Amsterdam to Basel- Viking-Mar 28-Time in port

[robstacks]

We are on Viking from Amsterdam to Basel on Mar 28th. This is our first River Cruise. We have been on 20+ ocean cruises. I have been unable to find out the times in port at each port. On the Ocean Cruises, they publish the times in port far in advance so you can plan excursions. We are trying to do some advance planning. We have signed up for all included excursions. Does anyone have any insight on how long they are usually in port or how to find out ahead of time the schedule?

[lackcreativity]

2 hours ago, robstacks said:

We are on Viking from Amsterdam to Basel on Mar 28th. This is our first River Cruise. We have been on 20+ ocean cruises. I have been unable to find out the times in port at each port. On the Ocean Cruises, they publish the times in port far in advance so you can plan excursions. We are trying to do some advance planning. We have signed up for all included excursions. Does anyone have any insight on how long they are usually in port or how to find out ahead of time the schedule?

Based on our one Viking river cruise and what I have read here, it is not easy to find out your times in port in advance for a river cruise. Most of the rivers are now so crowded with ships and docking times are impacted by water level issues and timing to make it through the locks that you have to be flexible on a river cruise.

 

The length of time you spend in port can vary significantly from one location to the next, and sometimes you may leave the ship by bus and then meet the ship at a different location as they have sailed on while you were on the excursion. Sometimes, of course, you will dock right in town and can walk off the ship on your own, but other times you will be at a docking facility elsewhere. For instance, when we were in Passau on our Danube cruise, we were docked away from the town and had to be bussed in (a short ride), only to see another Viking ship right in the prime spot in the center Passau when we got there. Good luck for them, bad luck for us!

 

I don't want my information to sound like we didn't like our river cruise (we did), but ocean cruising and river cruising are quite different. We have sailed with Viking  river and ocean, and love them both!

[gnome12]

I haven't cruised with Viking, so this information is generic.

 

Generally excursions are included, so there is less need to make independent plans. Timing is flexible which also makes it difficult. However, there is generally some free time in most ports, so my suggestion is to do some research about things you might like to do in advance, so that you know what to do with your time. Most lines will give you a map and some suggestions, but if you have researched in advance you have a better idea of what YOU would like to do, rather than what the cruise line has suggested. It helps to have opening times. If there is something that you really want to do, you can skip an excursion (but make sure that you know where the ship will be when you return; it might not be where you left it).

[cruisergrandma]

This was the hardest thing for me when we did out river cruise. We had previously only done ocean cruises and I am a compulsive planner.  Not as possible on a river cruise. We pretty much found out port times the night before the port.  We also were on Viking.  We did all of the included excursions and had plenty of time to do optional tours in Colmar.  We also had plenty of time to walk around and see the ports after the tours (except for the day we had 2 excursions). It was actually fun and relaxing to not have everything planned out ahead of time.

[jrkstl]

Greetings.

 

You might find this link helpful:

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHskxTrAP7

 

There are the Viking Dailies from our A-B cruise in April of 2017. Your times are likely to vary, but it should be close to what was shown on our trip.

Really wonderful cruise that I liked so much that I'd repeat it 🙂

Jeff

[robstacks]

Thanks Jeff for the info.

 

[Fletch1]

We have done this exact cruise with Viking a few years ago, and they don't give you times in port until the night before. Every night, just before dinner, they have a briefing in the lounge where the Cruise Director goes through the activities and times for the next day and the chef goes through the menu for that nights dinner. 

 

I too am a planner, and from memory, there was not too much free time in ports. If you do all the ship tours, your day in port is pretty well planned for you. 

 

It was a fabulous cruise. I hope you enjoy it. 

[robstacks]

Fletch, Thanks for the info. We are definitely looking forward to it.