Ballater Posted December 1, 2015 #376 Share Posted December 1, 2015 We are currently on the Danube cruising with Tauck from Melk to Linz. Have had some rain and the river is full. No worries! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dln929 Posted December 1, 2015 #377 Share Posted December 1, 2015 On Viking Tor Budapest to Nuremberg. Today we were in Passau. The weather has been raining and overcast but not especially cold. I am finding the process of moving through the locks fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventhOne Posted December 3, 2015 #378 Share Posted December 3, 2015 We leave a week from Saturday and we are now allowing ourselves to start getting excited about the trip! We leave from Budapest on the Romantic Danube trip. It sounds like the water levels are up and that there is little to no bussing and perhaps just one ship swap at the most?:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dln929 Posted December 3, 2015 #379 Share Posted December 3, 2015 At the end of the most wonderful,cruise we've ever taken. Kudos to Viking Tor for taking us from Budapest to Nuremberg in one joyous Christmas cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cambell Posted December 4, 2015 #380 Share Posted December 4, 2015 I second everything that Deirdre said! Super cruise, super food and super people! Liz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panhandle Texan Posted December 6, 2015 #381 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Are Viking boats still making through all parts of river? Still have three weeks until ours, but worried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dln929 Posted December 6, 2015 #382 Share Posted December 6, 2015 Are Viking boats still making through all parts of river? Still have three weeks until ours, but worried. Ours did, from Budapest through Nuremberg. You know you can check on Viking's website for daily updates to see if there are any changes in your sailing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prague Shuttle Posted December 6, 2015 #383 Share Posted December 6, 2015 the last two pickups we have had from Erlangen have been fine, there has been a fair bit of rain - I think the rest of the year will go well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenofEverything Posted December 9, 2015 #384 Share Posted December 9, 2015 We are on the Viking Lofn romantic Danube right now. No problems with river levels Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrgator Posted December 9, 2015 #385 Share Posted December 9, 2015 We got an email this morning from Viking telling us that our ship the Viking Freya for our Romantic Danube cruise leaving Budapest this Saturday, 12/12/2015, had been changed to the Viking Lofn. In the email it says: "Note also that water levels are now returning to normal and at this point we anticipate no issues during your cruise." :) Hopefully, this change will have no adverse impact on our trip. I will try to keep the board informed as we progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenofEverything Posted December 10, 2015 #386 Share Posted December 10, 2015 the Lofn is lovely only two months old. The crew is from the Freya. Apparently it had generator problems. The crew said we were lucky to be on the Lofn instead of the Freya. It is a lovely ship and a lovely crew. You will have a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrgator Posted December 10, 2015 #387 Share Posted December 10, 2015 the Lofn is lovely only two months old. The crew is from the Freya. Apparently it had generator problems. The crew said we were lucky to be on the Lofn instead of the Freya. It is a lovely ship and a lovely crew. You will have a great time! Thanks for your comments. That is very encouraging and concerning at the same time. :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JVilleGal Posted December 10, 2015 #388 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Thanks for your comments. That is very encouraging and concerning at the same time. :confused: Curious why those comments concerned you??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrgator Posted December 10, 2015 #389 Share Posted December 10, 2015 (edited) Curious why those comments concerned you??? "The crew said we were lucky to be on the Lofn instead of the Freya." Edited December 10, 2015 by rrgator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JVilleGal Posted December 11, 2015 #390 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) "The crew said we were lucky to be on the Lofn instead of the Freya." Sounds like the Freya had some issues at the time. Good thing Viking has so many ships they can move them around and reposition them. This is s good thing and by now any issues the Freya was experiencing have likely been resolved! Edited December 11, 2015 by JVilleGal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenofEverything Posted December 13, 2015 #391 Share Posted December 13, 2015 "The crew said we were lucky to be on the Lofn instead of the Freya." Nothing to worry about! Think of it like a car - would you rather drive a 3 year old car or a 2 month old car? I think it was fun for the crew to be on a brand new ship. I am sure the Freya is great also, 3 years is not very old for a ship. We are back today. Been awake for 23 hours now and spent 12 hours on planes, so ready to go to bed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radar1 Posted December 16, 2015 #392 Share Posted December 16, 2015 At the end of the most wonderful,cruise we've ever taken. Kudos to Viking Tor for taking us from Budapest to Nuremberg in one joyous Christmas cruise. We must have been on a very similar schedule, as our ship Embla (which replaced our original Mimir) was tied up next to or behind the Viking Tor at just about every stop. It seemed every time we docked and opened our balcony window we were looking into the Tor's staterooms. For some reason, it seemed we would leave the port before the Tor left, but the Tor would pass us on the way to the next port and passengers from the Tor would be on shore before we arrived. That was my main complaint about this cruise, that our travel times were slower than expected, giving us less time to explore each city. I was very relieved to find that our ship would make the entire trip. Budapest, Melk, and Nuremberg were our favorite cities. For Melk, I would recommend asking for your Abbey tickets and then walking through town to the Abbey rather than waiting for the bus (especially if you can't get in the first group), it's a pretty little town and not a bad walk at all. Perhaps ships that head downstream from Nuremberg to Budapest can make better time since they don't fight the current and may allow more time in cities? We extended our stay 10 days which caused Viking to rescind our original transfer to the airport, but fortunately our concierge decided to let us ride the bus to the airport with our traveling companions, where it was easy to grab a train to the Nuremberg train station, where our train connection to Stuttgart was. We were originally told that we would disembark in Erlangen, but actually disembarked in Nuremberg. Overall, a great trip and we loved the Christmas markets. Take advantage of any extra time they offer in Nuremberg, my sisters declined the morning trip and regretted not having that extra time there. John from GA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dln929 Posted December 16, 2015 #393 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I dunno about Tor sailing past Embla, John. It seems to me like it was the other way around. I took a look at my photos and, for example, Embla overtook us in the Wachau Valley and later on the day we were in Melk. I was one of the few people who bundled up and actually went on the top deck every now and then for photos so I have proof! ;) About your comment on getting the tickets to the Abbey at Melk--if you do that you'll miss going with the guide for your group. Ours was wonderful beyond words and I know we wouldn't have enjoyed the Abbey half as much had we not had her room-by-room commentary. We skipped the bus back, preferring to walk through the town back to the ship. It is a nice little walk. We're booked on the Danube Waltz cruise in April 2017 (excellent sale going on now that includes $200 discount & free air, which makes up for the bite of having to pay so far in advance). I look forward to going to that biergarten by the ships' dock that was closed for the season. It looked like a fun place to have a beer or two. What surprised me most about this Danube cruise was how much I liked going through the locks. We stayed on board the last morning when we passed through the deepest of them and it was fascinating. That particular day it was mild enough to watch from the deck forward of the buffet. (It was also very nice having most of the ship to ourselves while everyone was in town. So relaxing.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Cruises Posted December 16, 2015 #394 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Dear Radar1, Welcome home! We are delighted to hear you found your overall experience aboard Viking Embla to be enjoyable. Those Christmas markets are magical, aren’t they? We noticed your concern about the long travel times and wanted to reach out and provide you with our contact information should you be interested in discussing further. You may reach us directly at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. Radar1, thank you for your feedback and suggestions for future travelers. We look forward to welcoming you aboard again soon! Best regards, Viking Cruises We must have been on a very similar schedule, as our ship Embla (which replaced our original Mimir) was tied up next to or behind the Viking Tor at just about every stop. It seemed every time we docked and opened our balcony window we were looking into the Tor's staterooms. For some reason, it seemed we would leave the port before the Tor left, but the Tor would pass us on the way to the next port and passengers from the Tor would be on shore before we arrived. That was my main complaint about this cruise, that our travel times were slower than expected, giving us less time to explore each city. I was very relieved to find that our ship would make the entire trip. Budapest, Melk, and Nuremberg were our favorite cities. For Melk, I would recommend asking for your Abbey tickets and then walking through town to the Abbey rather than waiting for the bus (especially if you can't get in the first group), it's a pretty little town and not a bad walk at all. Perhaps ships that head downstream from Nuremberg to Budapest can make better time since they don't fight the current and may allow more time in cities? We extended our stay 10 days which caused Viking to rescind our original transfer to the airport, but fortunately our concierge decided to let us ride the bus to the airport with our traveling companions, where it was easy to grab a train to the Nuremberg train station, where our train connection to Stuttgart was. We were originally told that we would disembark in Erlangen, but actually disembarked in Nuremberg. Overall, a great trip and we loved the Christmas markets. Take advantage of any extra time they offer in Nuremberg, my sisters declined the morning trip and regretted not having that extra time there. John from GA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeventhOne Posted December 17, 2015 #395 Share Posted December 17, 2015 We have enjoyed our cruise immensely so far! Weather has been cloudy and cold--but that is what we expected! The only rain so we have had so far was just now in Passau, and it was a very light drizzle. No ship swaps or any other problems.:):) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexkrn46 Posted December 22, 2015 #396 Share Posted December 22, 2015 Just got an email from Viking, our ship will not be available so we are going on a sister ship, also may not be able to dock in Budapest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MalibooNewYork Posted December 23, 2015 #397 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Is the low water level the reason you might not be able to dock in Budapest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexkrn46 Posted December 23, 2015 #398 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Is the low water level the reason you might not be able to dock in Budapest? Yes that is what we are being told, we are leaving the 26th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MalibooNewYork Posted December 23, 2015 #399 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Posters had mentioned a lot of rain recently so I thought clear sailing was ahead. I hope it all works out for you. Have a wonderful trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwbts124 Posted December 23, 2015 #400 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Is the low water level the reason you might not be able to dock in Budapest? We are on Vantage's River Splendor and have just boarded our ship just 5-min north of the Chain Bridge. No Viking ships at any of the Viking docks and we've been here in Budapest for 3 days. Wonderful pretrip - just starting our river cruise portion - fingers crossed - water levels are low but hopefully not too low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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