pontac

This is the beer page of the Viking bar-menu from August 2023 on the Rhone. I think the bar list are the same throughout the European river cruises, but I can't swear to it as I nowadays drink only wine. (It also lists non-alcoholic cocktails.) And whether it'll be the same in 2024 only Viking knows !

Thanks for this, we haven't looked at MVJ recently. (Been abroad on holiday hence my delay in replying)

Having travelled on both Viking and Scenic I did not notice any superior customer service on Scenic

On the Eurostar website they list Eurostar train times from London to Amsterdam after May 2024, but none from Amsterdam to London after May 2024. Seems the newspaper was accurate.

Thanks for the offer, but not necessary now, thanks to @gingerspike. I have already looked at the Amawaterways site, and indeed looked at the page @Host Jazzbeau gives the link to. (BTW, thanks, @Host Jazzbeau)

It's all in the article..... Trains will run empty on the Amsterdam-London route during the period, while passengers heading for London will have to change trains in Brussels, Belgium, instead. Travellers will still be able to go one-way by Eurostar from London to Amsterdam during the six-month interruption.

According to The Guardian, it's the other way around. Eurostar services to Amsterdam Centraal are unaffected, but there will be no Eurostar service from Amsterdam from June 2024 to early 2025, because of work at the station will mean there is no room for border control facilities. Eurostar services from Amsterdam to London to be suspended for six months | Eurostar | The Guardian PS - there's a Marsalis in Louisiana USA however I don't think the Eurostar ever went there, but I couldn't find Marsalis in France.....

As do Viking and Scenic - and probably others. The main attraction of the Scenic Bordeaux cruise to Mrs P was that we'd travel by train to/from London. (Eurostar arrives at the north of Paris and the train to Bordeaux departs from the south of Paris. Finding out no transfer is supplied and that we'd have to get ourselves and our baggage across Paris made me change to a flight; there's a non-stop flight Lon>Bordeaux BA flight that Viking uses. Not so Scenic - Lon>Paris>Bdx and Bdx>Amsterdam>London.)

Thanks again @gingerspike I'm aware that the American Wine Society advertise a cruise annually which is hosted by a US expert. Looking at the Amawaterway's site for the 2024 Rhine Castles and Swiss Alps cruise I see that there is one designated as a wine cruise, which departs 11 November. Thanks for the info - I didn't know they had dedicated wine cruises. As a wine buff (aka avid drinker) I'll explore further. Re: cruise companies visiting the same wineries, Europe is different from the USA and many European wineries are not set up to take visitors en masse, that's especially true in Bordeaux and most of the top wineries don't even have any wines to sell as they operate an ancient system where a middleman has a contract to buy the entire output and they sell on to importers and merchants. Another factor is that places visited can change; for instance when I went to Bordeaux on a Viking cruise we had a tremendous visit to Château Siaurac, but from 2024 this Ch is now on Scenic's itinerary, it wasn't when we cruised Bordeaux with Scenic this year.

Thankyou @gingerspike Some nice wines there; was it a special cruise? I can't see a mention of a wine host for this cruise on the Amawaterways website, and it seems unusual to have a US host. Some of wineries visited were also on the Scenic or Viking Bordeaux cruises I have been on,

If you're considering booking Viking's 'Tulips & Windmills' cruise based on brochures, check itinerary online before booking. I booked last year for 27Mar24 and received this info on 15Nov23 As you may be aware, schedule or itinerary changes may become necessary due to a number of variables. In this instance, in order to improve the guest experience, we have replaced our previously planned stops in Hoorn and Arnhem, in the Netherlands, as well as Ghent, Belgium, with new destinations. Day 3: Enkhuizen, Netherlands (previously Hoorn) Day 4: Nijmegen, Netherlands (previously Arnhem) Day 7: Middelburg and Veere, Netherlands (previously Ghent) a few day after receiving this I got a flyer from Viking offering discounts on the cruise which shows the ports no longer visited. I'm looking forward to my guest experience being improved 😉 but part of the attraction of the trip may have been visiting Ghent and the 'Bridge too Far'.

There's nothing in my post that suggests it is. I'm glad you enjoy AMA and am not suggesting you change. Maybe if my first river cruise had been with AMA I would have stayed with them. As it is, I know what Viking delivers and I am happy with it.

Here is the Remembrance ceremony I was at yesterday morning Afterwards the Mayor spoke to each Flag Bearer

Date format on your computer should be changeable in your setting. THis is what I have on my Windows machine

In the UK Viking's river cruise price includes air travel and transport between the airport and boat. I do enjoy that all I have to do is get my case to airport check in, collect it from the baggage carousel the other end and wheel it through customs and to the Viking coach. Next time I see my case it is in my cabin. At the end of the cruise my case is taken from the cabin to the coach and all I have to do is wheel it from the coach to airport check in. Nice & easy; for me that's part of what makes the holiday.

😉Her family name is (was) Saxe-Coburg. (It was only changed because of the unpleasantness between UK and Germany that started in 1914.)

11 November was chosen as remembrance day in the UK after WWI; the armistice that ended the fighting in WWI came into force on the 11th minute of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. Now in UK the ceremonies take place at 11am on the first Sunday after 11/11*. I will be at the War Memorial in my city on Sunday morning. Poppies on clothes in the UK show the wearer has made a contribution to the Royal British Legion, a charity that looks after ex-service people. One gets a poppy from the volunteers that sell them in supermarkets, streets, rail station etc, or a tray of poppies and a collecting box on pub and shop counters. * a pleasure to use shorthand for a date that will mean the same for US readers and readers in the rest of the world.

Dear @mozfoz, you don't give your location but from your question it is obviously the USA. I can tell you the logic, it's simple. Because Americans accept it. There are plenty of Americans on Viking river boats. I'm in the UK, we pay a deposit on booking and don't to pay the outstanding sum until a couple of months before departure. If they'd tried a payment policy the same as USA they wouldn't get any bookings from the UK.

I think the three rooms have the same floor space, the Veranda is additional space and that space is gained by offsetting the corridor by the width of the veranda.

You are correct that not a lot of time is spent in the cabin, and the cabin sizes are – how should I put it – well designed but not for lounging in...... I don’t know about ocean cruising but ocean ships are a lot larger, have more space, more room and more passengers. River boats have a maximum size thaT allows them to fit in locks and under bridges. You ask about Viking, but Viking use different boats on the Seine and Douro and very different boats outside Europe. As for time in the cabin, look at your chosen cruise’s included excursions. You’ll probably find that either a morning or afternoon will be taken with an excursion every day. And if you decide to takes optional excursions in addition them that will be a day off the boat. Then add three meals, evening entertainment in the lounge and if you take part in them all you’ll find like most of us that your time in the cabin is used for sleeping, washing and dressing. A most important factor about using a veranda is what time of year and the weather. When the boat is moving it means moving air, unless it is hot then it may be too draughty to enjoy sitting outside. You do not say what type of cabin you’ll book if you don’t pay for a veranda. We’ve cruised in Standard, French Balcony, Veranda and Veranda Suite On European rivers the lower – or main deck as Viking calls it – Standard has a small non opening window at water level, thus frequently referred to on this board as Aquarium Class. Despite Vikings description, they have exactly the same floor space as French Balcony. The French Balcony doesn’t have an actual balcony, instead a floor to ceiling glass wall, half is a sliding door which you can open. The Veranda cabin is again the same size inside with a floor to ceiling glass wall, half is a sliding door which you can open to access a narrow veranda with two chairs and a small table. The veranda added to the cabin inside gives the larger size which is created by offsetting the corridor by the width of the veranda. For more room there is the Veranda Suite which has a bedroom and a separate living room with a settee and a veranda. There are also two larger rooms, Explorer Suites at the back of the boat. So having experienced four cabin types what would we prefer? I was happy with Aquarium class, but Mrs P is too short to see out the window and she said she wouldn’t stay in it again. The French Balcony gives a lot more natural light into the cabin, and fresh air when the sliding door is opened. We’ve had a veranda several times, but the only time I could make real use of it was this year in the heat of August on the Southern Rhone and even then I didn’t find much free time. For sightseeing when cruising – and depending on the route chosen – cruising is often done at night to get from one excursion destination to the next, only one bank can be seen from the cabin. Both banks can be viewed from the sun deck, front of boat and lounge. So, if you have the cash and appropriate weather get a Veranda, otherwise take a French Balcony and spend the money you’ve saved on the next cruise, or fritter it away on booze 😁

I second @CPT Trips suggestion of Speyer Technical Museum. I see Viking offer it as an optional excursion. I don't know how much they charge for it, but it's dead easy to do on ones own, which is what we did earlier this year. \The place is packed with planes cars and train engines, and also has space exhibits, carousels so much. and across form the entrance is a mansion which is part of the museum, and which your museum ticket gets you entry to. The mansion has costumes, children's toys, stuffed animals. What the Viking tour delivers is a human guide, but the exhibits have English language signs and the English language guide book (obtainable at the entrance) has more info. There's so much at the museum it seems too much to take in on one visit; so there's sure to be something to interest everyone in your group. My take on the museum is in Day 3 of the report of the Rhine Mosel cruise I took in April this year.

I'll speak up for Viking. Else where Jazzbeau has rated Scenic higher then Ama I haven't cruised with Ama but I've cruised with Viking and Scenic and overall I rate Viking better then Scenic. The same sized cabin is better designed, the bathroom floor is heated and there's a nightlight. A fully booked Viking boat may have more passengers, but there's plenty of space and the Viking boat is light and airy. As Jazzbeau says, decor is a personal preference but when he says Viking's is "cold Norse" note that he has not taken a Viking river cruise. Clean, liight and airy is what I call it.

🤩 Between meals and sightseeing there isn't much cabin time! Enjoy your cruise, I'm sure you will.

As @reeves35 says, it depend which country you book the tour in. AFAIK, no cruise company has lower prices for seniors only. Many companies don't allow under 18s, Many couples older than that have children under 18, and cannot travel so the age of cruisers tends to be older. If in the UK you may like to look at Saga which only does holidays for over 50s and if you're in U3A you can get discounts with some cruise companies. But there are so many discounts and special inclusions when booking early or last minute deals you need to 1) decide what is essential - e.g. drinks with meals, sightseeing, gratuities 2) compare offerings Look at several cruise companies and get a feel for them OR just look at prices and pick one that suits. If you enjoy the experience travel with that company again or next time book with someone else.

Yes, mentioned in my post above.