pontac

Indeed. I was under the impression from the press advertisemants that it was a general policy chnage but I thought I should check my memory against their website and I was dissapointed to see that it was a very limited offer. European river ruising is now so competitive cruise lines are increasingly adding enhancementsto their offerings.. When we first went with Viking we had had to pay gratuities, now its included. Last year, this year and next we are also get the drinks package thrown in. But offerings differ depending on the market. Riviera's usual policy of not including drinks will appeal to the many who don't drink themselves, and don't see why they should subsidise other people necking alcohol. Me - I'll take advantage of the wine list. 🙂

Riviera's press adverts have been saying that drinks are included/ I've just gone to their website which says Free enhanced drinks package with all July and August European river cruises

I must apologise to @loriva Vikings baggage tags are indeed faux leather now, but they didn't used to be.

We've got lots of them and I thought they were real leather. Whatever, they seem indestructible and their bright red colour stands out on airport baggage carousels.

Many thanks for your detailed report. Regarding bathroom hooks for towels, I leave my used towel on the floor after my morning shower and it's replaced by the time I return from breakfast. And if I have a shower before dinner, used towels are replaced by the time I return from dinner. Like you, I've no need for a 'butler', only time we used our Scenic butler was to request a coffee when returning from an excursion and everyone wanted to use the one coffee machine. Never had to wait for more than one person on Viking.

Enjoy! I'm a member of AWS and a fan of river cruising, but I've not been on their trips. The first one I seriously looked at seemed weird to travel though Europe's Wine Land and taste US wines led by a US winemaker/owner. I'd be grateful if you'd report back. BTW - are you going the St Louis Conference this year?

More info please. Do you mean to buy wines there from several places and get someone to ship them for you? Do you mean to buy all the wines wines from one merchant there and get that merchant to ship them for you? Do you mean to bring the wines back yourself? Are you legally allowed to have wine shipped to you and if so, is there a limit. Wikipedia shows Texas has a limit of 9 US gallons allowed in a month, so converted to litres that's 30 bottles - under 3 cases. And what type of wines, top end, inexpensive or as souvenirs from the wineries you visit? Bringing back wine yourself is easiest and cheapest. The wineries you visit will sell wines (based on my trips with Viking and Scenic) - though you do not say which river cruise company your trip is with. But check the price of wines locally. It may well be that you can get wines from the wineries you visit cheaper back home than at the winery, because France applies a sales tax (TVA) of 20%. Many European wine businesses do not want to ship to USA because of the complexities in doing so (Federal, State and finding US courier companies that handle wine). www.bordeauxwine.fr/shipping-and-deliver ship to USA and charge 138.50 Euro (+ TVA, currently 20% plus any customs charges) to ship 12 bottles to USA. Do they (as they should) take off TVA for exports? You'll need to check. It may be cheaper to check in the wine to your flight and pay for the extra bag if you have a one-bag limit. I've used a cardboard wine carrier with polystyrene inserts that takes 12 bottles with much success over the year. I now use an ordinary suitcase with one polystyrene packer inside as that is checked in and comes out with other cases, whereas the wine box had to go with the fragile items and came out separately. Wrapping bottles in clothes in your suitcase is OK, bottles are tough and I've never broken one You may get more response asking the question on a US wine forum, such at Wine Berserkers or Wine-Lovers Page. You ask a simple question, and I regret the answer is complicated.

Yes, wine with meals*. Allelujah!!! Q) What's the name foe a meal without wine? A) Breakfast 🙂 Though river cruise boats do have fizz available for self-pour at breakfast, presumably to spoil with orange juice. @Canal archive Port is fortified. If it's not, then it isn't Port.

Buri and Delling are both Longships. All Longships are identical apart from their name and a large painting at the top of the staircase depicting the Norse god after which the boat is named. I like their design and décor. It's clean and spare giving the impression of space. But you can make up your own mind by taking the 360 degree tour on the website - About Our Longships - Viking River Cruises (that link goes to the co.uk site. It will probably automatically divert you to the US site but if you have problems you'll find it under About our Longships. I have done the Rhone with Viking from Lyon southwards. I am doing it again in August, this time in the opposite direction. So it doesn't really matter which direction you travel as you'll want to come back and cruise the opposite way 😁 If you are thinking of dining in a Lyon restaurant, check its website that is is open on the evening you want; some restaurants close on Mondays. Our original cruise was in July, the weather was pleasantly warm but I wouldn't say it was unpleasantly hot. Anyway in August we're going in August in the hope it will be hot!! The pre-trip extension trump everything, but you might want to check the airtravel aspect, can you fly direct to/from Lyon/Marseilles?

Do update this thread when you decide, and let us know what attracted you to your choice.

I forgot to add that there is a choice of cabins and on some lines the more expensive cabins include extra services. Regarding pre/post extensions; while they may make sense for those who come a long distance, I've never found them good value when all the European cities are so easy, quick and cheap to get to from the UK

@Celtic Fringe The cruise companies offerings keep changing. Assume you are going to see roughly that same sights which ever line you go on. I suggest you get a sheet of paper, write down the name of the companies at the top, and the offerings down the side. Make a grid and put a tick in relevant box under the cruise line that offers that. Highlight what is essential to you. Everything a line offers that you do not want you pay for. My friends who mostly travel by Viking did one cruise on Riviera and had no complaints tho' drinks were not included. If you don't drink alcohol that is a plus, if you do that is a negative. The lines that advertise in the UK have current offers for 2024, They all offer large discounts against the catalogue price (Though I'm not sure if anyone pays the catalogue price). I've cruised with Viking and Scenic and currently Viking are offering their drinks package free (means you can have drinks any time without paying. Scenic include dinks and are offering free business class air travel. They also include free chauffeur car to/from airport. This is a pretty good offer of you like business class, and you should look at how much transport to/from the airport would cost you if you go on another line. As I recall Riviera also have an offer on. Also remember people here have their favourite lines. Viking is not American owned, it's Norwegian owned, and they advertise different tours in the US, UK and Australian markets, so if you book Viking you'll be travelling mostly with Brits.. And Viking have the most boats, so if a bridge is not passible or a stretch of river is not navigable they can swap passenger from one boat to another identical one on the other side. I've done the Grand European Tour with Viking and I loved it. But if this is your first river cruise maybe you should pick a week long one in case river cruising is not for you. However the increasing number of people, cruise lines and cruise boats suggest that people do in fact love river cruising.

I've been thinking about something @Host Jazzbeau said earlier in this thread. Sorry @mozfoz this isn't relevant to your query. As I understand it @Host Jazzbeau thinks there is too much emphasis on wine in the trip. Some people on my recent Bordeaux cruise thought that about that cruise. For myself, there cannot be too much when in such iconic wine places . But... why don't cruise companies have cruises on different dates focusing on different things, e.g. a wine focused tour in Douro/Bordeaux and a non-wine focused tour in Douro/Bordeaux. And if you pick the wrong one - as the Muslim couple did who were on a wine tour of Southern France I went on - then they have no cause for complaint.

The Portuguese company that operated the Viking boat had a very relaxed attitude. Whereas Viking would close the sundeck when passing under low bridges, on this cruise crew just suggested that those on the sundeck should duck.

A pedant writes:- Unless the Scenic boat is an awful lot slower than the others, you'll do the same amount of cruising -- from Porto to the Spanish border and back to Porto. The difference is Scenic spend extra time docked and do more land tours. As you say in an earlier post (and in a different context) - Port, Port and more Port. 😁

We took a cruise of the Douro with our friends in 2014 on Viking. The holiday started with three nights in Lisbon. Lisbon is a pleasant city but Mrs Pontac and I had been there many times before on business so ... I see Uniworld offer both an 8 and 11 day holiday, 8 days being Porto > Porto, 11 days being Porto>Port then coach to Lisbon. Be aware that it's an all day coach ride from Porto to Lisbon; the Viking coach broke the journey twice, one for lunch and one to tour Coimbra. Looking at the scant information on Uniworld's site, they promise Dine on traditional fare in majestic Coimbra so it looks like lunch will be in Coimbra. The Douro is dramatic with steep high banks on either side, terraced with grape vines and with wineries along the way. It's the home of the famous Port (Porto in the USA) fortified wine, but there's much more than Port. Lack of demand from current consumers means much table wine is now produced and they can be sublime and are very good value. The further you travel from Porto the narrower the river so in places it seems you can touch both banks. But the navigable river is short, it stops at the Spanish border then you travel back to Porto. The day trip to Salamanca (a city worth seeing) involves a long coach trip. There aren't many places on the river that ships can moor. And there lies a problem. When we travelled in 2014 there were few tour ships. Our friends went back in 2022 and they were constantly rafted because there are now so many tour ships.

@MVPinBoynton well, your report on your site is exhaustive! In the early bit you say you chose a table for 10 and were served last. As there were 4 in your party, perhaps the waiter was waiting for the other six seats to be filled? A part of the report reads Also in the square is the Soviet monument. It was erected after WW2. It is very controversial since some feel that it is a symbol of soviet oppression, while others view it as a sign of freedom from the soviets. Should the last word be Germans? (This board doesn't allow my preferred word of which this is an anagram - Nzais.) Also a typo - I stayed around long enough to see the lock fill up and the Egil begin to leave it. After seeing it done once, there isn’t much reason to watch it again, since it does get old quickly. I think get cold was meant. I love river cruising and also Viking, and had an invitation from friends to join them on a Christmas markets cruise. Your report confirms my decision not to join them - too cold!!!

None - the ships are all Longships, and are identical apart from their name and the artwork at the top of the stairs. For floorplans and a 360 degree tour (use your mouse to spin the view around and to select the various areas the view.) (As already mentioned, Longships are larger than the Douro boats.)

You don't have to go to the Antarctic or even board a boat to see penguins. All you need is to go to Cape Town. Penguins come ashore and are a feature of Cape Town's Boulders Beach, and there is a colony with more penguins than can be counted at Betty's Bay, a 90 minute drive from Cape Town. Pix taken at Betty's Bay. See penguin booklet (capenature.co.za)

OK, I'm confused. Polaris is an Expedition ship going to Arctic and Antarctic waters from North America. What's she doing in Nuremberg? Oh, a Google has found that Global River Cruising has a boat called Polaris. I guess that's the one you're on. Hearing it has a glass door to the bathroom means I won't be booking it. Glass doors to the loo are increasingly common and I hate them. I guess the designers haven't tried sleeping in such rooms when their partner needs to go to the loo in the night and the light floods the room....

Thanks for that, @Mitina. For @joy1rn it's just a bit further from Szechenyi Baths at 3 miles. The captain of the boat has to moor where the authorities tell him. In the 3 times I have been there with Viking its been moored close by the Chain Bridge - one time partly under - but with the huge increase in cruise companies stopping in Budapest I suppose it's a matter of where a space can be found. Fear not though, @joy1rn you'll still be only a short taxi ride away. Enjoy your cruise, @Mitina and thanks for taking the trouble.

You'll probably be moored by the Chain Bridge. Have you looked at Google Maps? Those baths are so near the river, about 2.5 miles you could walk it and a taxi will only take minutes (depending on traffic 🙂) The tours I've done and can recommend are the Hungarian Horsemen at Lázár Equestrian Park, and (fin Vienna - the Mozart Strauss concert. As you might guess, this question has been asked before so for a fuller answer see my post at Read my view - and see my photo - about the Horsemen here

Again I agree with @Canal archive. Not all ANIZs were German, and not all Germans were ANIZs. I came to the same conclusion as @Host Jazzbeau but all the same it was irritating when it wasn't used to insult anyone but was being used in its factual historical sense. I wonder if anyone using these forums comes from that fine old English town of Scunxhorpe* and has tried to use it in their Profile? I think you can guess what the x should be..........

I see CC software has starred out what I wrote in my post of Day 7, which is what the National Socialist German Workers' Party (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei[ or NSDAP) was known as. It was known by the four letters ANIZ but not in that order

Absolutely nothing to do with the accidents discussed in the above posts. After viewing the video over the weekend on Viking TV on the Great Lakes Collection that we were booked on in September (from Duluth to Toronto on Octantis) we realised that we were not fit enough anymore to undertake kayak trips and treks through wilderness. So we have changed it to another river cruise. Viking charge loss of deposit for cancellation more than 70 days before the trip, but only a £100 admin fee to change one cruise to another, and I was pleased and surprised that there was no problem in doing so and they were so pleasant about it. Enjoy your expeditions, everyone, and note there's now a cabin freed up on the Octantis due to sail on 12 Sep 23 from Duluth via Toronto and down to the Antarctic.