CelticMutt

We actually arrived in Budapest at about 10 PM last night. The arrival into the city area and the Captain's drive about was nothing short of spectacular. It might have been the highlight of an incredibly wonderful trip in and of itself. As with many other cities most of the monuments and edifices of importance line the Danube. Since all are lit at night the effect is incredibly powerful especially from the river. We actually docked in PEST because the Danube divides the city into “Buda” and “Pest” sides. We jumped on the buses at 8:30 for a combined bus/walking tour of the combined city. We started with Pest and worked our way through the city ending up at Heroes' Square. Then over the Chain Bridge (right by the ship) to Buda and up the hill to the Bastion and Matthias Church - actually St. Mary's, but for some reason everyone calls it simply Matthias.

Our tour guide, Liz was a hoot. She was very knowledgeable and terribly proud of her Hungarian heritage but she had a fatal flaw for a tour guide. She kept up mixing up the English words for left and right so that when something we should be looking at was on the left she continually said "and on your right." At first we thought it was because she was facing us some of the time but soon found out that it was just a confusion on her part as to the translation. Still, she did a great job.

We came back to the ship for lunch and sadly to do some initial packing. Afterwords we did a quick 15 minute walk to the bronze shoe memorial right on the same river bank as the ship was parked. And then another five minutes to the Parliament Building which we had only seen briefly on the bus tour. Make sure you take the time to see this memorial up close; it is incredibly moving. Back on the ship we had a Hungarian specialties dinner followed by 4 very talented Hungarian singers/dancers accompanied by 3 local musicians - very nice! Up to the sun deck for some pictures of this beautiful city by night. Bus to Prague tomorrow!

Like Jimmy Buffett sang, It's Been a Lovely Cruise!

Bill

We arrived early in Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital. My wife's father was from Slovakia so we had elected early on in the cruise to take the optional home tour, a visit with a local family. Unfortunately a sufficient number of other passengers had not decided on the tour so it was canceled. Lucia, our program director, who is also from Slovakia commiserated with my wife not being able to take the tour and actually scheduled a private one-on-one tour doing the same Itinerary. The tour guide, Miro, gave an excellent commentary on the country of Slovakia on the 15 miles travel to and from the home visit. I found it a bit ho-hum but my wife was fascinated and we were particularly grateful for Lucia's hard work in helping us to secure this unusual tour. We've found this to be a common situation on Viking – the willingness to go the extra mile for the passenger!

The tour guide even dropped us off in old town Bratislava so that we could do an abbreviated walking tour of the section on our own on our way back to the ship. Check in just about noon, had a great lunch and now we are continuing our cruise down the Danube as I dictate this. We are scheduled to arrive in Budapest sometime around 10 PM this evening. The view as you approach the city is supposed to be spectacular so we are really looking forward to it. Will let you know more tomorrow.

As much as I have enjoyed this cruise I have attempted to add some fair balance as far as the negatives are concerned when appropriate. We had heard a few days ago about a couple who could not sleep in their room because the noise of a repeater pump circulating waste water kept them up at night. I had refrained from reporting on this event as it was only hearsay until yesterday morning When we happened to have breakfast with the couple themselves. They confirmed that they have been sleeping in crews quarters at night because of an inability to sleep because of the noise And because the ship is completely full. The situation may in fact be a legitimate problem because I've read in these forums that there have been some water problems on the Viking longships. Or of course it could be just a situation that these folks are extremely light sleepers. I don't know - I'll leave this up to your interpretation and perhaps input from other readers. But for your information they are in cabin number 217 just in case you'd sooner avoid this stateroom altogether!

That's all for now; catch you tomorrow!

Cin Cin!

Bill

Another early call after our arrival in Vienna for a bus tour of the city and then a walking tour around Ringstrasse, the roadway which replaced the old medieval wall system.

If you haven't been to Vienna it's difficult to describe. In the other towns we visited there would be something spectacular here or there to look at but Vienna is all spectacular! Everywhere you look there are palaces and the ever-present churches. In this case it's mostly specifically St. Stephan’s Cathedral, similarly named as that in Passau for some complicated diocesan reasons. St. Stephens is impressive from the outside but the inside is rather dark and cavernous. (Or maybe it's just a little bit that we're churched out.) The walking tour let us out at the St. Stephen's Square and we proceeded on to do the church on our own. I was a bit disappointed with our guide, Rickie, this time. She was a bit distracted with her cellphone and also the fact that the walkie-talkies did not work for the first 15 minutes or so of the tour was a big hindrance. We missed seeing the Lipizzaner stallions which most of the other tour groups got a chance to see crossing the plaza for their daily practice.

You really need more than a day to see Vienna, but with the strict scheduling it's really the only option. As it is, we crammed a lot into the day with the schedule tour in the morning an optional tour in the afternoon and then the concert in the evening.

We returned to the ship after the morning tour for lunch, but didn't have much time at all afterwards because we had to get ready to take the optional tour to the Schoenbrunn Palace, the most popular sightseeing stop in Vienna and Maria Teresa Hofburg's Summer Residence/Palace. We were a little bit reluctant to take this tour because of the exceptional amount of activity involved in the day but we're glad we chose to ignore our tired feet. The place is absolutely (please fill in the word. I've run out of superlatives!). Suffice to say it's not to be missed; take this optional tour!

After an earlier than usual dinner, (The Vienna classic, Wienerschnitzel) we got ready for the bus to an optional classical concert. The concert is a combination of musical pieces, ballet and opera performed in a concert hall that had been used by Mozart and Beethoven. It really is well done and we enjoyed it but the chamber itself is too small for the size of the group, poorly ventilated and the large number of people in attendance made the room far too warm for comfort even in the beginning of May. I think I would've opted out on this tour if the temperature has been higher than 75° or so.

The buses got us back to the ship at about 10:15 in time for a goulash soup snack that have been set out on the Aquavit deck.

To bed earlier than normal for us. It was a great day and a very full one!

A ps on Krems. One of our fellow passengers had an off the ship dinner at Cloister by the Relais & Chateau group in Krems. He said that the food was great and the restaurant had the unusual touch of simply ordering bye

order by number of courses with a sample wine included with each. However you didn't get to choose the food itself! Might be something to keep in mind if you want to do something off the ship.

L'Chaim!

Bill

We brought one but I have found we've never used it. DW (Not her real initials!;)) She has this half purse-half backpack thing with a lot of zippers in it called a Bellini bag. It's offered us more than enough space for cameras, wallets, sunglasses et cetera. Might have to use the backpack going home however if we're overweight!

Bill

PingPong, We did not take the Silver package as the cost on the 14 day trip was steep. We also did a "rum run" for inexpensive (but great) vodka 3 times (liters) which as you say has no problem with Viking about bringing aboard. We have found that we've actually consumed more at the bar than we had originally thought - with friends we've met on board. Great bar guys behind the bar - Gilbert is right here as I type! So we don't know at this point whether or not we would have been better to get the package, but I'm thinking we're just better off without. When we get the final tab I'll do the math and let you know for sure.

Bill

(PS: Gilbert makes a great martini!)

We were up a bit earlier than normal this morning for an 8:30 AM bus call for the short trip to visit the abbey at Melk. Guess what was there? A church? Yes; you've been paying attention! The structure is actually surrounded by a 900-year-old Benedictine monastery situated up on a very picturesque hill. Our tour guide Sophie was very informative about the Hapsburgs who figured predominantly in the original construction (actually a rebuild to the current Baroque style). We took the 15 minute walk down the hill, through the lovely little town and back to the ship. We arrived back at the ship well before 11 AM but it would be a good opportunity to do some souvenir shopping in town if that's your proclivity. After lunch we cruised through the Wachau Valley. Very beautiful with castles and the ever-present churches dotting the hills walling off the river. It was a lovely cruise - a bit windy though with intermittent sun. It was nice to be up on the sun deck again and interesting to see the crew lowering the wheelhouse and awnings for a pass below a low bridge right outside of the town of Krems. We pulled in to Krems and were transported to Durnstein the next town over on a 7 minute bus ride - optional, but free. We opted for the recommendation to "sample some local vintages from this famous wine-producing region". The town is chock full of sampling sights and also has a very pretty blue baroque...wait for it... CHURCH! All in all a lovely day!

Kampai!

Bill

We arrived this morning in Passau which was built at the junction of three rivers: the Danube, the Inn and the smaller Ilz. The ship docked at a perfect location to explore the most beautiful/interesting sections of both sides of the Danube. I really should have created a macro of the phrase "lovely German town with a spectacular cathedral"! It would have saved a lot of dictating/typing over the course of the past week and a half. That's not to say that the phrase isn't a perfect descriptor or that we're growing weary of such "common" loveliness! Our guide for the 90 minute walking tour was Silke who once again did a great job. You'd almost think that we have been singularly lucky in being assigned excellent guides, but I think the truth is closer to the fact that Viking has contracted with some truly great personnel to work with on these visits. Our guide was happy to explain and point out the differences between Baroque and Gothic architectural styles, both of which abound in the city as evidenced by St. Stephan's Cathedral. "Neat church that you really should see" is the other true macro! What is different about the cathedral (Dom in German) is the 18,000 pipe pipe organ - the largest of its kind in Europe. We were treated to a 30 minute organ recital as part of the tour. The music was a bit overpowering (ponderous and a bit pompous), but impressive all the same. (They probably couldn't get the sheet music for "Sweet Caroline"!)

We also saw the Town Hall. There is a really interesting room in the building in which Silke had the perfect venue to explain some German myths and legends. There's both an ATM and a grocery store (selling wine and liquor) in the Resodenzplatz (Gr. Messergasse) behind the Cathedral and on the way back to the ship (if the boat is parked as we were at landing place #5). In leaving our tour I commented to Silke about the Baroque style... I said that "I had never really liked the style, but now I really go for Baroque!" (Barogue... Broke? - our guide didn't get it either!)

We lunched at the ship because it was so close, but this would have been a perfect opportunity to eat local in town if we hadn't done so already.

After lunch we took the 1.7€ bus up to the top of the adjacent river bank to the Veste Oberhaus, the opulent bishop's residence that dominates that side of the river - hundreds of feet above. (About 230 steps I was told!). It was built in 1499. Look to the "4" in that date - clearly visible from our ship. It's really a medieval period symbol used to denote "four", but looks like half of an 8 - which, after all is what a "4" is! We took the bus up and the stairs down (they are behind and to the left of the fountain past the Museum entrance) which is the recommended way to see the palace. The views from the Oberhaus should not be missed especially on the way down. The views of the ship with the Cathedral on the background are great!

We hit the ATM and the grocery store :-) after the climb down (pretty much how I knew to do the reco) and then rested on board for an hour or so before casting off for Austria and Melk. We had to get up on the Sun Deck (finally reopened after the past few days of having it closed because of the low bridges) to view the conflux of the three rivers aft. All for today,

Skaal!

Bill

We again had the opportunity to sleep a little bit later this morning as the Embla arrived in Regensburg at about 1 PM this afternoon. The weather today has turned very nice and we had blue skies with big puffy white clouds. As it was so nice we had the opportunity to dine alfresco in the Aquavit lounge for lunch. We then "de-boated" for about a two hour walking tour of the old city with an excellent tour guide named Geraldine, a 20 year native of Regensburg but originally from New Zealand. The city's history dates back some 2000 years to Roman times in which it was the farthermost northern border of the Empire. Geraldine pointed out many of the medieval merchants homes that were built in the tower-fashion of San Gimignano. We also visited the 800-year-old "Stone Bridge". This thing is a marvel of engineering and would have been considered ancient by our standards when Columbus discovered America! The structure is really beautiful and as they have just recently cleaned the stones it is even more so. We ended up the tour at St. Peter’s Cathedral which is magnificent! (Different church ... different day!) When you're there make sure you find the famous smiling angel! We then spent the next couple of hours wandering around town exploring even other different churches. All kidding aside, the Alte Kapella church about a block from St. Peter's is GOLD and white - all done in the baroque style. It's overwhelming!

We then trooped over to the St. Emmerans Palace. We saw the church (naturally!), but got turned around and ended up in the Fursthicles Brauhaus directly behind the museum for a weisse beer and some delightful conversation with a family from Munich traveling in traditional Bavarian garb. We finally ended up at about 6 PM at the Alte Wurstküche (Old Sausage Kitchen) which is supposed to be Germany’s oldest restaurant. We decided to have their traditional bratwurst, kraut and caraway seed bread rolls for dinner. (Make sure you try the sweet mustard; it's excellent.) It was wonderful, but be careful of the basket of rolls on the table - they charge you per roll. Get off the boat and try a dinner here. They have 6, 8 or 10 sausage plates (they're small sausages) or you can "fast food" it by picking up a roll with a couple of sausages, sauerkraut and their special sweet mustard for about 2.5€.

Back on board now and heading for a martini! Interesting to see the lounge empty because everybody else was at dinner. Viking brought in some onboard entertainment – three opera singers and a pianist. They performed opera, operetta and musicals that related to the area in which we are traveling. They were entertaining (funny!) and very talented!

Salud!,

Bill

Reco: get a good pair of hiking shoes or sneakers. All of Germany so far has been cobblestones - some of which are pretty old and pointy. You might be inclined to pack a lighter pair of sneaks because of weight - don't do it! I wore mine on the plane ride to avoid weight. Your shoes at least are free (well, no extra charge!) I'm using the same pair that I bought for our Alaska trip - big ugly things from Lands End - and I'm happy in them all day. I brought also a pair of soft black loafers for dinners and therefore only had to pack one pair of shoes; more than enough for us guys. My wife...not so easy!

A word about the food on board: wonderful! The food here is much better than that we've encountered on previous ocean cruises and between the two of us we have experience on well over 30. I've read some commentary in these forums about small portions. Not so. The dinner entree is a bit smaller than we Americans are used to, but after an appetizer and soup and saving room for dessert, it all works out fine. (Besides, you can always order 2! Did so last night because I wanted to try one of the other selections.). I think the negative comments to the contrary are from people used to ocean cruises where there is a ton of food available all the time. Not so here because the three meals are served at a set time, but frankly there has been so much to do there hasn't been time for snacking. And there are always great cookies available with varied coffee choices - 24/7.

Someone asked for a shot of the menus. I'll try posting one as an attachment but I fear that the resolution will be too poor to read it well. I'm having a bit of a problem using an external photo host in order to include pics in the post itself.

Will check back in later on. We're currently on our way to Regensberg; on the Danube now having exited the Main-Danube Canal about 2 hours ago.

Cheers!

Bill

Another "early" morning. No sleeping in for us today! After breakfast, we boarded the buses for the 15 minute ride to Nuremberg. We had signed up for the optional World War II historic tour. Our guide was Ralf and he was excellent. We started off with a visit to the **** parade grounds, and then proceeded to the Documentation Center Museum which is housed in one of the remaining relics of the **** building campaign. The granite surfaced, semicircular construction is huge and was only partially completed before the fall of the third Reich. The tour is self-guided with electronic, handheld guiding lecturers in English. The museum itself and the exhibits are extensive and could not be even partially seen in the 45 minutes or so that we were there. (I would have liked to have seen at least another half an hour or so built into this portion of the tour but I guess we could have gone back ourselves with the free time that we had this afternoon.) We then went on to the Palace of Justice, Courtroom 600 in which the famous Nuremberg Trials were held in 1945. It was both chilling and fascinating at the same time to see the very room in which the proceedings took place. Again, Ralf's 20 minutes lecture on the trials were incredibly detailed. After seeing the court room in so many pictures and documentaries it was wonderful to actually experience the real thing. If you're a history buff at all, I'd strongly recommend signing on for this tour. To top off the extended tour we were taken to Nuremberg’s Old Town area, where we had the opportunity of gaining a little bit more good luck with another church visit!

We caught the bus back to the ship for a later than normal 2 PM lunch. Shuttle buses have been running back and forth to downtown from the ship all afternoon (not on a continual basis but on a structured timeframe). We played with the idea of going back into town but some spotty rain showers and a way too big lunch made it just as easy to sit around and do some reading.

Incidentally we have just encountered the Idun on its reverse journey from Budapest to Amsterdam! I'm glad we're on the Embla. The ship could be exactly the same but Embla's people wouldn't have been! The Viking Prestige is also here in port directly in front of us!

In response to a couple of posts, we have not yet been tied up ship to ship with the exception of our sailing from Amsterdam.

The ship is scheduled to set sail this afternoon at 5:30 PM.

I'll try to get a photo or two of the menus as we go but have to admit to having some problem posting photos from my phone.

Na zdrowie!

Bill

(Should have been "tour" not "store"!)

After yesterday being off the ship all day (9:30 - 6-30) with a lot of walking, it was nice to sleep in a bit this morning. They had a very nice lunch with grilled hamburgers on the back deck. We cruised through the morning and arrived in the town of Hassfurt where we disembarked for the busses to Bamberg. The ship carried on through the locks on this final stretch of our time on the Main River and caught up with us in Bamberg.

Bamberg is a beautiful city that has elements of historic Germany and modern Germany both at the same time. Our tour guide, Alex, was a historian by trade so his lecture was especially good.

My wife is a fan of an old tradition that you will have good luck if you say a prayer every time you enter a new church. After this cruise we're going to have an awful lot of good luck! Bamberg has heck of a lot of churches but the main cathedral dating back to about 1200 really is spectacular. As an American anything dating back this far carriers with it a certain sense of awe.

We did the optional beer tour And I'll give you a hint here - don't bother. The tour is tacked on to the end of the city walking tour and is performed by the same guide. At €29 apiece it was a bit steep and we could have opted to simply go to any one of the many local breweries and sampled the local smoked beer (which is basically the rationale behind the tour) by ourselves. There is an advantage, however. Our tour group was the same from the start of today and included far fewer people than the other tour groups. Having only 12 people in our group was actually pretty nice but I don't know if it was worth €29.

An interesting aside here. I was puzzled by the difference between the "berg" and "burg" that end many different German town names. Berg actually means mountain in German and burg means castle. So if a town was built on the hill it became Berg and if it was built around the local castle it became Burg. And while in English the two words sound pretty much the same, the German pronunciation of the two is startlingly different.

Lucia emceed a funny game called liars club in the lounge tonight. Our group won and we hardly used the smart phone at all! :-)

Oops, I hear on martini calling my name so I'll sign off.

Cheers,

Bill

Have you signed up for the WW2 tour at Nuremberg? Because I know who'll be your guide ;)

We actually have signed up for the store and are looking forward to it today. I'll tell him/her that you said hello!

Bill

An early morning - we got up, had a quick breakfast and proceeded outside to the buses for the optional excursion to Rothenburg, a medieval walled city. The ride to the city was about an hour long in by bus but we had a good guide who kept us entertained along the way. If you only do one of the optional tours, opt for this one! There is a saying "if you haven't seen Rothenberg you haven't seen Germany" and it's true. The city is very cool with the wall proceeding entirely around the old city. We had an opportunity to get up on the wall and walk it much like the ancient guardsman once did. Included in the tour was a great lunch with bratwurst, Wine-infused sauerkraut, mashed potatoes (or smashed potatoes as our guide said!). On this optional tour you also get to do a somewhat abbreviated version of the day walking tour of Würzburg. After lunch we proceeded back to the city to tour the Bishops’ Residence, one of Germany’s largest baroque palaces. The Hall of Mirrors will take your breath away! The tour let us off outside the palace and we did the 20 minute walk back to the ship immediately. Long day, but it is great that you have the opportunity to do both tours even though you picked the optional.

As of this point we have elected to take about 75% of the optional tours. (Including Prague). It's probably costing us another grand or so, but up to this point at least worth every penny and considering total cost - hey, how many times will we be back?!

Just a quick aside about the crew on the Embla: they are uniformly excellent. Service is quick and efficient and the personnel friendly and outgoing. Everyone speaks English well and most seem delighted to practice. There are a couple of standouts. The Program Director, Lucia, does a wonderful job of informing us in daily briefings and and keeps the passengers in line on our daily excursions. Moreover she performs her duties with enthusiasm and charm. She's ably assisted by the concierge, Mercedes, who's a real gem as well. The guys at the bar, Gilbert, Richie and Sava are all personable and knew names and drink preferences by our second day out. Housekeeping has been equally efficient, friendly and accommodating. These folks truly are a step above the crew you'd see on a typical ocean cruise!

Gonna bolt and answer a couple of specific ?'s from other posters.

I'll use a phrase from my "ad men" days, "dictated but not proofed"! Damn poor connectivity! Probably my only real complaint so far!

Slainte!

Bill

2OB,

I had read all of your posts in preparation for our own cruise. We had assembled them into a date by day book along with some of the other suggestions from posters. It was one of the reasons that I decided to do this report. So thanks!

In answer to a couple of questions regarding the Marksburg castle and ability to access it on foot. The cruise director on the ship strongly recommended that anyone not physically fit not try the trip. I strongly agree. After the buses stop there is an approximate seven or eight minute walk up pretty steep terrain to the rest of the castle. Additionally some of the walk is over pretty rough roadway. Finally there's a couple of stairways on the tour that are both steep and narrow. As nice as the tour is, I would recommend passing on it if you have some foot problems.

Dinner again last night was excellent. We slept in a bit this morning and hustled out for a 10 AM breakfast cut off.

We are now on the Main river (pronounced "mine"). The character of the river has changed considerably. Where it used to be castles, but now it's more residential in nature - still very interesting though.

The ship brought a glassblower in from a local town to give a demo of the art. The guy was great! He's a world renowned artisan who has worked with the guy that did all the work in the Las Vegas Bellagio. He was fascinating and funny. An hour long show not to be missed. Of course he's selling stuff but the prices are reasonable and he'll engrave virtually any of the items for sale. An other poster gave advice to "volunteer" for the demo. Do so!

After some additional sailing, we arrived early in Miltenberg. The town doesn't look like much from the ship because the Main Street is a large block away. A fascinating walking tour was offered on the locale. Our guide Alexander was a teacher (OK, a business prof at a local college) and very good probably because he was a local. The half-timbered houses are so ...German ... and historic! One was built in the 1300's. Take that Plymouth Rock! We had a nice brew at local beer garden afterwards and got some cash at the ATM in town as well as a bottle of Russian vodka for an in-room cocktail. Viking doesn't do a booze screening and it's fine to bring a bottle of wine or liquor aboard to drink in your room or have the wine at dinner.

Today was May 1st - May Day, so most stores were closed by law. Restaurants and souvenir shops are excepted.

The ship proceeded on to Wertheim as we were touring and the passengers took busses after the tours and caught up with the ship. We did a quick tour of Wertheim - my opinion is that it was just to kill time to wait for the ship to arrive. That's OK by me. We're passing through 66 locks and I don't have to see everyone of them!

A quick walk back to the ship had us on board by 7PM with dinner starting a lite later today at 7:30. Please forgive an abbreviated, choppy post today. I'm typing this on an iPhone because the cellular connection is weak and we cannot pickup the wifi signal in our room this far aft (329). Fellow passengers a bit forward - like 316 - can get signal all the time in their room. Like I've ready said, hey Viking, how about a signal booster!

Done for this evening after another great dinner. (I had the steak au poivre; nice but a small portion - order 2!)

BTW, the baked goods and ices - cream and sorbet - are outstanding. Pants are already a bit tight!

Good night!

Bill

ps: pic is a panorama from the Mitelberg square.

To finish up on Cologne, we took the optional (29 Euro) beer tour of the city last night after dinner from 9-11. It was supposed to be a minimum of 20, but the ship let it go with only 18 interested parties. A thanks to Viking for their flexibility. Udol (sounds like?) was an excellent guide who knew a thing or two about beer!- We hit 3 beer halls over the course of the evening. 3 of 4 planned stops, so I guess we were a slower group than normal. We sampled the local Kolsch beers in the traditional 0.2 liter glasses and learned a lot about the local beer and the local beer culture, an important consideration in this neck of the woods! One of the highlights of the tour was the view of the Cathedral at night. Very impressive from the beer hall across the plaza. Even if you pass on the beer tour it's well worth the short walk from the ship after dinner to gain

a different perspective on this beautiful church.

We arrived in Koblenz directly at the Emporer Wilhelm I mausoleum right at the juncture of the Mosell and Rhine Rivers. The biggest portion of the passengers poured off the ship onto the dock right after breakfast for the 20 minute bus trip to the Marksburg Castle. There has been an admonition from the crew To avoid this portion of the tours if you we're not pretty physically fit. Well placed advise because the trip involved a lot of steep uphill and stair climbing over uneven surfaces. The castle is pretty impressive and well worth the exertion. The castle itself is the only such structure to survive without significant damage so it represents a great opportunity to see a real medieval castle without an awful lot of restoration. The tour in itself was very instructive as the castle contains an awful lot of furnishings and trappings from the medieval period. And the views of the Rhine from it are very impressive as well. The tour took about half an hour and afterwords we were loaded back onto the bus for the short trip back to the boat which had moved from Koblenz to directly below the castle. The fuse of the castle from the ship were really great and I've attached one to the end of this posting. Back on board there was a lunch special in the Aquavit lounge serving German specialties but we decided to pass on that since we had had a fair amount of German food the day before.

Lunch in the regular dining room was excellent and indeed a number of passengers have commented that they have not had a bad meal on the ship.

We are sitting on the sundeck as I write – dictate this posting. It's in the mid 50s and somewhat overcast with a kind of hazy sun. Castle after castle have lined the banks as we leisurely sail up the river. Beautiful and very relaxing! About 10 miles back we passed the Lorlei statue and cliffs. THIS is the real reason we chose to come on this specific cruise!

I'll add a little "fair balance" here just to make sure this whole thing doesn't sound like a Viking commercial. There have been a couple of joggers that have decided to use the sundeck at approximately 7 AM In the morning and 11 PM at night. The aft cabins on the 300 deck level are immediately underneath this jogging track And the pounding is loud enough to be rather irritating. Several people complained and it seems to have stopped. We'll see. But this might be a consideration for light sleepers who may have wanted to choose a cabin in this area.

That's it for the day; Going to close up shop on this post and get a coffee and cookie!

Prost!

Bill

Just sitting on the sun deck yesterday afternoon in the sun watching the two river banks go by was very relaxing. It's amazing how swiftly the Rhine flows and how fast the ship proceeds against it.

Dinner last night was superb. I had the chateubriand and it was personally the best example of that dish that I've ever had. And Richie makes a mean Sapphire martini. Drink prices on the ship are a bit steep, but the size of the martini at least made up for it!

We arrived in Cologne at about 10 this morning after an uneventful sale through the night. The view of the cathedral as we approached the dock (thumb attached) was nothing short of spectacular. That's one monster of a beautiful church. Watching the captain dock the ship into such a small space in a rapidly moving river was pretty neat We all met on the dock for the walking tour of the city. Our guide was articulate and knowledgeable about the city. The area around the ship on the way to the Cathedral is very picturesque and packed with history. Koln is a beautiful city with more outside restaurant seating than it seems they could ever fill. The Cathedral is as I said, spectacular. Both outside and in. You can't believe they could have conceived of such a monument in 1248 much less beginning the building process - one that took over 600 years in fits and starts. We left the tour at noon and stayed for the 15 minute prayer service conducted naturally in German. (Do you know that "pray" and "please" are the same word in German!)

We stopped at the Haxenhause (Knucklehouse) - recommended by the ship and other posters on this site - on the way back to the ship for lunch. We had the recommended house special of pig knuckles, bratwurst, blood sausage, sauerkraut, sautéed onions and potatoes. We found the dish to be tasty enough but way too much food and a bit pricey (at 39 Euros for 2) for lunch.

We were going to take an afternoon bus tour around the city, but just decided to take our overstuffed bellies back to the ship which is actually within sight of the restaurant. Caught a room movie while also watching the folks walk along the Rhine walkway right outside our window. (Did I say that we have a starboard balcony?

A note about wifi connectivity on board. The router seems to be in the vicinity of the Internet desk (2 laptops) on the 300 deck. The further one gets away from that location, the weaker the signal and the less likelihood of a decent connection. As I've said, we're in 329 - about three quarters of the way aft and our in-room connection is spotty at best. It's hard to initiate service from the room but if I open the connection near the desk then it'll often "follow me home" to the room. So if you are interested in in-room connectivity you should opt for a room closer to mid-ship (Or Viking could spring for a stronger router!)

I haven't had the need to use the ship's computers, but at least at this point they don't seem crowded enough to limit access for anyone interested in using them.

Just a quick observation on the cabin's bathroom. The door is a sliding "pocket" type - I guess to conserve space. In itself, not a bad idea, but the design is flawed in that there is a great deal of noise associated with opening and closing the door. There is also not a tight seal on the framework so that "privacy" is somewhat sacrificed. Not a big deal – just sayin'.

More tomorrow!

Bill

First off, it's pronounced "kinder-dike". If you knew, good on ya; personally, I massacred it before being corrected!

We cruised overnight and arrived at Kinderdijk at about 8 AM. From the 300 cabin deck there was not a hint of movement. Someone we met at lunch said there was a bit of vibration in the aft 100's, but so far I've found the sailing to be like glass and difficult to even know you're on what's actually a pretty large vessel!

Breakfast was excellent as was lunch. The freshness and variety of the full breakfast buffet was great. I think the smaller number of passengers make for smaller quantities being presented at one time and that results in added freshness. But the quality of food itself was superb. The baked goods are especially good and my wife's omelet was wonderful. Great service once again.

Some fair balance info that someone reading from Viking really should absorb and address regarding our being on the Embla rather than the Idun. No one on board that we have talked to at least, was informed about the change of ship beforehand. We were told upon boarding that this was a somewhat newer ship and virtually identical to the Idun. And as stated, the reason for the change itself was a bit hazy. While we're perfectly happy with the ship, the change did inconvenience a couple we lunched with today because they spent an inordinate amount of wasted time searching the docks for a ship that wasn't there. This is a problem that could have easily been avoided by any type of forewarning. Additionally, this couple even tried calling the Idun and got no answer which may lead one to believe that the Idun has been taken out of service - perhaps to correct some of the early-reported water problems. Personally, I don't know, but it sure begs the question!

The stop at Kinderdijk itself was great. (I'll tack on a thumbnail or two at the end.) the guide we had, Jack P., a retired schoolteacher, was knowledgeable and personable. The site itself is lovely with 8 or 9 windmills all in view from the same vantage point. And the opportunity to actually explore inside one of the better-restored ones was both educational as well as a little bit magic. We've all seen photos of windmills from before we can remember, but the phenomenal engineering of these beautiful machines is really pretty astounding.

The tour itself was a little bit rushed though. We were off the ship to begin the tour at about 9:45 (the site is directly across the road) but had to get back by 11 for an 11:30 sailing. That made exploring the working windmill a bit more rushed for the third tour group exploring it. I would have liked another 10 minutes or so, but we had to run for the ship. I don't think it would hurt for Viking to build in another 15 minutes or so to let everyone explore on a bit more of a leisurely pace. And when Viking says 11:30 you better believe it - we pushed off at 11:26! But the Line's practice of collecting cabin keys upon leaving the ship (replaced with a name card) let's them know who's where at all times.

Lunch today in the main dining room was a combination buffet and menus order and it was mix and match so you could do either or both. Again the food, selection and service were all excellent. It's nice to have a beer or two with lunch as well. And while the hose wines are really not bad at all, the beer is local, cold and top notch. At the two meals we've had so far where her and wine has been served, we've found the wait staff to be very wiling to refresh your glass as often as needed.

I'm writing this on our balcony in the sun. It's a light jacket comfortable 52 degrees as we proceed up the Rhine and I'll close up for the day since the rest of it is pretty much what we're doing now. Darn!

Bill

Well, two corrections right up front. The first of which is that I'll be continuing this day-to-day review on this specific posting. It's been suggested and I agree that a "live from the ship" would be better served specifically in the general river cruising category.

The second of which is that were not on the Idun! As another poster in this category has mentioned previously, we too were switched from the Idun to the Embla. The official explanation was a bit garbled but basically the rationale was that the Idun was switched to take over a different itinerary when one of the ships wasn't christened on time.

We arrived in Amsterdam basically on time after about an hour and a half delay in work due to the air traffic situation. We were met in the Arrivals Hall area by a Viking representative and shepherded to a waiting bus for the 30 minute drive to the ship. We left immediately but the bus was about three quarters full and we were the last to arrive. I therefore don't know how long the initial passengers were waiting on the bus. There was no check in procedure at the ship – they simply accepted the fact that since you were there you were on the cruise! We waited in the lounge area with the rest of the passengers but were informed early on – about 10:30 AM - that our room was available. This obviously wasn't the standard time as a number of the other passengers were still waiting sometime later but we were lucky enough to have a room vacated early by the previous guest.

We have a Balcony cabin – number 329 and found that the room is small but comfortable and offered a fair amount of storage considering the size. The balcony is compact but offers two chairs and a small table and is nice for sitting and viewing the scenery. The staff here appear to be very accommodating and we have been treated to this point in time very well by the crew.

They offered a buffet lunch in the Aquavit lounge that consisted of pasta soup and a salad along with a couple of sandwich choices.

We tagged along with the included 1:30 walking on the way to our Viator city tour that was scheduled at 2:30 listed in the initial post above. A quick word about that: it was individually the worst tour I've ever been on. Of the 2 1/2 hours, almost a full hour is spent in the Diamond Museum which is basically a sales pitch for jewelry and diamonds. The tour itself was terribly unorganized and left almost a half an hour late which made the getting back to the ship on time problematic. It also leaves you off at the final stop which is the Anne Frank House and not at the point of origin. Frankly the sole saving grace of the tour was its "cut the line" entrance to this not to be missed attraction. The tour dumps you off at this location which is an additional half hour walk from the original jumping off point of the tour which in itself is an additional 30 minute walk from the ship. But even in a non-rushed tour the 5 PM drop off gives you an hour at the Anne Frank House before having to hustle back to the ship for 7 PM dinner. Cabs are scarce in the city so you may (probably will!) have to hoof it. (The available cabs seem to congregate at the hotels, so in a pinch you may want to try to pick one up at these locations.)

Our first dinner was quite good. I had the bass - nice. I found the portions to be fine contrary to some reports and I'm a big eater. This at least so far. We were a bit late for dinner but still found available spots with some very nice and entertaining dinner companions.

We hit the bar after dinner. A very nice piano player was performing for a very few passengers. It may be that it was a travel day or it may be the average age of the passengers, but there were six of us who had the place pretty much all to ourselves for a while. Although there were another group of three couples that were dancing as we were leaving. An early night after having been up for well over 36 hours.

Our impressions of Viking so far are very good. The ship is well-maintained and nicely laid out. The crew is polite and helpful. Our fellow passengers, the majority of which seem to be American and Canadian, are friendly and good-natured. But at 64 and 62 respectively we sometimes feel like we're the youngsters aboard athough I have to expect it didn't affect anybody's energy!

I'll hold off on posting any photos today as you can get as many as you want on Amsterdam pretty much anyplace. But I'll post a couple of thumbnails day on the more cruise-specific locations that we find.

That's it for today. I'll apologize in advance for any typos. I'm dictating this on the iPhone and it's a bit difficult to edit in that platform.

Bill

ps: In answer to Cary's question, "you're only as young as you feel", but sometimes you feel older than others!

B

This will be the beginning of my attempt to provide a day-by-day review of this Grand European cruise on the Viking Idun, April 27 - May 11, 2013 - Amsterdam to Budapest (On-board wifi connectivity and geriatric energy levels being sufficient! ;))

We're on a United flight this evening; Newark to Amsterdam and hoping that the air traffic controller bosses got the message that Congress just restored their budget thereby (hopefully) getting us in to Amsterdam at about 8 AM Saturday.

We have a 2:30 PM Viator Amsterdam Sightseeing Tour and Skip-the-Line Ticket to the Anne Frank House

http://www.viator.com/tours/Amsterda.../d525-2550ANNE

I'll continue tomorrow evening once we've been settled aboard.

Bill

I'll be attempting to provide a day-by-day review of our Grand European cruise on the Viking Idun, April 27 - May 11, 2013 on the related Roll Call:

" Viking "Idun" April 26, 2013 - Amsterdam to Budapest"

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1797590

(On-board wifi connectivity and geriatric energy levels being sufficient! ;) )

See you there.

Bill