joanne2

We booked in Feb. for our Aug. 28 cruise. We got our air info on April 16. I was actually surprised how early we got it. And we were pleased with the airlines and flights.

I hope you'll post a review when you return. We're doing Budapest to Amsterdam Aug. 28 on the Sky. Also our first European river cruise after many ocean cruises. Will enjoy hearing your comments.

Good post. Now we need to have people comment on it to keep it on page 1.

That's wonderful to hear. We're on the Sky August 28 and reading posts like yours make me want to go today.

I always take a photo of where the guide tells us to meet and I write down the location and time in a small coil book.

 

Then if I get lost, my reasoning is that I would show the photo (from my digital camera, iPhone or iPad depending on what I used) to someone and have the note of 'in front of Tabanac Pub 2pm' to ask for help.

 

I never needed it, but always glad I had it.

 

Many times we have come off a bus, listened to the talk, gotten busy taking pics and not really paying close attention to where we are. Taking the photo of the meeting place makes me pay closer attention to WHERE and WHEN and not getting too swept away in the moment of seeing, for instance, the Cologne Cathedral and going 'OMG I gotta get in there NOW' and losing my sense of direction.

 

just my two cents worth of advice :)

What a wonderful idea. Several years ago on a bus tour in Ireland our guide told us we were at some library and should meet there a certain time. Coming back NO ONE in the area knew of the library even though we were sooo close. A picture would have done the trick. Will be sure to do it our cruise.

I have not cruised either route yet. But my first thought after reading cc posts for some time is that Bordeaux trips are wine centered, lots of tastings, etc. Rhine has lots of history as well as the scenic beauty. I would pick Rhine for an under 18 year old.

I'm really enjoying your trip and taking note of your tips. Thanks.

I don't know how to give you a link. But if you use the search feature, there is a wonderful thread about the Viking Tor and a Christmas Market cruise from last November. The poster talks extensively about the boat and the crew. I think you will enjoy reading it. The search is in the upper right hand corner of the page; then just type in "Viking Tor". Good luck.

As someone who has booked but not yet taken a Viking cruise I would prefer "Viking" and "other". Then I would hope that the "other" fans could just ignore Viking instead of trying to make the rest of feel like we're stupid (falling for the terrible Viking PR) and have low standards. It would be nice to read a Viking thread without all the insults. Then the people taking a Viking cruise could ask questions and get answers and the others could do the same.

We cruised twice on the Mississippi Queen (Delta Queen Line) and absolutely loved it. It's what made us consider river cruising in Europe. Delta is no longer in business but don't know if Mississippi Queen was renamed or is just gone. It was a wonderful boat.

When we received our flight arrangements (last week for Aug. 28 cruise), it said we had 7 days to request the custom thing for $50 if we didn't like the flights. We're in Chicago and flying to Budapest via Zurich (non stop to Zurich) and back home non-stop from Amsterdam. I'm not a gambler but would certainly bet New York arrangements are at least as good as Chicago. And if not, you will be able to make the change when you see what your flights are.

If some rate Viking a 5 in a category and others rate it 2, it gets averaged . Same for the other cruise lines. If it's based on the averaged ratings, what does it matter how many reviews are for Viking vs how many for your favorite? Surely the people who hate their cruise are as anxious to give a bad rating as those who enjoyed and want to give a good rating.

For whatever it's worth, Cruise Critic does two different "ratings" awards. The first, in late winter, is solely based on CC readers who have written reviews. There's no skewing of the numbers; it's totally scientific, again, based on member reviews.

 

The Editors' Picks Awards, which occur in the fall, are based on my team's experiences onboard the ships. We get out, in any given year, to every line out there...both new ships and "older" ones. Then we sit in a room and debate.

 

What do we look for? We look for value-for-money (i.e. do you get what they're promising, whatever the price point?). We look at innovation. We look at comfort, and service, and food, and hospitality. We're increasingly interested in which lines are offering more dynamic shore excursions (both included in fare and for an extra fee). And service, particularly when times are tough (low water, high water, etc.) for those on impacted cruises, is absolutely important.

 

For two years, we've been hard pressed to argue why Viking River shouldn't receive the best overall award. Forget about how much the company spends on marketing, how many ships it has, what a behemoth it is. What we hear from readers, and what we've experienced ourselves, is that by and large, Viking has been the most consistent when it comes to innovating both onboard and on shore, at a really good price point. It's not to say other lines don't do great work.

 

We start every year fresh, open to learning anew about river cruising. I can't predict -- yet -- what our Editors' Picks will settle on in 2014, but I will tell you that every member of our editorial staff -- 12 strong -- is already out there, visiting and re-visiting all of the major river lines. For me -- I was lucky to be able to spend a month in Europe during river cruise launch season, sampling Viking, Uniworld, Ama and Scenic's new Emerald Waterways. It's been crazy, and it's been marvelous.

 

River cruising, whichever line suits you best, is magic. I'm just saying :)

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

Thanks for the clarification. Sometimes the Viking bashing by people who have not cruised with Viking seems to scare first time cruisers (myself included). Joanne

There have been some questions about how early you get your flight info from Viking. Our cruise is August 28 and I received our info yesterday from my TA. I did not pay the extra $50 to choose the flights. I was pleased with the arrangements. We're flying Swiss International through Zurich to Budapest. Coming home is a direct flight from Amsterdam on Lufthansa. Joanne

Have not cruised Uniworld, but I would guess they have a shop on-board, books, clothing, etc. And maybe they have optional tours you could use it on.

Reposting to see if anyone is back from the Sky on this year's Grand European. Thanks for any info.

I wish we had a "like" button on CC.

Why are you ignoring the fact that Viking wins Cruise Critic awards which are based on customer ratings? So a few Viking haters keep posting their prejudices at every possible opportunity. Why does that put them at the bottom? I just don't get it.

Sorry I don't know how to do a link for you, but go down a little further and you will find a wonderful post called something like "Live aboard the Helmond(?) Portraits of Southern France." It was posted by Becki Scott from just about a week ago. I sounded like a wonderful trip.

If you go to the Viking site, use the tab called something like "my cruise". They list all the cruises and then a detailed itinerary (both directions). It includes the approximate cost of optional tours as well as the difficulty level of the included tours.

Sounds wonderful. I'm looking forward to your post on the various ports. We're also going on one of Viking's older ships, the Sky, which was supposed to be retired this year. So it's nice to hear good things about the older ones. We also get balconies on ocean cruises so glad to hear you thought the large window worked well.

Why tacky? If you were drinking anything in the lounge before dinner, surely you could carry it in.

Thanks for posting. It sounds wonderful.

I read on this board about Tauck Bridges cruises which are family oriented. Don't know if they offered triple rooms but it sounds like they might.

I once took white jeans on a cruise (never wore them to dinner) but on a shore excursion I tripped and fell on some grass and got a green stain on the knee. The ship's laundry did a good job on it but it never really came completely out. So now I avoid white, any time of year.