ural guy

Notamermaid- Is Viking one of the ones pulling off the Elbe in summer? I asked as they had the special low water boats built for this river, that didn't seem to work out great. No propeller, but more like a jet ski propulsion I thought. I just wonder where those boats get sent to... Just wondering, but have you ever been to Ferropolis, the big industrial mining open air museum? We are arriving 10 nights early for a Danube cruise in November, and are going to spend 10 nights between Erfurt and Dresden, before we take a train to Prague, where our Vantage portion of trip starts. Looking at places like Quedlinburg, Freiberg...we'll have a car for 5-6 days. Thanks! hope jazz doesn't get mad.

That may be even more true now, with them trying to fill up ships. Vantage lists their last minute sailings (typically they leave in 1-2 months) under a 'ways to save' dropdown menu on their homepage. Easy to find the actual sale price, and you can quickly figure out if it is a real deal. I wish VIking made it that simple.

Funny that they still do the soup after concert. It was pretty good.

The online ads I've been targeted with tout a $1999 on certain sailings, click here. I am never linked to ANY cruise that costs $1999. And if it is that last sailing in November, lead with that. Don't just link to your standard drop down menu of 'pick a month'. Actually show me what the sale is.

Thanks! especially for the reminder of the faux plank deck carpet. I guess a lot of lines use this!

I hadn't seen those before, or if I had, realized the significance. What lines have that design? I want to take a few of the less traveled rivers that the Eurpean lines explore with the 2 deck boats. Giving up my second dining area is the trade-off.

Yikes, that grass at the Residenz is toast. No wonder the river levels are low. StartrainDD- The War Memorial you were looking for, I remember two. One was a memorial for the fallen of WW1 & 2, that was part of the ring park, over by the rail station. I really like the design of this, showing the 'sacrifice'/end result of war, and the respect of his comrades in the laying to rest of the remains. The second was a small memorial room off the main square. I remember it having a few information panels and a diarama showing the devastation. All war destruction is a sad waste, this was especially sad; primary target had too much cloud cover, so Wurzburg was alternate. Combined with it being almost the end of the war, no military targets... And I am always amazes me is how well the rebuilding/reconstruction went. I'm in construction, and the effort, and end results impress and amaze me. Wurzburg went with a modern style, some cities seem to have gone 100% historic. For a 19 year old kid, I was gobsmacked that I was fortunate enough to be in such a beautiful, historic location; living in a small farm village, just outside such a beautiful place, sweet wife and trusty Suzuki 650 at our side for exploring. These reports bring back so many memories, so THANKS again, you too Notamermaid! (as always). 🙂

StartrainDD- Your Main Dining room experience is why we eat in the secondary spot so much. You can finish as quickly or slowly as you like. On both Vantage and Viking, it was the same two attendants every night, so they learn your preferences, it's more informal so you can joke and talk a bit. Service is very quick. On Vantage, omelette guy is also grill guy, and the grill is about 20' from your table. That guy had some serious skills, he was grilling probably 10 nights of the 14 night cruise. One cruise we were given a nice cake for our anniversary, a lot of fun sharing it between the tables and new friends. It not so noisy as MDR; you can have nice conversations. My hearing is shot, and with all the different conversations going on in MDR, and the low ceiling, I can't hear anything clearly. I wind up nodding and smiling alot.

Jazz- all great points. One thing I'd like to know, is what line line is least impacted by low bridges. When we did this route in 2014, it was our first cruise of any sort. I had my two daughters with me (20's, they're like pups at that age with tons of energy, need to keep 'em moving), and not being able to wander the top deck was a big surprise. Given the time it takes to lower and raise the railings, if you were short staffed, I could see a Captain just leaving the railings down and keeping the sun deck closed until off the canal, which is where I think most of the issues are. I really like the Vantage Rhine route for some of the above reasons: 14 days when most others do it in 7. Lots of stops in smaller towns, more time to unpack and really relax on board.

Just a heads up, the wine growing region around Wurzburg is know as the Franconian wine region, and all their wine is in the squat rounded bottles. It is very, very dry. We never developed a taste for it. Instead picked up the local young persons drink of mixing red wine with coke. I know sounds weird, but we liked it. Enjoy your sailing. If you go up to the fortress in Wurzburg, nearby is the International Garden (use to be called that). A large park, with representations of different coutries ornamental garden style. If nice weather, very enjoyable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franconia_(wine_region)

If you want a crazy story, look up the act that started St Killian on his path to sainthood.

I really like the overnight stays, or when they dock early and you don't leave until 2200 or so. That to me is luxury, wander around as we find stuff that interests us (or we split up to pursue our own 'thing'), then as the feet start to hurt, or nap time, you head back to your 440' LONG yacht. Saunter aboard, rest up, and wander again at your leisure. Plus I like to take pictures late at night/early morning without crowds. The on bus/off bus definitely can get old, and has us avoiding the Douro. StartrainDD- Thanks again for keeping going with this. I hope you liked Wurzburg, we were stationed 20 kms away in the scary 80's for a bit. Great, great memories. Just met a German lady at work who use to go to the same bar as us in the olden times, what a small world.

One of my favorite cruising moments was early morning, like 0500, sitting up front with a coffee while cruising the Main Canal. We were heading east towards Nuremburg. The Canal was so narrow, it seemed like we were sailing in people's back yards while the mist was rising. Amazing they can get a 440' wide boat in some of those spaces. And where the OP was a few days back, seeing the ships 3 wide in some places as they pass each other. I also had no idea what a busy corridor it was.

Thanks for posting, an enjoyable read. Aquavit lounge is the best spot on the ship, glad you're enjoying this. That's my only strike against Vantage's boat design; they put the second eating place at back of ship, you lose the great view and breeze, and when docked some diesel smells can hit you. VIking got this right, down to the rocking chairs.

Gnome is correct, we did the same thing except took a bus in Basel to hotel (low water 2018, the boat was WAAAY up in Koblenz still). The bus is free if you have a hotel reservation printed out. Each of the train legs is about an hour, and very easy to work out. We enjoyed our 2 nights in Lucerne. With the $ you save, you could stay an extra night. Cruise lines make quite a bit off the pre and post activities.