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Review of Viking Grand European Tour on the Tor in November 2013


Kohola
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I have compiled a day by day in-depth review of our Grand European trip from Amsterdam to Budapest on the Viking Tor in mid-November 2013. We have spent several days in Amsterdam, Vienna, Budapest, and Prague on previous land tours so we didn’t feel the need to spend extra time visiting them again. But for anyone who hasn’t, I would strongly recommend spending additional time in each of the major cities. Amsterdam is worth two full days to really experience it and the other 3 cities can fill three days.

 

ATMs are available to obtain Euros everywhere; Bank of America is partnered with Deutsche Bank of Germany which allows withdrawal without paying a service fee, but you still pay a foreign transaction fee. I assume other banks have similar arrangements. Our credit card doesn’t charge any foreign transaction fees so we use it for everything possible. The biggest cultural difference between the US and Western Europe is the price to pee. Expect to pay an attendant, dragon lady as she is affectionately known as, anywhere from 0.5 to 1 Euro throughout the trip to use the toilet, so it pays to keep some change handy.

 

We have traveled in Europe extensively on land and this was our sixth cruise on Viking, but our first cruise in Western Europe so we were bit of novices as to what to expect. On the other cruises we received information about not drinking the water and the food would by “Westernized” to appeal our taste buds, but nothing of that this time. On all of our previous cruises the crews were from the country being visited with the management more international. The aspect of having a local crew has been the biggest selling point for us traveling with Viking. So we were curious if the crew would be a combination of the countries we would visit, just one of the countries, or box “C” none of the above. We want as much immersion into the culture as we can in the two weeks we are traveling. On our previous cruises we had a crew of mostly college students from Karsnoyarsk, Siberia in Russia taking care of us; in China, the crew was mainly from ChongQing; Ukraine from Kherson, and Egypt was unique situation where the ship has no affiliation with Viking, but is accommodating various tour groups of different nationalities. We did China twice because it was an easy way to visit friends we had made on the first cruise. We use the approach that we are guests visiting the crew’s home which has provided us with some very positive experiences and given us string of Facebook friends from the people and crews we’ve met on our previous tours.

 

We booked this trip based on the cheap airfare Viking offered combined with a $600 Viking Explorer Society credit. We also liked the fact that we have not visited any of the smaller towns on the trip. We had non-stop flights from the West Coast to Amsterdam in both directions for the price of the taxes on the tickets. We had already received a room upgrade from a Standard Main Deck to a Veranda B on the second deck prior to our leaving the US, as part of their loyalty program.

 

Amsterdam-Day 1. We arrived in Amsterdam around 8:30am local time. We had enough Euros from previous trips to last until we reached Germany so no need to visit an ATM machine. We were met at Arrivals by the Viking rep and dispatched to the awaiting bus as soon as everyone on their list was accounted for which included people from 3 or 4 different flights taking around 30 minutes. We checked in at the reception desk on the ship by 10:00am, but our rooms were not available yet. To get some fresh air and work off the jet lag, we did our own walking tour of the city. The central core of Amsterdam is easily accessible on foot and using the trams which begin their routes in front of the Central Train Station about 5 minutes from where the ship is docked. Almost everyone in the Netherlands speaks excellent English so with a map and a guide book you can navigate Amsterdam on your own quite efficiently. We returned for a quick lunch and a scheduled walking tour with a local guide at 1:30pm. The local guide spent around an hour and 30 minutes taking us through the Red Light District as far as the Royal Palace at Dam Square, the humble beginnings of Amsterdam. During the tour a bicycle approached our tour group from behind so my wife instinctively yelled “fiets” (bicycle in Dutch)…the local guide puzzled asked if she spoke Dutch. Fiets is the only word of Dutch we know because you hear it all the time walking in the Netherlands. The “XXX” you see all over the city are not the ratings of the Red Light District, but part of the Coat of Arms of the Royal Family…they stand for fire, famine, and the plague according to most guides. During our first tour through the Red Light District a few years ago the group included two 14 year old boys, watching them react made the tour. This time my wife had to point out one of the Victoria Secret models in the window so I knew why we were there. The tipping policy is 2 Euros per person for the local guides or about $5 USD total if you don’t have Euros yet.

 

This brief introduction didn’t scratch the surface as to what Amsterdam has to offer. I would recommend the Anne Frank House visit, Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Begijnhof, Red Light District, Rembrandt’s House, a canal cruise, some bicycling and canoeing. It’s convenient to visit a nearby village by train as well to see some of the countryside. You can see Amsterdam independently with a good guide book. The book should include the information to contact some local guides for a more in depth look at the city or use Viking’s turnkey approach.

 

We returned to the ship and were escorted to our now ready room by Valerie, the Cruise Director, who is from Russia. Unpacked, we checked out our amenities, the bathroom is furnished with L’occitane products. The tile floor is heated in the bathroom, we had a small pocket door to the bathroom and there is a constant night light on…which can be nice or disturbing depending on how dark you want your room for sleep. There were enough 110 volt outlets for at least 4 electronic devices in our cabin, but I don’t know if every room is wired the same. Our cabin 233, on the second deck starboard side aft had a small lanai with two chairs outside. There is a learning curve for flushing of the toilets on the Tor (Thor, Norse God of Thunder); it is enough of an issue that the Hotel Manager, Stephan from Australia, tried to explain the procedure at the evening welcome aboard briefing. The pushbutton requires a quick decisive press to operate the toilet…a slow, steady push will accomplish nothing and repeated pushing of the button seemed to lock out the system for a period of time. You can always ask your Room Stewardess if need be. The shower has a temperature control handle and a second handle for the water so you don’t have to adjust the temperature every time you shower which we appreciated. Our shower had doors that could swing into the shower or out over the threshold lip into the bathroom. We found the plastic seal on the bottom of the door would fall off quite easily if the door swung out over the threshold. The crew was always quick to fix these minor problems.

There are reading lamps in the overhead for each side of the bed which was nice, as well as 110volt outlets on either night stand to charge phones, batteries, etc. The pillows are very soft; I had to fold mine over to obtain a decent angle for my head and neck. My wife asked for a third pillow. The Audio Vox chargers were in our room which was a first for us. It’s more efficient this way, but each day a couple of people failed to properly install the device in the charger so their Audio Vox battery was dead…the guides routinely had a couple of spares. The WiFi was very sporadic to non-existent in our room for both our laptop and cell phones. It worked fine everywhere else on the ship.

 

Around 6 in the evening we had a welcome briefing to discuss safety issues and a preview of the next day. The lounge is designed with two screens, forward and aft to watch the presentation facing either direction as well as two large flat screen monitors on either side of the bar. In addition, the briefing is broadcast in the rooms. During the meeting, we met a grandmother traveling with her young adult granddaughter and an Aussie couple from Perth…the six of us became dinner companions for the rest of the cruise. Dinner usually started promptly at 7 and lasted about two hours. The ship was carrying its full complement of passengers so every seat in the dining room was taken. The dining room had tables for seating of 6 or 8 with a wait staff of three per section which consisted of about six tables. We had a nice dinner and met another couple from Canada. After dinner I returned to the city to get some photos of any Christmas decorations that were illuminated. The ship had a piano player, Daniel from Romania, who performed every night around 9. The ship left Amsterdam at 11:30pm headed for Kinderdijk.

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Kinderdijk-Day 2. We arrived in Kinderdijk around 8 in the morning after a gorgeous sun rise…the sun was just over the horizon and steam was rising from the canals and poulders (low areas). We had a lecture on the area from a local authority from about 8:30 until 9:15…very informative. Her grandparents actually lived in a windmill so she shared stories of her experiences. This type of information is only available from people that grew up in the area which is why I think it’s important to have local guides. I don’t need to hear what I can read in a book, I want to learn something I can’t find with research. I would recommend leaving the ship as soon as it docks to get photos of the early morning if possible before the lecture starts. Obviously this depends on the time of year as well…in July the sun will have been up for hours before you arrive, but late fall the sun is just peeking over the horizon.

 

We had 190 passengers on board divided into six tour groups randomly chosen…the tour groups left the ship two at a time spaced about 15 minutes apart. If you want to be paired with other passengers; the crew is happy to group you together if you let them know. This meant tour groups “E and F” were 30 minutes behind “A and B” which created a 30 minute difference in the amount of free time at the end. Therefore, I would recommend asking the night receptionist to be put into Group A or B if you want some extra time to explore the area. We were in the middle group and had only a few minutes free at the end of the tour. In addition there will probably be a second ship there with just as many passengers doing the same thing. The staggering of times is to allow groups to separate and tour the different areas simultaneously.

 

Kinderdijk translates as “children’s dike”, the pronunciation in Dutch doesn’t sound like the compound word of “kinder” and “dike”, but the locals will say it the way we would in English. There are 19 windmills here which pumped water from a lower holding area to the upper area and finally into the Rhine River. This work is now down more efficiently by pumping stations and the windmills are museum pieces. The tour only goes to the first couple of windmills, by the pumping stations, and the maintenance facility. It included a walkthrough of one of the 300 year old windmills, but this was a slow process since there were about four groups at the windmill at the same time. Our guide was a retired school teacher who grew up and taught in the area so he told stories of a wealthy man who dimmed the lights of the entire village when he used his elevator in his two story home. He explained the most logical reason why the village is called Kinderdijk. The sun was low in the sky and into our eyes so you had to walk beyond the group and the windmills to get a decent photo…it was a long hike to capture the best image of five windmills in a straight row which meant leaving the tour group. My wife and I both have cameras so we can split up in situations like this.

 

We left Kinderdijk promptly at 11:30am or when the last passenger boarded the ship. Valerie, the CD, asked everyone to be on board 15 minutes before departure to ensure we left on time. I think the ship has reservations for entering the various locks which is the compelling reason for this strict adherence to the departure schedule. In most cases we arrived at our next destination ahead of schedule and sat moored for a period of time before the local guides arrived.

 

After Kinderdijk we cruised the Rhine on our way to Cologne, (Köln in German). We passed the replica of Noah’s Ark complete with plastic animals moored along the river which was quite a surprise. The sun deck is a nice way to watch the villages pass by. Other than some scattered showers in Amsterdam we had decent weather for the middle of November.

Tor is one of the newest long ships in the Viking fleet commissioned in June of 2013. Most of the passengers were on their first Viking cruise; two couples were doing their fifth and we were the most with six. Most people want a quiet room with a comfortable bed in a cabin that is big enough for their clothing and luggage. The Tor does that adequately, without much flash. We’ve always gone with Viking because we like their product and their people not because a Chihuly chandelier hangs in the atrium.

 

The Tor has a staff of around 50 members, not sure if the engineering department is included in that number…we were given a photo showing some of the crew along with everyone’s name and position on the ship at the end of the cruise. The staff included people from 12 different countries which were pretty evenly divided with the largest contingent being Filipino. Most of crew hailed from areas behind the old Iron Curtain. No one grew up in Western Europe at all, so learning German was not going to make points with the crew. Captain Yuriy was Ukrainian; he spoke his native language, Russian, German, and some English. He actually introduced himself in English from a prepared set of remarks. He greeted the passengers in English when he passed by during the course of the day. German is the language of the rivers so all of the Engineering officers spoke German and one could speak English well enough that he was comfortable giving a lecture about the ship to the passengers in English.

 

This was the first cruise where we didn’t have guides onboard. On our other five cruises the passengers were divided into groups with a guide who stayed with you the entire cruise. This gave you a point of contact to discuss anything related to the cruise and alleviated a lot of the work load of the Cruise Director, Valerie; (anglicized form of the Russian name Валери (Valeri)) was one busy young lady. She could speak Russian, Polish, German, and English fluently as well as some Spanish and Hungarian.

Because the crew was so diverse English was the common language for them as well, therefore their command of the English language was the best we have experienced thus far. That said the crew members were delighted when one of the passengers could speak a few words in their native tongue. I enjoy learning everything including languages so I learned some new words or phrase each day in several of the languages spoken by the crew members. The crew is extremely professional, friendly and courteous to everyone, but you have more opportunity to get to know them on a more personal level when you show respect to their culture and country. A few words using a Slavic language, Hungarian, or Romanian will go a long way impressing the crew which translates into perks not afforded the average passenger.

 

The ship held a safety drill where everyone was required to don their life vest in the afternoon and we had the welcome cocktail where the Management staff was introduced. The Captain made a few remarks and they individually toasted each passenger as they walked around the lounge.

 

Dinner was delicious this evening and on the other 13 nights as well, except for one occasion when the shipment of beef the Tor received was too tough to cut with a knife. The problem was out of their crew’s control, but they received the flak from it. The dining room staff was male except for Julito from the Philippines which was unusual compared to our other cruises. We always sat with the same servers for dinner so by the third night they had bonded with us which made for enjoyable evening for everyone. The staff created positive memories for us and our dinner companions that will last a lifetime. We never knew from one night to the next what was in store at dinner, but we were sure we would have a good time. The crew takes their cue from you…if you’re laid back and like a good joke they will interact with you differently than someone who appears very formal to them. We do all we can to encourage them to bring out their personal side. We always sat in the section where Lazlo (Hungary), Teodore (Bulgaria), and Filip (Slovakia) worked.

 

After dinner we had a special cheese tasting of Dutch cheeses and a shot of Jenever…juniper to complete our tour of the Netherlands.

 

For breakfast, lunch and dinner you have a choice of eating in the dining room or in the lounge. There are twin coffee stations just before you enter the lounge…muffins in the morning and cookies in the afternoon. Macadamia nut with white chocolate was my favorite cookie. The cookies are put away around 5:30 in the afternoon when the crew puts out snacks for each table in the lounge…peanuts, wasabi peas, and pretzels were the normal fare. There was always a discounted drink of the day.

 

Breakfast included an omelet station, fresh fruit, homemade fruit yogurts, salads and oatmeal or whatever you term for porridge might be as well as Cream of Wheat in the dining room. There are about a dozen different toppings for the hot cereals which I had almost every day. The lounge had an abbreviated version of what was available downstairs.

 

Lunch included a buffet with an assortment of salads, sandwich, and soups or you could order off the menu.

 

For breakfast and lunch we always sat at the tables served by Julita, and Liviu(Romania). After a couple of mornings they routinely brought our juices as soon as we sat down without asking. I always have a banana with breakfast so they would get me that from the kitchen even if they were not out that morning as the fruits of the day. At lunch they serve a flavored lemonade of the day in the lounge, but not in dining room. We thought they were delicious, sometimes the consistency of a smoothie while others were only liquid. The staff was happy to bring you one or sometimes we brought it down from the lounge with us.

 

During breakfast and lunch the staff has a little more time to interact with the passengers since the tables are not full so we had the opportunity to learn some of their language and their personal lives. The crew on the Tor averages around 30 years old with a lot of them married with children at home. They sign contracts for 10 months and have a couple of months off a year. We routinely had crew members from other sections stop by to chat with us.

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Cologne-Day 3. We arrived in Cologne around 10:30 in the morning. It’s a nice view coming into the city with the Gothic cathedral dominating the skyline. The span of last bridge we went under entering Cologne was only a foot or so above our heads because of the high water level of the Rhine. The local guides were waiting for us at the pier, again we were divided into six groups, but this time Group “F” was the leisurely tour and you signed up for it specifically. The young man that was our guide was our favorite of the entire cruise. He poked fun at the perceived lack of a sense of humor of Germans. The arrogance of the drivers of high end German cars parked in the pedestrian zones. Cologne had just ended a celebration Carnival which began at 11:11am on 11/11/13 so the streets were littered and the locals were hung over with cleaning crews out in full force. The tour includes the Dom (cathedral), and the area of old town which lasts about 2 hours. Our guide told us about trying to hide the statue of Wilhelm I in a bunch of trees, but it wasn’t working very well when the leaves fall off the trees. The Philharmonic Hall is built underground with the roof at ground level. The audience can hear anyone walking across the roof during a concert so they must station guards to prevent people from entering the area. The “love locks” filling the entire span of Hohenzollern Bridge, the display includes hand cuffs, bicycle chains, and tin cans. Look carefully at the statues on the Alte Rathaus…Old Town hall many of them are quite amusing. The tour ends a couple of blocks from the ship so it’s convenient to go back for lunch. There are also many pubs for lunch and a German beer in the Old Town.

 

In the afternoon there is a lecture about Modern Germany and the EU. The Ludwig Museum is fine if you enjoy Modern Art and there is a chocolate museum on the river as well. If you only want to buy chocolate there is a store at the museum selling Lindt chocolate. The museum has displays explaining the history of chocolate around the world, an operating factory which gives free samples, and the chance to buy some chocolate creations not available in the store.

 

At the evening brief Valerie explained that the tour of Marksburg Castle was strenuous and lacked enough restroom facilities so everyone could make an informed decision about doing the tour.

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A continuation of Day 3: About 20 of us did the optional pub crawl after dinner. The guide explained the differences in the Kölsch beers and the history of each establishment. It was fascinating seeing the contraptions the bartenders had devised to deliver twenty 200ml beers on the table as the same. In one of the establishments the high water mark from this year’s flood was above the bar. Larry Hagman from Dallas and I Dream of Jeannie was a regular at the first pub and Bill Clinton visited the last one. This is the type of tour where the atmosphere in the bar makes a big difference. The town was quiet and recovering from the day before so the atmosphere in the bars was very subdued. We left foggy Cologne at 11:00pm after the conclusion of our beer tour.

 

Koblenz-Day 4. The Tor arrived in Koblenz at around 8:30 in the morning. Koblenz means confluence; the Mosel or Moselle River joins the Rhine here. The purpose of this stop was to load supplies and bus everyone to Marksburg Castle…seems redundant because burg is German for castle. The point where the rivers joined is nicknamed “the German Corner.” Walk around Monument for some nice views of Koblenz with the Mosel River. There is an Aerial Tram to take you across the river to another castle with views of the entire area; unfortunately you don’t have time to use it. Valerie warned everyone the night before that walking tour of the castle would be more strenuous than most tours. The bus left around 9:30 for the 20 minute ride to the castle and parked in the lot just below the fortification. From there it was a series of switchbacks during a 10 minute walk to the gate. The castle is only opened to guided tours. The terrain is uneven and the rocks can be slippery so this would be judgment call based on your own belief in your ability. The castle was never attacked so it is one of the best examples of a medieval castle in Germany. The castle is furnished providing excellent examples of what life was like 700 years ago. It is definitely worth the exercise. You also may learn where the terms “going to the dogs” and “stepping out” were coined from.

 

The ship leaves Koblenz around 10:45 to pick up the passengers at Braubach below the castle. After the castle tour we bussed back to the ship for lunch which today was a choice of the taste of Germany in the lounge or the usual fare in the dining room. Most people went for the German buffet in the lounge. At 12:45 we headed for scenic cruising on the Middle Rhine which we reached around 2:30. The ship sails past a Katz and Maus, a Rheinstein and a Reichenstein; as well as a Pfalz just to name a few of the castles in a stretch of river that takes about 2 hours to transit. The vineyards were full of fall colors. This area is famous for its Riesling Wines.

 

There is a Rüdesheimer Kaffee demonstration at 3:30 and more importantly tasting after an hour on the sun deck in the cold. Valerie is providing a narrative of what we are seeing as we cruise through the area. The rocks at Lorelei are important to the area, but you have to pay particular attention or you will miss the statue of her. If she is important to you, the statue is at Kilometer marker 554.6 and the rock 554.2. The villages of Bacharach and St. Goar are worth a visit if you are passing through the area. By 4pm it’s dark and the scenic cruising is over. The sun deck is closed and all the railings and structures are lowered in preparation for entering the Main River system…pronounced as mine.

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Miltenberg-Day 5. The ship was now cruising on the Main River (mine) and canal system. The shipping traffic drops off considerably from now on. We have a 10:00am Glassblowing Demonstration from one of the local artisans. He was very informative, funny, and skilled. He and his assistant who was from Buffalo, NY also have a myriad of things glass available for sale. They start selling it as soon as it’s out for display and some of the pieces are “one of a kind” so if you’re interested, be early to window shop and reserve. Karl, has worked with Chihuly the world famous glass blower. He has a school in Eugene, Oregon and ties to Stanwood, WA with the Pilchuck Glass School. He asks for volunteers and one lucky person gets to create their own work of art.

 

At 2:00pm we arrived in Miltenberg a quaint village of half timbered houses. The ship casts off at 2:30 to head upstream to Wertheim to pick us up. We have a walking tour of Miltenberg and free time. Our guide was Canadian this time. Unfortunately at this time of year it’s dark too early to do much exploring on your own. Miltenburg boasts one of the oldest taverns in Germany with a “Who’s Who” of guests at the Inn including Elvis before we was a ghost. There is somewhat of a castle above the town that offers great views of the village, but it requires hiking up a hill to reach it. These are the places where you can sit down and talk to the locals. In Europe the table is open for anyone to sit at provided there is space, so politely ask to join someone and maybe you’ll enjoy yourself. We left Miltenberg around 5:30 and picked up the ship again in Wertheim. Wertheim has a nice castle on the hill for a photo op. This evening after dinner was a music quiz…the competition was fierce and very cut throat. Some of the teams had 8 members and three teams scored 100%...grand prize was a bottle of champagne.

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Würzburg Day 6. There is an optional tour to Rothenburg, a medieval village that was stuck in the 14th Century until it was discovered a century ago as a tourist destination. The village is worth seeing including an intact wall that is you can walk as well as several medieval towers. At night there is a Night Watchman tour that is very entertaining, but the tour is only a day trip. We ate the best sauerkraut we ever had in a small restaurant in Rothenburg. The passengers on this tour also saw the Palace upon their return if they so choosed.

 

The Würzburg has a fortification on the hill as well as a beautiful palace. The tour starts with a bus ride to the Palace, our guide was German who even had a slight accent. Unfortunately no photography is allowed inside the Palace or Residenz as it is called. The Palace is designed so the horse and carriage can enter the lobby and drop guests off at the Grand Staircase. The entire ceiling is painting to show the Prince-Bishop as the center of attention to the four known continents at the time…a lot of details in the painting worth checking out. The Imperial Hall ceiling is painted to appear 3-D; the painting integrates sculpted pieces to heighten the effect. The Palace includes a beautiful garden. From the Palace everything goes downhill, not the tour but walking down toward the river. Würzburg is a larger city that lacks any sort of medieval feel. The tour continues past some cathedrals and the main square down to river where it’s about a 5 minute walk back to the ship for lunch. There is always the option to eat in town. After lunch we hiked up to the fortification for some nice views of the city. There is a bus that runs to the entrance.

 

The cookies had been put away by the time we returned to the ship, but Julita was helping in the lounge so she came to our rescue. We asked her about the “drink of the day” so she came back with the entire spreadsheet of the “drink of the day” for the entire cruise so we could see the ingredients and how to make each one. I kidded her about my drink being a little light on alcohol…she made sure it wasn’t anymore. The ship left at 6:30 headed for Bamberg.

 

After dinner one of the Officers on the ship talked about the Tor. He was new onboard, old school, and not use to the electronic Drive by wire systems. He was also Ukrainian, but gave his talk in English which limited his ability to speak of anything in detail. The Tor has solar panels with a read out of their power output on the third deck aft. The Tor didn’t have a fresh herb garden on the sun deck…don’t know if there isn’t one or was moved to a warmer area. The sun deck was off limits until Passau, Germany.

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Bamberg-Day 7. The ship arrived in Hassfurt and we were bused to Bamberg for our tour. Prior to our arrival we received a talk on the canals and locks we were transiting on our way to Budapest. We passed through 67 locks and gained a total of around 1300 feet in elevation at the highest point in the cruise.

 

Our guide in Bamberg had an American boyfriend and studied extensively in the US so she sounded just like us. Bamberg has a beautiful abbey on a hill and a nice old town area. Every one of these towns center around a church and Bamberg is no exception. There is usually information concerning the conflicts between the Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish religions. Our guide explained the old town hall was built on an island because the Prince-Bishop only owned the land and not the river. This way the town could govern themselves.

 

Bamberg is noted for a specialized smokey beer, Rauchbier. The beer came about the same way most great discoveries are made, by accident; this time a fire. We bought a six pack that the local market to bring back to the ship with us. The crew is happy to provide an opener.

 

At the end of the tour we had plenty of free time before we were to meet at the Green Market. The market has a fountain with a statue of the Roman God Neptune and his trident. If we couldn’t find our way back to the market our guide explained to ask anyone for the guy holding a fork. She explained that the locals will not understand if we asked for Neptune or his Trident. I thought she was joking until I saw the name of the Bratwurst stand near the statue; Weiss Bratwurst am Gabelmann or in English essentially…White Sausage at Fork Man. A couple we met during the trip said they had a marvelous time in one of the pubs sitting with a group of Germans. Everyone was being rowdy and laughing, the Germans were kind enough to translate so the couple could understand all the laughter. It would be like getting the joke 30 seconds after everyone else. We returned to the busses and back to the ship and at 7:00pm we left for our next destination. We are now transiting the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal.

 

Inery(Bulgaria), was the head bartender with Lucia(Slovakia) and Galin(Bulgaria) also working in the lounge. We had actually visited the town of Varna, Bulgaria where all the Bulgarians were from so we had a lot to talk about with them. I asked Lucia what the drink of the day was one afternoon…her reply, “for you, ice water” with a little smirk on her face. She is the hardest working person on the ship…one of the twin beverage machines wouldn’t dispense coffee so she took the thing apart and tried to unclog the coffee canister. When that didn’t work she took both machines apart to try to figure out which piece had failed by doing a side by side comparison. In the mean time she was keeping up with everything else that was going on in the lounge.

 

By now most of the crew was greeting me in their native language so I was having a great time. I would converse a bit more with those that really appreciated my attempts to learn their language. Of the 12 countries represented by the crew, we had visited 10 of them in our travels. The only two countries we have not visited are the Philippines and Romania. We enjoy visiting places where American tourists don’t travel in mass because we have found there is an appreciation that we are there. The Bulgarians were shocked we knew Varna and that I could actually write in Cyrillic. Yes, they tested me.

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Nuremberg-Day 8. At 9:30am we arrived and started with a bus tour of Nuremberg. In addition to the regular tour, there is an optional tour of famous WWII sites at the same time. Those that took the optional tour said it was well worth it. For example, we drove by the Courthouse where the Nuremberg Trials were held, the optional tour went inside the courtroom. Our tour started with a visit to College Hall and Zeppelin Field to get a real sense of the atmosphere. Our guide did a great job helping us to visualize what it must have been like to be a young German at the time. Nuremberg became the focus for rallies leading up to WWII because it was the “most German of German cities.” Originally, Nuremberg was the unofficial capital of the First German Empire…the Holy Roman Empire, so it was natural for Nuremberg to become the unofficial capital of the Third one. Nuremberg was chosen as the site for the trials for the same reason, to wipe any disillusions that there would be a Third German Empire off the face of the earth.

 

We were dropped off at the Imperial Castle, Kaiserburg, at the top of Old Town. Nuremberg was completely destroyed so everything is you see is a restoration of the original old town. Our guide gave an interesting explanation of the defenses in place to prevent anyone from laying siege to the castle. Below the castle is the home of a famous German artist and a unique statue dedicated to one of his paintings; along with St George and his slain Dragon. The tour ended at the market square with a beautiful fountain and a performance of the mechanical figures on the nearby church.

 

Nuremburg is famous for its small sausages; Nuremburg Rostbratwurstand which are only about 3 inches long and weigh about an ounce a piece, but they are delicious. Nuremburg is only known for a type of gingerbread known as lebkuchen which literally means “life cake in German”, although there are other explanations as to the name. You can buy lebkuchen or a variation made without flour known as Elisenlebkuchen. The sausages and gingerbread are also available in the next city the ship stops at if you decide that you need to buy some. The gingerbread comes in beautifully decorated tins as well and the sausage in a beautifully proportioned bun with sweet mustard and sauerkraut. German sauerkraut is “out of this world” compared to the stuff out of a can in the US.

 

The tour was over in time for lunch on the ship; there were shuttle busses running to take everyone between the ship and the city in the afternoon. The ship left at 5:30pm for Regensburg.

 

This evening Valerie gave a talk on her home country of Russia. She was born in Moscow to parents who were college professors. Her family moved to Poland when she was a child where her father taught. She tried hard to dispel the stereotype that Russians are cold people that don’t smile. Six cruises and this is the only one where the Cruise Director talked about their life.

 

In addition, some of the passengers acted out a couple of Russian fables. My wife was the “fox” that ate the bun sitting on her nose in one of the fables, so she had a nickname the rest of the cruise. Not to mention there was a hollowed out bun on her plate at the next dinner.

 

We did the Viking Russian cruise on the Volga canal system in 2010 with an all Russian crew. We had a delightful time. One of the crew members even gave us special 10 ruble coins which are much like our “state quarters”, commemorating their “Golden Ring” cities. As a tourist they were impossible to collect in your change then. Another asked us to make a video for her in 2012 with Seattle as the backdrop because she wanted to show videos of her friends all over the world during the wedding reception. A third who has a Masters Degree studying English, French and Korean offered to help me with Russian via Skype a year after we had traveled to Russia…we have a standing offer from her as a tour guide should we ever come to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. These are some of the extra perks we’ve received by spending a few moments conversing with them.

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Regensburg-Day 9. We arrived in Regensburg around 1:30 in the afternoon. There was an optional tour today which was 30 minutes longer than the regular tour. The optional tour was already full when it tried to sign up, but for us it was no problem to be added to the list. One of those times when a positive impression translates into a benefit.

 

Our tour guide today was married to an American soldier stationed there; very nice area to be stationed! Of course her English sounded American. She explained the Franconian attitude; in a beer hall the waitress is not there to be your friend, her job is to tote a dozen biers at time to the various tables as quickly and efficiently as possible . Therefore, don’t expect the waitress to smile and say hello; basically sit down, shut up, and drink your bier and everyone will get along fine. During the course of the tour I bent one of her rules so she explained that she used to be one of those waitresses…message received loud and clear.

 

Regensburg is all about the old towers and a painting with a biblical reference. Schindler of Schindler List fame lived here for a period after WWII. The most interesting tidbit for me was the brass plaques in the ground known as Stolpersteine from German "stumbling block” which are small, cobblestone-sized memorials to commemorate victims of the Holocaust. The practice of placing these plaques has grown to several countries and hundreds of cities where the victims lived. At the cathedral here the goal is to find the “smiling Angel” and the pig that is an “insult to the Jewish Community.”

 

During the extra 30 minutes of tour time our guide explained the significance of a sculpture made where the old foundation of the Jewish synagogue once stood. She explained the old people of town revered the sculpture while the young people skateboarded on it; she was smacked up the side of the head routinely for being on the sculpture as she put it. I quipped to my wife “that explains a lot” instantly the guide replied that she heard “that.” The artist meant for the sculpture to be walked on incidentally.

 

The best little sausage place in Germany in located here. It serves the same sausages that are found in Nuremberg, but without the name. A beautiful medieval stone bridge spans the Danube, but unfortunately there was a lot of ongoing construction to the bridge. Regensburg is the oldest city on the Danube; the tour takes you past part of one of the Roman gates from the military encampment here.

 

We had a dance and singing troupe come on board and perform after dinner which was entertaining. The ship left at 10:30pm headed for Passau. In the late fall when it’s dark by 4:30 these towns get rather boring unless you spend the evening in the beer halls. When the days are long and the sky is bright these towns are very photogenic.

 

Our favorite crew member was a young lady named Emilia who worked the reception area on the graveyard shift. She had a very bubbly personality, a quick conversationalist; every time we walked by someone was commenting to her how much they enjoyed talking to her. She is from Slovakia and became my linguistics instructor. During one of our encounters she mentioned her nickname growing up was the same as a candy bar, Milka. The next time I saw her she presented me with one of the Milka candy bars that she had bought in town while we were touring. I was honored that she would even think about our conversation. These are the added personal touches that keep us coming back to Viking.

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Passau-Day 10. We arrived in Passau around 10am. Our last German city with Austria just over the hill. The city is located on the confluence of three rivers; Danube, Inn, and the Ilz. The city had experienced its worst flooding in recorded history this past June. The evidence of the flooding was everywhere. Our guide was a young man studying for his masters at the local college. He told us the student population was 65 per cent female which is his major reason for choosing Passau University.

 

Passau was our favorite town to visit on the trip; enough history and a lot of areas to explore and stretch your legs. Passau has a nice pedestrian shopping area, a beautiful cathedral, and a fortification across the Danube. We hiked up to the Veste Oberhaus in the afternoon for beautiful views of the city and the three rivers; unfortunately much of the access to the fortification was locked. We were pleasantly surprised with the number of passengers doing the hike to the overlook. I think the lack of access to the sundeck for several days had a lot of people feeling a little “caged up”, but today the railings went back up and we had the whole ship back. At 5:30pm the Tor left Passau headed for Austria.

 

The Maître d’ Boris from Slovenia by way of Serbia routinely offered seconds of the main entrees at dinner. I always had a couple of desserts since it only made since to have ice cream with cake and not just one or the other. I think we tasted around 10 different wines including both red and white varieties during the cruise usually a wine of the region where we were currently cruising was served during dinner. The dining room staff deep cleaned the dining room at least once a week in addition to the regular daily cleaning and Boris was on his hands and knees with them. We were routinely one of the last tables to leave because we were enjoying ourselves so much. We usually had a chance to speak with him in the morning before anyone was in the lounge.

 

This evening three of the staff dressed in period costumes for a Music Mystery Murder Quiz…the same competitive attitude as before between the three major teams. The tie breaker was to identify the murderer which only one team accomplished. With WiFi and a smart phone I’m not sure how much cyber “phone a friend” was used.

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Melk-Day 11. We arrived in Melk at 7:30am. The mooring area is about a 15 minute walk from the town. We were bused to the Melk Abbey in 15 minute increments beginning at 9:15am. So again Groups A and B have more time. The Abbey is a magnificent structure that includes a school with an enrollment of around 900 students, a beautiful chapel, a great museum, and a medieval library. Everything was open to photography with the exception of the library because of abuses to the previous “no flash” policy all photography was prohibited. After the tour you were free to walk back to the ship or take the bus provided. Melk is a pleasant town, but is dwarfed by the size of the Abbey. There were many open air venders selling cheese, meat, and hot dishes during our visit.

 

At lunch was the “Taste of Austria” in the lounge, according to Lucia and myself it was the “Taste of Germany” with added “cold cuts.” Austria and Germany both speak the same language so naturally their foods are going to be similar as well. At 2:00pm we sailed the Wachau Valley on our way to Krems.

 

The valley was beautiful with its castle ruins and hills on both sides. We passed the city of Durnstein with its beautiful blue church and the ruins of the castle whose claim to fame was a famous prisoner, Richard the Lionheart, during the Crusades. We arrived in Krems around 4pm.

 

Here you had the option to look around Krems or bus to Durnstein for a stroll and free samples at one of the local stores. We went to Durnstein, a cute town that would be fun in the summer when you could hike in the hills above it. Several people hiked to the castle in the dark, but we stayed in the town. We had about an hour of free time with several shops open to take advantage of the tourists with money to spend.

 

After dinner there was a talk about the Vienna coffeehouses and the ship left around midnight headed for Vienna.

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Vienna-Day 12. We arrived in Vienna around 6:30am. I received my usual morning brief from Emilia as to where we were docked on the map and anything worthwhile to see in the area before our shore excursion. At 9:00am the tours started, either by bus or subway to the old town area of Vienna. We opted for the subway tour to get a bit of exercise. Since we had already spent several days here in 2012 we were already familiar with what was available to see on the Main Ring Road. We exited the subway at the Opera House which is one of the finest in Europe. The subway stations are very entertaining with different examples of art or amazing statistics that you never think about. Whether by foot or bus everyone ended by at St Stephan’s Cathedral. We passed by the Lipizzaner Stables to see the horses being lead into the arena. After free time we took the subway back to the ship for lunch.

Then headed back out at 2:00pm for a visit to the Farmer’s Market with Renalto, our head chef, the market visit included a tasting of the fresh cheeses, meats, and fruit that the market had to offer. We had an option to go back with the group or individually which we did. We stopped on the way back at Pratter Park for a look at Vienna’s Ferris wheel and amusement park.

 

In addition there was an optional excursion to Schonbrunn Palace with its beautiful gardens. An early dinner then most of the passengers had another optional excursion to a Mozart and Strauss Concert. Several of the crew members including Lazlo were able to attend the concert which was nice for the young lady traveling with her grandmother. She had people more her age that she knew and enjoyed to accompany her. The Hotel Manager uses the feedback from the passenger comment forms to reward his crew. Those with the most positive comments are allowed extra time off for the excursions or other events. There was a late night serving of Goulasch soup after the concert. We left Vienna at 1:00am headed for Slovakia.

 

By now we had around ten couples that we conversed with regularly throughout the day. We were also still seeing people whose faces we didn’t even recognize. Other than sleeping and freshening up we spent almost zero time in the cabin, so I could only infer that these people enjoyed spending time in their cabins.

 

Our cabin stewardess, Andrea from Hungary, was fast, efficient, very friendly, and she could make some great towel art. We had a snail the first day so we complimented her about it; she replied that she would make us something every day. She knew how to create 10 different towel pieces of which she made us nine. A staple of ocean cruises this was the first river cruise where housekeeping made towel animals. We saved each one and the last day we came to our room to find them all on the bed waiting for us. We even took the “love birds” home with us and named them “Люблю” (loo-blue)…which means love in Russian. The entire crew working our deck would flash quick smiles and greet me in their native language, then compliment me on the progress was making learning their language. Lucia would tease about the fact I could eavesdrop on her conversations in Slovak.

 

The crew knew English very well, but there is still a difference in comprehension for anyone if it isn’t your native language; for instance housekeeping understood anything related to their duties associated with your room, but if you started explaining how exciting the excursion was chances are the speed of your speech along with unfamiliar words would result in a shy smile and a nod. Most foreign speakers try to teach you how to say a new word in their language by repeating it word over and over while you try to copy the sounds, but Emilia could explain in simple terms that it’s a soft “d” like a “dj” sound together or that a “c” always sounds like a “ts” sound. She has been the first non-guide with that type of command of another language so I was very impressed.

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Bratislava-Day 13. We arrived around 5:00am in the dark. With the exception of Vienna all of the docking locations are in the heart of where the city first began. This is the first city on the cruise that the crew had firsthand knowledge which was nice; we learned a lot about the country from the crew members before we ever arrived. Lucia had showed us photos of a beautiful “blue church” that she was excited for us to see.

 

The options here are a tour of Old Town Bratislava or an optional tour of a home visit. The time frame here doesn’t allow anyone to do both very well. I was determined to pack as much into our time as possible so Emilia circled on the map where everything worth seeing was located, but she did not know about the “blue church” since she doesn’t live in Bratislava. Just before sunrise I walked around Bratislava to see as much as possible before catching the van for the home visit at 9:00am. It was cool to watch Peewee Hockey and teen aged girls sharing a portable ice rink in front of the Slovakia National Theater.

 

Bratislava is a typical city that was trapped behind the Iron Curtain; beautiful romantic age architecture combined with Soviet realism. There are some very quirky statues scattered about with interesting stories behind them. I had taken photos of everything Emilia pointed out, but I still hadn’t seen the “blue church.” I asked our Cruise Director when I returned to the buses, but she wasn’t sure about it either.

 

At 9:00am 16 of us boarded a van for our home visit in a small village about 20 minutes outside of Bratislava. We were divided into two groups of 8 with a guide for each group. I had learned enough Slovak from Lucia, Filip, and Emilia during the cruise to be polite to our host in her native language. Our host was impressed and everything was going well until she started conversing with me in Slovak without the guide near to translate. Our host created ceramics and other crafts which the family sold for extra income. In addition, she worked in an assisted living facility. She also had crafts that they had made to sell. A traditional holiday meal includes carp in Slovakia; she had a photo of her husband holding a carp that probably weighed 50 pounds.

 

The house was very nice with a ceramic fireplace to keep the living room toasty. We gathered in a room off the dining room to have tea and a marble cake. The house was very long and narrow with a number of different sitting rooms with couches and stuffed chairs. The kitchen was modern and looked much the same as any house in the US. After tea she showed us her ceramics studio and some of the pieces she had made. She didn’t ship to the US and only had small items for sale at her studio. I asked the guide about the “blue church” during the visit so I could hurry to it after our return.

 

One guide discussed Slovakia then and now on our way to the village and the second younger guide discussed current events on the way back. Slovakia is the European Detroit making cars for BMW, Kia, Peugeot and others. The income levels are about half of what the German’s make. The east is agriculturally based and the west more industrial based. Most of the inhabitants of Slovakia live and work around Bratislava because the wages are higher. Slovakia has a problem especially in the east with the large Roma (gypsy) population which it is trying to overcome. We have now visited Slovakia twice and have yet to spend 24 hours in the country, but came away much more impressed during this visit. That is the advantage of having staff on the ship from the country you are visiting. I learned more about Slovakia, than the other four countries combined.

 

We arrived back at the ship at 11:40 for our 12:00 o’clock departure. I learned that the church was only a few blocks away so I scrambled to get there, snap a few photos and rush back to be on board before they left without me. I was the last one back at 11:50…10 minutes early or 5 minutes late depending on your point of view. But I had my photos.

 

We transited our final lock this afternoon; the ship passed under the highway which is built on the caisson of the lock while traffic was flowing above us. This was also the deepest lock at around 62 feet. We also had a tour of the pilot house, the galley, an Apple strudel demonstration, and a disembarkation briefing.

 

We had a farewell toast with the Ship’s Management and the Captain’s dinner this evening. Two couples were chosen to eat with the Captain and the Cruise Director at the Captain’s Dinner. This was the first time we ever had the Captain join the passengers for dinner. We don’t know what the criteria was for choosing the couples except it wasn't based on participation in the Viking Explorer Society.

 

After dinner we had a “speed dating” session with the crew; about half a dozen crew members were available in the lounge to chat with the passengers in sessions lasting about 5 minutes each. We had been chatting with them the entire cruise so we enjoyed our dinner and arrived a little late to the gathering. As soon as we sat down the first crew member joined us, then the next and it was like this the whole time so we enjoyed the company. The crew was very curious about my affinity for learning their languages which is a nice ice breaker to getting to know them as people and not as servers or housekeepers. A formal session to talk to the crew was also a first for us.

 

At 10:30pm we sailed into Budapest with the city illuminated which is a beautiful sight to behold while drinking warm glühwein on the sun deck.

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Budapest-Day 14. Budapest is a major city rebuilt after WWII with wide boulevards and buildings of uniform height much like Paris. Budapest is the merging of the hill town of Buda on one side of the Danube with Pest…pesht, the flat side on the opposite bank of the Danube. There is also a third town Old Buda adjacent to Buda. Pest translates as fever in English and the name goes back to the fact that the city is situated on a thermal hot spot. The Hungarian language is unique, but it’s easy to learn a few words because of its monotone nature once you know the pronunciation of rules, for example “sz” represents the English “s” sound and “s” in Hungarian is phonetically “sh” in English. You will see “Busz” stops and “busz” lanes on the roads meaning bus in English, while “bus” in Hungarian would be pronounced as bush in English which means “sad.” So do you want to be “sad” or get on the “busz?” Szia, pronounced see-a, is the Hungarian equivalent of ciao meaning both “hi and bye.” Our favorite word is egészségedre (EH-gehs-sheh-geh-dreh) meaning Cheers or To Your Health. The accent marks mean to extend the letter’s pronunciation. The majority of the Housekeeping Staff on the Tor was Hungarian affording the opportunity to learn their language constantly as we walked the passageway to and from our room.

 

After we docked adjacent to the Intercontinental Hotel and the Chain Bridge I ventured out alone to capture some nighttime photos of the area. Passing by the Hotel I was suddenly approached by a pair of beautiful young ladies, then another set, and finally a third set before I decided my best option was just to retreat to the safety to the ship. I told Emilia, who was now on duty at the reception desk, that I needed protection from all these beautiful women out there. She was quite amused that these girls could chase me back to the boat. These girls are known as “konzumlany” or consumption girls; working in teams they will remove all of your valuables all the while batting their long eyelashes at you. Absent mindedly I stuck my wallet in my back pocket which made me an easy mark for them. One of those times when having a wife comes in handy.;)

 

We had a combination bus and walking tour beginning at 8:30am lasting around 4 hours. We drove the main boulevard, Andrassy Ut, on the Pest side to Hero’s Square…a giant skateboard park that doubles as the location of the Monument to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as well as statues and columns to various heroes in Hungary’s history. There are National Museums on either side of Heroes Square and a kind of Central Park adjacent to it; complete with a zoo, a now closed circus, thermal baths, and a replica of a Transylvanian Castle. After this visit we drove by the Synagogue then across one of the bridges to the Buda side of the Danube. Our guide said a few words about the National Palace, but there was no tour of the area. Then we walked to Matthias Church for a tour of the inside as well as the Fisherman’s Bastion. The tour concluded with some free time to explore the area. Our guide was very informative, but her presentation droned on to the point her tour group started separating from her just to get to where we were going.

 

After lunch we did the optional tour to see the Lazar Brother’s ranch in the Puszta region to see cowboys perform. The demonstration gave you a chance to see Lipizzaner horses up close, to see how the horses were trained to battle the enemy, along with a little comic relief. The cowboys crack bull whips during the performance and I was chosen to attempt to knock a bottle of wine off its perch with one of the whips. I was pretty proud of myself for doing it on the first try, which resulted in the muddy bull whip wrapped around me like a snake, until our young receptionist, Simona, made it look easy. After the demonstration we rode in a traditional gypsy wagon with my wife holding the reins. This was followed by a tour of the stables to see the horses.

 

Hungary was founded by the Magyars (pronounced similar to MUD-yar…the gy combination is pronounced like a soft dj in English) in 896. There was a major celebration in 1896 the millennium anniversary. Many of the important buildings such as the Parliament, the Great Market Hall, St Stephan’s Cathedral were built to commemorate the occasion. St Stephans and the Parliament building are both 96 meters tall as well; the Market Hall was designed by Eiffel. Legend has it that the founding of Hungary was fudged by a year because construction was not complete in 1895.

 

We had a dance troupe come on board and perform for our last night. Then

Valerie discussed the procedure and times for leaving the next morning or in our case later that evening. Twenty-five cabins were vacated around 2:30am and we left for the airport at 3:30am on Day 15 to catch our flight to Amsterdam and then home.

 

 

We can rank our six cruises in terms of the destinations, but every Viking crew has been outstanding and we would sail with anyone of them again.

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Wow--I've passed along this whole thread to my mom. We're doing this same itinerary (with the two add'l days in Amsterdam) in August on the Atla.

 

We've never done any cruise before and I've never been to Europe (Mom has been to Greece) so you've given us a wealth of material and information to really be able to put to use. Thank you very much for the time you put into this.

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Since we'll be doing this itinerary in August, I have some time to learn a bit of language; I'm looking for Kohola's advice about which languages--and a suggestion of phrases in those languages so I can enjoy "connecting" with staff while on board (as well as possibly with others when in port).

 

Obviously I'm not going to become fluent by any means, but I agree that folks respond when you show that you've made the effort to learn about them.

 

Your ideas, please?

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Since we'll be doing this itinerary in August, I have some time to learn a bit of language; I'm looking for Kohola's advice about which languages--and a suggestion of phrases in those languages so I can enjoy "connecting" with staff while on board (as well as possibly with others when in port).

Obviously I'm not going to become fluent by any means, but I agree that folks respond when you show that you've made the effort to learn about them.

Your ideas, please?

 

I like your enthusiasm! On the Tor the majority of my daily contact was with crew members from Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and the Philippines. While the majority of time off of the ship is spent in German speaking countries, which would make learning anything beyond some basics a very daunting task. Hello, good bye, yes, no, please, thank you, you're welcome, excuse me and to your health in the indigenous language are adequate to be polite in any country or on the ship. I would suggest learning these basic survival phrases from websites like omniglot. Most of these websites have audio files so you can hear the phrases spoken as well as learn the basic pronunciation of the letters. Most languages you'll encounter "roll their r's" which makes makes duplicating their accents very difficult for most people.

 

If you would like to go beyond the survival phrases my approach is to visualize the most common conversations that are likely to occur on a daily basis with the crew and learn phrases for those situations. For instance in the morning the majority of speech will center around these phrases...good morning, how are you, did you sleep well... Learn to say them and the most likely response the crew will reply with. I found that the majority of the crew on every cruise we've done are proud of their heritage and love to teach you something about their country and language. So the first day most of them just say "good" in response to "how are you", but after that they will enrich your experience by using a multitude of expressions in response to "how are you" much like we would.

 

Breakfast and lunch...learn the words to order your most likely drink choices; the words for the condiments if you use them a lot. Breakfast and lunch are a combination of menu/buffet choices so learn the words for foods you normally eat for breakfast or lunch that a server would bring to you like omelet or a sandwich...I can say banana and orange juice in a practically every country I have visited. Fortunately banana is banana or banan in most of them;), but I learned it was "saging" in tagalog (Filipino) this past cruise. These meals are the time to converse with the dining room staff because dinner is hectic for them.

 

We always find crew members that look like they are having a good time with guests and sit at their tables; combine that with some fun people you've met on the cruise and the meals become a cherished memory. Breakfast and lunch are the ideal times to test out the dining room staff because you have more opportunities to speak with them and they have more freedom to work other tables as well.

 

For dinner I learn the words to order my drinks...pronounce wine with a "v" and it provides a foundation in most languages; same with soup and salad. For entrees I learn chicken, beef, pork, fish, and lamb. And I learn cake, pie, and ice cream for dessert. Then I learn the adjectives to describe what I want like red wine, hot tea, or water with lemon, both desserts. After I have some confidence that I know the words to describe dinner I try to make a complete sentence like "I would like more red wine please." Since dinner is very hectic and the staff is scrambling I learn the words for "sorry/excuse me" to get their attention. I then learn a few words to compliment the staff for a nice meal.

 

For the cabin I learn the words for consumables that you might need more of like soap, shampoo, tissues; plus the words for pillow and towels. I learn a few words to compliment the cabin attendant for how nice the room looks. This time we learned the Hungarian word for each piece of towel art she made.

 

Once I learn the basics I try to enrich my conversations with phrases like "nice to see you again", "how is your day", "I've enjoyed speaking with you", "good night, sweet dreams", or "see you later." Many countries use informal slang to speed up conversations "ciao" and "merci" have found their way into countries like Bulgaria because they're easier to say than dovizhdane and blagodarya. Slovak and Czech use Ahoj (ahoy) for hi and bye. Hungarian uses szia (see-a) the same way.

 

If you are planning to do the home visit in Slovakia then I would concentrate on learning the phrases for things like "nice to meet you", "your home is lovely", "I would like more cake and tea", "sorry, I don't understand", "I know a little Slovak or I know a few words". The more you speak of their language and the more credible your accent is the more likely they will engage you in an actual conversation.

 

For leaving the ship and making purchases at a bazaar I would learn phrases for "how much", "too expensive", "I'll take it".

 

For the areas you will be in almost everyone will speak fluent English, but in many places just a few blocks off the beaten path will lead you to people who know as much English as you do of their language which makes for some wonderful memories. In Bratislava I bought some things at a store, and had a short conversation with the cashier without a word of English being spoken, fortunately I knew my change from the register.

 

In Germany expect the shop owner to respond to your "Guten Tag" with something like "Hallo, wie geht es dir?" if your accent is credible. You'll know pretty quickly if they think you sound like an American saying foreign words or they think you speak German or any other language.

 

Until the staff realizes you are trying to speak in their language or when they can't quite hear because of the ambient noise level you're likely to encounter conversations like this. At dinner I asked for ice cream and cake in Bulgarian...Bik iskal sladoled ee torta, molya. Phonetically ice cream is sla-doe-let, literally sweet ice. Our server looked puzzled so I repeated it, then the light bulb went off. He thought I wanted a "slice of bread."

 

The people of Hungary will react the most if you speak with them because it is such a hard language to learn and it is only useful in Hungary. We have guide friends that live in the countries that surround Hungary that are fluent in a half a dozen languages but they don't speak Hungarian.

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Hello,

 

just like to specifiy Kohola's advice on shops in Germany. The answer to Guten Tag would normally be Guten Tag. Wie geht es Ihnen? The formal address is still very much around, shops highly frequented by young people might respond with Du or in this case Dir. Shop assistants often like to address you with "Kann ich Ihnen helfen?" meaning what can I do for you? If you just want to brouse you could answer with "Danke, ich schaue mich nur um". Or, if you are looking for something: "Ja, bitte." If you start loosing confidence at this point, just ask "Sprechen Sie Englisch?". The reaction can be anything from a panicky "nein" to "yes, of course." If you see something that you like without the price on, point to it and ask "wieviel kostet das?"

 

And of course a smile will go a long way...

 

In touristy places Germans can be very eager to help you in English to the point where you do not get a chance to practice your German. :)

 

Oh, yes, when it is dark the greeting is Guten Abend, of course.

 

Goodbye and Tschüß from

 

notamermaid

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Hello,

 

just like to specifiy Kohola's advice on shops in Germany. The answer to Guten Tag would normally be Guten Tag. Wie geht es Ihnen? The formal address is still very much around, shops highly frequented by young people might respond with Du or in this case Dir. Shop assistants often like to address you with "Kann ich Ihnen helfen?" meaning what can I do for you? If you just want to brouse you could answer with "Danke, ich schaue mich nur um". Or, if you are looking for something: "Ja, bitte." If you start loosing confidence at this point, just ask "Sprechen Sie Englisch?". The reaction can be anything from a panicky "nein" to "yes, of course." If you see something that you like without the price on, point to it and ask "wieviel kostet das?"

 

And of course a smile will go a long way...

 

In touristy places Germans can be very eager to help you in English to the point where you do not get a chance to practice your German. :)

 

Oh, yes, when it is dark the greeting is Guten Abend, of course.

 

Goodbye and Tschüß from

 

notamermaid

 

Dankeschön! I once had a young Chinese woman tell me she knew English until she started speaking with Americans. ;)

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Hi Kohola! Thank you very much for your review! I must admit I have never river cruised but have wondered about it for a few years now. Yours is the first review I have read and I loved it! The way you write, your descriptions of places, people, languages, history and everything in between really added to the readers (my) enjoyment. I also enjoyed your pictures coupled with brief descriptions...a real plus! When I finally do take a river cruise, I hope that I can harness your contagious enthusiasm! It would be a great pkleasure to meet you as well! Thank you again!

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