Dress on Oct. Viking Elbe Cruise

[campanet]

This is our first river cruise and are open to suggestions and comments. We are use to packing for ocean cruises. Any dress suggestions would be welcomed.

KC

[Hambagahle]

We were on a Deilmann cruise on the Elbe last October. Although we found Deilmann to be a bit more dressy than Viking (we had two nights that they referred to as "Formal", though this was not black tie, just dark suits for men and dressy dresses for ladies) I rather think your question refers to what sort of weather to expect? We had cool mornings, afternoons where we could sit out on the sundeck very comfortably in light sweaters and some days when we froze and needed our anoraks! I would pack a couple of sweaters as well as an anorak since you can combine the two if it really gets cold. Some people wore jeans and sneakers for sightseeing but not for dinner. (This was also true on our Viking Danube cruise by the way).

I would suggest a blazer and tie for a man for dinner - my husband even wore this, with grey slacks, to the last formal evening rather than the suit he brought along. He said he felt more comfortable. I took one cocktail dress, with a pashmina in case of cold (and needed it!), a couple of skirts and sweaters and some trousers for sightseeing. Whatever you pack, bring comfortable shoes - you will do a lot of walking on cobble stoned streets!

[Betty/Avie]

Our experience on dress on Viking cruises in Europe -- very informal! For men, one rarely sees a suit, even at the "formal" events such as the Captain's dinner or the welcoming cocktail party. At most, a jacket (without or without a tie) seem to be the dress for the day! Usually for dinner, the men wear open shirts or polo shirts, sweaters depending on the weather, and slacks. On our two previous riverboat cruises, I did not see a woman in anything resembling a cocktail dress or suit! Betty seemed to be in the great majority as she usually wore pants (slacks) with a top/sweater. On formal evenings, she just wore a dressier top! A pashmina does go a long way, and it was invaluable to her!

 

We found that dress on a riverboat was much less formal than that of an ocean liner. And you must remember, Viking is geared to the American rather than European traveler. And informal dress is the norm rather than the exception!

 

Avie

[LynneM44]

There are lots of discussions on this board about dress on river cruises, and they pretty much say what Betty said. We just returned from an Amadeus Danube cruise and walked through the Viking lobbies at dinner time - very casual dress....slacks and tops with low heeled or no-heeled shoes for ladies, slacks and shirt for men. On our "formal" night, I wore black pants and a black top and flat dressy shoes. Many men wore jackets (most with no ties) but my hubby didn't because he doesn't enjoy taking or wearing a jacket. Anything goes....no one gets thrown out.

[CincyAL]

We are taking this same cruise in April. Please post your comments on return. Have a safe trip!

[jacksonnh]

Camp - we returned last night from this cruise. Dress was very casual at all the meals. Please be aware that the Elbe is very low on water and the ship could only cruise from Dresden to Decin. It could not sail to Magdeburg to pick us up. Viking kept us in Berlin for an additional night and bused to Dresden to pick up the ship. The tours were completed using buses which was not recieved well by some people. We were able to cruise to Decin scrapping the bottom a few times where we disembarked and driven to Prague. While in Decin the water level dropped and the ship sat on the bottom and listed a few degrees starboard. 12 couples from a British tour company backed out and I understand offered a credit for a different trip. Food was way above average and the staff did everything possible to make this situation enjoyable. All this being said, my wife and I had a great time for our first river cruise, met some outstanding people and we can't wait to do another one hopefully with more water. Hope yours goes very well!