Trip Report - Rhine and Mosel Discovery - Viking Hild 25 April - 1 May 2023

[pontac]

Day 1 Monday 24 April- Basel

 

We had booked the Rhine-Mosel Discovery Cruise on the Viking Hild travelling from Basel to Koblenz down the Rhine and then to Trier up the Mosel with a return flight from Luxembourg Airport. There were stops with included tours at Strasbourg, Speyer Mainz, Koblenz, Cochem, Bernkastel and Trier.

 Our son Dan and his partner Krisie joined us for their first river cruise.

 

 

 

Pick-up at 05:15 for 08:15 flight. We had a speedy journey and Joan's Gold Card got us in the BA T5 First Class lounge. There was a self-serve full cooked breakfast but we had a couple of rashers of back bacon in a bread roll with coffee.

 

 

 

But they had Palmer & Co Champagne on self-pour and as we'd been up for some time by then it seemed rude not to have a glass.

 

We met Dan and Krisie on the plane and we all had Castelnau Champagne.

 

 

 

The Asian Vegetarian hot breakfast was weird, comprising of a pleasant but bland chickpea curry almost covered by a large tasteless rice cake.

 

At Basel there were about 20 of us for the Hild. Two other coaches were filled by passengers for Idun which was making the Basel to Amsterdam cruise we'd taken last year.

 

 

 

 

The two boats were rafted. We boarded about 11:30 and our rooms were ready. 

 

View from lunch table

 

 

Just  time to unpack before we met Dan and Krisie in the restaurant for the embarkation dinner. Pasta was with pesto. I had a rather tasty Thai Green Chicken Curry and rice.

 

Lounge and bar

There was no tour of Basel because at about 14:30 we set off for Strasbourg. About 18:30 the rest of the passengers joined the boat at a short stop at Kembs. They were North Americans who'd been on the pre-cruise extension in Zurich accompanied by Programme Director Jamie Paxton.

 

 

We had a glass of Veuve Cliquot in the lounge before dinner.

 

 

 

 

As we all had the drinks package included in our booking Dan chose from the wine list Symington's Altano 2020 (Portugal, Douro), a tasty red blend  of traditional varieties.

 

The included house wines were Heinrich Volmer Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) and Heinrich Volmer Altum Meisterstuch, a red blend of unnamed varieties.

 

Day 2 - Strasbourg

 

 

 

 

The boat moored at around 08:00 with the included shore excursion 'Strasbourg' Highlights' leaving at 09:00. Rain was heavy so we decided not to take the tour.

 

 

 

For lunch we chose Morwald's Sauvignon Blanc 2021 (Austria, Wagram) with pleasant memories of visiting the winery on a previous cruise and Erhard Morwald imploring us to drink more of his wine on Viking.

 

Picture - Strasbourg by Krisie

 

 

Rain had let up so we took the 14:00 shuttle bus into Strasbourg but on the journey the heavens opened again. Krisie and Dan were made of sterner stuff and got off the bus to explore Strasbourg on their own, when we returned to the ship. The rain stopped shortly after and Krisie and Dan had a good time.

 

At 18:15 there was the safety drill. The room steward had taken our lifebelts out from under the bed, and because of inclement weather we mustered in the lounge, instead of the top deck as in past times. I'm not sure how much practical use this exercise was.

 

 

 

With dinner we had Francis Coppola's Diamond Collection Zinfandel 2020 (California). 

 

 

 

I had Slow Cooked Beef Short Ribs, which I expected to have bones, but there were none, just very tender succulent meat.

 

After dinner we went to the lounge to listen to guest musicians, the Fouli Tchay quartet playing French swing and jazz.

 

At 22:30 the boat left for Speyer but us oldies were asleep by then.

 

Day 3 - Speyer

 

 

 

We  arrived at Speyer at 08:00 and the included shore excursion - Speyer Walking Tour - set off at 09:00 

 

We'd really enjoyed the informative tour we'd been on last year, and encouraged Dan and Krisie to join.

 

 

 

 

But the guide gave a very truncated tour with lots of inconsequential subjects, it was most disappointing.

 

 

 

Based on our previous excursion we walked Dan & Krisie the length of the main street to the old city gate, then we left them to do their own thing as we headed back to the boat.

 

 

 

At lunch we had Ch Thieuley 2022 (France, Bordeaux), a refreshing blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

 

 

 

Last year the boat had left Speyer as soon as the walking tour set off, but on this trip it remained at Speyer all day. So we set off after lunch the short distance to the Speyer Technik Museum. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This amazing place is packed with planes, cars, boats, submarines, fairground rides, space vehicles, and railway locomotives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many exhibits could be entered. A Lufthansa 747 had part of the flooring removed so the cargo bay was exposed, and Dan walked on the wing (above).

 

 

 

The boat left for Mainz at 18:30 and we enjoyed a pre-dinner glass of Champagne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of dinner's starters was a favourite from last year, Crispy Mediterranean Tart, and we had Torres Celeste Crianza (Spain, Ribera del Duero).

 

After dinner was a music quiz where the opening bars of pop songs were played and we had to guess the song title. We did OK but didn't win.

 

 

 

It was Programme Director Jamie Paxton's birthday and after the quiz the crew presented him with a cake, which somehow got pushed up onto his face. For the rest of the week, whenever his birthday was mention, he unconsciously wiped his upper lip.

 

 

Day 4, Mainz 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We woke to find the boat moored in the centre of Mainz, and at 09:00 took the included walking tour of Mainz which included a visit to the Gutenberg Museum.

 

 

 

Dan & Krisie decided not to join the tour but to explore on their own.

 

 

 

The Gutenberg museum, with its display of Gutenberg's earliest books, was fascinating. The highlight was our guide donning an apron to demonstrate printing a page on a replica of Gutenberg's first printing press.

 

 

 

As usual there was free time after the tour but we headed back to the boat for coffee, meeting Dan & Krisie on the way.

 

 

 

Today was the first it was warm enough to eat lunch on in the open on the prow, and we had Symington's Altano Blanco 2020 (Portugal, Douro) a very nice white blend of six local varieties.

 

After lunch was a talk by Captain Dennis Visser. He'd started as a deckhand and worked his way up to Captain. He and his family had owned and operated a cargo boat on the Rhine, but had to sell it during the pandemic. He was Dutch and had to learn English to work for  Viking.

 

He said he didn't like school. His teacher told him that no-one would pay him to gaze out of the window. "Now I am in the wheelhouse," he said, "I'm paid to spend all the time looking out the window." 

 

He works two weeks on and two weeks off, "So I only work half the year," he said. "And half that time I'm sleeping, so in fact I work only a quarter of the year."

 

He has a crew of eight: four sailors, a Chief Engineer and two engineers, and a First Officer. Captain Visser operates an open wheelhouse policy and invited us all the visit him, which we did.

 

We missed the Viking Explorer Society Cocktail Party because Dan & Krisie, as first time cruisers, could not go with us.

 

 

Dinner's Classic German Tafelspitz was more appetising than it sounded - or looked. We had Poggio al Sole 2020 (Italy, Chianti Classico).

 

 

 

After dinner entertainment was a guest violinist playing modern music from the movies and TV.

 

 

 

Day 5 - Middle Rhine Gorge sailing and Koblenz

 

 

 

For many on board, today was the highlight of the cruise because at 07:00 we set off from Mainz to travel along the middle-Rhine with its many picturesque castles. We arrived at the narrowing gorge at about 09:00 and again the weather gave us rain, cold and low lying clouds for most of the way.

 

Picture by Krisie

Maps of the gorge with photo's of castles and their kilometre marker were handed out.

 

 

Picture by Krisie

As we came out of the gorge and passed the Lorelei rock and statue we had a demonstration of making Rudesheim Coffee (coffee, brandy, sugar, whipped cream and dark chocolate) and then everyone was given the fancy cup with the coffee.

 

 

 

 

 

Picture by Krisie

 

 

Lunches 'Pulled BBQ Pork Sandwich' was tasty as was the wine, Horst Sauer Eshendorfer Lumpen Sylvaner trocken 2021 (Germany, Franken) in a bocksbeutel.

 

 

 

We arrived at Koblenz at around 13:00, mooring at German Corner by the confluence of rivers Rhine and Mosel by the cable car station and huge statue of  Emperor William I. The name Koblenz is derived from the Latin for confluence. 

 

 

 

We joined the included 13:30 walking tour of historic Koblenz. We went on a tour last year but this guide was more informative and showed us things we'd not seen before, such as the spitting statue which is the town's symbol and appears on drain covers.

A nearby clock has a mans head who rolls his eyes and sticks out his tongue on at hour and half-hour.

 

Mosel on right, Viking boats rafted closest to Mosel. Picture by Krisie

 

 

Dan and Krisie took the cable car over our boat up to the castle on the other side.

 

 

Picture by Krisie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That evening was 'Taste  of Germany'. Tables had pretzel trees and German cheeses, cold meats and nibbles, and there was a choice of hot dishes from the kitchen - roast meats, fried chicken, sauerkraut, red cabbage, several types of sausages and more -  served buffet style.

 

Picture by Krisie

 

 

Waitrons dressed in German costumes. This is Simone, the bar manager, who ensured our wine glasses were never empty.

 

Wine at dinner was Gerard Bertrand 'an 1650' 2020 (France, Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape) a delicious Carignan, Syrah, Mourvèdre blend.

 

We'd set off for Winningen on the Mosel at about 18:30. There was an optional tour (which we'd not booked) 'An Evening of Wine & Music' planned when we arrived at Winningen at 20:30 but we were delayed by the first lock on the Mosel. As time passed Viking had to cancel the tour and refund monies. I don't know when we reached Winningen, it was after we'd gone to bed, or perhaps we didn't stop there.

 

 

Day 6- Cochem

 

 

 

After breakfast was the Disembarkation talk which the programme manager insisted had to be attended by at least one person from each cabin. A lot of time was spent on what the contingent on the post cruise extension to Paris would be doing. 

 

As always, there are only three things one needs to know about disembarkation: when bags are to be outside cabin, when cabin is to be vacated and when one has to leave the ship for the onward journey.  And all this information is written on the document that is placed in one's room on the penultimate evening.

 

 

 

After lunch, we moored around 13:00 in Cochem. The shore excursion left at 13:30 and was most enjoyable.

 

 

Photo by Dan

 

 

We had a wine tasting at Schlagkamp given by the winery's owner/winemaker Andreas Schlagkamp. 

 

Andreas Schlagkamp

 

 

Two wines were poured, both dry: Riesling and Ebling, followed by a liqueur made from the local small red peaches. Schlagkamp make a wine from the rare Red Riesling mutation, so I had to buy a bottle.

 

 

 

Then mini-busses ferried us up to the Reichsburg Castle on a promontory overlooking the town and Mosel. 

 

Reichsburg Castle and Cochem from the boat - by Krisie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our guide gave a good tour of the inside and outside, and then we walked down to Cochem for a tour.

 

 

 

This road-side wine-vending machine in Cochem also holds glasses and snacks. There was a coach to return us to the boat but we walked the short distance, and regular Viking shuttle busses went to and from Cochem.

 

 

 

 

With dinner's  Chateaubriand we had a Rhone Syrah: Chapoutier's Les Meysonniers  2020 (France, Crozes-Hermitage).

 

Photo by Dan

 

 

It was Krisie birthday and she was presented with a cake while the waitrons and Maitre d' sang Happy Birthday.

 

The boat departed for Bernkastel around 20:45. There was a movie quiz that evening at which we did poorly.

 

 

Day 6

 

 

 

After breakfast was the Disembarkation talk which the programme manager insisted had to be attended by at least one person from each cabin. A lot of time was spent on what the contingent on the post cruise extension to Paris would be doing. 

 

As always, there are only three things one needs to know about disembarkation: when bags are to be outside cabin, when cabin is to be vacated and when one has to leave the ship for the onward journey.  And all this information is written on the document that is placed in ones room on the penultimate evening.

 

 

 

After lunch, we moored around 13:00 in Cochem. The shore excursion left at 13:30 and was most enjoyable.

 

 

Photo by Dan

 

 

We had a wine tasting at Schlagkamp given by the winery's owner/winemaker Andreas Schlagkamp. 

 

Andreas Schlagkamp

 

 

Two wines were poured, both dry: Riesling and Ebling, followed by a liqueur made from the local small red peaches. Schlagkamp make a wine from the rare Red Riesling mutation, so I had to buy a bottle.

 

 

 

Then mini-busses ferried us up to the Reichsburg Castle on a promontory overlooking the town and Mosel. 

 

Reichsburg Castle and Cochem from the boat - by Krisie

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our guide gave a good tour of the inside and outside, and then we walked down to Cochem for a tour.

 

 

 

This road-side wine-vending machine in Cochem also holds glasses and snacks. There was a coach to return us to the boat but we walked the short distance, and regular Viking shuttle busses went to and from Cochem.

 

 

 

 

With dinner's  Chateaubriand we had a Rhone Syrah: Chapoutier's Les Meysonniers  2020 Crozes-Hermitage.

 

Photo by Dan

 

 

It was Krisie birthday and she was presented with a cake while the waitrons and Maitre d' sang Happy Birthday.

The boat departed for Bernkastel around 20:45. There was a movie quiz that evening at which we did poorly.

 

Day 7 - Bernkastel and Trier

 

Our last full day. At 07:00 we arrive at Bernkastel, a very famous name for a popular drink when we started drinking wine, now  hard to find. 

Bernkastel by Krisie

 

Goodness though, Bernkastel is a pretty town -  on both banks of the Mosel connected with a bridge and above it vineyards cover the sides of the gorge.

We haven't booked the optional tour of the old town plus tasting at the vinothek but cross the bridge to the wine museum to find a note on the door to say it's closed. The vinothek next door has been recommended. They have 140 wines on self pour for €23 but it doesn't open till 11:00, the time which we have to be back on board.

 

So we returned over the bridge to the cobbled streets of the compact old town. 

 

 

 

 

The old buildings spread out on upper floors because tax was paid on the floor area used, and none has  a smaller ground floor as this place.

 

 

 

It turned into a pleasant sunny day and the waitrons are laying tables on the prow for lunch and had opened the glass walls of the Aquavit lounge. A chef uncovers the barbecue and is grilling chicken breasts.

 

 

 

But we have the fish'n'chips which comes with malt vinegar(!). The batter is crisp and light and eating out in the sun as the boat makes its way along the Mosel's vine covered banks is delightful. We choose  Domaine Wachau Gruner Veltliner Federspiel 2021 (Austria, Wachau).

 

 

 

The included tour of Trier leaves at 13:30 by bus from Wintrich, where  the boat makes a stop just long enough for the tour group to depart. They are due to rejoin the boat  at 18:00 at a brief stop at Schweich with the boat due to arrive in Trier at 20:00.

 

 

 

 

Piersporter -another famous wine name

 

It is such a warm sunny afternoon we decide to skip the tour and relax watching the scenery from the sun deck.

The journey is without delay. We see few boats on the river and are not delayed at locks.

 

 

 

Going back to the cabin I discover what is behind the door marked Crew Only by the ice-machine. It's the drinks store.

For our last dinner we reprise Torres' Celeste 2019 (Spain, Ribera del Duero).

 

After dinner Dan and Krisie walked into Trier and foundnd the old Roman gatehouse and a fair in the town centre.

 

 

Day 8 -Trier Disembarkation

 

Placed in our cabin while we had dinner on Sunday was a personalised disembarkation timing sheet, plus the Viking Daily which had everyone's disembarkation details and an Invoice Summary.

 

As on-board gratuities and the drinks package were included in our booking, we had zero to pay. 

 

Cases were to be left outside  cabins by 07:00 with their colour coded tags and cabins vacated by 08:00. Our coach for Luxembourg airport was scheduled to leave at 08:45, so we had time for  a leisurely breakfast.

 

The majority of passengers were taking the post-extension to Paris, an all day coach journey with a break at Luxembourg's American War Cemetery and lunch at Reims with a walking tour. They left in four coaches at 08:15 and 08:30.

 

Luxembourg Airport by Krisie

 

 

Our coach took 35 minutes to reach the airport, and would have taken less if the driver hadn't mistakenly tried to enter an underground car-park with a too low roof from which he had to reverse against incoming cars.

 

Dan & Krisie in Airport Lounge - selfie by Dan

 

 

But check-in for our 11:55 flight didn't open until two hours before so we had to wait. Once checked in we used the lounge. Our plane left on time.

 

 

 

My specially requested Asian Vegetarian  meal was, our cheerful steward told me, exactly the same as the standard vegetarian dish on offer. And it was rather tasty, especially when accompanied by several glasses of Castelnau Champagne.

 

Our driver was delayed in a vast jam on the M25, but he arrived after a short delay and got us swiftly home. Dan & Krisie stayed the night with us before setting off on the long drive back to North Wales.

 

[pontac]

Writing this report brought home just how many sights we'd seen and places visited. Yet we'd not booked any optional trips nor took all the included trips.

 

I'd never even heard of Cochem, yet it was one of the most enjoyable tours with a winery tasting, a tour of the old town and the amazing castle on the hill.

 

The boat had 186 passengers, just four short of the maximum, yet the boat never felt crowded. There was never more than one person using the drinks machine when we went for a coffee, there was plenty of seating and the boat was light, airy and spacious. The food was good and plentiful and requests to have chips instead of mash were met with out a blink of an eye.

 

I noticed four things new this year.

 

1) All lunches and dinners (except for Taste of Germany) were waiter served. In previous years lunches in the Aquavit lounge were buffets.

 

2) There is a Viking app which has menus for each day, details of excursions and the ability to book them.

 

3)  There were tickets for excursions, both included and optional. Tickets were placed in the cabin the evening before to be given to the guide. The ticket has your name, cabin number and tour-guide group number.

 

4)  British style back bacon joined American style crispy streaky bacon on the breakfast buffet.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thanks for posting this comprehensive review, and especially for all the menus.  I'm glad you had another enjoyable cruise.  [But the menus confirmed that Viking isn't the line for me.]

[notamermaid]

Thank you for your extensive review. It tells me that I would enjoy this itinerary more than the Basel to Amsterdam one and I think I can recommend to future interested people here on cruisecritic to consider this one instead of the standard Rhine one. I love the fact that Speyer, with enough time for the Technical Museum, and Mainz are included in this itinerary. Following Jazzbeau's comment I would say the choices on the menus appear to appeal to me more than to him, the German dishes sound good, would like to try those made by a good chef. The international ones are all in all interesting, too. The wines are perhaps not as appealing to me (the international ones), a Franconian wine on a Rhine cruise is not an obvious offer, but why not have it, I am sure it is available on the Grand Tour itinerary (Main river, etc.).

 

Good to read you all had an enjoyable time.

 

notamermaid

 

[Kristelle]

Enjoyed reading your review and all the photos  - loved getting a first hand account of a cruise.

 

my cruise is not until September so am cruising by proxy with reviewers until then 🙂

 

 

[bundtkate]

12 hours ago, pontac said:

I'd never even heard of Cochem, yet it was one of the most enjoyable tours with a winery tasting, a tour of the old town and the amazing castle on the hill.

We spent 4 or 5 days in Cochem and I can't wait to go back on our upcoming Cities of Light with Viking. We mostly just slept there using it as a hub to visit other cities, but we did spend one full day wandering around and we even walked up to the castle, which I regretted despite being in my mid-30s and theoretically somewhat spry. Since DH and I are more night owls than my parents are, we also spent many an evening sitting out on the terrace outside our hotel watching the river with a few beers. Despite the time we spent there, your tour sounds like it visited a few places we never saw so I'm now looking forward to it even more. Thanks for taking the time to share. 🙂

Edited May 22, 2023 by bundtkate

[pontac]

16 hours ago, notamermaid said:

The wines are perhaps not as appealing to me (the international ones), a Franconian wine on a Rhine cruise is not an obvious offer, but why not have it

 

The wines were our choice from the wine list, we had white with lunch and red with dinner. The drinks package was included in our booking. If one didn't have the drinks package, the included wines are both German.

 

Mrs P won't drink Pinot Noir so we didn't have any of the listed German Spatburgunders, and although we did have German Riesling a couple of times, other wines were more attractive to us.

 

The advantage of the drinks package is one can choose what to drink, our choices suited us, you would make different choices.

[jimdee3636]

@pontac

I greatly appreciate your detailed account of the wines you enjoyed with each meal. You've made it abundantly clear that---for anyone who loves good wine---the beverage package on Viking is the way to go (which is not always the case on every cruise line).

 

Jim

[notamermaid]

The drinks package, I had forgotten about that.

 

On 5/21/2023 at 6:25 PM, pontac said:

We'd set off for Winningen on the Mosel at about 18:30.

It is a pity that Winningen did not work out. It is a delightful village I find. But then you saw Bernkastel-Kues, which is similar and bigger. A really nice place, a bit busy/touristy, but I would like to see that place again.

 

notamermaid

 

[RJMAROB]

Thank you for your comprehensive review. It will be very helpful as we prepare for our Viking River cruise next month, Jim 

[pontac]

On 5/23/2023 at 1:38 PM, notamermaid said:

It is a pity that Winningen did not work out.

 

Thanks for your concern , but is didn't affect us as we weren't booked on the after-dinner event. And Mrs P and I have been to Winningen twice before on excursions from Koblenz. But a bummer for those booked and looking forward to it.

 

How much further than Trier is Mosel navigable for cruise boats? I'd like to spend more time on the Mosel as its very attractive.

[notamermaid]

2 hours ago, pontac said:

And Mrs P and I have been to Winningen twice before on excursions from Koblenz.

Then you probably know Winningen well seeing that it is so small. Myself, I still have not been to the museum that also has info on August Horch (the car engineer).

 

2 hours ago, pontac said:

How much further than Trier is Mosel navigable for cruise boats? I'd like to spend more time on the Mosel as its very attractive.

Yes,  I find the Moselle lovely, too and I almost favour the dramatic parts in Luxembourg and in France (Sierck-Les-Bains). You can actually go all the way up to Nancy-Frouard (smaller ships), but very few ships go that far. It is mostly bike & barge. There are a few sailings up to Metz, but in general ships when they do not go to Luxembourg (Grevenmacher or Remich) divert to the Saar river.

 

I have written a bit about such possibilities in the Moselle thread where you can also read about the itinerary that @gnome12 did.

 

notamermaid