Viking Pre: Amsterdam?

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Vikings Pre: Amsterdam. I understand you are paying for the convenience of Viking and could most likely book things on your own cheaper. I like how they provide transfers, lodging and tours. How are the tours?

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Vikings Pre: Amsterdam. I understand you are paying for the convenience of Viking and could most likely book things on your own cheaper. I like how they provide transfers, lodging and tours. How are the tours?

We did Amsterdam on our own, but we did a post cruise in Lucerne through Viking and it was fabulous. They took care of everything. There was an included walking tour and an optional all day tour. We did the walking tour, but not the optional. It was really expensive and we wanted to do the Mt Pilatus Golden Round Trip.

The reps at the hotel were very helpful with recommendations for places to eat and things to do.

Having Viking handle the transfers from ship to hotel and from the hotel to the airport was wonderful.

We spoke with people on our cruise who had done the extension in Amsterdam and they said their experience was great also.

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Think carefully about doing this with Viking - I'm sure they do a great job, but Amsterdam is really so easy and inexpensive to do on your own and if you do it on your own, you get to see what you want to see when you want to see it and eat when and where you want. We tend to stay at Hotel Okura and it is a quick taxi ride to where the river ships are - but then there are many, many hotels in Amsterdam that are equally close. Amsterdam is a gentle and quaint city and if you get lost, locals will help you out. Don't be afraid to do it on your own!

Think carefully about doing this with Viking - I'm sure they do a great job, but Amsterdam is really so easy and inexpensive to do on your own and if you do it on your own, you get to see what you want to see when you want to see it and eat when and where you want. We tend to stay at Hotel Okura and it is a quick taxi ride to where the river ships are - but then there are many, many hotels in Amsterdam that are equally close. Amsterdam is a gentle and quaint city and if you get lost, locals will help you out. Don't be afraid to do it on your own!

It is really something to check out doing your own thing. We used our points to book the Ramada Apollo, it's a 10 minute tram ride to Amsterdam Central, but managed to get a rate that enables us to splurge more on the tourist side. A lot of the hotels provide shuttles from the airport, so it's one thing you don't have to worry about, and you can always get a cab to take you to the ship. We will enjoy the more "rural" setting (there is a large park beside the hotel) over the busy noisy city, and as we don't have public transport where we live, using the tram/bus etc will be part of the adventure.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Vikings Pre: Amsterdam. I understand you are paying for the convenience of Viking and could most likely book things on your own cheaper. I like how they provide transfers, lodging and tours. How are the tours?

There is a 3-hour free walking tour put on by the city guides that is great. You just tip at the end to show your appreciation.

One funny incident on our walking tour. While going through the red light district, my wife elbowed me and asked me why I didn't have any comments. About what, I said. About all of the naked women we've been passing, she said. What?! I said. I had been looking up the whole time. I thought they were the floor above the ground level, so I missed them entirely.

There is a 3-hour free walking tour put on by the city guides that is great. You just tip at the end to show your appreciation.

 

One funny incident on our walking tour. While going through the red light district, my wife elbowed me and asked me why I didn't have any comments. About what, I said. About all of the naked women we've been passing, she said. What?! I said. I had been looking up the whole time. I thought they were the floor above the ground level, so I missed them entirely.

That's your story and you're sticking to it ;p

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Vikings Pre: Amsterdam. I understand you are paying for the convenience of Viking and could most likely book things on your own cheaper. I like how they provide transfers, lodging and tours. How are the tours?

While it's certainly cheaper to do on your own, it's really nice to have all of the details taken care of for you.

We splurged a bit on our recent Rhine Getaway trip in April of this year, and did the pre-cruise Amsterdam stay (at the Renaissance - location was perfect!) and the post-cruise trip to Lake Como, Italy and both were fantastic. No regrets whatsoever.

Oh, and the walking tour by Viking on day two in Amsterdam was very well done.

Jeff

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Vikings Pre: Amsterdam. I understand you are paying for the convenience of Viking and could most likely book things on your own cheaper. I like how they provide transfers, lodging and tours. How are the tours?

Can never get enough time in Amsterdam

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We did and totally enjoyed it. Two nights at the Okura. It was nice having the transfers taken care of, the walking tour was great, and it was nice to have someone at the hotel all day from Viking to bounce ideas off of. Just got back 5/21!!

If you're comfortable with DIY travel, Amsterdam is really easy. It's a quick train trip from the airport to Centraal Station for 4 Euros with trains leaving about every 5 minutes. We stayed in a boutique hotel in an old canal house, misc eatdrinksleep, that's a 10 minute walk from the train station. They offered to arrange a car for us. The owners gave us advice for things to do and places to eat and made reservations for us. There are "free" walking tours that leave mornings and afternoons from Dam Square. The city is easy to navigate walking or using public transportation.

If you decide to go early--either through Viking or on your own--I highly recommend the Rick Steves guidebook.

I agree that Amsterdam is one of the easiest cities for a DIY stay pre- or post-cruise. Language is not an issue, the public transportation system is thorough and easy to understand, and the city is quite walkable. I would still want to use the cruise line for a post-cruise Basel-Lucerne-Zurich stay, but Amsterdam is easy-peasy.

Hello! First post!

We're doing a Rhine cruise in a month with a Lucerne pre-cruise and Amsterdam post-cruise. The hotels Viking was putting us at weren't in a location I'd choose if I were doing the trip myself so I did some research on both areas and ended up doing both ends "DIY". I actually extended the stay on either end by a day each, and the cost should be about what I was going to pay to do it through Viking.

Amsterdam seems to be extremely easy to get around, so doing transfers yourself shouldn't be too bad. And, I'm positive Viking wouldn't leave you in a lurch if you need to get a cab, or figure out what train to hop on. Same with getting to the airport, doesn't seem like a big deal and surely the hotels are used to people having to go. I've also heard great things about various tours you can take, although we're planning on just exploring on our own.

For Lucerne, sort of the same. Train to/from the airport in Zurich goes right to the main station in Lucerne, and depending on where you stay it's either walkable, or a cab can get you there. There is also a train direct from Lucerne to/from Basel, and I'm told taxi's are pretty familiar with getting to/from Viking ports.

In either case, for me, after doing some research on how to get to/from places it ended up being worth it to do it on my own and actually extend my vacation for roughly the same price. The most "confusing" thing was which great hotel to stay at on either side. But, I ended up booking hotels in both cities which better suited my vacationing style.

Hope this helps!

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Vikings Pre: Amsterdam. I understand you are paying for the convenience of Viking and could most likely book things on your own cheaper. I like how they provide transfers, lodging and tours. How are the tours?

I did the Viking pre-cruise Amsterdam in August last year. We stayed at the Radisson Blu on Rusland, close enough to walk to most tourist areas. Only one tour was included, a walking tour of Amsterdam on the second morning. The guide was great. Other tours were optional (and cost more) but those who went on them thought they were good. Yes, Amsterdam is easy to do on your own. Other than the included tour, I planned what I was going to do otherwise. All meals were on my own. There was a Viking representative stationed in the hotel lobby and if you needed advice on what to do or where to eat, he was helpful.

We did a post-cruise stay in Amsterdam in 2015 with Viking. We didn't do any Viking tours, just did our own thing, but wanted the convenience of Viking transfers and assistance if needed. I would highly recommend purchasing the IAmsterdam card. We bought ours from the hotel concierge and used it for all our tram rides as well as an included canal cruise and admission to the Van Gogh Museum (able to skip the line) and Rembrandt's house. There were many other included things but we didn't have time for everything. Nice to pay once for a multitude of uses!

We are debating between buying the iAmsterdam card or the Connexxion card. We will be looking at the 72 hr ones. I don't think we will be doing many museums, but will be going up to the Zuiderzeemuseum and taking the steam boat & train back. Would the iAmsterdam card be worth the extra Euro's? I wouldn't mind doing an extra canal cruise, but don't want to do the same one that is included on our tour.

We are debating between buying the iAmsterdam card or the Connexxion card. We will be looking at the 72 hr ones. I don't think we will be doing many museums, but will be going up to the Zuiderzeemuseum and taking the steam boat & train back. Would the iAmsterdam card be worth the extra Euro's? I wouldn't mind doing an extra canal cruise, but don't want to do the same one that is included on our tour.

We debated about doing the Iamsterdam card. I added up everything we wanted to do and we would have barely worked out even, so we didn't. We ended up walking most places so I'm glad we didn't.

Highly recommend the Amsterdam Jewel dinner canal cruise, the Canal House museum and the Pancake Bakery.

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Thanks Kat.... I am thinking if we did go ahead, we would use the extra canal cruise to make up the extra charge. We will be staying a bit out of downtown, so will be using transport, and although the iAmsterdam card will provide admission to Zuiderzeemuseum, just not sure what else we would be using it for.

Thanks Kat.... I am thinking if we did go ahead, we would use the extra canal cruise to make up the extra charge. We will be staying a bit out of downtown, so will be using transport, and although the iAmsterdam card will provide admission to Zuiderzeemuseum, just not sure what else we would be using it for.

Well it's probably more useful if you are out of downtown. We were fairly central and just walked. I did consider the Hop on Hop off canal boat but I'd heard it's not that efficient for getting from place to place because it goes up and down through the canals so it takes some time.

The card is good for quite a lot actually. It just didn't work for us. A lot of things had to be booked though them to get the discount and we'd already booked some things ahead.

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The card is good for quite a lot actually. It just didn't work for us. A lot of things had to be booked though them to get the discount and we'd already booked some things ahead.

 

 

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Thanks for that one comment.... that settles my mind! I will go with the Connexxion pass, as it's 1/2 price and that way we can decide "on the fly" as to what & when we want to see.

Thanks for that one comment.... that settles my mind! I will go with the Connexxion pass, as it's 1/2 price and that way we can decide "on the fly" as to what & when we want to see.

Just be aware of how this card times out. It ends at 4:00AM so you really do not get the full 24 hrs out of the last day if you started at any time late in the morning or evening on your initial day. That works best if you do not need it on your last day as you are checking out early to go to the airport or a ship.

Thanks Weezedr, something to keep in mind. Even if we do have to pay for a single tram ride to the ship on our 3rd day, it is still considerable savings.

Can you tell me the Amsterdam tour through Viking entailed?

While it's certainly cheaper to do on your own, it's really nice to have all of the details taken care of for you.

 

We splurged a bit on our recent Rhine Getaway trip in April of this year, and did the pre-cruise Amsterdam stay (at the Renaissance - location was perfect!) and the post-cruise trip to Lake Como, Italy and both were fantastic. No regrets whatsoever.

 

Oh, and the walking tour by Viking on day two in Amsterdam was very well done.

 

Jeff

The Viking walking tour on day two of the pre cruise stay began at the Renaissance and ended in front of the Palace at Dam Square. It lasted at least 90 minutes or so and included interesting details about the canal home architecture, went past the Anne Frank House, etc. It gave you a very good feel for some of the historic details of the city.

Jeff

We're on a pre- in Amsterdam right now, staying at the Okura Hotel. The Viking rep has been most helpful. Delta/Air France killed my suitcase. First order of bsns was buying a replacement; he told us where. Good advice about when to do what, how to get around. The hotel is very very nice. The tour was informative; the guide was very knowledgeable and willing to answer our many uestions. Absolutely no regrets about doing it through Viking.

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We did a "pre" in Budapest and the "post" in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam, we only availed ourselves of the first walking tour; our poor guide -- it rained really hard and he was a bit flummoxed with what to do with us, but, it gave us a lay of the land.

The transport to the airport was nice but no Viking staff accompanied us as promised. That didn't bother our small group, but I sensed others on the bus were not happy about that lapse.

I really liked Amsterdam -- we walked all over the place; took the tram once. We will likely go on our own and stay in a more centrally located hotel. I think it's a very easy city to do-it-yourself.