Kylie

People wore shorts/jeans all the time in the dining room (even on the special dinner nights) on our Viking cruise that we just got back from. Some dressed up every night which must have meant another huge suitcase for that! Any clothes will be fine - dress comfortable.

My husband always wore a collared polo shirt during the day and that evening for supper. A couple nights he changed into khakis but most nights kept his shorts on. I wore my capris and colored jeans with the same top I wore during the day (might add some jewelry) except for a couple nights when I wore dress pants with a nicer top. We fit in just fine. The people that dressed up were in the minority.

I just put a deposit down for the grand European tour in November 2017. Trying to decide if we should extend in Budapest or not. The tour is so long already but I don't want to miss anything! Do you feel an extension would be worth it? I see you did one in Amsterdam...would you highly recommend that one? Thanks

FYI - just found my sheet with the information on -

16 cabins had plans to go to Prague

15 cabins staying in Budapest

21 cabins with no transfers so I don't know where they were going?!

All others had transfers to the airport to head home or somewhere else

I just put a deposit down for the grand European tour in November 2017. Trying to decide if we should extend in Budapest or not. The tour is so long already but I don't want to miss anything! Do you feel an extension would be worth it? I see you did one in Amsterdam...would you highly recommend that one? Thanks

We really enjoyed Amsterdam and would do that again plus it helped us adjust to the time change. People that arrived on the ship that day were really tired.

Budapest us such a big city I wouldn't know where to start. We did have a full day there and a long bus tour through Viking that day that satisfied me. Also when our vacation is over we are ready to go home. More people were doing to the Prague extension - maybe check that one out too. I guess it is a bus ride there.

Since you already had tickets, was there a line of people who already had tickets? I know before they started the new ticketing process this year the directions used to say if you already had tickets you went in through a certain door, but I wondered what the procedure is now.

Yes, we still waited awhile - that 'magic' door is no longer used but there are people directing you where to go and when you should get in line. We didn't wait long once we moved into line and I'm sure we were in the building before 3:30.

Our food tour was over before 2:45 and then we walked across the street and waited until the 3:15 group could go. I had been trying for 3:00 tickets but never saw 4 to buy.

What hotel did you stay at? Do you remember what time the transfer was from the hotel to the boat on embarkation day?

 

I'd love to hear more about your cruise and what you liked in Amsterdam.

We are river cruise newbies. We have done quite a few ocean cruises and we don't like sea days but the time off on the river boat didn't bother us at all - always something to see. We enjoyed watching from the balcony or otherwise sitting up on the sun deck. Very relaxing.

We did dock right next to other Viking ships the second week so no view then :-( but we were busier that week too. There were 5 Viking boats in Vienna the day we were there!

Now to answer your questions - we stayed at the Radisson Blu hotel. Great location. Less than 15 minute walk to Central station area if you go through the Red Light District :-) They didn't start shuttling people to the boat until after 2:00 and we were the last group to go at 3:00. There were 2 ships in port that day so quite a few people waiting for rides.

We really liked Amsterdam - did the HOHO bus the first day (got there around 7AM and couldn't check into the hotel so headed out exploring) and we could scout out where things were. The HOHO does a bus route and 2 canal routes for one price. We bought a 48 hour pass but didn't use it more than one day. Did the Heineken Experience since that was a stop on the bus - it was OK. Ate supper at a nice little sidewalk cafe recommended by the Radisson concierge and close to the hotel - fun to watch the people and bikes go by. Went to bed early that night after a long night of travel and day of sightseeing. Got up the next morning and never thought about the time change again.

Really liked the Jordaan Food Tour - found that location while on the canal boat and walked there day 2. Right after that we went to the Anne Frank house which happened to be right across the street. I had tried for 2 months day and night and finally got the 4 tickets I needed for the 3:15 time slot. We would have never stood in line for tickets - it was a long wait for the 3:30 and later tickets.

We did a night wine and cheese canal cruise day 2 (enjoyed seeing the canals at night) and another small boat canal cruise on the morning of day 3. We sat at the small hotel bar and ate some expensive food waiting for the shuttle. We were not alone.

Radisson was a nice hotel - breakfast was busy. Food was good but not nearly as good as the buffet on the ship.

 

Did you do any optional tours? We've signed up for all the recommended tours and thought we'd wait until we were on board to sign up for Schonbrun Palace. Did you hear of any optional tours being full and unable to be booked on board?

 

Never heard of tours being full, in fact, some tours only had a few people. We only did one optional tour in Budapest the World Market. Since we had never been to these countries we just walked around and didn't want to spend the additional money for the Viking tours and/or miss the included tour for an optional one.

It rained the morning we were in Vienna so we did the HOHO bus there but decided not to go to the palace because of the weather but it cleared up and would have been a good thing to do but by then it was getting later. The concierge showed us how to ride the subway and that would have been a quick easy way to get out to the palace on your own. We just rode it back down to the center of the city and did some shopping instead.

None of the tours went real fast but some people couldn't wait to sit down any chance they got.

Just an FYI - all North Americans on our cruise.

 

I agree about traveling while you're capable. How many group types for tours were there and how were they put together? I understand ability grouping. You mentioned some who didn't want to admit they should be in the "gentle walking" group. Were they still allowed to be in with those more active?

 

The groups were mixed up daily randomly unless you asked to be with people you were traveling with. The Gentle walkers were supposed to tell the reception desk if they wanted to be in that group but that could change daily too. Usually 20-25 people per group. There was no one telling them which group to join. Some people complained about how strenuous some days were and we didn't really think that was the case on those days.

Just got home last night from our Viking cruise that left June 3. We did the pre-cruise in Amsterdam through Viking but nothing at the end. Talked to a few people staying in Budapest but more going on to Prague.

Water levels were not a huge inconvenience. We did do 2 bus rides to the tours and then met the ship somewhere on the way back after the ship got under the bridges - luckily the water level cooperated each time! It was fun to see the country side and small villages so we were fine with that.

Our advice - do this cruise sooner than later! We saw too many people that weren't physically capable anymore to handle the walking involved. Some didn't want to admit they should be in the "gentle walking" group but the cobblestones and steps were a challenge not matter which group they were in.

Wear comfortable walking shoes - saw sandals (men and women) and gray seemed to be a popular color for tennis shoes since that matches most colors and doesn't show dirt. Not sure why I brought a light color shoe along too since I never wore those. Many Skechers brand, including mine, for shoes and sandals.

Any questions? I'll see what I can answer. The trip was great! We have no complaints - Viking has a great product and does it right.

Oops! Just found a site with the information on another thread although I'm still interested if anyone has any place they highly recommend.

Any suggestions for good Dutch restaurants to try in Amsterdam when we are there next week?

Finally got the date and time we wanted for the Anne Frank house - still haven't figured out how they release the times. Earlier today I looked 2 different times and nothing available for June 2 and then at 7AM there were 10 tickets open for a time that worked for us. Since this is the first day of summer vacation for us teachers :-) I had time to keeping checking but who can do that when you have to go to work?!

I'm not going to look anymore! Glad I finally have them printed and ready to go! We will be in Amsterdam 2 weeks from today!!

If you ask for 200 euros from the ATM what denomination of bills do you get? Do you have any choice for smaller bills and what about getting coins for the restrooms?

Oh my gosh!! I just got the two tickets that we needed!! So glad this hunt is over.

Still waiting for later in the day tickets for early days in June. This morning when I looked there were all kinds of tickets available for today - who wants to still be looking on the day you want to go? I'd rather not have to do that when I'm in Amsterdam but at least good to know I'd still have a chance to get tickets at the last minute.

We were glad we went and I found 2 for 1 tickets online before going - not sure if any deals are to be found anymore but worth checking out. Line wasn't long and we loved the view.

Our TA checked with Viking and told us which hotel we will be staying at in Amsterdam but it isn't the one that is mentioned on the Viking page advertising the pre-cruise package.

Could that still change? We have looking at the map and planning our trips from the hotel we were told we would be staying at.

That's interesting. We are booked for Anne Frank House at 9:00, so I would be afraid if they changed it for us that we wouldn't have enough time. I'm thinking I may go with Hungry Birds like Lois did. I'm sure she'll report back!

 

Have a great trip, Kristi.

We are hoping to do the Anne Frank house right after the food tour - still waiting for those times to open. I think the 2 places aren't far from each other.

Hungry Birds sounds great too -

Enjoy your trip too, Lisa!

Let me know how it is! And have a great cruise!

Just an FYI - we got an email about the Jordaan Food tour this morning - it is going to be from 10:30-2:30 instead of 11-3:00 like advertised. Not sure why or if that happens often. That is fine with us but I suppose it could affect other people's plans.

Hi! I didn't realize it either!! I think we'll book the Jordaan Food Tour for the Thursday we're there too. Let me know how your trip is!

Hi Lisa,

Lucky we booked this tour early since the June 2 date is full already. That means we will definitely be doing the canal portion of the tour too.

I agree with this. I've been trying to monitor this ready for my cruise in October - I saw some April or May ones the other day quite late in the day. It is quite confusing - do we wait and see if later times are added or lose out?

I can see me giving up and booking the expensive ship tour!

I noticed this too - really a hassle waiting to find the time that is convenient and if I miss it I'm afraid we won't be going there because I don't want to take the time to stand in line. I am hoping to get one of the latest reserved times so I'll keep watching!

June is now showing no tickets available. Wow.

 

For those that are monitoring, can you post if you see the first few days in July go on sale?

I think we just need to keep watching and they continue to add later times periodically. Their way of selling tickets isn't very user friendly.

We just logged on, checked several dates and only that 9am time slot seems to be available? Is it possible to get a different time?

I want a later time slot too! Only 9:00 available for June yet. Why is that??

Hi Kylie.

 

As someone who cruises a European river every year I would say you have got the amount just about right.

 

Also one of the joys of European ATMs is that they don't make a withdrawal charge. What you draw is what you see on your credit card statement.

 

And finally, the other joy is that there are ATMs everywhere so if you miss the one at the airport it's no big loss, there will be another one around the corner.

Thanks! That's what I wanted to hear.

What do you think is a reasonable amount of euros to start with for our Amsterdam to Budapest cruise? I was thinking 200 (or about $220 US). Should we get more? We are going use an ATM at the airport.

We had the fish n chips special at Seafresh - very good choice!

We have been looking at both of these food tours for our trip in July. I'm leaning towards the Eating Amsterdam tour because it includes the canal boat. Both have great reviews on TripAdvisor.

Lisa - just realized you are the couple we met on the Caribbean Princess over NYE! You have some great trips coming up!

The Tuesday/Thursday Jordaan Food Tours also include a canal ride and Thursday is the day we would be going. I am going to give the tour a try!