WarEagle76

Last week with good service we tipped $10 figuring it was 20% of $50.

Last week on Caribbean Princess there were numerous NFL games on MUTS. There were also many of the college football games on Thursday and Friday on TV in the cabin on ESPN and Fox channels. Churchill Lounge (smoking lounge) also has numerous TVs with a number of feeds.

Before leaving for the port last Monday, I used this link to check to see where Caribbean Princess would be berthed.

https://pevvesseltraffic.broward.org/webclient/public/publicmovements.aspx

On past cruises from Fort Lauderdale, we have always departed from "2" but Caribbean Princess was at "21". We stayed at Embassy Suites who wanted $8/pp for the shuttle to the port. Even being at the back of the port, cab was $14 including tip.

Yep! From Heart of Germany Christmas Market cruise December 2013.

I agree if you mean "mass market cruise lines". I really don't envision the near luxury or luxury lines taking on that strategy as old guys like you and me will still enjoy, as you say, the halcyon days of promenade decks and set dining times.

I see a bigger demographic split down the road as cruise lines battle for customers, new lines like Virgin and Viking Ocean will be significant players. Time will tell.

I think Viking took what many ocean cruisers are getting fed up with and are deploying a product next year that answers many of the complaints heard today. While more expensive, it looks like depending how you like to cruise, they will be adding value to their product that in the end (along with <1,000 passengers) will appeal to many. In the beginning they will have limited itineraries but will have a second ship in 2016 and believe I read have plans for two more thereafter.

Some of the items that will be appealing are:

Full promenade deck

Complimentary enriching shore excursions in each port of call, led by knowledgeable local guides

Complimentary Wi-Fi (Subject to certain usage policies)

Complimentary wine, beer & soft drinks with onboard dinner and lunch service

Complimentary 24-hour specialty coffees & teas

Specialty restaurants without extra charge

Complimentary self-service laundry facilities on multiple decks

All port charges & government taxes included

Complimentary 24-hour room service

Additionally, their dress code states:

"During the day on board and ashore dress is casual and comfortable, including shorts, jeans, and sturdy shoes for walking tours. Swimsuits, brief shorts, cover-ups and exercise attire should be reserved for poolside and in the gym. For evenings, while there are no “formal nights,” the recommended onboard dress is Elegant Casual for most restaurants, performances or other special events. Suggested attire for ladies includes a dress, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse; for gentlemen, trousers and a collared shirt. A tie and jacket are optional, but not required. Dinner in The World Café remains comfortable and casual, with daytime dress deemed appropriate"

Will it work? Guess we'll see, but sure sounds appealing to me.

Another vote for AMS Schipol. Whenever we have to connect in Europe it is our airport of choice.

We leave them locked in the safe on the ship. I took pictures of them with my cell phone, save them there and do not carry a paper copy.

As an alternative, you might consider Sparrow Cove (if they still have this tour). We debated between taking the Sparrow Cove tour or the Volunteer Point tour and decided on Sparrow Cove as we wanted time to go into Stanley after the tour figuring we would probably never get back there again. The tours to Sparrow cove (there were 13 that day) were broken up into groups of 12 and we were the first tour of the day. We were picked from the ship by a boat (since we were anchored off Stanley) operated by the tour company (not a tender) and taken to a dock about 20 minutes away. Six of us got into one of two four-wheel drive vehicles for a 30 minute ride to the cove. We were told there were no King penguins sited recently so were somewhat disappointed. Two rangers met us at the cove, outlined the guidelines to follow and we were free to wander on our own. There were a large number of Gentoo penguins and lots of babies. Lo and behold, there was one King penguin that had snuck in and was holding court amongst them! There was a small building within walking distance from the penguins where you could get coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Luckily it was a beautiful day and a warm drink wasn’t needed. The four-wheel vehicles went back to the dock for the next group and picked us up for the ride back when second group was dropped off. We had about an hour or so at the cove. We stopped on the way back to the dock for picture of the ship. We were taken from the small dock back to the ship where we immediately got on a tender to Stanley to walk around the town, see the church, military monument shop and have a local beer.

If you can get an aft Vista for the $299.00 upsell offer; jump on it. Aft Vistas are the best.....:):):)

 

Bob

Second Bob's recommendation. Dolphin Vista Suites are our cabin of choice when booking a suite. Only four cabins on this deck aft, very quiet, large balcony, can't beat it.

We just returned from The Heart of Germany cruise the week before Christmas which sailed from Nuremberg to Frankfurt and then spent two days in Cologne. We collect Santa Clause ornaments and came home with 30 new ones, many of them handmade. Here are some observations:

Not all Christmas markets are the same. Some gear themselves toward ornaments, nutcrackers, nativities, candles, etc., while others were geared more towards gifts such as scarves, sweaters, slippers, etc.. Some of the larger ones had everything. All had food areas which were usually in their own section of the market. They featured local meats, candies and of course gluhwein (mulled wine served hot) and beer.

If you see something you like, buy it. It may or may not be available at a market at a future stop.

Pack prepared for breakables. We always pack some bubble wrap, tape and small scissors, along with a large shopping bag. All are light and easily fit anywhere in our suitcase going over and you don't have to worry about finding these items if needed in a foreign country to get fragile items home.

In addition to the markets we ran across a great Christmas store, Kathe Wohlfahrt, in almost all of the German cities on our itinerary. The stores had a great selection of very nice ornaments and other Christmas items.

Hope this helps and the trip will be here before you know it!

Saw this yesterday and found it interesting since we were just on Freya the week before Christmas. Glad there appear to be subtle changes on each with the main areas providing the same functions.

Right, there is no such e-mail.

When we cruised last April, two weeks prior to the cruise we received an email from Princess advising the names of Cruise Director and Circle Host. Below their pictures were to headers, "Get Excited" and "Get Ready". The first item under "Get Ready" was to make sure you print your boarding pass before you leave for your trip. Below is a picture of what was contained in the email.

Enjoyed your thorough review as we came very close to booking this itinerary vs. Heart of Germany that we took the week before Christmas flying home on Christmas Eve. Agree wholeheartedly regarding Cologne, great city and we added it as a two-day extension along with 11 others from our cruise. Normally we would do a pre-cruise stay but in this case worked out well and as there were seven Christmas markets in Cologne (with a hop-on-hop-off tram to get to four of them) along with the beautiful Cathedral, views from the waterfront and great places to eat there was plenty to do. Our guide in Cologne provided a great tour upon our arrival and was always at the hotel during scheduled hours.

On our itinerary we noticed that all Christmas markets were not alike. Some had traditional Christmas items such as ornaments, nativities, etc., while others were more geared toward locals buying gifts for others such as clothing, gloves, slippers, etc.. Some had activities such as skating rinks while others had merry-go-rounds for the kids, and it was fun seeing entire families out together enjoying the holiday season.

We received our air arrangements 90 days before the cruise and our final documentation three weeks before the cruise. Having cruised with Viking before along with the information online, we pretty much knew what to expect. We also did not have to claim our bags in Amsterdam on our connection to Nuremburg, but after about a 15 minute walk to get to our connecting gate we did have to go through a passport check and security between flights there. On prior trips this security area had an hour back-up, but this time it was five minutes, so you just never know what to expect.

Regarding the food I think it really depends upon the chef onboard. While we’ve never had bad food on Viking, this was the best food we have ever had and each night the chef would stop at the table and answer questions about the night’s fare and he was visible throughout the cruise.

Like you, really impressed with the TV selection and used the lounge cam and music option often while getting ready to go to dinner. Regarding the actual TV options, this is what we had on our cruise.

For those that prefer tea, there was a nice assortment available.

Great review! Well put together. Made me miss our cruise! I'm having withdrawl and your report didn't help, LOL.

Thanks to all for the kind remarks. JiminyC, we're having withdrawls too! Keep going to the kitchen at home looking for the posted menu and there is nobody that greets me when I return home with a cup of hot gluwhein:)

Many O cruisers enjoy river cruising. Those cabins (135 sq.ft.) are unique to the Viking longships--French balcony makes it seem even smaller. We will sail on our 20th for the Christmas markets in early Dec with AMA--225sq.ft. with a true balcony and a French balcony. There are lines on the rivers which have wonderful cabins, amenities and food. Pat

We are also Ocean cruisers who have gotten hooked on river cruising. We like the laid back approach as well as being able to more easily delve into the history and culture of the places we visit.

We're just back from a trip on Viking Freya, our first on a Longship, and we were curious to see how the balcony cabin would be. In the end, it was fine. Viking put a lot of thought into designing these cabins. We didn't feel cramped, there was plenty of storage, the bathroom functioned well and we really liked the new TV options. Add to that we really didn't spend that much time in the cabin, it worked out great for us.

Day 8 - Cologne

Upon arriving back at the hotel, our rooms were ready at 3PM and we were on our own, but Markus was available from 4-6PM, as well as 8-10AM and 4-6PM the following day. Markus also saw us off at 4:45AM our morning of departure to the Frankfurt airport. Markus was a great guide and would hire him in a minute for a private tour should we ever return to Cologne. During the rest of our stay in Cologne we went back and toured the inside of the Cathedral, had dinner at a local brew house, and visited the seven Christmas markets in the city.

There was a hop-on hop-off shuttle train we caught across from the cathedral that provided transportation to four of the markets, the cost was 8 Euros.

Cologne is also an easy city to walk around and was very busy as was the Sunday and Monday prior to Christmas.

We had a 2 hour bus ride to the Frankfurt airport for our departure and were met by a Viking representative who escorted everyone to their proper terminal and check-in. Three hours later we were on our 10 hour flight home with many great memories, souvenirs, and new friends from this wonderful trip.

More pictures can be found at: https://smengelt.shutterfly.com/3357

Day 7 – Depart for Extension to Cologne

Departures for those flying home began at 4AM and went until 2PM. If on a later departure, Viking would hold your bags so you could go visit the Frankfurt Christmas markets. We were on the Cologne two-day extension and our bus left at 8:30AM for the 2 ½ hour ride to Cologne. Markus, our guide for Cologne met us on the ship and escorted us to Cologne and provided dialogue along the way. Our hotel was the Cologne Marriott, very well located a short walking distance through the train station to the cathedral. Our rooms were not ready so we checked our luggage and went on a walking tour.

Day 6 – Frankfurt/Heidelberg

We arrived in Frankfurt in a great docking location just minutes from the Christmas market.

Then we were off travelling the autobahn (and boy did some cars go by our bus at a high rate of speed) to Heidelberg. We first toured the 12th century Heidelberg Castle that overlooks the city and then journeyed down to the Christmas market.

Lunch was on our own today and we noshed at the vendor stalls located throughout the market. Back to the ship and a final dinner and packing. If you wanted, you could easily walk to the Christmas market in Frankfurt which closed at 9PM. We didn’t make that one but those that did not make the trip to Heidelberg who went to the Frankfurt Christmas market said it was huge. Beginning at 9PM tonight until 9AM tomorrow morning you could settle your account at the front desk.

Day 5 – Wertheim

This morning was spent sailing so we could sleep in a little. While going through one of the docks, we picked up a hitchhiker who turned out to be our morning’s entertainment. We were provided with a very entertaining glassblowing demonstration by a local Wertheim artist who was both talented and funny.

That was followed by a “Taste of Germany” café lunch in the lounge area which was a delicious hit. We arrived in Wertheim around 2PM and docked in town so were off on a walking tour.

We nicknamed our tour guide Udo the “Mayor of Wertheim” as he seemed to know everyone. He even rang the doorbell of a local citizen who took the time to chat with us from his window.

We then had free time until 6PM to enjoy the Christmas market of Wertheim, and yes, sip more Gluhwein (mulled wine) a traditional German Christmas drink.

The daily briefing included our disembarkation information and later in the evening was the Captain’s cocktail reception and Farewell Dinner.

Day 4 – Wurzburg & Rothenburg

This was a busy day! We docked overnight in Shweinfurt, cruised to Gerlachshausen in the morning and boarded a bus for a visit to the Bishops’ Residenz in Wurzburg. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed in the Residenz (hate when that happens), but the tour was interesting and enjoyed the grand staircase, the chapel, and the grand salon.

Then on to Rothenburg where a lunch of Franconian potato soup, home-made bratwurst, wine-sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and Apple strudel with vanilla sauce was served at a local restaurant. There was also a choice of wine or beer with lunch. After lunch we visited the Christmas market then bussed back to the ship awaiting us in Wurzburg.

You could tell a lot of effort went into scheduling this day to include all of the activities, get the ship through the locks, and keep us on schedule. Because we had the large lunch and were tired after the busy day, this is the evening we decided to eat in the Aquavit Terrace. Also, due to the long day the daily briefing in the lounge followed dinner, and a nautical talk and Q&A with the captain followed the daily briefing.

Day 3 – Bamberg

Today we visited the medieval city of Bamberg. A walking tour was offered followed by a visit to the Christmas market. Since we were leaving Bamberg at 1:30PM, Viking added a third walking tour called “Fast and Furious” for those who wanted a brief overview of the city and more time in the Christmas Markets. Fast and Furious is what we chose and thought nice addition by Viking for this particular stop.

During the afternoon of sailing there was a Stollen (Christmas Cake) demonstration followed by German tea time and a galley tour. Prior to cocktail hour was a discussion about Bavaria and prior to the Daily Briefing, a discussion about other Viking River and Ocean cruises offerings.

The Journey

Day 1 - Nuremberg

We booked our flights and two-day Cologne extension (transfers included) through Viking. Flights assigned were those we would have chosen ourselves, connecting through Amsterdam to Nuremburg using Delta to KLM City Hopper with a two hour connection, and nonstop home from Frankfurt via Delta. Note when connecting in Amsterdam, you have to go through passport control and security check prior to your connecting gate. The last time we made a connection through Amsterdam, this area was chaos, this time there were maybe 10 people in front of us, you just never know what you’ll run into. We were met by a Viking representative in Nuremburg and waited about 15 minutes for another flight to arrive from Frankfurt and we were on our way to the ship. We were escorted directly to our cabin upon arrival at the ship and didn’t even stop at the check-in desk, can’t get more efficient than that! Our “Viking Daily” telling us of the day’s events was waiting in our cabin, and one for the following day was always in our cabin prior to retiring for the evening.

For those who had arrived earlier, since docked outside the city center, Viking provided free shuttles into the city center on embarkation day as well as the following afternoon when free time was available. An orientation was provided in the lounge prior to dinner. Expectations were set for the cruise by the Hotel Manager and Program Director. One item mentioned was the internet. Since we were going through 38 locks on this journey, we were advised that when in the locks we could lose internet service. For the most part, internet access was fine during the trip, accessible from our cabin with faster access in the public areas and had no problem accessing email or the internet.

Day 2 – Nuremberg

A morning tour via bus took us by the former **** SS Barracks, through the interior of the **** Congress Hall, and to a stop at the **** parade grounds. Our guide provided an excellent history of the importance of Nuremburg to the **** party, showed pictures of the parade grounds in use during the 1930’s, and discussed what happened to all of the structures built by the ****’s after the war ended. An excellent if sobering history lesson for the morning.

Then on to the Christmas market and back to the ship for lunch.

During the afternoon, shuttle busses were offered back to the city center, while onboard, there was a Gingerbread demonstration with audience participation in the lounge. At 6PM we set sail for Bamberg. Tonight was the Viking Society get together for those who had sailed Viking previously. In 2010 we had five individuals at this gathering, last year there were twelve. Tonight there were 60+!

The Food

This topic is my least favorite as is always so subjective. For our part, however, we thought the food on this cruise was excellent. There were plenty of choices at breakfast including a station where you could get omelets or eggs cooked to order. There was also a continental breakfast available in the Aquavit Terrace.

We always ate lunch in the lounge (Café Lunch) which was served buffet style and lunch was also offered in the dining room daily. Dinner provided a choice of three or four first course, main course and dessert selections as well as a different cheese plate every evening.

There were also the “always available” items to choose from as well. We found the beef selections to be very tender and fish selections properly cooked with an inventive array of soups and salads provided throughout the week. Here is a day’s worth of menus for the two lunch options and dinner in the dining room.

The Crew

Mieke Bakker the Program Manager and Roy Schumacher the Hotel Manager ran an efficient ship. Chef George Pereira and his staff provided excellent meals throughout the cruise. The dining, bar and front desk staff were friendly and helpful and Elena, our cabin attendant was efficient without being intrusive. One additional nice touch was every day upon leaving the ship, bottled water was handed out and arriving back at the ship we were provided a treat such as a cup of hot gluhwein or fruit.