A Viking River Cruise Again?

[jan can]

Yes, absolutely a wonderful way to travel. We are just finishing our two week Budapest to Amsterdam trip.

 

The room size is designed for efficiency and is great. We have a French veranda.

 

Staff are professional and extremely personable.

 

Along the way there were a couple of travel issues because of high waters. This meant bus transportation to our tour destination. The longest was 1.5 hours. IMO, this was a bonus because we were able to see new scenery and more of the country than expected. I never realized that Germany had a great deal of farming area. Very pretty.

 

I did have suggestions on tours. Too much information and the tours needed to be broken down into the physical capabilities. We could rate ourselves right from the start.

 

Perhaps I can comment more later. We are continuing on our own for another week.

 

Viking Var and the staff were great.

 

 

One little detail. Sailing out of Budapest in the evening while sitting on the upper deck was truly magical. A river boat is the only way to experience this.

[jiminyC_fan]

Good to hear that you enjoyed your trip. Ours is coming up soon. Question, is the dining room cold? Just wondering what to pack. Thanks!

[SeaTheWorldBySea]

We are cruising Viking on the same itinerary next year. Did you do any of the optional tours. Would love to hear all you can say about your experience!

[boater3]

Great to hear that you enjoyed your cruise on the Var. We are doing the same trip Oct. 13th and looking forward to it very much. We have a French balcony as well. Too bad you had some high water issues but as you said, it allowed you to see a little more of the countryside and didn't really interfere with your cruise. We are getting excited now we are 2 weeks away. Thanks for your info provided.

pat

[deec]

Did you spend time in Budapest before the cruise. Did the boat leave in the dark so you could really see the river light up? or should we do a night river tour boat one of the evenings we are there before embarking. We will be gong September 2014 and will be interested in any information you pass along!

[jan can]

The dining room wasn't cool. I packed lots of layers. If you have lunch on the outer deck, layers are really helpful.

 

We didn't do any of the optional tours. Mostly heard good reviews. One lady was expecting the Vienna concert to be at the big opera house so was disappointed. She did say the show was very good, just not as expected.

 

The ship provides Quietvox ear sets. I had never been in a tour that uses these and they make all the difference. No more crowding around the guide trying to hear.

 

Boater, you should have magnificent colours. They were just starting.

 

We came into Budapest on the Friday evening. The boat sails after dark so you will see all the lights. Sit on the upper deck.

 

One thing i hadn't read was about the under counter lighting near the floor in the bathroom. This is very handy for those that have to get up in the middle of the night. We just kept the door closed so it wasn't too bright.

[janmcn]

Yes, lukesgrandma, take the separate Legenda evening cruise (across from the Marriott just down from the Chain Bridge) to see the lights. It goes a longer way than our boat did which basically just left from the Chain Bridge and went by the Parliament...awesome.

 

 

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[mringenoldus]

We leave Budapest next week - I would love to hear more about your trip!!