Absolute cruise newbie: ???s on Viking (or GCT?) 15-day Grand Europe--July 2014

[Ukalady]

My 80-year-old-but-looks-and-acts-like-62-years Mom and I are eager about doing the Viking Grand European this summer. We're getting ready to make our reservations direct with Viking (unless you'd suggest Grand Circle Tour) but have questions (are you surprised?). I'm an active ukulele travel blogger and frequent TripAdvisor reviewer/poster so I understand the value of learning from you more-experienced folks.

 

--I've read that time in port is key, but of course the Viking site is no help with that. Do you, from personal experience, know if Amsterdam to Budapest or the reverse direction is better in regards to port time (or anything else)?

 

--Mom wants a veranda unit and she wants it facing the "bank" ("I don't want to look across the water, I want to see the shore," she says). Does this make sense?

 

--Does anyone have a Viking "referral" number I could use to save $100 per (and get you "credit")?

 

--I'm counting on the free wifi on the boat; can anyone confirm that it's decent? I'll need to touch base with the office in evenings/mornings in order to be able to be gone for this amount of time.

 

--We'll need flights from LAX to the embarkation port; is it stupid (as in uber expensive) to use Viking for this? Since neither of has has ever been to Europe, I like the idea of the ease of pre-arranged plane/boat transfers, but maybe that's overrated?

 

--Any other tips pre-booking???

 

I've lurked for a bit on this forum and done some searches for info; please excuse me if I've overstepped in asking questions when I should have searched better.

 

Mahalo nui loa for your help!

[rjscott]

Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic! I'm sure you will get lots of info, lots of opinions and lots of good advice on your way to a terrific river cruise with your mother.

This is JMO, but we loved our first Viking cruise and have booked 2 more, so take that for what it's worth. ;) We flew into/out of Amsterdam on that cruise, and, although my husband had flown many times into and out of Schipol airport, we opted (after doing some shopping around on our own for flights) to have Viking Custom Air book our flights. With using Custom Air, you can pick your own flights, if that's what you want to do. It adds a bit to the cost, but it might be worth it to you, for as far as you are flying. Schipol Airport is about 35-40 min outside Amsterdam, so we thought the transfers were worth the inclusion. Many people will recommend the train, as you can catch it from right inside the airport, but then you have to deal with getting your bags onto the train and then from the train station to the ship. We just preferred the ease of letting someone else deal with them. As soon as you exit immigration, there is a Viking rep to greet you and your trip becomes trouble-free. So, worth it? It was for us on our first trip.

As far as the cabin and which side, we saw shoreline as we sailed throughout most of our cruise. We saw villages and animals grazing on both sides of the banks. Then, again, we haven't done this particular cruise.

I had a Nook that I used for Wi-Fi onboard, and I found the speed to be better (at least in our cabin) in the early morning, when there were fewer users online. And, probably a stronger signal when we were in a closer proximity to a larger city as well. But, a lot of users found good signal by being in the library area, which is in the center of the ship.

If you do decide to book with Viking, I would be happy to share my customer number with you so that you can receive the referral discount. Pls email me at garrett.scott@bex.net

Hope this info helps with your decision.

Becki

[travelfirst]

I have been on 4 Viking cruises and I agree with rjscott that it would be a good idea to book the flights and everything with Viking so they will look after everything for you.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Before you book research this forum to see how different companies handled the flooding last summer. If there are weather problems for your cruise, you want to be on one of the companies that did well by their customers.

[Hydrokitty]

My 80-year-old-but-looks-and-acts-like-62-years Mom and I are eager about doing the Viking Grand European this summer. We're getting ready to make our reservations direct with Viking (unless you'd suggest Grand Circle Tour) but have questions (are you surprised?). I'm an active ukulele travel blogger and frequent TripAdvisor reviewer/poster so I understand the value of learning from you more-experienced folks.

 

--I've read that time in port is key, but of course the Viking site is no help with that. Do you, from personal experience, know if Amsterdam to Budapest or the reverse direction is better in regards to port time (or anything else)?

 

--Mom wants a veranda unit and she wants it facing the "bank" ("I don't want to look across the water, I want to see the shore," she says). Does this make sense?

 

--Does anyone have a Viking "referral" number I could use to save $100 per (and get you "credit")?

 

--I'm counting on the free wifi on the boat; can anyone confirm that it's decent? I'll need to touch base with the office in evenings/mornings in order to be able to be gone for this amount of time.

 

--We'll need flights from LAX to the embarkation port; is it stupid (as in uber expensive) to use Viking for this? Since neither of has has ever been to Europe, I like the idea of the ease of pre-arranged plane/boat transfers, but maybe that's overrated?

 

--Any other tips pre-booking???

 

I've lurked for a bit on this forum and done some searches for info; please excuse me if I've overstepped in asking questions when I should have searched better.

 

Mahalo nui loa for your help!

 

I've never sailed with Viking, but I did the river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam and the itineraries are pretty much the same. I don't think it makes much difference which direction you're traveling because you'll be visiting all the same places just in different order. FYI we began in Budapest and ended in Amsterdam because the dates worked better for us. As for a "veranda" very few of the ships have them. You will see the phrase "french balcony" used in river cruising all the time. It is NOT something you can sit on. It's french doors that open to the outside and there will be a railing that you can lean over without falling off the boat! I love it because I get claustrophobic. As far as which side of the ship your on, it doesn't matter because you'll have land on both sides. Your Mom sounds a little confused as to the difference between ocean cruising and river cruising. River cruising is usually calm because there are no rough seas to contend with and between Budapest and Amsterdam you will never be out of sight of land. River cruise ships do tie up together though so what you see when docked is strictly a position of how many ships you're sharing the dock with and what order your departing in. It can be a little disconcerting to some because you have to be mindful of privacy but on the other hand after you're dressed you can open the drapes and meet someone on another ship who might be really interesting! River ships usually spend 4 hours or more in each port depending on how much there is to see and do; how good the shopping is and how far they have to bus you for excursions. Don't count on free WiFi....ASK some have it throughout the ship and it's free; some have it in a specific computer room and it's free; and some charge you to use it. Regardless of whether or not it's free, connections can be spotty on the ship because of the deep gorge you're sailing in. My personal advice with regard to flights is based solely on your statement that it's your first trip to Europe: let Viking or GCT or whomever you use handle your travel arrangements. You might pay a little more but at least you won't have to worry about missing a connection or getting yourself and your Mom AND all your luggage to the ship! And be sure you purchase the trip insurance that allows you to cancel for any reason. I've been on many river cruises since Budapest-Amsterdam and have loved them all. Hope this helps. Aloooooha!!:)

[Kohola]

My 80-year-old-but-looks-and-acts-like-62-years Mom and I are eager about doing the Viking Grand European this summer. We're getting ready to make our reservations direct with Viking (unless you'd suggest Grand Circle Tour) but have questions (are you surprised?). I'm an active ukulele travel blogger and frequent TripAdvisor reviewer/poster so I understand the value of learning from you more-experienced folks.

 

--I've read that time in port is key, but of course the Viking site is no help with that. Do you, from personal experience, know if Amsterdam to Budapest or the reverse direction is better in regards to port time (or anything else)?

 

--Mom wants a veranda unit and she wants it facing the "bank" ("I don't want to look across the water, I want to see the shore," she says). Does this make sense?

 

--Does anyone have a Viking "referral" number I could use to save $100 per (and get you "credit")?

 

--I'm counting on the free wifi on the boat; can anyone confirm that it's decent? I'll need to touch base with the office in evenings/mornings in order to be able to be gone for this amount of time.

 

--We'll need flights from LAX to the embarkation port; is it stupid (as in uber expensive) to use Viking for this? Since neither of has has ever been to Europe, I like the idea of the ease of pre-arranged plane/boat transfers, but maybe that's overrated?

 

--Any other tips pre-booking???

 

I've lurked for a bit on this forum and done some searches for info; please excuse me if I've overstepped in asking questions when I should have searched better.

 

Mahalo nui loa for your help!

 

Aloha!

We just did the Viking Grand European Tour in November of '13, which was our 6th Viking cruise. Here are the times we were in each of the ports when traveling from Amsterdam to Budapest.

Day 1- Amsterdam: leave at 11:30pm amount of time there based on when you arrive.

Day 2- Kinderdijk: Arrive 8:00am and Leave at 11:30am.

Day 3- Cologne: Arrive 10:30am and Leave at 11:00pm.

Day 4- Koblenz and Marksburg: Arrive 8:30am and Leave at 12:45pm.

Day 5- Miltenberg: Arrive 2:00pm and Leave at around 5:30pm.

Day 6- Wurzburg: Arrive at 9:00am and Leave at 6:30pm.

Day 7- Bamberg: Arrive at 1:00pm and Leave at 7:00pm.

Day 8- Nuremburg: Arrive at 9:30am and Leave at 5:30pm.

Day 9- Regensburg: Arrive at 1:00pm and Leave at 10:30pm.

Day 10- Passau: Arrive 9:45am and Leave 5:30pm.

Day 11- Melk: Arrive at 7:30am and Leave at 2:00pm. Also visit Durnstein/Krems.

Day 12- Vienna: Arrive 6:30am and Leave 1:00am.

Day 13- Bratislava: Arrive at 5:00am and Leave 12:00pm.

Day 14- Budapest: Arrive at 10:30pm and remain for the entire next day.

 

The amount of time in each of the ports may vary depending on the direction you are traveling, for instance there is more time in Bratislava if you travel the Budapest to Amsterdam direction, but I don't have the times going the opposite direction. I was complaining to the receptionist who is from Slovakia about the short time we had in Bratislava...she informed me that I should have chosen the opposite direction which is the only reason I know about that city.

 

We always compare Viking's prices/times for flights to what we can obtain on our own and choose the better option for us. Normally Viking has the lower ticket prices. You can book you own flights and pay extra for the transfers.

 

The WiFi on the Viking Tor was fine everywhere on the ship, but our cabin. We were on the middle deck aft and reception was sporadic there probably due to signal strength. Cologne was the only city where we didn't have Wi-Fi, but I am not sure as to why.

 

The Tor had verandas on the second and third decks on the starboard side (odd numbered rooms) which were big enough for two chairs comfortably. Port side has a French Balcony, except the Suites. There is a significant price increase for the balcony which we wouldn't pay for. We received a free upgrade from a standard main deck cabin to the Veranda B cabin which was worth about $2,000 through Viking's Loyalty Program.

 

The shore line is close on either side in most areas.

 

We made friends with an 80 year old grandmother traveling with her 24 year old granddaughter on our cruise and had a great time with them. Any questions you can e-mail me at mc4nu@aol.com.

A'ole pilihiki...Hope you had a Mele Kalikimaka and a Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!:)

[Ukalady]

Thanks to all for the input (and to Becki for her number--we received the $200 discount for two passengers). I'm finalizing booking today.

 

We went with Viking; I did read the horrific posts about last June's flood issues and the lack of "happy" on the parts of some passengers. Are crossing our fingers as well as obtained the "cancel for any reason" trip insurance.

 

We're getting a "veranda A" cabin on starboard side. Added the two extra days in Amsterdam--figured we could both use the time to adjust as well as know that if our flights got delayed, we'd still be good to go from the start of the cruise.

 

Rather than booking direct with Viking, we're booking through Costco. Same exactly as Viking (Viking still handles everything) just booking through a middleman. Same price as Viking but offers a $100 onboard credit (To use on what? We don't drink? I guess we'll find out! )as well as percentage back as a Costco cash card after completing trip (in our case, this was over $1,300). Also still allows us to do the referral customer discount. And, I figure if anything does go wrong, I have an additional company to complain to...

 

Will be finalizing booking this evening so if I have wrong thinking here, please respond!

 

We're both pretty darn excited and will continue on this forum up to, during and after. I'm a backpacker so this is definitely a "different" type of vacation than I've ever done (I don't even have a passport yet--have never needed one to ramble in the Sierra Mountains!)

 

I'm sure I'll have more questions later (What to take? Dealing with money? Adventures nearby the ports we might enjoy on our own?), but for now we're all smiles thinking about what's to come!

 

P.S. Should I bring my ukulele ; ) It goes with me on all my travels…but perhaps not this one!

Edited January 7, 2014 by Ukalady
clarity

[rjscott]

For your onboard credit, you may want to purchase something from Viking's small onboard store. They have some jackets, sweatshirts, etc. with their logo. Or if you decide to go on an optional excursion, you should be able to apply the credit to that cost.

When we flew into Amsterdam, we got our first supply of euros at the first ATM we spotted in the airport. I think it was near baggage claim. Don't bother taking much money from home (unless you'll need it when you first get back), as the $ will not be readily accepted in Europe. You'll want euros or the local currency or a charge card.

 

Which ship are you sailing on?

 

Why not bring your ukelele? Maybe you and the piano player in the lounge can play a duet a couple of nights. I know I would enjoy that!

 

Becki

[mohret]

Not sure if you have arranged your flights yet, but wife and I are doing an Avalon river cruise from Amsterdam this spring also. There is a non-stop flight on KLM to Amsterdam leaving LAX at 1:30 pm on most days, arriving Amsterdam next morning at 9:05. It has a flight duration of 10 hours, 15 minutes. Cost is essentially the same as getting there with a stop or two.

[mimk3]

I have to say that we used GCT and they made our reservations for our first trip. From what I have been told, they have a contract with different airlines depending on pricing and the seats are usually in a lower class of economy, which is not a problem, but our problem was they had us booked to fly from Houston to Amsterdam on to Nuremburg. We had 1 hour to meet our connecting flight to Nuremburg! There was no way you could disembark, go through security and get to our next flight. Needless to say, we didn't make it. There were 4 of us traveling together, one with MS. They couldn't get us another flight for 13 hours!!!!!! Then the bad weather set in and it was another 3 hours before we left Amsterdam for Nuremburg. We got on our River Boat at 2:30 am! Not a good thing. I have since made all my own travel arrangements to accommodate us. I have paid the $100.00 transfer fee for convenience, is a bit costly, but now will just arrange my own transportation now that I am more comfortable. The GCT river cruises I have been on have been great. The cabins are a bit small, have a couch that converts into a bed at night time, you can call the room steward to come set it up if you want to nap in the daytime and they will happily come do this. It isn't a comfortable couch to sit and relax on, but we seldom sat in our room, we were in the lounge of the most part. My mom and I went on one and we met so many people that were wonderful and you just find yourselves sitting and visiting or playing games or just sharing a drink, be it coffee or wine. I hope you and your mom have as great a time as my mom and I did. Just as an added bonus, I never felt uncomfortable being there without my husband or dad. You are surrounded by fantastic people. As I am sure that on all river cruise lines you are. ENJOY

!

[marco]

We've done several European river cruises with Viking, GCT and Vantage. All, equally EXCELLENT! I would recommend any in a heartbeat! One ended in Amsterdam (don't remember which line we used, but we overnighted there and had two days there. Twice we ended in Budapest (again, don't remember which lines were which) but we overnighted and had two days there on both. One started at the Black sea and moved westward, ending in Budapest. One started in Germany and moved eastward and ended in Budapest. On all, air was included as part of the trip. As I recall, the discount allowed to do your own air was not significant enough to make doing your own air worth it. Even if we'd been flying on FF miles, I would have saved those miles to use a different time. On all.....air routing was not memorable enough to say "don't do it". All did require a stop, layover, and change somewhere along the way. I think the one ending in Amsterdam was Amsterdam/London/JFK on British Airways. The most recent one ending in Budapest was Budapest/Paris on Malev (the Hungarian airline) Paris/JFK on AirFrance. On that one, our flight was delayed leaving Budapest. A van met us on the tarmac,(there were 6 of us going to NY) drove us to the AF flight and we barely buckled my seatbelt and we were taxiing down the runway! Everyone yips about how "awful" DeGaulle airport is.....worked out pretty well for us!

[Hydrokitty]

Thanks to all for the input (and to Becki for her number--we received the $200 discount for two passengers). I'm finalizing booking today.

 

We went with Viking; I did read the horrific posts about last June's flood issues and the lack of "happy" on the parts of some passengers. Are crossing our fingers as well as obtained the "cancel for any reason" trip insurance.

 

We're getting a "veranda A" cabin on starboard side. Added the two extra days in Amsterdam--figured we could both use the time to adjust as well as know that if our flights got delayed, we'd still be good to go from the start of the cruise.

 

Rather than booking direct with Viking, we're booking through Costco. Same exactly as Viking (Viking still handles everything) just booking through a middleman. Same price as Viking but offers a $100 onboard credit (To use on what? We don't drink? I guess we'll find out! )as well as percentage back as a Costco cash card after completing trip (in our case, this was over $1,300). Also still allows us to do the referral customer discount. And, I figure if anything does go wrong, I have an additional company to complain to...

 

Will be finalizing booking this evening so if I have wrong thinking here, please respond!

 

We're both pretty darn excited and will continue on this forum up to, during and after. I'm a backpacker so this is definitely a "different" type of vacation than I've ever done (I don't even have a passport yet--have never needed one to ramble in the Sierra Mountains!)

 

I'm sure I'll have more questions later (What to take? Dealing with money? Adventures nearby the ports we might enjoy on our own?), but for now we're all smiles thinking about what's to come!

 

P.S. Should I bring my ukulele ; ) It goes with me on all my travels…but perhaps not this one!

 

ABSOLUTELY bring your ukelele!!!!!! You'll probably be the hit of the cruise! Seriously:D

[annabell.4006]

If you are going from Amsterdam on 30 June then I will be on board with you. I am from Brisbane Australia

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Ukalady]

Actually we're booked on the Atla, departing Amsterdam on Aug. 5 so your cruise will be finished by then. I hope you'll post a review, though, when you return--and before we leave--so I can hear about it and get some tips!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk