Just returned Elegant Elbe Clara Schumann

[DonfromNC]

Well, three weeks from today, about this time of day we should be getting settled aboard the Schumann.

 

We got a letter from Viking today saying that due to an "overbooking situation" we'll be staying at the Hilton Old Town instead of the Prague Hilton. An older hotel with more character and closer to the attractions-- We can live with that!

 

Don & Kay

[Jesterscourt]

Don and Kay, what a stroke of luck. Location, location, location.....you will now be able to walk everywhere AND you can even hop the #22 tram and take it straight up to the Castle! If we had stayed there instead of in the industrial-type Corinthia far out of town, I think our group would have gotten a lot more out of Prague. So now you will have killer locations in both Berlin AND Prague... Way to go! steve

[shoshona2]

Hi,

 

Just wanted to thank you for the wonderful commentary of your river cruise. We have been to Berlin, Prague, and Dresden before and you brought back some wonderful memories of our travels. You really hit the sightseeing "right on" and I would be delighted to travel with you.

 

Sheila

[Jesterscourt]

That was very kind of you Sheila (Shoshana?). My sister lives in Hollywood Hills and when I visit, we frequently walk to the Observatory or take the dog to "Dog Park" if you know where that is. I try to take one trip per year, and have gotten hooked on river cruises. We are seriously considering either the Cossack trip (Ukraine to Black Sea) or Egypt for next year so I am reading Cruise Critic to get some ideas. How about you? Steven

[shoshona2]

Hi Steven,

 

Yes, I know the area you visit. Aren't the mountains around L.A. amazing? I'm always so sad when we have the fires, but the ancient writings of the indians always mention "devil winds" and fire. Then, people moved here after WWII and built on all the mountains. The "devil winds" from the desert still come in, but now there are houses on the mountains to burn. The plant life on the burned ground comes back and it all starts over again with the winds and the fires.

 

I am seriously looking into AMA's new ship which is being redone for Russia for next year. We have been to St. Petersburg but not Moscow. Take a look at their itinerary. We took Tauck's Egypt/Jordan tour/cruise (on the Nile) in November. It was wonderful and the sights were awesome. There are many people on CC who have taken a Nile cruise this past year and loved it. My friend is leaving this week for Grand Circle's Nile cruise. You will lots to read. Also, go to the "Ports of Call" section for info.

 

Happy cruising.

 

Sheila

[Jesterscourt]

Thanks for the information. I am going to look up that new AMA ship for the Russian cruise next year. I have also been to St. Petersburg. What a city! If they would clean some of the palaces, concert halls, and museum building exteriors, etc. it would be every bit as magical as Paris! (well, I wouldn't go that far....nothing compares to Paris, but you get my drift!). Somehow, a trip to Russia, Budapest to Vienna, etc. excites me more than a Nile River trip, but now that I read all the positive feedback about those trips, perhaps I am wrong....steve

[rmtravel]

Thanks steve for the invaluable info--we are booking this elegant elbe cruise for may 2011. I didn't like the bed situation, but maybe the new ones will be better???? We have only cruised with avalon and i was skeptical of the viking ship-but- i have always wanted to go to dresden--just wished this stopped in meissen too. Berlin has also been on our list so we will add a few days there...... Maureen of rmtravel

[pacmom]

They are refurbing Schumann again--looks like a few suites and regular nonmoveable twin beds. We did this trip before and refurb. It has to be Viking's best trip in Western Europe. We spent extra time in both Berlin and Prague. The CD, tours and food were really good. Pat

[Jesterscourt]

Maureen, I was a little bit confused about your comment about Meissen. The Elegant Elbe trip does stop in Meissen unless they changed it or you were talking about Avalon.

[TravelerThom]

I have learned that the Schumann will be refuribshed before the 2011 season on the Elbe and it will be like the Fontanne. It will have twin beds - not pull-down- and it will have some rooms that will be 180 sq. ft. and have two beds pushed together making a hotel style bed. I think this is good news for folks who want to cruise the Elbe but were not happy about the pull down beds. Viking is booking these cruises now.

We are back from the 3 April Elegant Elbe, followed by a visit on our own to Warsaw [which coincided with the National Mourning for their President and many other killed in the plane crash], and then a Grand Circle River boat on the Danube from Linz to Budapest. While Grand Circle offers only pull down beds, the additional size on GCT [160 sq.ft. versus Schumann's 120 sq.ft.] was quite noticeable. Note that the room size did not prevent us from enjoying the Elbe, and since Peter Deilmann pulled out, the Schumann is the only boat we found that actively markets in the US.

 

I am looking at Viking's 2011 brochure, and they are exchanging twelve 120 sq.ft. cabins for eight 180 sq.ft. cabins with "hotel style beds with optional twin bed configuration." The remaining cabins remain at 120 sq.ft. Can anyone reference an actual source saying that the 120 sq.ft. cabins will no longer have pull down beds. [Note that even if it says "fixed beds" this could mean non-movable, and does not necessarily mean permanently down twin beds.] These cabins are small enough that there will be very little space with beds permanently down.

 

Viking has several marketing practices that I found less than pleasing.

1) Has anyone EVER bought a Viking cruise at other than "limited-time" 2-for-1 pricing? Why don't they just post the real price and be done with it.

2) We were offered "free wine" if we paid within thirty days of making the reservation. It turned out that everyone on our Schumann cruise had included wine, no matter when they paid for the cruise.

3) Having made the reservation in US dollars with Viking's Woodland Hills, CA office, it was a surprise that the charge was posted in Basel, Switzerland incurring a Foreign Exchange fee. Looking now on the internet I see complaints about Euro charges on Viking in Russia being transferred into Rubles before being transferred into US dollars. Seems that Viking likes to play Foreign Exchange games.

 

Despite the above comments and the age of the boat we greatly enjoyed the Elbe cruise, and are glad that we went.

 

Thom

[Bowie MeMe]

Thanks steve for the invaluable info--we are booking this elegant elbe cruise for may 2011. I didn't like the bed situation, but maybe the new ones will be better???? We have only cruised with avalon and i was skeptical of the viking ship-but- i have always wanted to go to dresden--just wished this stopped in meissen too. Berlin has also been on our list so we will add a few days there...... Maureen of rmtravel

 

Our Viking cruise on the Elbe (Clara Shumman 2003) had Messian excursion. Very interesting to see the painting and the museum of pieces. Also saw a wall mural that was almost a block long. My favorite in Dresden was the Green Door. Wonderful treasures of the Saxon King. I really loved this cruise though the fact was we only had one day that we could sail the rest we did from bus due to low water.

[TravelerThom]

We are going on this trip March 2011.... I saw the room diagram, and the very small closet caught my eye. Is there room under the beds to put a rollaboard? I limit myself to a rollaboard and a totebag, but still this closet looks to be tiny.

Given that Schumann will have a significant refurbishment this coming winter, I can't say what the 2011 storage situation will be. Currently [Apr 2010] there is NO storage under the beds [having stored items under the beds on every cruise I've been on, I was surprised to not have this space]. There is a large flat shelf area in the room above your head as you come in the room where it was mentioned that you could store your suitcases. We had what I consider a pretty standard 22 inch Rollerboard which I take onto airplanes as a carry-on, plus a 24 inch Rollerboard with associated totebag. None would fit in the space above the door. I put the 22 inch on the shelf above the Murphy bed, the 24 inch was stored by the crew and returned the day before we disembarked, and the totebag went on the floor of the closet. Actually we got well settled into the room, moving the blankets and lifevests out of the closet to the high shelf above the door, and also putting some additional stuff up there. I am over 6 feet; not sure how easy access to this area would be for shorter people.

Thanks steve for the invaluable info--we are booking this elegant elbe cruise for may 2011...-just wished this stopped in meissen too. Berlin has also been on our list so we will add a few days there...... Maureen of rmtravel

We definitely had most of a day in Meissen with an included tour of the porcelain factory and museum, and plenty of time for a guided walk and free time around town. 2011 schedule is listed the same way.

 

Thom

[jcrandle]

When we needed storage for out suitcases on the Clara Schumann, we just let our cabin attendant know that we we needed our luggage stored, and they disappeared until our last night, when they were returned to us.

[DonfromNC]

We recently returned from the "Elegant Elbe" trip, Prague to Berlin. We were in Meissen from 9 AM until 12:30 PM on Thursday. We visited the porcelain factory and then had the option of walking from the castle down the hill to town or riding the bus to town for more time.

 

The beds didn't pose a problem for most passengers -- we were all well past the honeymoon stage of life. The cabin attendant prepared the beds each night during the evening activities and folded them back up each morning while we were at breakfast. I don't see how fixed beds would work. There wouldn't be room for any seating, As it is there is a small table by the window and a couch for sitting and watching TV or reading. With the beds down there is very little room to walk between them.

 

Don

[roothy123]

Thanks for the info on Prague. We're taking the Paris to Prague trip in August, and I can't wait to see Prague. The ship is one of the smaller, older ones with mostly single beds...oh well, no big deal, as we are well past the honeymoon stage, too! The hotel is the Hilton by Florenc metro (and a couple trams). We were also charged a foreign transaction fee, but when my husband called Viking to ask about it, they said they would refund the fee.

[Jesterscourt]

Roothy, even though the Hilton is not exactly in Old Town, you will like being near the Florenc metro stop which is a main thoroghfare making it easy to get practically anywhere without having to switch metro lines. The metro is incredibly easy to figure out. At any rate, you can still walk from there to the Jewish Quarter and Old Town fairly easily. Have a great trip!

[roothy123]

Thanks, Jestercourt. I looked up the area on Google Earth (I love that site!!) and Florenc is obviously close. Would you happen to want to hazard a guess as to how long it would take someone to walk to Old Town Square or Josefov from the Hilton? Since so much of those two areas have limited metro and tram services, I'm wondering if it's just as easy to walk as to metro or tram it? I'm 59, of average health and stamina, so I don't mind walking if it's not too terribly far. My husband, however, is less so, so it might be different for him.

[Jesterscourt]

Roothy, the Hilton Prague is listed as "further afield" or "elsewhere in Prague" as it is not quite in Old Town, New Town, or Josefov. It is about a 15 min. walk to Josefov (Jewish Quarter) and another few minutes walk from there to Old Town Square. However, your best bet is to take the metro one stop to Namesti Republiky for Josefov or two stops to Mustek for Old Town. That will really save you a lot of walking. Too bad it's not the Hilton Old Town. At least it's closer than the Corinthia which is where Viking put us up last year! Good luck! Steve

[mavin]

We returned last month from an enjoyable and extremely informative trip that started in Berlin and ended up in Prague including a week aboard Viking's Clara Schumann sailing from Magdeburg, Germany to Decin, Czech Republic down the Elbe River in former East Germany (GDR). I have not gathered my thoughts yet for a detailed synopsis of each day but hope to soon and certainly before next year as future trips approach. However, if anyone has any burning questions about this itinerary, it will be fun to discuss it. Steve

can u tell me about your trip and the ship? we are going in oct 2011