Christmas Market Cruises

[2017newcruiser]

Hello all - I am glad to have stumbled upon this thread as we are tossing around the idea of a holiday market cruise in 2022 - and I'm trying to gather info as to when I can expect the actual markets to be open!  I'm finding all different opening dates from early November to two weeks prior to Christmas!

I've also picked up that some folks were left a bit underwhelmed with the Christmas Market cruises because the ships often leave early evening and the markets are the most lively and active (and lit up) during the evenings...would anyone care to share their thoughts on this?

I'd hate to go on a holiday cruise to early and miss the decor and majority of the markets, and I'd hate to go only to find out that we don't get to enjoy as much of the ambience of it.

We are looking at a November or December, 2022 Viking Romantic Danube holiday cruise.

We've only got one cruise under our belts, a Viking Rhine River in 2018. It was in October, and we found the weather then to be very nice so we are also considering a October, 2022 trip as a possibility.  

[vada_9]

Do a google search - ie German Christmas markets. You should get a couple of sites that list dates/times. I had used a site but dates are still from 2019. Remember, most were probably cancelled in 2020 so info may not be up to date.

[notamermaid]

The general rule for Germany (and Austria I believe) is: opening on Monday after Sunday of the Dead, but large touristy towns in the week before that, small towns sometimes only at the weekends. As this is a difficult year, nobody will have finalized when and how to stage them. It will get better and hopefully more reliable during the Summer. As you have an itinerary in mind it might be best to check the websites of the individual ports.

 

For greater enjoyment go after 1 December (less daylight, more illumination) and return before 21 December (stalls better stocked and vendors not in grumpy "want to pack up mood" - they not all are but it can happen).

 

Ships often sail away at dinner time so you may miss the evening jovial gatherings but this will depend on the port - look in the description if it says "dock overnight", that is good.

 

Further details you may find in old roll calls.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

 

[Coral]

Austrian markets seem to open before the German ones do. I sailed November 20th - November 30th. We missed a lot of the German markets by just a day. In Vienna - there were several markets - half were open when we first arrived and the other half were open at the end. We did RT Vienna.

 

I would google each port and Christmas Markets and you should be able to get a good feel for dates in the past and times. Maybe use 2018 or 2019 for examples.

 

They are prettier at night - I agree. The itinerary I went with had a lot of overnights. It starts getting dark around 5 pm in this area. I would aim for going early in December. I think many closed by 8 or 9.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Coral

[2017newcruiser]

Thanks for the tips everyone, I did google the Christmas markets in each town we would be stopping at and as I stated above, got start dates from mid November - mid December, so a bit all over.  Thinking we will stick with a December departure date to be safe and hope for the best!

Many thanks - 

[QueenofEverything]

We have been on two Danube Christmas cruises (one Viking and one Avalon), and have a Rhine Christmas market cruise booked for December.  We love them, but there are definitely pluses and minuses.  On the plus side, there are much lower numbers of river boats, so less crowds. The markets are wonderful, lots of white lights and Christmas cheer.  Lots of good food and mulled wine.  Reminds me of what Christmas used to be here in the US before it got so commercialized.  Minuses include temperature (really cold for this southern girl) and short days.  If you love Christmas you will really enjoy it.  Happy to answer any questions if I can.  

[Coral]

On 4/20/2021 at 8:15 AM, 2017newcruiser said:

Thanks for the tips everyone, I did google the Christmas markets in each town we would be stopping at and as I stated above, got start dates from mid November - mid December, so a bit all over.  Thinking we will stick with a December departure date to be safe and hope for the best!

Many thanks - 

The year I was going - I was able to say "I am going to be in Vienna on these dates" and then compare the ship's port date with the port's markets (there are a dozen or so just in Vienna and each had an opening date). Though I didn't book it 1.5 years in advance so it was easy to see the dates for that year. I wasn't just randomly looking up the week I was going and the ports. I was looking at a specific itinerary and was able to know.

 

I found the food the best part and the white Christmas lights..

[patrickmoran]

Extend your stay in Budapest. It has one of Europe's largest and best Christmas markets. For our 1st river cruise we did Viking's pre-cruise stay in BP. The hotel that V used then was right next to the market. So we had a great introduction to Europe's tradition.

I believe usually the itinerary will have a late night stay in Vienna which has a big market. The ship offered shuttles to the market even after dinner, I believe.

[dogs4fun]

14 hours ago, Coral said:

I found the food the best part and the white Christmas lights..

... and the wonderful scents. Love Xmas markets and hope I am able to visit them again one of these days. 

[dogs4fun]

14 hours ago, patrickmoran said:

Extend your stay in Budapest. It has one of Europe's largest and best Christmas markets. For our 1st river cruise we did Viking's pre-cruise stay in BP. The hotel that V used then was right next to the market. So we had a great introduction to Europe's tradition.

I believe usually the itinerary will have a late night stay in Vienna which has a big market. The ship offered shuttles to the market even after dinner, I believe.

Was this the market on Vörösmarty square? Did you sample any of the delicious treats at Gerbeaud Kávéház?

Edited April 23, 2021 by dogs4fun

[2017newcruiser]

Thanks all...thinking about that Budapest pre-trip stay even more now!  

Appreciate the tips and ideas.

[Second seating]

dogs4fun Gerbeaud Kávéház has my favorite cake Esterhazy! I love the Budapest Christmas Markets.

 

Second seating

[dogs4fun]

10 hours ago, Second seating said:

Gerbeaud Kávéház has my favorite cake Esterhazy!

Also my favorite. 🙂

[bookbabe]

Tagging onto this thread, we’re looking at the Grand European Tour with Viking, Amsterdam to Budapest, in early December 2023 for the Christmas markets.

 

Has anyone done that itinerary before for the markets?  How was it?

 

 

[tfred]

On 4/26/2021 at 5:31 PM, bookbabe said:

Tagging onto this thread, we’re looking at the Grand European Tour with Viking, Amsterdam to Budapest, in early December 2023 for the Christmas markets.

 

Has anyone done that itinerary before for the markets?  How was it?

 

 

In early December everything will be open and in full force.  We did a R/T Vienna on Crystal last year and loved it 

 

a few thoughts

Viking River is a mid market cruise - nice, but its marketing effort is way above the actual delivery

 

The Viking rooms are very small - literally the size of your living room rug unless you upgrade - then its gets expensive.  The balcony, especially in winter, is worthless

 

14 days is a long time if you haven't been on a river cruise before.  Maybe a 7 day with a few days in AMS (or gateway city ) would be better

[bookbabe]

1 hour ago, tfred said:

In early December everything will be open and in full force.  We did a R/T Vienna on Crystal last year and loved it 

 

a few thoughts

Viking River is a mid market cruise - nice, but its marketing effort is way above the actual delivery

 

The Viking rooms are very small - literally the size of your living room rug unless you upgrade - then its gets expensive.  The balcony, especially in winter, is worthless

 

14 days is a long time if you haven't been on a river cruise before.  Maybe a 7 day with a few days in AMS (or gateway city ) would be better

Thanks for the info re: the markets.  We are hoping that everything will be up and running and entirely back to normal by that point.

 

We are frequent ocean cruisers, and always travel in a suite on smaller ships, so I’m not too worried about the size of the rooms or the length of the cruise.  And we’re Canadians, and DH is of German descent, so we are familiar with the weather...it’s still nicer than at home and we will likely still use the balcony. 😉  Our only minor concern is the lack of variety in dining, but we’ve heard good things about the quality of the Viking food at least.  The itinerary seems to be in a port for at least part of every day, so we’ll eat quite a few meals on land I’m sure.
 

Thanks for the advice, though.  It’s appreciated, and it always makes me smile to see how CC members look out for each other.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thinking that you know what to expect on a river cruise because you are experienced ocean cruisers is a mistake.  The only thing they have in common is they both sail on water – but even there, one is salt and the other is fresh.  I suggest you do more research about river cruising and river cruise lines before you make your final decision.  Most people love river cruising, but the biggest source of disappointment is from misplaced expectations.

[Daisi]

Our host Jazzbeau has a lot of stickies on the top of the page for first time river cruisers. They explain a lot of differences, however one thing to remember, everything has changed due to Covid.

 

One thing to keep in mind for cabin space is that the balcony is included in the "room" size.  I wouldn't recommend Viking's French balconies as they are smaller than some of those in the lowest level IIRC, however some of the other lines that have French Balconies may be something you may be interested in.  I'm not thinking cold, I'm Canadian as well, I'm thinking you would have cover for the rain. 🙂

 

[Coral]

10 hours ago, tfred said:

14 days is a long time if you haven't been on a river cruise before.  Maybe a 7 day with a few days in AMS (or gateway city ) would be better

My first one was 14 and my second one was 10. I won't go to Europe unless it is a minimum of 12 days. I see nothing wrong with 14 days on a river cruise as long as there are plenty of ports. Might as well make the time worth it if you are paying for airfare.

 

I don't live on the East Coast and connections are never easy. So I try to spend as much time as possible when traveling.

[Roz]

8 hours ago, bookbabe said:

 The itinerary seems to be in a port for at least part of every day, so we’ll eat quite a few meals on land I’m sure.

 

If you take the included tours, you may not have the opportunity to eat that many meals in port. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

My first one was 14 and my second one was 10. I won't go to Europe unless it is a minimum of 12 days. I see nothing wrong with 14 days on a river cruise as long as there are plenty of ports. Might as well make the time worth it if you are paying for airfare.

 

I don't live on the East Coast and connections are never easy. So I try to spend as much time as possible when traveling.

Perhaps you haven't read any of the 'Horrors' threads by first-time river cruisers who booked a 14-day cruise and realized on day 2 that it wasn't for them.  But a 7-day river cruise should be a 12 day trip because the beginning and ending areas are worth a few land days.  My suggestion for a first-time river cruise is:  Amsterdam for 2-3 days, cruise to Basel (7 days), Lucerne and Zurich (minimum 3 days).

[Coral]

5 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Perhaps you haven't read any of the 'Horrors' threads by first-time river cruisers who booked a 14-day cruise and realized on day 2 that it wasn't for them.  But a 7-day river cruise should be a 12 day trip because the beginning and ending areas are worth a few land days.  My suggestion for a first-time river cruise is:  Amsterdam for 2-3 days, cruise to Basel (7 days), Lucerne and Zurich (minimum 3 days).

I stand by my statement - I wouldn't bother with a 7 night cruise in Europe. I think the 14 night cruise they have planned will give them a great overview. I also encourage them to spend pre and post cruise hotel stays.

 

Maybe I would feel differently if I lived on the East Coast and could easily fly there.

 

My first trip to Europe was 6 weeks... Best trip of my life.

Edited April 29, 2021 by Coral

[gnome12]

Nobody is arguing about the length of the trip. But finding out on day 2 that river cruising isn't for you (and it isn't for everyone) leaves you a lot of time to not enjoy yourself.

18 minutes ago, Coral said:

My first trip to Europe was 6 weeks... Best trip of my life.

Yes, but presumably you weren't on a small cruise boat the whole time. If you found yourself somewhere that you didn't enjoy you would have just picked up and gone somewhere else.

 

A 7 day cruise can easily be a 3 week trip or more.

[bookbabe]

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Thinking that you know what to expect on a river cruise because you are experienced ocean cruisers is a mistake.  The only thing they have in common is they both sail on water – but even there, one is salt and the other is fresh.  I suggest you do more research about river cruising and river cruise lines before you make your final decision.  Most people love river cruising, but the biggest source of disappointment is from misplaced expectations.

I’ve done a fair bit of research, thanks, and watched probably twenty or thirty different videos on everything from the styles of each line, ship and cabin walkthroughs, ports, differences between ocean and river cruises.  I’m a retired high school librarian, so you could say detailed research is my forte.

 

We will also likely be booking a last minute shorter Viking river cruise at some point before that Christmas markets one, we’re just waiting until our borders reopen and we know we can travel again before we pick dates.  And I don’t have to make final payment until June 2023, so we’ve got lots of time to change our mind if needed.

[bookbabe]

5 hours ago, Daisi said:

Our host Jazzbeau has a lot of stickies on the top of the page for first time river cruisers. They explain a lot of differences, however one thing to remember, everything has changed due to Covid.

 

One thing to keep in mind for cabin space is that the balcony is included in the "room" size.  I wouldn't recommend Viking's French balconies as they are smaller than some of those in the lowest level IIRC, however some of the other lines that have French Balconies may be something you may be interested in.  I'm not thinking cold, I'm Canadian as well, I'm thinking you would have cover for the rain. 🙂

 

We’re in an Explorer suite, so we’ve got a regular and a French balcony.  That’s one reason we booked so far ahead, there’s only two of those on each ship and one of them was already booked for our preferred date and direction.