First-time river cruise coming up in June!

[Suncrow]

Hey folks,

My wife and I are going on our first river cruise in June. We'll be sailing with Viking going up the Rhine after a few days in Brugge, Ghent and Amsterdam. After the cruise, we're spending the weekend in Salzburg after training there from Basel.

This is not our first cruise, as we did an Alaska trip with Norwegian in 2013. Loved the service, the food, the entertainment and the shore excursions, but too many people and too much emphasis on keeping one on board for us. Looking forward to the smaller boat, fewer people and getting onshore in Europe.

Any suggestions for a first-time river cruiser?

Thanks!

[xpcdoojk]

Have fun. About 80% of the experience is somewhat similar. However the Rhine and Alaska are about 99% different.

 

JC

[notamermaid]

Hello suncrow,

 

as the previous poster has said, have fun, the most important thing. And that is best to have when going with the flow. then the small hiccups that might happen cannot disappoint as much. Just saying there might be...

 

For some great info, also when you have already booked, is the sticky on the title page "new to River cruising?" by our host jazzbeau.

 

There is a past thread called Viking Rhine getaway that is helpful. You will also find a roll call for your cruise: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2230700

 

In Koblenz I recommend the trip on the cable car: http://www.seilbahn-koblenz.de/home-page.html But you can also that a local bus up the hill if you do not like the cable car. Stunning views over the valley. The station for the cable car is near the Viking landing stage.

 

Have the camera ready for the castle river stretch. :)

 

Have a great trip.

 

notamermaid

[Lois R]

Hi, I just took my first River cruise last month and stopped in your ports:)

It was outstanding........:D here is a link to my review if you want read it:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2344645

 

I hope you have an awesome time. ( I sailed on AMA) but it will give you a good idea

of the River Cruise experience......as JC mentioned, it is waaaayyyyyy different than

an Ocean Cruise.

Edited May 17, 2016 by Lois R

[CPT Trips]

Never order the same beer twice. :D. Whenever possible order draft, vom fass or pression, (in German and French I believe). ;)

[doglover3]

Hey folks,

My wife and I are going on our first river cruise in June. We'll be sailing with Viking going up the Rhine after a few days in Brugge, Ghent and Amsterdam. After the cruise, we're spending the weekend in Salzburg after training there from Basel.

This is not our first cruise, as we did an Alaska trip with Norwegian in 2013. Loved the service, the food, the entertainment and the shore excursions, but too many people and too much emphasis on keeping one on board for us. Looking forward to the smaller boat, fewer people and getting onshore in Europe.

Any suggestions for a first-time river cruiser?

Thanks!

Good advice from the other posters. I wondered what date and which ship you're on in June? We are first time river cruisers on the Viking Alruna, leaving Amsterdam on June 11. I can highly recommend the rolls calls for the Rhine Getaway from 2015 and the one from 2016. You may even find someone who's on your cruise! I've discovered lots of helpful suggestions to help with our pre-cruise plans in Amsterdam and post-cruise in Lucerne.

[Suncrow]

Thanks all for the replies and info! So much good info available on your posts and in this forum. Been checking out the "New to river cruising" post and the links there.

Lois R, loved your narrative! You should do a blog! Great stuff. Looking forward to experiencing Amsterdam, especially after reading your review.

I definitely always seem to have fun, no matter how I'm traveling!

CPT Trips- Last trip to Europe (driving) I stuck to your rule, always tried a different beer every night. As one travels through Germany, it's easy, since different regions specialize in different beers!

notamermaid, thanks for the suggestion for the cable car in Koblenz. Will definitely give that a whirl!

doglover3, love your handle, first off, :) That's the hardest part for us, leaving our pup behind. But she's in great hands as we have friends taking care of her! We arrive in Brussels on June 6th and sail on June 11th from Kinderdijk on the Viking Eir. We decided to do Salzburg on our own post-cruise. Was there on our last trip but basically drove through, so looking forward to spending the weekend there to soak up more.

 

Thanks again!

 

Mark

[doglover3]

doglover3, love your handle, first off, :) That's the hardest part for us, leaving our pup behind. But she's in great hands as we have friends taking care of her! We arrive in Brussels on June 6th and sail on June 11th from Kinderdijk on the Viking Eir. We decided to do Salzburg on our own post-cruise. Was there on our last trip but basically drove through, so looking forward to spending the weekend there to soak up more.

 

Thanks again!

 

Mark

Yes, it's hard to leave our furry family behind, but hopefully our patchwork of family and neighbor will take good care of our two.

If you find your way over to the 2016 roll call, I think there is another couple on the Eir from AMS-BAS leaving on June 10. Here's the link, if that helps: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2230700&page=72

That's the end of the thread, so you might have to work back a page or two to find the list of all the 2016 cruisers. Hope to see you over there.

 

Lauri

[Clay Clayton]

Just back from our first River Cruise also. I have posted some final thoughts on my blog which you can reach using the link in my signature. There is also a thread that I started, but several have pointed out how their thoughts differ from mine, so it might be worth a read..it is entitled River Crui$ing.

 

Some other thoughts that I don't think are repetitive:

If you are expecting any OBC (we had some from our big box online TA) verify it is on your account on the first day. I knew better and didn't and on the last day found out we had only received a partial OBC. The TA and Viking are working it out and a check is "in the mail" to us. Frankly, it probably worked out to our benefit as we spent so little onboard that it would have been left behind if it had of been credited to begin with.

 

I wasn't sure what we would use the Concierge for but on our ship, she was the most helpful with all sorts of things...just not taxis in ports.

 

Get to know the folks at the breakfast grill...on our ship, the same guy worked the Aquavit diner hours and he was great about getting us just about anything we wanted, not just what was supposed to be available.

 

Probably a repeat of something I've said elsewhere, but once we discovered the lounge cam on the tv, we rarely went to the lounge for entertainment....I prefer lounging in bed in my skivvies than doing so in "smart casual" in the lounge.

 

Have a great cruise!

[Lois R]

Thanks all for the replies and info! So much good info available on your posts and in this forum. Been checking out the "New to river cruising" post and the links there.

Lois R, loved your narrative! You should do a blog! Great stuff. Looking forward to experiencing Amsterdam, especially after reading your review.

I definitely always seem to have fun, no matter how I'm traveling!

CPT Trips- Last trip to Europe (driving) I stuck to your rule, always tried a different beer every night. As one travels through Germany, it's easy, since different regions specialize in different beers!

notamermaid, thanks for the suggestion for the cable car in Koblenz. Will definitely give that a whirl!

doglover3, love your handle, first off, :) That's the hardest part for us, leaving our pup behind. But she's in great hands as we have friends taking care of her! We arrive in Brussels on June 6th and sail on June 11th from Kinderdijk on the Viking Eir. We decided to do Salzburg on our own post-cruise. Was there on our last trip but basically drove through, so looking forward to spending the weekend there to soak up more.

 

Thanks again!

 

Mark

 

Hi Mark, glad you enjoyed my review:)....but I have no desire to do

a Blog......most folks do them while cruising (I think).....I never want

to "have to" do that kind of stuff while I am cruising;).....I don't even

always do reviews anymore but since this was a brand new experience

for me, I actually enjoyed writing it.:)

[Suncrow]

Thanks for the reply, Clay Clayton- some good insight there and I enjoyed reading your blog!

I totally understand not wanting to "have" to do a daily blog, Lois R! I write a daily journal most of the time, but never force myself to do it or want anyone waiting on my daily entries. Even logging my photographs at the end of the day can seem a bit much at times.