WisRiver

In 2018 we did the Bucharest to Amsterdam (24 days) on Viking.  Other than a 5 day Yangtze River cruise as part of a 21 day trip to China, this was our first river cruise.  We are Holland America 4* Mariners, and have done 5 transatlantic.  We like our sea days.  We had been traveling in Italy and France for the previous month so we made all our own travel arrangements to Bucharest and from Amsterdam to the US.  

We had to change boats in Budapest, which meant that we spent two nights in Budapest in a Viking supplied hotel.  Budapest was one of the highlights of our trip.  

Food on Viking was comparable to Holland America, except that beer and wine were included with all meals.  We ate most of our meals on the forward Aquavit Terrace.  While the Terrace menu was more limited, it provided excellent views.  In Nuremberg we skipped the ships tour and paid for a private tour.  Because we were a group of four, we were able to see more that if we used the boat's excursion.  

Sometimes we skipped the boat's tour, went into the city, explored on our own, and usually ended up sitting at a sidewalk cafe people watching.  In one city we noticed a riverside Chinese restaurant, so we skipped the boat's lunch and had a very good Asian lunch (the owners were Vietnamese) that catered to German tastes.  

We used the ships laundry, and while pricey, met our needs for some clean clothes.  

We  were traveling in early June,  There was lots of daylight, especially in Germany.  Bring some rain gear, since there were several rainy days. 

Sometimes it is hard to get a two person table for early dining. We are 4* Mariners.  When we started cruising we found it was hard to get a two person table for early dining, so we switched to late dining.    On our last cruise, Voyage of the Vikings in 2019, we had late dining and were seated by ourselves at a table for four.  There seemed to be plenty of open tables at late dining.   

Two years ago we stayed in the Comfort Hotel Grand Central which is in the Oslo Central Station.  We walked from the Airport Train to the Hotel inside the terminal building.   It was cool rainy day, so it was nice not to go outside until the weather cleared.  It's a nice modern hotel inside the train station.  They also serve a great breakfast.

Our plan is do both, take the Hurtigruten cruise and drive the ring road.  Our travel companions have some mobility issues, like cruises and do not spend two weeks in a car.  We will do the two week self drive, after the cruise.  Each option has its advantages.  If I had to chose one, it would be the self drive.   However the self drive appears to require a lot more work; finding a vehicle, hotel reservations and route planning.    With the Hurtigruten, one call, a credit card deposit and you are set.  Hurtigruten is having a Black Friday sale through December.   Hurtigruten is not cheap, but the sale appears to save some money.

Today (November 30) we called the the Hurtigruten toll free number to book a June 1, 2022 Iceland expedition cruise.  After a 15 minute wait a Hurtigruten representative came on the line.  He was very helpful, answered our questions and booked our cruise.  He said the all Hurtigruten reps are working remotely and he was working from Tallin, Estonia.  I checked our credit card this evening, and the charge was in US dollars and the payee was Hurtigruten, London, GB.  The invoice he sent had a Seattle return address.  

The way I read this announcement is that the Fall transatlantics will be cancelled.  Or this this cancellation only affect cruises leaving the US.  I am trying to get through to my Issaquah travel agent, but there are lengthy holds.   We were considering at the TA's from Amsterdam in early October or  Barcelona in mid-November.

We are hoping we can start to travel in September, 2021, and are looking at Seine River cruises departing from Paris.  So far I have found at least five companies, Viking River, Avalon, Tauck, Riviera, and Scenic.  Grand Circle Travel also offers a Seine River cruise, but I will not use them because of the lengthy delay in obtaining a refund for a cancelled cruise earlier this year.  All seem to offer similar itineraries.  Last year friends took the Viking River Seine tour and enjoyed it.  Two years ago we did a Bucharest to Amsterdam River Cruise on Viking, and we were satisfied.    

I am interested in other people's experiences with Seine cruising.  Also if there other companies out there.  I speak some French and Spanish, but would prefer English language cruises.  

Holland America has scheduled the Noordam to cruise in Asia in 2021 and 2022.  The Noordam is scheduled to leave Vancouver in late September, stop in Alaska and continue on to Japan.  We are considering a 28 day collector cruise from Singapore to Hong Kong and return in November 2021.  It looks like the Noordam returns to North America in the Spring, 2022 for the Alaska cruising season.  

The SB balconies "the wraparounds" are large while the cabin is smaller.  We had a round table, four chairs, two loungers and a couple of small "end" tables.  We were a family group of ten, and the SB balcony held us all.   We chose the SB for the size of the balcony knowing that it would be a long hike to the Neptune Lounge.   

We are a couple and choose the 2nd seating in the MDR.  Our experience as 4* Mariners is that the MDR tends to be less crowded at this time.  Last year on the Voyage of the Vikings we were seated at a table for two.  The MDR at 8 PM was not crowded.  Our waiter asked us if we wanted to have a bigger table in her section.  For the rest of the trip we had a four seat table set for two.  It was nice.  

For other readers information, I have posted an answer to Wyoming's question on the Holland America board on Cruise Critic.  We used Westfjords in 2019 on our Isafjordur stop on HAL's Voyage of the Vikings.  We were pleased with Westfjords.

Wyoming:

We like Wild Westfjords, and would use them again if we were in the area.  Their cost was reasonable compared to the HAL tour.  We were a group of eight in a 12 passenger van, compared with the 40 passenger bus used by the HAL tour.

In September, 2019 we did the 35 day Voyage of the Vikings.  For our stop in Isafjordur we booked the excursion "Dynjandi and the Westfjords"  It was a five hour tour and we spent about 2 hours driving.  However, the scenery was incredible.  Here is a link to the tour we took.  https://www.wildwestfjords.com/shore_excursions/Dynjandi_Waterfall_The_Westfjords/

We had a break in the rainy weather when we got to Dynjandi, so we were able to hike to the top of the falls.  We had enough time to walk around the small town of Isafjordur on our own.  

We were traveling in August, so be prepared for cool, rainy weather followed by warm sunshine.  

Enjoy.

I was looking at a Viking River Cruise catalogue, and noticed they offered a 15 day Kiev-Bucharest river cruise with stops in Odessa and Constanta, Romania in late 2021 and 2022.  Has anyone had any experience with this cruise?  Several years ago we enjoyed a Bucharest-Amsterdam river cruise on Viking.  Are there any other river cruises from Kiev towards the Black Sea?

American Test Kitchen used to be offered most HAL ships.  I enjoyed the presentations.  When we did the Voyage of the Vikings on the Zuiderdam in August, 2019, the America's Test Kitchen chef said the program was being discontinued.  She said they were using up all their recipe cards, and no new ones had been sent.    Once HAL returns to the seas, I do not think ATK will be offered.  Check your ships activities on the HAL website.

We have done several 30+ day cruises, with the longest being 39 days.  We like the sea days and the variety of ports.    You are going to have to do laundry.  A few older ships still have self service washing machines, but you most likely will be relying on ship's laundry.  We take nothing that cannot be machine washed in warm water, and make sure to launder it at home at least once before departure.  

We booked cruises on HAL to Australia and New Zealand departing on October 19, 2020 through the big box travel agency headquartered in Issaquah, Washington.  We cancelled on March 16, 2020.  Our deposits were credited back to our credit card on June 8.  

We have stayed in Stockholm several times, twice before starting cruises.    One of our favorite hotels is the Nordic C.  The entrance is about 50 meters from the Arlanda Express (the Stockholm-Airport direct train).  You catch the Arlanda Express at the lowest level of the airport, and it makes a non stop run to Stockholm.    When we cruise we use a large wheeled bag and a soft sided carryon.  No problem doing a bag drag to the hotel.  On departure day it is about a 15 minute cab ride to Frihamen.  If you are sharing a cab, which might not be a bad idea, we also like the Sheraton.  The Sheraton is closer to Gamla Stan than the Nordic.  Very central and very convenient to everything in the city center.

I am posting this article on the River Cruise Board since we had booked a Nile River Cruise with OAT.  We had booked a Nile River Cruise with OAT in March, 2020.  OAT cancelled the cruise and initially promised a full cash refund.  OAT reneged on the cash offer, and we accepted an offer for a cruise in November, 2021.  Sounds like some people were able to get their money back.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/25/travel/coronavirus-refunds-overseas-adventure-travel.html

I cannot remember at which pier we docked in FLL.  There appeared to be no set schedule.  We just followed the crew.  The van filled up, we left, and that was it.    Same way for the return from the shopping center.  We just verified that the pickup for the return was the same place as where we were dropped.  Things may change over time.  I would ask crew when you get to FLL.  

As we were leaving the ship, we saw crew members in street clothes.  We asked them where the crew shuttle stopped.  They said "follow us".    Since you cannot predict where the ship will dock, the crew members will know.  There is a number of shops that serve the cruise ship crews where the shuttle stops.  

We did a B2B in Fort Lauderdale.  Another guest told us about the crew shuttle.  It takes you from the ship to a shopping center on 17th Street.  The cost was a couple of dollars.    We walked down 17th Street and caught the Water Taxi.  We rode the Water Taxi to one of the ocean front stops and ate lunch on the beach.  We did some shopping on the 17th Street shops,  caught the crew shuttle and were back on board by 3 PM.  

Not only is this a 3 year old thread, but things have changed.  We were on the K-Dam in 2017 for a trans atlantic crossing.  There were mah jongg sets  on board.  Since 2017 we have been on Zuiderdam and Eurodam.  Each ship had mah jongg sets available.  

Typically HAL ships have sushi on the Lido buffet at lunch.  Not the best, but not the worst I have ever eaten.    Since we seldom dine in the Lido in the evening, I cannot speak to the question of sushi on the dinner buffet.  If you are on a ship with a Tamarind Restaurant, they offer sushi off a menu at dinner.  

You could probably take your laundry off ship, find a laundry service or spend time in a self service laundry. I do not think it would be worth the time time and trouble The Viking Ships have an on board laundry service.  We did a 21 day Bucharest to Amsterdam Viking River Cruise.  We hand laundered a few things (shirts and unmentionables), but sent out a couple of bags (pants, mens underwear, tee shirts, etc).  I would rather spend our days touring rather than looking for laundry services.  While pricey, we did not find the ship board laundry cost to be outrageous.