Viking Einar - Rhine (Summer 2024, Amsterdam to Basel) Questions

[jules815]

After years of ocean cruising, my husband and I have booked our first river cruise. 

 

We've booked our flights thru Viking (that was "the deal") and are arriving a few days prior to the cruise, but we'll be doing airport transfers and hotel on our own. We're also doing 3 days on the end on our own. 

 

I've been all over the internet researching river cruising, but still have some questions. We start in Amsterdam, with stops in Kinderdijk, Cologne, Koblenz, Speyer, Strasbourg, Breisach, and ending in Basel.

 

So far I've booked all of the included walking tours. If we decide at a later date, and I mean after the trip has started, that we'd like to add another excursion (something in the evening) is it possible to add it while on board? Do the excursions fill up?

 

Also, while the ship is docked, do people go on and off the ship and walk around the towns on their own? (Obviously given there's time...we wouldn't do anything risky.)

 

For those of you that have done the Rhine with Viking, are there any excursions that you highly recommend? There's one in, I think it was Cologne, where you learned about a certain beer unique to that region, and it ended in a traditional pub (beirhaus?) with dinner. Was all set to book, then watched a YouTube video of our itinerary, and it showed a fantastic German dinner with entertainment brought on board. We wouldn't want to miss out on something like that, so we're kind of torn with what to book. Is there usually some type of cultural entertainment on board most evenings?

 

Do any of you ever book excursions thru 3rd party providers, or stick with Viking tours only? 

 

Looking for some guidance regarding tipping. I know tipping is discussed to death on the ocean voyage boards, but this is a completely different type of trip for us. I see that gratuities are charged, but do you tip extra? I know the tipping culture in Europe is completely different. Even when we've pre-paid our gratuities on other cruises, we've always tipped our stateroom attendants and waiters something additional at the end. Is this done on river cruising? What about the Viking tour guides and bus drivers? Additional tips?  Euros? This is the one area my husband handles when we travel, and I can tell he's already agonizing a little about it.

 

Drink package. Very reasonably priced, but it also looks like drinks are quite reasonable as well. Are things like sparkling water and soft drinks included outside of lunch and dinner hours?

[sharkster77]

We enjoyed the Medieval Colmar optional excursion very much.  Those who did the WWII Colmar tour raved about that one as well.  The only other optional we did was the medieval palaces of Bruhl, while docked in Cologne.

 

Quite often if you don't have an afternoon tour booked, you can take a shuttle back or simply walk back into town after lunch and wander on your own---in Strasbourg we paid for our own lunch and stayed in town, it was so delightful.

 

Our 2019 itinerary was slightly different.  We had both Marksburg Castle and Heidelberg as included tours, and I believe they are optional for you.  Both of them were very good.

 

On river cruises, third-party tours are very difficult to line up.  Port arrival and departure times are fluid, dependent on how crowded the locks are, and what the dockmaster has to say.  Often the ship will drop you off in one port for a tour, then sail away, to go through a lock for example, and pick you up at another port.  So the third party tour provider needs to know where the ship will be when the tour is over.

 

That is one huge difference between ocean and river cruising.  That said, river cruises give you one included excursion in every port--not many on the ocean do that (Viking Ocean is one of them, as the ocean cruises follow the river cruise model).

Edited December 11, 2023 by sharkster77

[sharkster77]

Bottles of water are always available.  As you depart or return from a tour, just grab one off the tray near the gangplank.  Outside of meals, soda and alcohol must be purchased.  However, at the end of dinner, the waiter will often ask if you need a 'refill' which you can bring into the lounge.  

[AnhaltER1960]

4 hours ago, jules815 said:

So far I've booked all of the included walking tours. If we decide at a later date, and I mean after the trip has started, that we'd like to add another excursion (something in the evening) is it possible to add it while on board? Do the excursions fill up?

Sometimes yes, sometimes not. Look at the documents you received from Viking. It may be the case that extra excursions can only be booked in advance, require a minmum booking (or can be sold out). But dont overdo it, the included tours already will fill your days.

4 hours ago, jules815 said:

Also, while the ship is docked, do people go on and off the ship and walk around the towns on their own? (Obviously given there's time...we wouldn't do anything risky.)

Feel free to do. Often the ship is docked within walking distance to the city center or hotspots. In case of more distant docking locations, often there are shuttle buses offered.

4 hours ago, jules815 said:

For those of you that have done the Rhine with Viking, are there any excursions that you highly recommend? There's one in, I think it was Cologne, where you learned about a certain beer unique to that region, and it ended in a traditional pub (beirhaus?) with dinner. Was all set to book, then watched a YouTube video of our itinerary, and it showed a fantastic German dinner with entertainment brought on board. We wouldn't want to miss out on something like that, so we're kind of torn with what to book. Is there usually some type of cultural entertainment on board most evenings?

Cannot comment on that. It is your personal priority. Evening entertainment is offered on at least some evenings.

4 hours ago, jules815 said:

Do any of you ever book excursions thru 3rd party providers, or stick with Viking tours only? 

This might be an alternative for pre-/post-cruise extensions. During the cruise, as sharkster77 has pointed out, they might be difficult to coordinate. I would not recommend that unless you have some very special interest into a destination not covered otherwise.

4 hours ago, jules815 said:

Looking for some guidance regarding tipping. I know tipping is discussed to death on the ocean voyage boards, but this is a completely different type of trip for us. I see that gratuities are charged, but do you tip extra? I know the tipping culture in Europe is completely different. Even when we've pre-paid our gratuities on other cruises, we've always tipped our stateroom attendants and waiters something additional at the end. Is this done on river cruising? What about the Viking tour guides and bus drivers? Additional tips?  Euros? This is the one area my husband handles when we travel, and I can tell he's already agonizing a little about it.

 

Drink package. Very reasonably priced, but it also looks like drinks are quite reasonable as well. Are things like sparkling water and soft drinks included outside of lunch and dinner hours?

Viking give recommendations regarding tipping both on board and on land (tour guides/coach drivers), which you can find on their website and probably also in your travel documents. As far as I remember, they recommend 2 Euro for a tour guide, 1 Euro for the bus driver. Local currency is best (Euro in the Netherlands and Germany, Swiss francs in Switzerland), but USD should be ok, too.

Nobody will check your bags when boarding the ship, so you can bring as many bottles as you can carry for consumption in your stateroom. In public rooms a corkage fee might apply. Sparkling/still water is available on all Viking ships as well as tea/coffee anytime.

[Host Jazzbeau]

9 minutes ago, AnhaltER1960 said:

Local currency is best (Euro in the Netherlands and Germany, Swiss francs in Switzerland), but USD should be ok, too.

I wouldn't worry about Swiss Francs.  The Swiss guides we have had preferred Euros.  [They go over to Germany to do their shopping at better prices...]

[jules815]

4 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

On river cruises, third-party tours are very difficult to line up.  Port arrival and departure times are fluid, dependent on how crowded the locks are, and what the dockmaster has to say.  Often the ship will drop you off in one port for a tour, then sail away, to go through a lock for example, and pick you up at another port.  So the third party tour provider needs to know where the ship will be when the tour is over.

 

Hadn't even thought about that! Just watched another YouTube video where they talked about exactly this. Getting dropped off and then picking up the ship at a different location. 

[JordanF]

I'm not saying that optional tours never sell out, because they occasionally do.  However, cruise lines like to get you signed up ahead and always point out the (unlikely) event of a sold out tour.  I typically do advance purchase for the tours I know I want to do (usually after researching on this website), and add tours while on the trip if I am so moved.  

 

As for tipping, I typically bring a pile of $5 and $10 (US) bills, and use them to tip the daily tour guides and bus drivers.  I bring larger denominations (also US) for tour directors and the like, and charge the ship worker tips on the shipboard account.  We do not habitually tip the crew beyond that except where we feel an particular individual or two has been exceptional.

 

Why US dollars? Because I can get all denominations cheaply and easily.  I have never heard anyone complain about or discourage this.  In Europe these days pretty much everyone takes credit cards, and some places prefer them.   On the the very rare occasions when they only take cash, dollars will do (especially if you round up!).  In short, outside of tips, you  may have no use for cash.

[Mike R 2018]

We took the "beer crawl" excursion in Cologne (our third excursion that day :-)).  We had quite a bit of fun as we were bused to an older part of town, then walked to three beer halls, trying the special beer of each.  We also had a nice German meal.  Along with the camaraderie of our group of about 20 from the boat, we truly enjoyed chatting (in both English and German) with several locals.  It was so nice to walk by several hundred, yes, several hundred locals sitting under umbrellas at tables drinking beer, eating snacks, relaxing and talking at the many outdoor cafes we passed while walking.  It was refreshing to see them enjoying the evening with friends and family.  That Friday night is etched in my memory as that experience wouldn't happen in a large US city today...  We were bussed back to the boat at about 10 PM.  Our cruise was in June, 2019.

 

The Bruel Palace tour was very nice as was the walking tour of Cologne.  The tour guide of the latter was superb.

 

We enjoyed our cruise/stay in Amsterdam in 2019 so much that we're off to the Prague/Romantic Danube cruise in July...

Edited December 16, 2023 by Mike R 2018

[Canal archive]

Curious isn’t it about the meeting up not happening in American cities considering that the ethnicity of a lot of Americans is middle European.

[sharkster77]

6 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Curious isn’t it about the meeting up not happening in American cities considering that the ethnicity of a lot of Americans is middle European.

In the Boston area, COVID led to many restaurants offering outdoor dining.  As life has returned to quasi-normalcy, the city has tried to rescind the permissions to offer outdoor dining.  There has been lots of pushback from both restauranteurs and patrons, as the former saw increased seating and revenue, and the latter enjoyed dining outdoors on warm summer nights.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

In the Boston area, COVID led to many restaurants offering outdoor dining.  As life has returned to quasi-normalcy, the city has tried to rescind the permissions to offer outdoor dining.  There has been lots of pushback from both restauranteurs and patrons, as the former saw increased seating and revenue, and the latter enjoyed dining outdoors on warm summer nights.

I wonder how the restaurants would feel is the city said you can keep the space but you have to pay the same rent per square foot that you are paying for the restaurant itself.  Of course they want to keep it: they're getting a free ride!

[sharkster77]

33 minutes ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I wonder how the restaurants would feel is the city said you can keep the space but you have to pay the same rent per square foot that you are paying for the restaurant itself.  Of course they want to keep it: they're getting a free ride!

In the North End the city instituted a $7500 annual fee for outdoor dining  because it involved using space from narrow streets. In the Back Bay where there are sidewalks, no fee I believe.  North Enders took the city to court. Frankly don't remember how it all sorted out.

[Mike R 2018]

...Just one reason we enjoy vacationing in Europe.  

 

I've found a pic that I took that evening.  This was taken at just one of the city squares in Cologne we walked through...

 

 

[vada_9]

29 minutes ago, Mike R 2018 said:

...Just one reason we enjoy vacationing in Europe.  

 

I've found a pic that I took that evening.  This was taken at just one of the city squares in Cologne we walked through...

 

 

As much as I love outdoor dining ( and we do it often here). We don’t usually in Europe as smoking is still allowed at outside tables. And that is a big turn off.

[Mike R 2018]

You're going to some excellent ports.  Take the small boat trip to the oldest windmill at Kenderdijk.  We did- and enjoyed it.  

 

We took the walking/eating all-day tour and had a grand time in Strausbourg.  I would highly recommend the excursion as you see the sights in the old city and the canals, plus you get to sample the food/wine grown in the region.  I'll add two pics I took.

 

Lastly, if you are docking at  Rudesheim au Rhine for an evening, please consider finding a great restaurant on your own as we did.  The excursion for dinner at a beer hall was far too "touristy" for us.

 

 

[pontac]

On 12/11/2023 at 6:02 PM, jules815 said:

So far I've booked all of the included walking tours. If we decide at a later date, and I mean after the trip has started, that we'd like to add another excursion (something in the evening) is it possible to add it while on board? Do the excursions fill up?

 

Wise to book all the included excursions. You don't need to go on them. It's possible to book an 'optional' excursions on board. The Programme Director will promoting them during the evening briefings before dinner, but some do fill up, OTOH there are cancellations, so ask.

 

I've cruised with Viking on the Rhine between Basel and Amsterdam and once from Basel to Koblenz (before turning along the Mosel). You might like to read my trip reports; there are links below in my signature.

 

However what excursions are offered can and do change year by year, also according to the direction travelled. MVJ will show what is offered on your cruise. FWIW I think the Amsterdam to Basel is the more interesting direction as the scenery gets better.

 

On 12/11/2023 at 6:02 PM, jules815 said:

Also, while the ship is docked, do people go on and off the ship and walk around the towns on their own? (Obviously given there's time...we wouldn't do anything risky.)

There's no check or restriction on leaving and no bag check on return

 

On 12/11/2023 at 6:02 PM, jules815 said:

it showed a fantastic German dinner with entertainment brought on board

 

It's 'German Night'. I can't speak for 2024; they used to have a German Oompah band in lederhosen walking around the dining room,and the guests made a conga line, but they didn't have them post-covid.

 

On 12/11/2023 at 6:02 PM, jules815 said:

Looking for some guidance regarding tipping.

On 12/11/2023 at 6:02 PM, jules815 said:

Do any of you ever book excursions thru 3rd party providers, or stick with Viking tours only? 

 

As it's you first river cruise I'd suggest you don't book 3rd party excursions. Timings depend on many factors, state of the river, locks and how busy. Also mooring position  is out the control of the Captain but is chosen by harbour master. On our cruise earlier this year we missed one place when there was an optional evening excursion as we got held up at  dock.

 

On 12/11/2023 at 6:02 PM, jules815 said:

Looking for some guidance regarding tipping. I know tipping is discussed to death on the ocean voyage boards, but this is a completely different type of trip for us. I see that gratuities are charged, but do you tip extra? I know the tipping culture in Europe is completely different

 

I'm European, The US tipping culture is ....

When we were in the US Mrs P and I took turns in paying  for restaurant meal. I found out she was tipping 10% and she argued when I said in the USA 20% was standard. You'd expect Europeans to conform to US tipping standards when  in the USA, but I know from reading this board that Americans don't conform to European tipping standards when  in Europe. Booking in the UK means gratuities are included. We don't add more. Before gratuities were included, Viking gave us envelopes at end of cruise with suggested amounts. You could also pay with credit card, which we did, paying the suggested amount.

 

Viking suggest an amount to tip the guide and coach driver; as I recall that amount  is per day, so if your excursion is 3 hours in length then the full day amount is not appropriate. Also remember that the coach driver is an employee of the coach company with a competitive pay, paid holidays and free heath care. We only tip guides who are exceptional; above and beyond the standard.

 

On 12/11/2023 at 6:02 PM, jules815 said:

Drink package. Very reasonably priced, but it also looks like drinks are quite reasonable as well. Are things like sparkling water and soft drinks included outside of lunch and dinner hours?

 

Chilled sparkling water is available 24hrs from dispensers outside the lounge, as are teas and coffees. You have time in Amsterdam to buy soft drinks which you can bring on board, and restock during the cruise. Ditto spirits, wine....

 

If you drink a lot of cocktails or spirits or want a daily glass of Veuve Cliquot or different bottle of wine at lunch and dinner from the standard supplied then the drinks package is worth it. if not it's borderline whether it's worth it.

[ChuckFlorida]

On 12/30/2023 at 12:58 PM, pontac said:

I've cruised with Viking on the Rhine between Basel and Amsterdam and once from Basel to Koblenz (before turning along the Mosel). You might like to read my trip reports; there are links below in my signature.

Hello Pontac, sorry I must be blind, I cannot find your Signature with these links. Can you post the Link please? Thanks, sorry to bother.

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, ChuckFlorida said:

Hello Pontac, sorry I must be blind, I cannot find your Signature with these links. Can you post the Link please? Thanks, sorry to bother.

You cannot see signatures on a phone. If you have access to a computer you can see them there (unless they have been turned off in your profile, but you would have to have done that consciously).

[pontac]

11 hours ago, ChuckFlorida said:

Hello Pontac, sorry I must be blind, I cannot find your Signature with these links. Can you post the Link please? Thanks, sorry to bother.

 

No problem. I didn't know that signatures do not show on phone until reading @gnome12's post above.

 

My report on 

 

2022-04-23 Viking Tialfi 'Rhine Getaway' Basel>Amsterdam

link

2023-04-24 Viking Hild 'Rhine & Moselle Discovery' Basel>Trier 

link below

 

[jimsharont]

I plan to buy local beers and wine that can be brought back on the boat - No corking fee either 👍

[JK_Aust]

On 12/12/2023 at 10:03 AM, AnhaltER1960 said:

Sometimes yes, sometimes not. Look at the documents you received from Viking. It may be the case that extra excursions can only be booked in advance, require a minmum booking (or can be sold out). But dont overdo it, the included tours already will fill your days.

Feel free to do. Often the ship is docked within walking distance to the city center or hotspots. In case of more distant docking locations, often there are shuttle buses offered.

Cannot comment on that. It is your personal priority. Evening entertainment is offered on at least some evenings.

This might be an alternative for pre-/post-cruise extensions. During the cruise, as sharkster77 has pointed out, they might be difficult to coordinate. I would not recommend that unless you have some very special interest into a destination not covered otherwise.

Viking give recommendations regarding tipping both on board and on land (tour guides/coach drivers), which you can find on their website and probably also in your travel documents. As far as I remember, they recommend 2 Euro for a tour guide, 1 Euro for the bus driver. Local currency is best (Euro in the Netherlands and Germany, Swiss francs in Switzerland), but USD should be ok, too.

Nobody will check your bags when boarding the ship, so you can bring as many bottles as you can carry for consumption in your stateroom. In public rooms a corkage fee might apply. Sparkling/still water is available on all Viking ships as well as tea/coffee anytime.

Fyi, we did the Danube last year, and we could bring alcohol back to the ship to consume not just in our room but also in the bar/dining areas, at no cost at all. 

And I just remembered with the mention of tipping; try to keep 1 and 2 Euro coins for public toilets. You will likely need to pay.