pontac

@robertmartha Hi Bob, if Emerald wanted to restrict baggage to one item they'd have said so. One suitcase means what it says, hand baggage is OK. Usually we are collected from the airport by the cruise line, and our cases go in the coach hold while we keep our hand baggage with us. When we get to boat we get out, go to boat reception to get cabin keys and go to cabin. The cases are collected from the coach and delivered to cabins by boat staff. You'll get tags with your cabin number you attach to your case so the crew know where to take them. At the end of the tour, cases are collected from outside the cabin and loaded on the coach. You don't need to carry your cases from time you get to transport on way there to getting to the airport on way back. If you make your own way to/from the boat, your cases will be taken from/to your taxi. You'll get baggage tags that indicate what time you're leaving and how. If there are 180 people on your boat, the crew have to carry 180 cases up a gangplank and get them to cabins; if people were allowed two cases each then crew could be taking 360 cases. It's as @Roz says. One time I made my own way (I didn't fancy an early morning flight, so I came day before and stayed in hotel near mooring spot) the boat crew saw us walking along quayside and came running towards us to take our cases.

I saw that in 2022. Parts of paintings I didn't know by artists I've never heard of slowly moving across walls and floors to a background of muzac was interesting for about 10 minutes. Then it was 'how much longer?' Too much longer..... Tip:- at first you're invited to sit on large concrete steps facing a basin; some are part cushioned. Grab a cushioned seat, your bottom can thank me later. You can get up and move around, other pens have bits of other pictures projected. There's also information boards about the pens; they're difficult to read in the gloom of the show but more interesting, I thought. I won't be going back.

You would have done if you'd been on the previous sailing.... 😁

I'm with @CDNPolar , really great review and great pics. I did this cruise on Viking Delling in August 2023 and it was interesting to see the differences. Our Tournon train ride was in open carriages and the river below was dry, just a few pools left, so it was most interesting for me to see it in flood in your pictures. And we made it all way. But we didn't get to Vienne. The boat was delayed and the included tour cancelled. We visited different wineries, and I thought the optional Chateau Neuf du Pape was poor - and it caused me to write the only letter of complaint to Viking in 13 cruises with them, on the other hand the included tour to Beaujolais was first rate. A couple of points. Your description mentions the coffee station "just before you enter the lounge on the port side" which reads like there is only one coffee station, but there's an identical one in the same position in the starboard side. The description "a unisex bathroom with two stalls. Men and women could be in there at the same time, which was a bit different." caused me a double take but I think it's a matter of interpretation. Just a shared washbasin. On the upper deck the stalls each have a washbasin and there's no shared door. My briefer review our our trip is here

For the past few years booking made in the UK have had the drinks package included at no extra cost, and so we chose from the wine list. Mrs P chose one day, I chose the next. We had a white at lunch and a red with dinner. We also had a glass of Jacquard Champagne as aperitif before dinner. I was happy with all the wines we had, but had I not then we would have changed to another. That's the beauty of the drinks package. (We did have one white wine on the Rhone trip we didn't like - not that it was faulty or a bad wine - but it was not really dry so the waiter gave us new glasses and we chose another wine.) The quality of wines on Viking's list was better than the hyped wines on Scenic's list, but Scenic lets every guest choose from the list whereas Viking charges per bottle or charges (most guests) for the drinks package. However most Scenic guests didn't choose from the list and accepted the red and white poured by waitrons. The standard wines -i.e. the wines poured for everyone- were Heinrich Vollmer Riesling (white) and Heinrich Vollmer Cuvee H.V. (red) both from the Pfalz, Germany. We had the Riesling on the day we arrived with the embarkation lunch and I enjoyed it. It was crisp and fresh, with a bit of citrus acidity and without the petrol tones I dislike in Riesling (except in a blind tasting competition). A large proportion of guests didn't drink any wine. Some drank beer but I was surprised at the number of guests drinking fizzy soft drinks. The included wines were listed on the 'always available' dinner menu I show on my Day 1 post. I can't say if the included wines ever changed as we never looked at that menu or even the sommeliers recommendations for wines to buy from the list because we had already chosen our wine before the meal.

😁Seems I was reading and replying to it same time as you were posting here. Glad you had better weather than we did.

Well spotted, I didn't notice. I just saw that Arnhem shows as an overnight stop and that had been swapped with Nijmegen on our tour. I have found a map showing the 2024 route with stops in Hoorn & Ghent but I think it's too small to display here. The itinerary we were given when we booked in June 2023 was so it does seem the itinerary was later changed - and probably moving the overnight stop from Arnhem to Nijmegen is only temporary. I see Hoorn is a stop on their Holland & Belgium cruise, but I can't see a visit to Ghent. Shame software prevents me from editing earlier posts to make corrections.

@notamermaid as a resident of Germany you probably have a different perspective than the intended audience. Me too. As someone who lives in a city with a history going back more that 2,000 years, a mediaeval centre, a cathedral dating from 900, Roman and ancient British tribal ruins all within 20 minutes walk of my house, I am less impressed by visiting old towns than many of the New Worlders on cruises with me who live in towns where buildings more than 100 years old are to be remarked on. Also, as you are aware, practically most excursions must be to places that can be travelled to, guided around and travelled back from in the space between mealtimes.

Ah, I was a trifle confused, mostly tho' because I thought you were the OP, your handle being May B which my memory thought was the OPs, though going back to the top I see it is @Maybelline True Shucks, I sensed the faint possibility of a future stay with you in Florida.

Au contraire. True their logo is all lower case but in their writing Amazon upper case their name, e.g. this announcement on their website: LinkedIn names Amazon a top U.S. company where people want to work For the seventh year in a row, LinkedIn recognizes Amazon as a top workplace in the U.S., citing skills training and opportunities for growth as key differentiators. Source: About Amazon

Viking now require you to register for all excursions, both the (free) included ones and the (additional cost) optional ones. You can register as soon as you book using a website - MyVikingJourney dot com (you'll have seen referenced on this forum as MVJ). Before that you heard the loudspeaker announcement, made your way to reception, were given a group number and left the boat. Unfortunately the chefs didn't seem to know it's supposed to be cooked. I couldn't face the limp rashers with white fat; I expect the fat to be browned and crispy

The only buffet lunches were the embarkation/disembarkation lunch and the Taste of Holland. I remarked on the change to Aquavit lounge lunches in my report of our 2023 Rhine & Mosel cruise and as we cruised with Viking in 2022 I think the change happened with the 2023 seaon. Other changes I remarked on in that 2023 report were: - There is a Viking app which has menus for each day, details of excursions and the ability to book them. - There were tickets for excursions, both included and optional. Tickets were placed in the cabin the evening before to be given to the guide. The ticket has your name, cabin number and tour-guide group number. - British style back bacon joined American style crispy streaky bacon on the breakfast buffet. A change this year is no loudspeaker announcements for excursions 15 minutes before they are due to depart. You have your departure time on your ticket and it's your responsibility to be there on time.

Hiya Daisi I don't understand the question. I have never had a Viking meal which I didn't eat sitting at a table.

Please note this report is of the cruise we took in 2024 which deviated from the brochure and web-site description. I could not get a clear answer as to why. I was told that all cruise boats were banned from Arnhem from 2024 onwards, another were because the moorings were being repaired. When I was at Arnhem I saw workings happening along the shores by the bridge, so the deviation may be temporary. No matter, we still had the excursion to Arnhem and we enjoyed the cruise. All timings in my report are in 24hour format, thus 07:00 is 7am in the morning and 19:00 is 7pm in the evening. I am happy to answer questions.