Just returned from Viking Danube River cruise

[wags]

We just returned from our 06/25-07/02 Viking Hermod cruise from Passau to Budapest.

I have been on 28 ocean cruises but this was my first river cruise and I loved it! The ship was small and clean, the crew was excellent and the cabin was a little smaller than  I 

expected. There is only one seating for dinner and it is sit where you want. The food was very good and  drinks, including soda, were free at meals. I would say that 75% of the diners adhered to the dress code. The others wore shorts, tees, flip-flops, etc. It didn't seem to bother anyone. There is no room service or 24 hour buffet. There is a 24 hour coffee,tea,cocoa nook with some cookies. The bathrooms are modern but small. I don't know how a grown man can fit in the shower. It is narrow and low .A WARNING! The hot water in the sink and shower gets scalding hot! Start with the cold and add the hot until it's comfortable. Warn your children and older folks. There is no grab-bar in the shower so it would be easy to slip with nothing to hold onto. The weather was almost perfect. We had sunshine everyday but the temps were in the high 80s into the high 90s. In Vienna it was 97! Walking around on shore excursions left everyone drained when they returned. I used an umbrella to keep the sun off me as did others. This is not a fun boat. There is no entertainment after dinner except a piano player. Some nights there might be a trivia game,etc. but there are no shows, casino, pools etc. No overhead announcements of coming events or annoyingly constant music. No art shows and, surprisingly, no shops. Bring your own snacks.  Sometimes a local entertainer will come on board.  All in all it was a happy experience for us. If I can answer any questions just ask.

 

[Roz]

Wags,

 

Glad you had great first river cruising experience.  I love them.  Wish they didn't cost so much. 💲  Where do you think you'll take your next river cruise to?

 

Roz

[pontac]

I've been on 4 Viking Danube cruises, including the one you did Passau to Budapest which is titled Danube Waltz.

 

I'm a fully grown man and I don't have a problem with the shower, and I love the heated floor and night light there. 

 

I've not been on an ocean cruise, so it was most interesting to hear your comments on river cruising after so many ocean cruises. 

 

Have you been on a Viking Ocean cruise? Our friends are trying to get us to join them on Viking's Caribbean cruise.

 

I don't regret not having a casino, shows etc, and there's so much food I can't say I've ever wanted a snack, or taken any of the cakes they have at the coffee station.

 

 

[robertmartha]

Wags

So will you/would you take another river cruise? Was it what you expected? After so many ocean sailings - it is a big change (no matter what lines you have sailed on) but appears you enjoyed the experience.

We sailed on our first river cruise about a year ago and I had done a lot of research prior to booking and sailing so I knew what to expect regarding the onboard experience prior to stepping on board -

 

Bob

[wags]

Health permitting I would love to cruise on the Rhine. When we first started cruising it was a different world. Smaller ships, people dressed nicer, etc. Now everything is family centered. It's more like an amusement park. That's why I really enjoyed the river cruise. It was more relaxing and laid back. I can't afford the luxury lines and I wouldn't want to go back to formal nights.  Well, we'll see what the future holds but I'm pretty sure it's river cruising..

[sharkster77]

Interesting take on river cruising, @wags.  Viking makes it very clear that their preferred demographic is the older adult--no kids.  I believe Disney leases some river ships (from AMA perhaps) and runs "family cruises".  Not for me, no thank you.  After 40 years in education, I would like to take a break from being around (other people's) kids, frankly.

[AF-1]

Wags, thank you for you review.  I like every thing you mentioned.  I will be going on my first river cruise next May. We are doing the Rhine with AmaWaterways.  Start in Basel and end up in Amsterdam.  I am worried about lack of food choices.  I am very picky eater; or I only eat certain things.  On large cruise ships it's not a problem.  Princess has the int'I cafe which is open 24 hrs for food. I also like going to the evening shows in the 800 person theater.  No inter'l cafe like on Princess ships.  Oh well, I promised my wife I will enjoy the scenery. 

[wags]

I, like you AF-1, am a picky eater. My daughters will try anything. They enjoyed the food very much. I had problems a few nights. As on most ships, for those that didn't like the evening's menu, they did have the usual choices every night; roast chicken breast, steak or some kind of fish. As a starter, I asked for a fruit plate. I had chicken three nights. As long as they had a good dessert I was happy. I know you will have a wonderful cruise!

[Daisi]

AF-1 & Wags, not sure about the lines you were on, but I know with Avalon (and have heard of this on other lines), if you do order something you don't care for, they will bring you something else.  It lets you get adventurous, without having to worry about being stuck with something you can't / don't want to eat.  

[AF-1]

Daisi; thank you for your feedback. I will be asking for things not on the menu.  I don't eat any fish, don't eat meat, and will eat a little chicken.  Do you guys know if they will make pasta and red sauce?  I can eat that and pizza every night and be happy.  

[NJBeaglemom]

On 7/5/2019 at 11:16 AM, wags said:

We just returned from our 06/25-07/02 Viking Hermod cruise from Passau to Budapest.

If I can answer any questions just ask.

 

Okay, I'm asking 🙂

 

My husband and I will be on the Hermod in September, Passau to Budapest. It will be our first river cruise. How were the included excursions? How much time did you have to explore on your own? 

 

 

 

[wags]

The included tours were what you might expect. Quaint town, cobble stone streets, old churches, etc. Everything depended on your tour guide. Some were better than others.. We didn't have time on our own during the tour. After it was over you could stay in town to shop and eat and make it back to the boat on your own or return to the boat with the tour.The one we were very disappointed in was the 8 hour tour to Cesky Krumlov. It was a typical old town you could see in an hour. They leave you there "on your own to explore" for THREE hours! We felt it was a waste of time but others might disagree. I guess it all depends on your interests in what you visit. I'd say we enjoyed most of the tours. I hope you do too.

[MareT]

On 7/6/2019 at 2:42 PM, AF-1 said:

Wags, thank you for you review.  I like every thing you mentioned.  I will be going on my first river cruise next May. We are doing the Rhine with AmaWaterways.  Start in Basel and end up in Amsterdam.  I am worried about lack of food choices.  I am very picky eater; or I only eat certain things.  On large cruise ships it's not a problem.  Princess has the int'I cafe which is open 24 hrs for food. I also like going to the evening shows in the 800 person theater.  No inter'l cafe like on Princess ships.  Oh well, I promised my wife I will enjoy the scenery. 

I am sure AMA would do the same as Viking . . there was a gentleman on our sailing that had a restricted diet.  If you speak with the mature d or head chef when you board and tell him what you are looking for they will arrange it.  On Viking there were pasta dishes mainly for lunch but if I recall there was a vegetarian dish each night for dinner.

[sumiandkage]

Since Viking doesn't care if you bring your own food and drink onboard and even provides a mini-fridge for your own use, we hit a Migros grocery store (the store name apparently connotes halfway to wholesale prices in French)  in Basel for between meal snacks- Swiss Coca Cola is better than the US version, grocery store Swiss chocolate is da bomb, and there are all kinds of tasty savory snack options like paprika potato chips- on the way to the ship. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, sumiandkage said:

Since Viking doesn't care if you bring your own food and drink onboard and even provides a mini-fridge for your own use, we hit a Migros grocery store (the store name apparently connotes halfway to wholesale prices in French)  in Basel for between meal snacks- Swiss Coca Cola is better than the US version, grocery store Swiss chocolate is da bomb, and there are all kinds of tasty savory snack options like paprika potato chips- on the way to the ship. 

 

Zurich Lowenbrau was reputedly better than the Munich version back in the day ['60s-70s] – until Miller took over the name and completely ruined it for us.  

[Marjan1]

On 7/7/2019 at 9:00 AM, AF-1 said:

Daisi; thank you for your feedback. I will be asking for things not on the menu.  I don't eat any fish, don't eat meat, and will eat a little chicken.  Do you guys know if they will make pasta and red sauce?  I can eat that and pizza every night and be happy.  

 

On our river cruise there was a vegetarian option at each meal.  I have heard similar from people who travelled with different companies.  

[AF-1]

Thank you for your reply.  Have a nice day

[Daisi]

Most lines will now offer vegetarian options.  There is a page in the forums here that is for Ama cruisers, you may find someone there who can post sample menus. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2502502-all-ama-cruisers-share-expierences-and-ideas/?tab=comments#comment-53905521

 

 

I also found a site online with menus, but it may be older. https://kimandcarrie.com/whats-the-food-like-on-an-amawaterways-river-cruise-menus-photos-and-videos/

 

You may also find something on YouTube.  

 

I can understand your concerns, I have some food intolerances, and am also kinda picky.  I rarely try stuff I haven't eaten before (probably because I don't want to pay for a meal I don't enjoy).  I searched online for menu's and also YouTube to see what I could find.  That was one of the things I did really enjoy, was the ability to try stuff I hadn't....knowing I could go for standard food if I didn't care for it.  We had one lady on our cruise that I only saw eating either the standby steak or chicken with french fries, but she seemed to enjoy her food...even heard her recommending the fries to everyone!

 

[californiagirl]

Thank you for your review.  We are planning a Rhine River Cruise in 2020 on the Viking Mani.  This may seem like an odd question:  is the soda onboard only from a can or do they also have the fountain or soda guns?  Do they have Coke products?

 

thank you in advance.

[sumiandkage]

Viking does proper glass bottle Coca Cola products served at lunch and dinner as God and and Atlanta originally intended it to be.  (Since we don't drink alcohol, we didn't go with the Silver Spirits that probably includes soda between meals too so I can't speak for that) Soda in Europe is the same price as cheap beer at casual restaurants and pubs in many cases, but it's typically glass bottle and made with sugar instead of HFCS and Viking goes along with that expectation. 

[cruzrbachoua]

Wags...what exactly is the dress code for dinner?  Being both on a river cruise and ocean is it similar to the casual dress one wears on an ocean cruise or can you get away with the jeans and sweater you wore that day into port?  We would be going in October so we were wondering/thinking...could we just freshen up a bit dress up the sweater with some jewelry and go to dinner in our jeans and sweater or should we bring our nice casual dresses we wear for casual nights on the ocean cruises? 

[wags]

We saw every kind of outfit at dinner. Instead of jeans and sweater I would suggest nice slacks and top. However, as I said, no one really seemed to care what anyone wore. Not even Viking.

[cruzrbachoua]

5 minutes ago, wags said:

We saw every kind of outfit at dinner. Instead of jeans and sweater I would suggest nice slacks and top. However, as I said, no one really seemed to care what anyone wore. Not even Viking.

Thanks...while others may not we would like to make sure we are following the rules as much as we can with the luggage we plan to bring.  Ok so we can toss in a nice pair of black slacks and a long black skirt and put that with the sweater we wore in town that day and change out of the sneakers and we should be good and add some bling with the jewelry. 

 

Now for the gents..my dh would also be in a sweater but no collar wondering if he would be able to wear that with a nice pair of slacks in the dining room and still fulfill the elegant casual?

 

We fill it does make dinner a bit more special when you put effort into it but to plan on being out and about in town a lot and I saw on Viking's  website it noted to limit to 1 checked bag per person...so we wont have a ton of room for outfits that will be worn just at dinner ie. collared shirts at dinner as dh wont wear those in port while hiking and walking and such.

Edited July 11, 2019 by cruzrbachoua

[trains]

On 7/8/2019 at 7:03 PM, sumiandkage said:

Viking does proper glass bottle Coca Cola products served at lunch and dinner as God and and Atlanta originally intended it to be.  (Since we don't drink alcohol, we didn't go with the Silver Spirits that probably includes soda between meals too so I can't speak for that) Soda in Europe is the same price as cheap beer at casual restaurants and pubs in many cases, but it's typically glass bottle and made with sugar instead of HFCS and Viking goes along with that expectation. 

 

I remember reading a tip here on one of the boards that you can request a refill of your drink as you're finishing your lunch or dinner so you can keep drinking after the meal is finished.  I drink mostly soda, so would like to get another soda "to go" so I can take it back to the fridge in my room for later.  Does anyone know whether they'd allow taking the glass bottle out of the dining room?  Also, do they carry the DIET or ZERO versions of Coca Cola products? 

[knoxclone]

Earlier this year I was on the Ingvi and  coke zero was available for my husband.  I don't drink caffeinated beverages and usually asked for a bottle of sparkling water to take back to lounge or room, and there was never a problem.