Just back. Viking is awesome!!!!

[robinlynn]

Just starting our post cruise in Montreux, Switzerland and just wanted to report that my Viking Guilveig May 9-16 Amsterdam to Basel cruise was first class and flawless. Everything was run perfectly, the new longship was gorgeous, and the staff and crew were so professional, friendly, and did everything they could to make us feel special every day. From the captain and tour director down to the cabin stewards and wait staff in the dining room, everyone was so enthusiastic and accommodating. Food was excellent. Shore excursions were wonderful. I honestly cannot find anything with which to find fault.

I am now hooked on river cruises and Viking!!!

 

Robin

[banditoo]

Just starting our post cruise in Montreux, Switzerland and just wanted to report that my Viking Guilveig May 9-16 Amsterdam to Basel cruise was first class and flawless. Everything was run perfectly, the new longship was gorgeous, and the staff and crew were so professional, friendly, and did everything they could to make us feel special every day. From the captain and tour director down to the cabin stewards and wait staff in the dining room, everyone was so enthusiastic and accommodating. Food was excellent. Shore excursions were wonderful. I honestly cannot find anything with which to find fault.

I am now hooked on river cruises and Viking!!!

 

Robin

Thanks for reporting back Robin! We are looking forward to our first European River cruise on the Viking Rhine Getaway in 2015. A long time to wait but some categories were already selling out for end of August/early September. Did any of the included excursions or ports really stand out for you? Did you do any of the optional excursions and if so, would you recommend any of them? We will be on Idi which has not been launched yet but I understand it will be identical to the other longships.

[joanne2]

That's wonderful to hear. We're on the Sky August 28 and reading posts like yours make me want to go today.

[Babcia7]

We're taking the Rhine Getaway next summer (2015), and extending our trip in Montreux. Would love to hear what you thought of the extension. How did you spend your time? Any suggestions for restaurants, etc.?

Thanks!

[KirkNC]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your cruise.

[robinlynn]

Thanks for reporting back Robin! We are looking forward to our first European River cruise on the Viking Rhine Getaway in 2015. A long time to wait but some categories were already selling out for end of August/early September. Did any of the included excursions or ports really stand out for you? Did you do any of the optional excursions and if so, would you recommend any of them? We will be on Idi which has not been launched yet but I understand it will be identical to the other longships.

 

All of the Rhine Getaway excursions were excellent. My favorites were the optional Colmar WWII excursion (best tour we have ever taken and unanimously agreed so by all who took it) and the Alsace wine tasting, which was a lot of fun .

We enjoyed the Rudensheim optional dinner, but not sure if it was worth the hefty price. We had only one choice for dinner, and it was not something I wanted, while everyone else in the restaurant got a menu to choose from, probably for a lot less. And the cute, rather kitschy oompa entertainment was enjoyed by all. Those were the only optionals we took, except in Cologne, where for a very reasonable amount, there was a fascinating museum of Roman artifacts found in Cologne, which came with a guide. It was under 10 EURO

as I remember and about an hour long. It followed the regular tour and I found it more interesting. Markberg Castle was great and Heidelburg was a

lovely day.

Unfortunately, Kinderjuik was a disaster due to a rainy, blustery day.

All in all, wonderful itinerary and excursions.

Robin

[Keith1010]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise.

 

Keith

[TravelBugM]

Great to hear as we are doing this cruise in reverse at the end of June.

 

How was the Black Forest trip? While the ride through the Black Forest itself sounds wonderful, the kitchy cookoo clock shop visit sounds rather tacky. What was your experience?

[ninaks]

The ride is beautiful but you are correct, they do take you to a little shopping area. If you don't want to shop ( I bought a cookoo clock that I just love) there is a lovely path you can hike behind the shops. You can also watch a demonstration of how to make black forest cake that was interesting.

[Babcia7]

What did you think of Montreux?

[jacksonnh]

Robinlynn - can you give any recommendations with your stay in Montreux. We will be there for two nights in June with Tauck staying at the Royal Plaza Montreux.

[robinlynn]

What did you think of Montreux?

Montreux is a lovely resort town located right on beautiful Lake Geneva.

We stayed at the GORGEOUS Fairmont LePalace. We had an amazing room facing the lake with the mountains in the background. The lake has a beautiful promenade with wonderful flower gardens and statuary surrounding it. It is all very relaxing and idyllic.

There are old fashioned steamer boats that go around the lake to other towns. Vevey is one particularly lovely town we visited. We got a round trip ticket which took us first to the beautiful Chillon Castle, which has a very interesting history and we really enjoyed self-touring (we rented headphones) Then we picked up the boat and went on to Vevey for lunch and a look around, and then it took us back to Montreux. It was a wonderful day. When you stay at a hotel in the area, you get a Riviera card, which gives you half-fare rates on the otherwise rather expensive boat rides., and I believe half-fare for the admission to the Castle. It also provides free rides on the very convenient buses.

The train station is very centrally located, a five minute walk from our hotel, where you can make arrangements for all kinds of train rides to Mont Blanc, Lausanne, Geneva, the Golden Express, and the Chocolate Train to Gruyere(that's what we did). There are all kinds of day trips available from Montreux.

Just Google Swiss Trains,and all of the possibilities will be offered.

We spent one day doing nothing, which was a wonderful day,just enjoying the gorgeous hotel and its beautiful grounds. We needed a day like this after the fast pace of the river cruise (we had done most of the optional excursions).

I was really happy with our choice of this lovely town

 

Robin

[robinlynn]

Great to hear as we are doing this cruise in reverse at the end of June.

 

How was the Black Forest trip? While the ride through the Black Forest itself sounds wonderful, the kitchy cookoo clock shop visit sounds rather tacky. What was your experience?

 

We went for a walk through a part of the Black Forest which had a beautiful walking path (about a half hour). It was so peaceful and lovely.We got some great photos! Followed it by having a cup of hot chocolate and some really good Black Forest cake. It was a lovely morning.

 

That afternoon, we went on the optional Colmar World War II memorial tour.

It was the best excursion of the entire cruise. Malcolm, the tour guide, was so knowledgeable and passionate about this extremely important and

fascinating battle, which was instumental in finally bringing the war to a speedier end. Everyone else on that tour were unanimous that it was the best excursion offered on the cruise. This was our last day of the cruise....so glad it ended on such a high note.

 

Robin

Edited May 22, 2014 by robinlynn

[Babcia7]

Thanks, Robin. We're looking forward to our Rhine Getaway Cruise and extension in Montreux. Did you like the Chocolate/Gruyere train tour? Can you recommend any restaurants in Montreux or Vevey?

[robinlynn]

Thanks, Robin. We're looking forward to our Rhine Getaway Cruise and extension in Montreux. Did you like the Chocolate/Gruyere train tour? Can you recommend any restaurants in Montreux or Vevey?

 

The chocolate train was a lot of fun. We went in a Belle Epoque carriage car with panoramic windows to maximize enjoying the spectacular views . It took us first to a cheese factory where they explain and demonstrate how the famous Gruyere cheese is made. Then on to the beautiful walled medieval village of Gruyere, by bus,where we spent about 3 hours. There is a very large castle you can visit and lots of cafes for lunch.We then were taken to the Calliere chocolate factory where they explain the history of chocolate and show the process of making it into milk chocolate. You then go to a large tasting room where you get to sample as many types of chocolate as you like.

Then you go back on the bus to the train for a spectacular scenic two hour ride back to the Montreux train station. It is a fun, but long day, about 8 hours and costs 98 cf per person.

 

We had a great fondue dinner one evening at a restaurant called Le Museum a short walk from our hotel. Very nice place frequented by locals as well as tourists.

I remember it as having a very nice menu and ambiance.

 

Robin

[cruisinskier]

Hi Robin. Glad you had a great cruise! We will be doing the same itinerary on the Viking Ingvi on July 25....2 months to go!

 

Can I ask what were the favorite things you did in the various ports with any free time you had? Any "do not miss" suggestions?

Thanks

Jerry

[robinlynn]

Hi Robin. Glad you had a great cruise! We will be doing the same itinerary on the Viking Ingvi on July 25....2 months to go!

 

Can I ask what were the favorite things you did in the various ports with any free time you had? Any "do not miss" suggestions?

Thanks

Jerry

 

My favorites were the Colmar Pass WWIi afternoon and the Alsatian Wine Tasting....both optional tours

.IMHO and those who went with our group all said these were favorites. I also loved my quiet walk in the Black Forest

To be honest, there was very little free time.

We had such a wonderful time on the entire cruise!!

Robin

[mskaufman]

We are thinking of this for late December and your review has us thinking harder.

[banditoo]

My favorites were the Colmar Pass WWIi afternoon and the Alsatian Wine Tasting....both optional tours

.IMHO and those who went with our group all said these were favorites. I also loved my quiet walk in the Black Forest

To be honest, there was very little free time.

We had such a wonderful time on the entire cruise!!

Robin

Robin,

Harold and I are not really WWII history buffs so I am not sure how much the Colmar WWII excursion would interest us but I am looking at the optional Colmar without the WWII tour as Colmar sounds like a lovely town. Did you speak to anyone that just did Colmar without the WWII portion? Did you have independent time in Colmar on your excursion and would you agree that it is worthwhile to go even if we don't do the WWII tour? Looks like Viking offer optional to Colmar with or without WWII.

[gary705]

My wife and I also just came back from a Viking river cruise, Amsterdam to Basil, the only problems we ran onto were these

 

1) we were on the top floor, cabin 335, and any time some walked on the upper deck, you can hear every step. They ask the passengers not to walk after 10pm , so they are aware of the problem, but staff still walk at all hours of the night

 

2) some times you want a nice quick dinner out side of the forced seating of the dining room. 2 1/2 hour dinners not uncommon, they should offer a little more in the bar for dinner.

 

Hope the noise will not be an issue as we booked on the Star next April,

 

Sue and gary , denver

[robinlynn]

Robin,

Harold and I are not really WWII history buffs so I am not sure how much the Colmar WWII excursion would interest us but I am looking at the optional Colmar without the WWII tour as Colmar sounds like a lovely town. Did you speak to anyone that just did Colmar without the WWII portion? Did you have independent time in Colmar on your excursion and would you agree that it is worthwhile to go even if we don't do the WWII tour? Looks like Viking offer optional to Colmar with or without WWII.

 

Betty, I believe I heard some people saying they enjoyed the Colmar excursion.

I was there years ago when my husband and I visited the Alsace on a trip on our own, and it is a pretty, if unremarkable, town . I can just tell you that everyone on our tour were unanimous that it was the best excursion of the cruise. It was a fascinating story, not the usual war tour, and the passion and knowledge of Malcolm, the guide, was amazing and inspiring..

Remember, unlike the large cruise ships,you have time to book the optionals

while on board. You could wait and then make sure Malcolm is still doing the tour a year from now. He was what made the tour so special.

[banditoo]

Betty, I believe I heard some people saying they enjoyed the Colmar excursion.

I was there years ago when my husband and I visited the Alsace on a trip on our own, and it is a pretty, if unremarkable, town . I can just tell you that everyone on our tour were unanimous that it was the best excursion of the cruise. It was a fascinating story, not the usual war tour, and the passion and knowledge of Malcolm, the guide, was amazing and inspiring..

Remember, unlike the large cruise ships,you have time to book the optionals

while on board. You could wait and then make sure Malcolm is still doing the tour a year from now. He was what made the tour so special.

Great idea Robin! Hopefully Malcolm will still be doing the tour.

[Viking Cruises]

My wife and I also just came back from a Viking river cruise, Amsterdam to Basil, the only problems we ran onto were these

 

1) we were on the top floor, cabin 335, and any time some walked on the upper deck, you can hear every step. They ask the passengers not to walk after 10pm , so they are aware of the problem, but staff still walk at all hours of the night

 

2) some times you want a nice quick dinner out side of the forced seating of the dining room. 2 1/2 hour dinners not uncommon, they should offer a little more in the bar for dinner.

 

Hope the noise will not be an issue as we booked on the Star next April,

 

Sue and gary , denver

 

Dear gary705,

 

Welcome home from your cruise. We appreciate your feedback and hope you’ll accept our apologies for any inconveniences you experienced. If you’d like to discuss your cruise with a member of our Customer Relations team, please contact us directly at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. Thanks for sailing with us and see you in April aboard Viking Star!

 

Best,

Viking Cruises

[In Retirement]

Am now subscribed to this thread, but have no idea where it is and how to get to it -- searching your name only brings up the one for your trip where we have talked in the past.

 

I assume our 13/20 June cruise will be a little warmer and the days a little longer? Did you have a balcony cabin (starboard) that would be facing the sunset? We will be facing the other way as sailing towards Amsterdam.

 

My deal is to walk into Bresaich in the morning and take a tour of Colmar in the afternoon, hoping to visit art and sculpture museums. Museum option interesting. Hope to visit the major Wallraf-Richartz at Cologne to combine with Reijksmuseum and Ghent and Bruges experiences. Currently watching lectures on the Northern Renaissance.

 

Have a chance to visit your roll call, interested in weather/clothes report.

 

Very good!

DJ:):):)

[alexkrn46]

Book to do this tour in December with an extension to Lucerne. thanks for posting.