Viking Rhine Getaway - Our photo intensive review on the Viking Ingvi, Summer 2014

Kudos. This is one of the best reviews I've seen on cc. We are considering our first river cruise and this gave us a real feel for it. We were especially interested in the ability to go on shore in the evenings.

 

Thanks,

For evenings on shore, you need to check the detailed itineraries to see if your cruise will actually be in port for a very late sailing.

There is a sticky at the top of this forum with lots of good information for you to plan your first river cruise. There are many many itineraries and many many cruise lines. Don't fall into the trap of thinking only about the ones that advertise the most.

So...

I have material from a bunch of lines. Where do I find the detailed itinerary. Most just give the day's highlights.

So...

 

I have material from a bunch of lines. Where do I find the detailed itinerary. Most just give the day's highlights.

Not sure about the other cruise lines but this is how you find Vikings.

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com If you go to the Viking site, use the tab called "my trip", “about my cruise”, ‘itineraries’. They list all the cruises and then a detailed itinerary (both directions). http://www.vikingrivercruisescanada.com/my-trip/about-my-cruise/itinerary-travel-information.html

The one for AMS-BSL is here. http://wpc.475d.edgecastcdn.net/00475D/passenger_documentation/2014/14RHIGETAMS_%20Rhine%20Getaway%20AMS-BSL8.pdf

The one for BSL-AMS is here. http://wpc.475d.edgecastcdn.net/00475D/passenger_documentation/2014/14RHIGETBSL_Rhine%20Getaway%20BSL-AMS8.pdf

So...

 

I have material from a bunch of lines. Where do I find the detailed itinerary. Most just give the day's highlights.

The websites may have more detailed information than the brochures. On the AMAwaterways website, each cruise has a tab "Detailed Itinerary." On the Enchanting Rhine cruise, as an example, the entry for Cologne says "Late tonight, the ship cruises to Koblenz and moors overnight" -- in Rudesheim there is an evening excursion and "the ship sails overnight" -- Speyer, on the other hand says "This evening, the ship continues onward to Strasbourg" -- but Strasbourg "The ship moors overnight" -- Breisach is harder to figure out "Tonight, the ship cruises to Switzerland." But you can see that at least 3 out of these 5 are late departures that would allow you to go on shore in the evening.

Thanks all

You should also look at excursions, included and extra. If there are certain activities you would like to experience make certain that your cruise offers you that opportunity.

Outstanding review, Jerry! I've spent the entire first day of this new year "traveling" along with you on your Rhine Getaway. :p It's been quite a ride! Our travel plans for this year are set, but this one is definitely on our radar for 2016, and it's never too early to start planning! :D You've made my job MUCH easier! Thanks so much and Happy New Year!

Kudos. This is one of the best reviews I've seen on cc. We are considering our first river cruise and this gave us a real feel for it. We were especially interested in the ability to go on shore in the evenings.

 

Thanks,

Hi mskaufman,

Thanks for your kind comments and glad I was able to give you a rough idea of what a river cruise is all about. I believe the others who have responded have answered your question about late night stays and detailed itineraries.

Safe travels!

Jerry

Outstanding review, Jerry! I've spent the entire first day of this new year "traveling" along with you on your Rhine Getaway. :p It's been quite a ride! Our travel plans for this year are set, but this one is definitely on our radar for 2016, and it's never too early to start planning! :D You've made my job MUCH easier! Thanks so much and Happy New Year!

Hi borasue,

Glad you enjoyed the review! Totally agree it is never too early to start planning! We have Hawaii booked for 2015 and a Greek Island cruise in 2016 but I am always looking for ways to add more travel to our future....that it what keeps me motivated. :D

Whatever you end up doing, safe travels and Happy New Year!

Jerry

Hi all. we have just returned from our cruise on the Celebrity Silhouette. If anyone is interested, I have just started my review and it will take some time to add all the photos, dailies, etc. Here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2140218

 

I wish each of you a happy holiday season, a Merry Christmas, and a prosperous New Year full of fun travel adventures!

 

Jerry

Thanks for the link to your Celebrity review. Just as excellent as this review. Waiting for you to finish.;)

I have an open booking for Celebrity and reading your review only makes me want to jump ship from Royal Caribbean. Most likely we will do that in March 2016.

Thanks again and keep the reviews coming. Where are we going next?

Denise

Thanks for the link to your Celebrity review. Just as excellent as this review. Waiting for you to finish.;)

 

I have an open booking for Celebrity and reading your review only makes me want to jump ship from Royal Caribbean. Most likely we will do that in March 2016.

 

Thanks again and keep the reviews coming. Where are we going next?

 

Denise

Hi Denise,

Glad you are enjoying my Celebrity review. I have just added some Jamaica port photos.

As far as future travels, our next booked cruise is not until summer 2016 when we are going to try Azamara through the Greek Islands. Friends of our really enjoy Azamara and have sailed with them 3-4 times. Our next trip is a land trip this March to Hawaii so I may add a review to the port section for that one.

Happy travels!

Jerry

Hi! I just wanted to say this is one of the best reviews I've ever read. I found it and read it in one day. I have been researching river cruises for awhile and this is the one I want to do. I loved the detail of everything you posted and your pictures were incredible. After reading this, I definitely have to go to Belgium and see all the WWI memorials. This pictures were so moving.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your reviews! Thanks for taking the time to do them!

Dear Jerry,

I feel as if I almost know you since I have spent hours enjoying all of your posts and photos.

Even though I am a “retired” Pam Am flight attendant and my husband is retired US Navy (obviously have traveled the world), you have injected a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for us as we plan our trip on Viking in April/May of this year. Your extensive photos and dialogue enable us to picture ourselves in all the cities along the trip. Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful experiences.

We love Celebrity and will be on the 11 April Reflection TA to Rome and then to AMS. I can hardly wait.

Continued happy sailings to you.

Margie

Hi! I just wanted to say this is one of the best reviews I've ever read. I found it and read it in one day. I have been researching river cruises for awhile and this is the one I want to do. I loved the detail of everything you posted and your pictures were incredible. After reading this, I definitely have to go to Belgium and see all the WWI memorials. This pictures were so moving.

I'm looking forward to reading the rest of your reviews! Thanks for taking the time to do them!

Hi Emed2010, thank you for your kind comments and glad you enjoyed the review. Yes the WW1 sites were truly moving. Sorry for the delay in responding....we have recently sold our home and bought a new place so we are quite busy with packing, purging and getting ready for a move (with some renos in there as well!). Oh, and in 17 days we head to Hawaii which will be a great escape from what was the coldest February on record in the Toronto area.

Jerry

Dear Jerry,

 

I feel as if I almost know you since I have spent hours enjoying all of your posts and photos.

 

Even though I am a “retired” Pam Am flight attendant and my husband is retired US Navy (obviously have traveled the world), you have injected a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for us as we plan our trip on Viking in April/May of this year. Your extensive photos and dialogue enable us to picture ourselves in all the cities along the trip. Thank you for taking the time to share your wonderful experiences.

 

We love Celebrity and will be on the 11 April Reflection TA to Rome and then to AMS. I can hardly wait.

 

Continued happy sailings to you.

Margie

Hi Margie!! Glad you found the review and hope it helps a little with your planning. Sorry for the delay in responding as we have recently sold our home and are getting ready for an upcoming move at the end of April. Enjoy your cruises, both on Celebrity and Viking. Sounds like a great adventure!!! We head back to Hawaii in a couple of weeks and are looking forward to daily snorkeling and exploring more of Oahu and Kauai. Safe travels and I hope to see your reviews!!

Jerry

JERRY -if you are staying for a while on Oahu -be sure to drive up to the north shore- Its SO different from Honolulu. Also -directly EAST of honolulu on the EAST end of the Island -is a huge bay PERFECT for snorkling because its a bay; protected. Enjoy

I REALLY enjoyed ALL you pics/comments about Viking-We go on our first; Bucharest to Amsterdam -in September. We have 1000+ days on HAL and have done much OCEAN cruising- This Viking is our first River cruise and we have a LOT of enthusiasm after see/reading YOURS =THANK you

Hi - glad to see you posting again - when you stopped your Celebrity review before the grand finale I was a little worried about you guys! Haha at least it was just real life interrupting cruise reviews but nothing bad :o

I'll check over on the Celeb boards some time and see if you wrapped that one up. No pressure!!! Moving and Hawaii are way more important :D

JERRY -if you are staying for a while on Oahu -be sure to drive up to the north shore- Its SO different from Honolulu. Also -directly EAST of honolulu on the EAST end of the Island -is a huge bay PERFECT for snorkling because its a bay; protected. Enjoy

I REALLY enjoyed ALL you pics/comments about Viking-We go on our first; Bucharest to Amsterdam -in September. We have 1000+ days on HAL and have done much OCEAN cruising- This Viking is our first River cruise and we have a LOT of enthusiasm after see/reading YOURS =THANK you

Hi ANSalberg, appreciate your comments and yes we will actually be staying on the north shore for the first 3 nights, away from the madness of Honolulu. About 5 years ago we were lucky enough to spend time at Turtle Bay on the north shore and this time we will be renting a house in Waialua before heading to Kauai. I am aware of Hanauma Bay for snorkeling but not sure we will get there given we will mostly be on the north shore. But be certain we will find places to snorkel :).

Glad you enjoyed the review and have a great first river cruise!!!

Jerry

Hi - glad to see you posting again - when you stopped your Celebrity review before the grand finale I was a little worried about you guys! Haha at least it was just real life interrupting cruise reviews but nothing bad :o

 

I'll check over on the Celeb boards some time and see if you wrapped that one up. No pressure!!! Moving and Hawaii are way more important :D

Hi Sparky, thanks for being patient with me. Yes with the sale / purchase of our home and the upcoming move, we have been quite busy and I have not got back to the Celebrity review. I hope to get it going again soon but life keeps getting in the way :) ....but I will finish it some time soon. And yes Hawaii is now in the near future just 2 weeks away :).

Thanks for checking up on me :)

Jerry

Your review is awesome! We leave next Friday for the same cruise.

Thank you so much for your VERY informative review, with pictures. We are leaving this Saturday (July 18, 2015) for a 2 night pre-stay in Lucerne and then on July 21 we will board the Viking Hlin for our Rhine Getaway cruise from Basel to Amsterdam.

Your in depth review definitely answered any questions/concerns we had. We hope to enjoy the cruise as much as you did.

I'm baaack! I posted back in Oct 2014 when we were first considering the Rhine cruise, now I'm back to give this a bump, as I'm reading it again and so others can enjoy it as much as I did. If all goes according to plan we will be doing the Amsterdam to Basal on Viking, so I'm doing my research and your review is fabulous!

We're thinking of doing 2 days in Amsterdam pre-cruise (hoping to book the Toren) and 2 days in Lucerne post-cruise, which I'm thinking of doing through Viking.

I may have questions, if you're still answering!

Thanks again for all of this!

Thanks Jerry for doing this review. We have just booked our first river cruise on the Viking LongShip EIR for October 14 2016. Super excited after reading your review. We are doing AMS to BAS.

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Thanks Jerry for doing this review. We have just booked our first river cruise on the Viking LongShip EIR for October 14 2016. Super excited after reading your review. We are doing AMS to BAS.

Have you joined the 2016 Rhine Getaway roll call?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2230700

So for all of you who have stuck with me through this first part of the review, what do you say we actually talk about the cruise :D

 

 

We had breakfast in our apartment and had Shuttle Amsterdam pick us up at our apartment at 10:45. For 30E, they shuttled the 6 of us to the Viking dock and around 11:00 am we were heading on board.

 

Shuttle Amsterdam

 

Do you have contact info for Shuttle Amsterdam. Mr Google gives me too may options when I search on it. Sounds like it would work for us - the shuttle, that is, not Google :)