mikem1977

We are going on our first river cruise this December from Budapest to Regensburg and are extremely nervous on the water levels. Our cruise (Viking Atla) is supposed to begin in Budapest on December 17th with the first night in Budapest and then heading to Vienna the next day on the 18th after the morning excursion. Because our ship was overnighting in Budapest that first night we bought box seats for the Nutcracker showing at 6 pm on the 17th. But now I am worried that if the waters in Budapest are low, are they going to expect us to board the ship in Komarom on the 17th or because there are nightime Budapest excursions already scheduled for the 17th as well as early morning 18th Budapest excursions, would they just put us up in a hotel in Budapest on the 17th and then bus us to Komarom on the 18th after excursions complete? I really do not want to miss the nutcracker performance so trying to figure out best case/worst case scenarios.

That Cafe Kor looks amazing, but unfortunately closed on Sunday 😞 Thinking we will hit the Aria sky bar afterwards for dinner.

Good afternoon all, Truly appreciate the feedback and pointers. I was able to talk this afternoon with a Viking travel advisor and they assured me that the boat would be moored overnight until 12 pm the next day when we set sail for Vienna. Then even added on the little bonus information that the second day in Vienna is a full day moored and not setting sail for Krems till midnight 🙂 I am even more excited now and can't wait to experience this cruise.

Thanks CDNPolar, this is my first river cruise so a little unsure how free roam aspects work. Used to ocean cruising where there is set times in port. Just bought the tickets and extremely excited

We are booked on the Viking Atla Christmas river cruise from December 17th to December 24th and wondering the possibility of getting off the cruise ship to go to Hungarian State Opera performance of the Nutcracker at 6 pm that first night (17th). Does the ship move down river during that first night and do they allow people off the ship to explore as long as they are back by a certain time? Thanks, Mike

Thanks all for the feedback, truly appreciate the perspectives. I think we are going to just stay where we are and not risk the chance. 14 days is a long time to be miserably sick if we did end up forward or aft and it just isn't worth it.

Good afternoon everyone, We are booked for a 14 day cruise on Enchanted Princess next month and are in a balcony room mid-ship on deck 9. I was looking at the princess upgrade for our booking and are thinking about bidding to a deluxe balcony or mini-suite. But our worry is that if our bid is accepted we would be stuck with a forward or aft room which will not be good as both of us get very sea sick in those locations. (It looks like 30% of these rooms are forward or aft) Does anyone have any experience with the upgrade process and know if there is a way to choose not the room but general location if bid is accepted.

We honestly thought about that as well, but didn't want to take the risk of something happening that Sunday to our Athens flight and then won't get back to Texas till Monday. Both the wife and I are taking 14 days PTO for the cruise so trying to avoid last minute requests for more time off (I would love it, but not sure our employers would 🙂 )

Thank you all for your input and feedback. This has been an extremely frustrating experience with Delta not just on the Athens flight back from Europe but also on the front side when we are flying from JFK to Barcelona on the 13th. That one went from an 8:50 pm departure, to a 10 pm departure on a totally different plane so we lost our premium select seats, to they changed the plane again and rebooked us to fly out the next day (14th) so we had to call and get our seats back for the 13th flight... so needless to say, it has been very frustrating. I honestly think after reading all of your feedback we are going to shift to a later flight. Even if there is a slim chance of making the 10:20 am flight, if we miss that then we could potentially be stuck in a whole other world of problems. It is better to just take the 2:50 pm flight that will connect in Paris and then to JFK. It will mean spending the night in JFK and flying back to Austin the next day, but will be the safest route vs trying to roll the dice.

So long story short, Delta has changed our flight time from Athens to JFK four times in the past three months. Originally we were supposed to depart at Noon on the 29th of April, but now our flight is at 10:20 am. By the itinerary, it shows that we will arrive in Athens at 4 am on the 29th, but Princess rep said disembarkation will not be till 7:30 am (not sure why 3.5 hours is needed). If disembarkation is truly at 7:30 am and our flight is at 10:20 am, what is the likelihood that we will make our flight?

We more than likely will make time to go if it helps to destress from the crowds and go, go, go of multiple ports.

Good afternoon all. I am booked on the 14 day Enchanted Princess for April of 2023. I saw on the spa options the ability to purchase a 7 day pass for 149 each, but in the description area it says "pass valid for entire duration of cruise". Not sure which is true, the 7 day or full cruise.... also is it worth it for a cruise that has only 3 sea days out of 14.