Viking Schumann Berlin-to-Prague

[mike35]

We're booked on the Schumann, departing Berlin on April 17, 2009. I had read a rather dismal review of the Schumann several months ago. However, at a recent regional travel agent conference, we were given a presentation by a Viking rep who indicated that the Schumann would be undergoing a total refurbishment in February, 2009.

 

I would love the hear other's comments regarding this itinerary and their recent experience with the Schumann.

[CincyAL]

We have not taken this itinerary due to all cabins being 120 sq ft. Anyone know if this is going to increase with refit?

[steamboats]

CincyAL,

 

I´ve never heard that the cabin layout has been changed while refurbishing a river cruise ship.

 

River cruise ships on the Elbe river and connecting rivers are smaller than on the Rhine/Main/Danube rivers due to the size of locks and canals in this system. As a ship needs a certain number of passengers/cabins to make money I doubt that the cabin size will increase much even on a new built ship for these rivers. Otherwise you have to raise the prices quite a bit.

 

steamboats

[go2girl]

We're booked on the Schumann, departing Berlin on April 17, 2009. I had read a rather dismal review of the Schumann several months ago. However, at a recent regional travel agent conference, we were given a presentation by a Viking rep who indicated that the Schumann would be undergoing a total refurbishment in February, 2009.

 

I would love the hear other's comments regarding this itinerary and their recent experience with the Schumann.

 

 

Mike,

My travel buddy and I did the Viking Elegent Elbe aboard the Clara Schumann last June. We enjoyed Berlin. The hotel we were stationed at had a nice Italian restaurant around the corner. We had toured Berlin before with Globus, but we did see a few places with Viking we hadn't seen before.

We enjoyed the stay on the ship. The cabins are small, and we were dismayed by the size at first. However, there was plenty of storage for us, and all was spotlessly clean. There is a shelf for storing suitcases overhead, plenty of room there. We were in cabin 118. We had a fold down bed and a fold down couch. The fold down bed was mine. It was adequate, but the mattress was noisy. (Rubbery squeakiness?) The bathroom did not have a seperate shower, but the shower curtain and the tilt of the floor kept the water where it belonged. The food was good, and the staff were friendly, young, and hard working. There were iced tea and cold water waiting for us at all times, as well as coffee and hot water for tea.

This was our first river cruise, and we did not know what to expect. The first few days on the Elbe (we went from Berlin to Prague) were a little slow, we thought. There wasn't much to see on the riverbank. We are from cattle country in Oregon, and all we could see on shore were pastures and cattle. The shore excursions were nice, beautiful quaint little villages, many with new red tile roofs on most of the buildings. After the first couple of days, the scenery improved dramatically. The Saxon-Switzerland excursion is not to be missed, and of course Dresden is absolutely stunningly beautiful. The Hilton in Prague is fantastic, and what can I say about walking the Charles Bridge in the evening?:D While in Prague, we booked a tour through the hotel. We were driven, along with a couple from our tour, in a mini-van to the Terezin concentration camp. We were gone about 5 hours and the cost was $55, I believe. We were very happy with this tour, had a local guide; we both highly recommend going if you can.

All in all, we enjoyed our cruise. I now know more about Martin Luther and the reformation than anyone needs to. Our guide (Christian) was very knowledgable. Wittenberg is his hometown, I believe. He says that he has a law degree which is framed and hanging above the toilet in his home. :rolleyes:

 

let me know if you have ???'s

Shannon

[pacmom]

We were on the same trip as Shannon---everything was wonderful, except for our cabin. The a/c wasn't working and it took 3 days for us to convince them something was wrong. It was the filter looked liked it had not been changed in a year. The mattresses were not the least bit comfortable. We knew the configuration of the beds, but did not expect anything so uncomfortable. The tour director, Christian was very good. He did Berlin-Prague and another did Prague-Berlin. The food was also quite good. The picnic on deck was delightful. There was also never a rush for the dining room. Most of us sat with different people each evening. There was a group of 7 that used the large table and never said anything if it was already occupied. We know that on their other cruises Viking has hotel beds. You just have to look at the individual ship and all of its cabins. Hopefully in the refit, they will put in better mattresses. One other thing--there was no elevator, but a chair lift with access to all decks even the sun deck. Many ships have no access to the sun deck for those who find it hard to climb stairs. We are hoping to take the Viking cruise from Antwerp-Basel next spring. Good luck. Pat

[go2girl]

We were on the same trip as Shannon---everything was wonderful, except for our cabin. The a/c wasn't working and it took 3 days for us to convince them something was wrong. It was the filter looked liked it had not been changed in a year. The mattresses were not the least bit comfortable. We knew the configuration of the beds, but did not expect anything so uncomfortable. The tour director, Christian was very good. He did Berlin-Prague and another did Prague-Berlin. The food was also quite good. The picnic on deck was delightful. There was also never a rush for the dining room. Most of us sat with different people each evening. There was a group of 7 that used the large table and never said anything if it was already occupied. We know that on their other cruises Viking has hotel beds. You just have to look at the individual ship and all of its cabins. Hopefully in the refit, they will put in better mattresses. One other thing--there was no elevator, but a chair lift with access to all decks even the sun deck. Many ships have no access to the sun deck for those who find it hard to climb stairs. We are hoping to take the Viking cruise from Antwerp-Basel next spring. Good luck. Pat

 

Pat,

UGH! No air conditioner for 3 days must have been miserable! We loved being able to come "home" to a nice, cool room.

 

I'm so glad to hear from someone who was on the same trip we were.

Did you have Irena as a local guide?

 

Shannon