “fair” end of the spectrum; I thought the selections were very limited, the availability not guaranteed and the presentation wanting – but I always found something to eat, which is not a very high endorsement. Soft drinks, wine (red and white) or beer were complimentary at lunch. Viking has its own vineyard in Austria and we enjoyed the whites including Rhine Wine, Riesling, Pinot Gregio, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay; each afternoon/night there was no choice of what they were pouring but one could purchase the wine package and get more choices.

Dinner: Dinner was served in one open seating, almost all tables were for 6-8. The dining room, as are all rooms on the ship, has a low ceiling and we found it quite loud (maybe the wine contributed to this?), especially when trying to converse across a large table, so we tended to beeline for tables in the corners where there was less noise competition. Menus offered 3 selections of the day (a meat, a fish and a vegetarian) plus always-available salmon, chicken breast and what they called NY steak. We each tried the steak once and found it to be grizzly, fatty and chewy. Chateaubriand was offered at the captain’s welcome dinner: one of ours was good, one was stringy – really? stringy chateaubriand? Scallops were almost raw and sent back by most guests. So DH gravitated to the daily salmon which he enjoyed very much 9 of 14 nights. I was a bit more adventurous although I punted for salmon 5 nights; I had some very good dinners and some were rather disappointing. Dinner was always served with an initial amuse bouche, appetizer, main, and dessert including a cheese plate option. The cheeses at all meals were wonderful. The ice cream was always richly flavored and excellent, served with or without sauces; the other desserts varied so much I gravitated to the ice cream and happily stuck with it. IMO, dinner fell in the “good” part of the spectrum. Soft drinks, wine or beer were complimentary.

CABINS: The rooms are on three decks: the lowest deck (Main) has 25 mid-ship, water-level-window rooms (a high small window just above water level, with the rest of the room height below water level); 22 French balcony rooms, all on port side (mostly on Mid-deck, a few on Upper deck), each with a full-height glass sliding door but no verandah; there are 39 verandah rooms, half on Mid and half on Upper decks. Upper deck has 9 suites. Each category has 2 price groups based on location; 2 of the suites are Explorer suites with aft corner wrap-around verandahs.

Our French balcony had advantages and disadvantages. These ships must be built within the width-limits of the locks; in order to have verandah rooms Viking uses a design with an off-set main hallway allowing wider rooms on one side (starboard) for the verandahs, and narrower rooms on the other side where the French balcony rooms are. The FB rooms are so narrow that there is a queen size bed (fore to aft) with a 6” nightstand between bed and bath wall on one side, and a 6” nightstand between bed and glass wall on the other side. There is no room for a chair. Opposite the foot of the bed is a mirrored wall with a shelf that forms a desk/vanity from the closet to the glass door; it tapers from about 14” to about 10” deep with a very small stool underneath at one end; the other end of the shelf is above a set of drawers and a small refrigerator. This shelf is so close to the bed that DH sat on the foot of the bed and had just enough knee-room to the drawers. This was his spot for computer work with the laptop on the shelf. It was very tight for 2 weeks and my biggest disappointment of the cruise. I must add that the bed was very comfortable, but on the first day, when we asked for 2 extra pillows and were given 1, we were told they had no more.

The advantage of the FB room was that we had lovely viewing available and could slide the door open for picture taking and fresh air. We had adequate closet space and a very compact en suite bath with a folding glass door shower. The bath served all our needs without difficulty. Generous-sized containers of shampoo, conditioner, bath gel and lotion were provided and replenished, plus bar soap. Rooms were made up twice per day; complimentary bottled water (in glass bottles) was always left for us by the room steward. There is an ice bucket that we filled from the dispenser down the hall (think hotel style) and kept in our refrigerator. Our room had European and North American power outlets in each nightstand and on both ends of the shelf unit so we were easily able to recharge all our electronics at once. We had European receptacle adapters with us so we could make use of those also. Lighting options were pleasant and easily reachable from in bed.

Verandah rooms were wide enough to have a chair inside between the bed and glass wall; the verandah was the length of the room and just the width of a chair – there were 2 chairs and a small table between them. Realistically the weather was so cool and drizzly that few enjoyed using their verandah but I’m sure they enjoyed having a chair in their room J.

Suites are on the narrow side of the ship (port) but are a double room, sitting area with verandah (taken out of what would be interior space in the FB floorplan) and bedroom with French balcony type sliding glass door.

SHORE EXCURSIONS: This is what one takes a river cruise for! Walking tours may begin from the pier or require a bus to take guests a short distance into town. Sometimes tours would begin in one port and rejoin the ship in another town while the ship transited locks. Tours of the major cities involved a longer sight-seeing bus tour followed by the walking tour. The buses were first class, usually with a (tiny) restroom. On all tours we used QuietVox receivers with earpiece. These were marvelous! They enabled us to hear our tour guide as we roamed around or stopped for photos even if there was traffic or other competing noise. The device slips into a pocket or hangs around your neck on its lanyard. The charger stays in the cabin, so after we’d return from a tour we just set them in the charging units so they’d be ready for the next day. The earpiece hangs over the ear and can be used with hearing aids.

In the evening, usually before dinner, the Program Director had a 15 minute briefing to describe the following day’s activities. On tours, guests were divided into groups, one group per tour guide usually about 30 people. Often there was a group for “Leisure” pace for guests who desired fewer stairs or less walking. Sometimes there was a group for extended touring (which may involve a nominal charge, as was the case when we chose to stay for the Roman Antiquities Museum in Cologne with the benefit of a tour guide – cost 6 euro pp extra while the entrance fee was normally 8 euro, and coat check fee was include for us (but not restrooms fee, it’s Europe!). That day we remained in the museum long after the guide’s time was over, as it warranted a longer look – shuttle buses were available every 30 mins to take guests back to the ship at their leisure.

Street/point of interest maps of every port were available from the concierge. He gladly marked where the ship would be, answered any questions about what to do and how to do it, timing, costs, etc, and he gave us detailed instructions on how to return to the ship if we chose to remain in town or how to use the subway or buses in larger cities. He checked concert scheduled and any other arrangements guests were interested in. (I digress, but he arranged a taxi for us on disembarkation day because we were on our own, not flying directly back to the US on Viking air arrangements – 30 euro to the airport with tip, a great deal in Budapest with a 40 minute drive.)

Our tours took us into many attractions that I think other tours would see from the outside, for example, we toured the inside of one of the Kinderdjke windmills while it was operating; (the miller was on site with us) and we had a sit down presentation of the windmill workshop. I can’t begin to go into depth of the tours but we toured inside castles, fortresses, churches, over-the-top opulent palaces and markets; plus the general guided walking tours of historic districts. Our Program Director provided commentary onboard while we cruised through the middle Rhine’s castles and the sights of the Wachau Valley.

For tours we were assigned a group letter which we picked up in the evening or morning; we also picked up our accountability card (to show we’d be off the ship) and a business size card which had the address of the ship’s location that day and the Program Director’s cell phone number plus other phone numbers for emergency use. These are all part of a system that instills confidence that “they’ve done this before” and know what they are doing. Complimentary plastic bottled water was always available to take off the ship.

PRICING: For this off-peak-season cruise in a French Balcony room we paid approximately $330pp per night including fees and taxes; plus Viking recommends gratuity of 12euro plus 2euro for the Program Director pp per night, and 2 or 3 euro pp per tour guide for the included tours (depending on if there is a bus driver to tip) – so that adds about $22 pp per day, coming up to about $350 pp per day; internet is complimentary. There are lower cost rooms (saves about $40pp/day with small upper window - rest of room is below water level) and higher cost rooms (verandah and suites) available. Coffees, teas, and bottled water are always available, complimentary; complimentary soft drinks, beer or wine (red or white from their own Austrian vineyards) is poured at lunch and dinner. There are premium beverage packages available.

GOOD, BAD AND UGLY: The tours were very good, the ship experience is well organized. The bad side of this is that the cruise is very intense and tiring. IMHO, the food needs to be improved to be on par with ocean cruises and the $350pp per night price we paid. For me the ugly part was that the French Balcony room was too small (and I’m very used to Inside rooms on cruise ships!) I would probably not do another 14 day river cruise because of it being so tiring, so on a shorter cruise I might consider the small room again, knowing now what to expect. I would not choose a below water level room because I loved watching the changing scenery along the river.

There is a thread on the Hurtigruten board that links to photo tours of the Hurtigruten ships. If this doesn't work for you go to the Hurtigruten board and you'll see the thread. m--

http://shipsinbergen.blogspot.no/201...hoto-tour.html

Maureen,

Thank you for such an interesting review.

Were the beds comfortable?

Hi, J. I found the beds comfortable enough, a bit firmer than we are used to but not near as hard as some hotel beds. I heard later that one can request a foam pad. That might make if difficult to fold the bed up for day use - I'm not sure.

But most of the time we kept the "wall" bed down during the day and I used it to sit on from time to time; we usually folded the convertible couch-bed so we had the couch during the day. This worked very well for us. There was plenty of room either way so that was not an issue. We also requested an extra pillows which were provided cheerfully. At one time I requested extra towels for the hot tub and they were also cheerfully provided.

I didn't mention that beds each have a reading light which was very nice. And there are shelves for your night things too. All very well thought out.

Cheers, m--

Our first TA began in Venice. I love Venice! It's a great place to spend some time when you get off the ship. Happy planning. m--

We were on Volendam in a partially obstructed view cabin in the forward area. We also heard sounds from the showroom at sea. We would have preferred aft - closer to the food!

Yes, I forgot to mention that! Thanks Ann. We had a lot of bass vibration during the shows and even the afternoon rehearsals - you should have heard and felt the stomping of the Flamenco dancers! :eek: The good news was that it did not go on very late as the shows were over by 11pm. m--