Sparky333

molymoo - that sure sounds like a better way to handle the bathroom situation! We had one stop when we got to Bucharest after our final debarkation from the ship (granted it was a bit of a distance, maybe an hour's bus ride so I guess it was a necessary stop for many!) which wasted soooo much time. Basically all 190 passengers were queued up at restrooms which could handle maybe 4 people at a time. Took eons. In the future I would definitely just ask the guide what time to be back at the bus and walk around on our own.

That happened on a couple of our stops on that itinerary with different local guides. So I was frustrated by the amount we were able to see a few times. BUT, other than that I loved the trip.

Regarding the Eastern Europe itinerary:

It sounds similar to the Portugal cruise where most of the stops involve buses and you can't do much walking around right where the ship is docked. Since I've not done any other river cruises (just China but that's a whole different ball of wax) that didn't seem like a bad thing to me. I enjoyed the bus rides -- seeing small villages we went through and the open plains, etc. was interesting. But maybe for people used to just getting off the ship and exploring that might be a negative.

Some of the places we stopped and visited were a little, hmm, less fascinating than others. Like one stop we went basically to some guy's house who had a yard sale set up and a video on tourism in the area we watched and then had some cookies and homemade liqueur and then could buy some of it to take home. I guess there just is not a ton to show tourists in some areas so they (Viking) do their best to come up with something to do.

So I think if you go into it understanding it's a little different than other river cruises it's interesting and a good way to see a little bit of regions it would be hard to logistically get to see on a land based trip. We really enjoyed the time on the post-extension in Transylvania.

It looks like you guys are true Viking fans from how many trips you've done with them! I'm not sure what the Homeland itinerary includes, I'll have to take a peek at their website and look at that.

Thanks for the info on the Portugal tours - really good to hear that the # didn't feel too large to you.

Thanks TravelBugM!

I did see on the Lisbon Explorer website that they do a day trip there - not cheap at over 300 euro (for up to 3 people). I wonder what Viking charges for that optional trip.

TravelBugM - sorry if you already mentioned this in your review - but did you do a side-trip to Sintra? If you did, did you go with a private tour or was as it offered as an optional excursion by Viking? Or maybe you went there on your last trip to Lisbon?

What 20pluscruises said is so true - you may call back and get a completely different answer - even if it's not from a supervisor, just from a different agent. I've had that happen before. There definitely can be confusion on their part.

Thanks for the reply, TravelBugM! I read your review of your Douro cruise and it really made me want to go :)

I just felt overwhelmed by how big the groups were on our last Viking trip. It seemed we spent an awful lot of time waiting for people to use the restroom. :o After being bused to a somewhat distant location I can see that would be a required pit stop but when there are so many folks and very limited restrooms that makes for a lot of waiting around.

It doesn't sound like you had a similar experience.

To those that have already taken this cruise --

Can you please tell me how many people they have in each group for excursions?

I was on the Viking Passage to Eastern Europe last fall and they divided us into 5 buses of approx 40 people and then each group stayed together on arrival at the different excursion stops. I thought it was too many people to have in a group - made for very slow going and crowding when trying to see certain sites. So I'd very much like to know if that is the same amount in each group on the Portugal itinerary.

When I spoke to Viking about that after my return she said the # should not have been that high and also there should've been options for slower and faster paced groups -- which we didn't have. Can you let me know what your experience was? Thanks.

Hi again to those that have already taken this cruise --

Can you please tell me how many people they have in each group for excursions?

I was on the Viking Passage to Eastern Europe last fall and they divided us into 5 buses of approx. 40 people and then each group stayed together on arrival at the different excursion stops. I thought it was too many people to have in a group - made for very slow going and crowding when trying to see certain sites. So I'd very much like to know if that is the same amount in each group on the Portugal itinerary.

When I spoke to Viking about that after my return she said the # should not have been that high and also there should've been options for slower and faster paced groups -- which we didn't have. Can you let me know what your experience was? Thanks.

I'm going to post this as a new question also in case you don't come back to this thread.

roberts2005 - if you see this - I can't remember if you said already but how big were the groups on your excursions? Ours were too large at 40+ and the Viking rep that I spoke with when I got home said that should not have been the case, that they don't usually have that many in a group. But I think you might've said your groups were that large also?

I'm considering another Viking itinerary and really would reconsider if they do use 40 as the norm. The Portugal ship holds I think only around 90 passengers so it would make sense for them to just use 2 buses and have those big groups again.

woolfy - we did it at the end of Nov, beginning of Dec and the temps weren't that bad. I think I mainly wore a trench coat not a real winter coat. Some days it was still warm enough to go without a jacket at all (at the start of the trip in Budapest). I would think October should be okay - but then it's always a guess with the weather.

Since we mostly were off the ship during the day doing excursions and sailed evenings/night we weren't bothered by the fact of not being able to use the sundeck that much.

The ship itself was kept warm -- there wasn't an issue of being on the water & feeling cold or damp. I do think the early sunset was a factor but it won't be so much one in Oct as it was for us in Dec.

Welcome back molymoo and thanks for posting!

I'm considering this itinerary for 2015 so our trip would be on one of Viking's new ships there. Maybe it will have the "nooks and crannies" you were missing.

Sounds like a wonderful time despite the colds people got and maybe less than perfect weather. I definitely would be going in the summer - being on a river cruise in the winter is not my cup of tea even tho' people do rave about the Christmas markets which is a little tempting. We were on the Viking Passage to Eastern Europe itinerary at the end of November and it was chilly but not cold, cold. I think that's as late in the year as I'd want to go.

Thanks again for the review - very nice to hear you had such a great time!

Thanks for this review -- you're correct in that there's not much info available on it!

I wonder about the difference in the winter vs. spring/summer atmosphere. Maybe the season had a lot to do with the slightly boring nature of the cruise?

emileg - if you see this please do write something when you return so we can learn about the April version of the cruise and also how Viking's new ships there are vs. the leased one in 2013. Also, your opinion of the guide situation would be helpful.

Thanks for the info, hoou!

After reading the long thread here about the woman whose luggage never showed up when they got off the ship (in Rome) I decide to self-disembark every time. Getting off the ship early and ahead of the rush is a bonus but making sure my luggage doesn't go astray is an even bigger deal to me.

Yes, self-disembarkation worked great for us. No issues getting out and through customs. We were at the airport by 8:30. It helped that I had gotten a spinner suitcase recently - it's so easy to roll it as opposed to dragging on 2 wheels.

We did have just one bad note on the trip - with embarkation. I hope it was just a fluke and doesn't come up for anyone else. They had everyone queuing in the same line so even though we could see the separate line for expedited boarding which had only maybe 5 people waiting the guy working the line (had a Royal Caribbean nametag -- not sure if he technically was different from an X employee?) forced EVERYONE to go to the end and not divide into the separate line until you worked your way all the way to the front. It was a super long line and many, many folks were upset because they were meant to have expedited boarding. Finally after waiting over an hour some other employee came down the line asking if anyone was in a suite or CC or Aqua and took us up to the correct line.

In the scheme of things not terrible but it did sort of leave a bad taste since being in AQ one of the perks we were looking forward to was the expedited boarding.

It's funny - the ship is big enough and with so many things to do we never even came across a DJ except one time on the last sea day out by the pool. So I don't think there was a lack in live music or too many DJs. I kind of even forgot about the Sky Lounge! Ha, will have to book again and make more of an effort to explore everywhere. Part of the problem is we are early-to-bed folks and missed out on a lot by being asleep by 10 every night :o

micmacmissy - we're in our 40s and aren't into discos or loud music either but trust me that's not the vibe of the ship. We did one RC cruise a few years back and that's how that felt -- a lot more 'active' at night which might be a good or bad thing depending on what one wants. We like the Celebrity product and I think you'll find what you're looking for as far as more laid-back music options.

We just got back from the Silhouette and had the Classic package. I'm not in any way a wine connoisseur but I have to say I was disappointed by the white wine options that met the $8 and under requirement. I was tempted to upgrade to premium while on the ship but then found a cava in the Ensemble Lounge that was okay so I mainly stuck to that.

My husband found the beer choices acceptable.

There was a good trio in the Ensemble Lounge - 3 women from hmm..maybe Italy? Their name is something with an M that I can't remember, sorry. But they were really interesting. We went there most nights before Blu. I'm sure my husband enjoyed watching them as much as listening to their music ;)

Hi-

We were on the Dec 15 sailing and had a great cruise. We were in Aqua class for the first time and enjoyed that a lot - well, mainly for Blu, not sure that any of the other perks made much difference. We were so busy we only got to visit Persian Gardens once so that was sort of a waste.

The live music was more fun than I remember in the past. We really liked the band Smart Casuals. And the other passengers' average age seemed younger or more mixed anyway. Maybe since we've done longer cruises and in the Med in the past, those itineraries have had an older group of pax.

We never had a problem finding a chair near the pool on sea days - maybe because I prefer shade. I did see pool butlers cleaning up towels that had been left on unused chaises for a while - that was nice to see.

That's a little lame as far as a "review" but it was a great week and we'd definitely book on the Silhouette again :)

Let me know if you have any questions. And have a wonderful cruise!

Leslie

Sounds like a fun trip. Hope your cold didn't impact it too much.

I hate the way hotels have gone to just using duvets with no top sheet -- what happens if you get hot in the middle of the night? No options! Really not a good system IMHO. On the Embla this fall I asked for a top sheet to be added and there was initially some confusion (did I mean we ONLY wanted a top sheet with no duvet?) but it was quickly resolved.

On the Silhouette the hair dryer was in the drawer of the desk and there are outlets (and a mirror) right there. I don't think there was an outlet in the bathroom other than for razors.

There was also a magnifying mirror in the drawer.

We were on deck 11 and didn't feel much movement altho' we had pretty smooth sailing so I don't know how it would be if things were rough.

Hi - have only taken 2 river cruises, both with Viking, so I'm in no way an expert. But until an expert come along here are a couple of thoughts on your questions:

No need to attend lectures - you can watch them on the tv in your cabin.

Hard to eat alone in the dining room - at least on our ship there were no 2-tops set up. There was one table for 4 and the rest larger. However you can eat dinner in the Aquavit Terrace - not the same meal that's being served in the dining room - a very limited selection. But you can dine alone if you choose.

On ocean cruises I always plan excursions with private guides because I can't stand the cattle herding of ship's tours. But since with river cruises the daily excursions are (for the most part) included in the price I just went with the flow on our recent cruise. Some places you dock near the city and can just go off on your own and explore. The itinerary we were on mostly involved bussing a distance to see things rather than docking right in cities. (we were on the Passage to Eastern Europe)

Our recent Viking cruise had rather large groups on the excursions - I'm thinking 40 or more - but I was told that's not the norm and they might have that many on each bus but then the group is broken up into smaller numbers to go with different guides.

Hope that info helped a little bit!

Looking forward to following along on your cruise - thanks so much for the posts and photos. Hope you continue to have a wonderful time :)

I'm thinking of a Rhine cruise in the near future and am wondering about the direction Basel to Amsterdam vs. the other way around. If you or any of the other posters who mentioned doing the same cruise have opinions on that I'm all ears (or eyes!). Thanks!

Ah, enjoy Vienna. Good on you for maximizing your time in that area.

I thought the buses were fine, didn't mind them being full. But I did think 40 in a group walking around was too many. I talked to a Viking rep about that afterward and was told that was not the norm so I wondered if it was just a fluke on our trip or if they use groups of 40 every time - maybe only on that particular itinerary.

I know what you mean about some excursions being not as good as others. The one where we went to a guy's house which was set up as a store and watched a tourism video (it was in Croatia I think) was really a joke when I think back on it. I understand at some ports there are not tons of things to do/see so they have to make do but that in particular was not my favorite!

Safe travels on the rest of your trip -

Leslie

roberts2005 - you might be headed home and not see this for a while --

but can you comment on the group size on your excursions? Was it 4 full buses with around 40 people each? And staying in those groups of 40 for the excursion, not breaking up into smaller groups?

Nice! Turkey dinner + leftovers...very thoughtful. Hope they served pumpkin pie.

Thanks Peter - I'll keep that in mind for a possible Rhine cruise.

To the OP's question on age -- my husband and I are in our 40s and were one of 3 couples that age on a recent Budapest - Bucharest cruise with Viking. Maybe a few were in their 50s and then on up. We did get joking comments from other passengers about "hanging out with all us old people" which is hard to respond to! I tried to make a light-hearted response like "oh we're all 25 inside our heads" which is possibly true :)

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip and will book another river cruise -- the avg age was not a factor for us. But it depends on you and your expectations/desires. For me, traveling with a predominantly younger group, say in their 20s, would be, um, challenging I imagine. ;)