Just off Viking Rhine Getaway - Ask Away

[loge23]

8 hours ago, pontac said:

 

You are correct! Kirwan picture from the Bdx river cruise we did with Viking in 2015. It was a highlight, especially as I had been slow with the early wines and was rewarded when the classed growth Ch Kirwan was poured with the main course. As most on the table had drunk their fill with the early wines and had little or no room for the wonderful Ch Kirwan I had - how shall we say - more than my fair share of the expensive claret. 🙂

 

 

Yes, I remember that - they broke out the '82 for the main course!

Btw, we were also on that cruise in '15 - I think it was in July. We did the Loire valley add on as well. 

The Rhone cruise is also a good one for wineries.

Cheers, my friend!

 

[suefrankw]

thanks so much for all this information. We are booked on this voyage in late March 2023- our first Viking and river cruise. Been on many ocean cruises.  Also thanks for posting menus. I am celiac and see that they have gluten free food dishes marked. Also a challenge for me.

[DavidPlunkett]

Thank you, @pontac, for this wealth of information. My husband and I are scheduled for this trip, our first river cruise, beginning August 1 in the same direction. 

[pontac]

It's a pleasure @suefrankw an d @DavidPlunkett

 

I cannot make personal comparisons with ocean cruises because I haven't been on any (Mrs Pontac is a poor sailor and doesn’t want to risk sea-sickness) but I have read about them on CC.

There’s no motion awareness on the boat; often the only time you’ll notice you’re no longer moored is that the scenery is moving past the window.

 

There’s no ‘sea days’. You are always in sight of the land on either side of the boat.

There’s many fewer passengers, the maximum passenger load on the Rhine Viking Longship* is 190 and it’s usually fewer, because for to be full they have to sell the massively expensive suites at the back of the boat.

 

There’s no casino or lavish shows. Entertainment is the onboard pianist and local musicians/singers/demonstrators  who come on board, plus quizzes and talks.

 

Nevertheless, with included and optional sightseeing and meal times the day seems packed.

 

I am sure, and I surely hope, you’ll enjoy river cruising as much as I did and still do.

 

*Boats are designed to be the maximum size that can fit the river’s locks and bridges, other rivers may have smaller boats, e,g Portugal.

[Sun Lover]

We have a Viking river cruise planned for this August and are thinking of canceling based on some recent posts on these boards saying a good portion of the passengers tested positive, were asymptomatic, and had to quarantine in their cabin until they could be sent off the ship to a hotel for the remainder of the quarantine.  I would like to hear from anyone who has recently been on a river cruise with Viking as to what their experience was and if they know if a large number of people tested positive.  I'm wondering if this is just a small minority of people that have been affected and if people feel it's generally safe to be on a river cruise.  Is Viking still requiring the daily testing and masks while onboard the ship as well as on excursions?  I'd appreciate any information or advice about this as we need to make a decision soon.  Thanks

[Jjg34219]

We are in Basel now, embark tomorrow. Masking is required on and off the boat, and I believe testing is still done daily. We did ask here what the Covid situation is and we were told “you dont wanna know”, so we are using common sense and masking where needed

[sharkster77]

On 5/24/2022 at 6:57 AM, pontac said:

It's a pleasure @suefrankw an d @DavidPlunkett

 

I cannot make personal comparisons with ocean cruises because I haven't been on any (Mrs Pontac is a poor sailor and doesn’t want to risk sea-sickness) but I have read about them on CC.

There’s no motion awareness on the boat; often the only time you’ll notice you’re no longer moored is that the scenery is moving past the window.

 

There’s no ‘sea days’. You are always in sight of the land on either side of the boat.

There’s many fewer passengers, the maximum passenger load on the Rhine Viking Longship* is 190 and it’s usually fewer, because for to be full they have to sell the massively expensive suites at the back of the boat.

 

There’s no casino or lavish shows. Entertainment is the onboard pianist and local musicians/singers/demonstrators  who come on board, plus quizzes and talks.

 

Nevertheless, with included and optional sightseeing and meal times the day seems packed.

 

I am sure, and I surely hope, you’ll enjoy river cruising as much as I did and still do.

 

*Boats are designed to be the maximum size that can fit the river’s locks and bridges, other rivers may have smaller boats, e,g Portugal.

Everything I've read about ocean cruises tells me that an ocean cruise would annoy the hell out of me.  The Viking brochures have a list of items that they say they are not----everything on that list would infuriate me (photographers at dinner, paying for WIFI and every excursion, "art" lectures that are sales pitches, etc., etc.)

[pontac]

21 hours ago, Sun Lover said:

We have a Viking river cruise planned for this August and are thinking of canceling based on some recent posts . 

 

I would like to hear from anyone who has recently been on a river cruise with Viking as to what their experience was and if they know if a large number of people tested positive.  I'm wondering if this is just a small minority of people that have been affected and if people feel it's generally safe to be on a river cruise.  Is Viking still requiring the daily testing and masks while onboard the ship as well as on excursions? 

 

I'd appreciate any information or advice about this as we need to make a decision soon.  Thanks

 

You must do what you feel is best for you, but the situation changes fast and a lot can happen in two months.

 

I don't think a lot of people tested positive on the cruise I was on. I don't know of any, but they made no announcements, but other passengers weren't talking about anyone testing positive.

 

Our friends were on another VRC at the same time in the Rhone and they said announcements were made every day on their boat. On two occasions a person had tested positive and they and their partner were disembarked and taken to a hotel. So not a large amount - and if it were a high proportion of passengers, bearing in mind the other person in the room also has to disembark, then would cruising still be profitable for Viking?

 

You ask if Viking are still requiring daily testing. They did in the last week of April, but someone who was on VRC in May has posted on these forums that testing was only for 3 days. Who knows what it'll be in August?

 

Viking were requiring masks while moving about on board, and on yours and on buses. Mask on buses was also required by the countries we were in, so if Viking dropped the mask requirement masks would still be needed on busses until national law changed.

 

Personally I did not find mask wearing onerous, and the FFP-2 masks supplied free by Viking protected me,

 

Viking sent out regular emails with their Covid requirements so we knew exactly what the situation was. The situation changed before we went, they re-instituted mask wearing.

 

I wrote above that the EU required mask wearing on all planes flying into and out of the EU. We flew BA into Basel in Switzerland which is not in EU and didn't need to wear masks on the plane and BA out of Netherlands which is  in EU and did need to wear masks on the plane.

 

In the week after our cruise the EU dropped the mask on planes requirement.

 

As I said, the situation changes fast. Suggest you check what the cancellation policy is; for us we could cancel at short notice and reschedule at a later date with no penalty.

 

 

A number of rules affect, Viking is only one, the journey is also ruled by regulations of the country you fly into and the country you fly out of and each country you travel through, also the country you fly back to.

 

I'm glad we went.