ganski

We did this cruise last December at Christmas time, we flew out of JFK a day early and took the train to Lucerne and did the Viking 3 day post cruise extension in Amsterdam.

This is a great cruise, 4 countries, lengthy river travel, good food and plenty of sights to see.

I enclosed a link of my photos that highlighted the trip.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk19eoqm

We went on a similar cruise with Viking November 2013, it was called Portraits of Southern France. We had issues with the river, the water level was too high and passengers were no allowed to be on the boat traveling through several locks, the bus traveling was very short and Viking compensated us by giving us the optional Chateauneuf du Pape tour free of charge.

Arles was one our favorite stops, Van Gogh did several paintings in town and there is a nice museum of history and a large Roman coliseum.

The food and wine were very good, Viking poured many local wines and served regional food.

I enclosed pictures of our trip, we started in Avignon, cruised to Arles, then headed north to Lyon.

i transfered through Heathrow on a Viking Portraits of Southern France river cruise, I landed in Marseille while my luggage stayed at Heathrow, Viking went out of their way to get my bag and it took 2 days for it to arrive in Arles, they made numerous calls while I listened in and goy little results. Viking arranged for a driver to pick my bag up at the airport. I would suggest packing a carry on bag with extra clothes.

We have been on 5 river cruises and we used to lug around Nikon DSLR's and various lenses, the last two cruises i took a Hasselblad Stellar and my wife took her Nikon V1, this was plenty of camera and I can carry it in my cargo pants pocket.

The last 2 Viking river cruises we were on we flew in a day early, last month we were in Bordeaux and we stayed we stayed at a hotel walking distance to the ship, the previous trip we flew into Basel the day before, we stayed near the train station, the Saturday morning of our cruise we took the train to Lucerne and spent the morning there sightseeing. 2 years ago my luggage was lost in London, we transferred to Marsellie's and took a bus to Avignon. The cruise departed and I still had no luggage, Viking was excellent making phone calls and arranged for my luggage to be picked up on the 2nd day of the cruise. Leaving a day early is a good way to acclimate to another time zone, get the jet lag out of your system and be ready for your cruise. Too many things can happen before the cruise and i would suggest to anyone, leave 1 or 2 days ahead departing, get a local hotel and arrange for transfers ahead of time. The bus from the Bordeaux airport to my hotel was 1.50 euros each and we were able to walk to the ship, from the Basel airport to the hotel was a few swiss francs, then a 20 swiss franc cab ride to the ship too.

The 1998 Vintage was very nice, we had a nice waitress named Hana who never let our glass empty and we enjoyed the over abundance of wine that night. The cheese buffet with Sauternes was pretty good too.

On Friday night, at cocktail hour we had our fill of fresh shucked oyster too.

Thanks for taking the time to do this--

1. What is the choices at night in the alternate dining venue?

2. How is the nightly entertainment?

There is only one serving and everyone eats at the same time, you can eat dinner in the dining room or on the deck which has a limited menu.

There is little nightly entertainment, there is a piano player , who plays and sings, one night there was music trivia dance and quiz game, my wife and I paired with another couple and we won and received a nice bottle of wine for first prize.

One night we had a horse and buggy ride through town, most of the nights we sit on the upper deck after dinner, i enjoy a nice whisky on the rocks with a Cuban cigar and my wife enjoys more wine.

Unlike ocean cruises, river cruising is more subduded.

We just returned Saturday night from this cruise, this was my 5th river cruise and the 4th with Viking. This was the best one yet. I am posting a link to my pictures, there are menus included in them. i always try to take a picture of them so i can remember what I ate.

I just returned from Bordeaux, we traveled on the Viking Forseti. The food was outstanding and it was local regional French food. One night there was a man shucking oysters in the lounge for everyone. We also had a dinner at Chateaux Kirwin with unlimited wine. Viking offers an omelet / egg station for breakfast and ship made fresh yogurts. There was also fresh jams and the manager Bruno would go around and pass out croissoints at breakfast.

We always ate lunch outside on the deck instead of in the restaurant,, they grilled fresh salmon and sardines on different days plus there was always a variety of salads and sandwiches to eat. There was a different lemonade made everyday too. Food is very subjective, if you enjoy food and excellent wines i would suggest the Bordeaux river cruise.

We just returned from our cruise and it was better than expected. Viking far exceeded in making this a perfect river cruise. Enclosed is a link to pictures i took along the way.

Photopeg- Michael is still on the boat, he is doing an excellent job and say's hello, he remembers you quite fondly

We left JFK on a Thursday afternoon and arrived in Bordeaux a day before the cruise started, we stayed at the Hotel Mercure Cite Mondiale on Friday night, it was easy to get to from the airport, 2 buses and it cost 1.50 euros per person. The hotel was very convienent to everything, close to downtown and a 5-10 minute walk to the ship.

We cruised all day Monday from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, the weather was perfect and it was an enjoyable day, we sat on the upper deck, took in the scenery, relaxed and drank more wine. We took a short stroll to stretch our legs and at 6 PM we had the Viking explorers club cocktail hour, this was highlited by the aquavit toast ! Another nice regional dinner and more regional wine.

The boat docked overnight in Libourne and at 9:15 AM we had a brief walking tour, there was not much to see here, but there was market day in the town square and we strolled around the vendors. We had lunch on the boat and at 1:45 PM we departed by bus to St. Émilion for the afternoon. St. Émilion has to be one of the prettiest place i have been to, we had a guided to which we ditch and walked around by ourselves, we saw all the sights, went to the top of Chateau du Roy, had a glass of wine and bought a bottle of Grand Cru for dinner.

We casted off at 6:00 PM and headed to Bourg, we had dinner while cruising and arrived at 8:30 PM. Viking offered a horse and buggy ride with a wine tasting for 10 euros per person. This was a very nice, it lasted @ 1 1/2 hours, the driver took us to the town square where we sampled 3 local wines and then took us back down to the ship.

We docked overnight in Bourg and at 8:45 AM we had a short bus trip to Blaye, we toured the Citadel and had an hour to explore the town and visit another market near the bus parking lot. This market had an assortment of vendors , food, produce, wine, clothes...... you name it. This afternoon was the optional cognac tour and there is a painting class at 2:00 PM and a walking tour of Bourg. We are staying overnight and sailing tomorrow morning.

This Viking cruise is much different than any other, the itinerary changes weekly due to the tides and fluctuations of the water. So the cruise i am on may be different next week. So far this has been better than expected, very little busing around. It is very relaxing with good food and wine. Viking has a good policy about bringing wines aboard with no corkage charge. Every day we bought local wine and had them at happy hour and dinner. The Viking wines change daily and are very good. This cruise at the beginning had a few learning curves and Viking ironed them out. Their staff treats everyone first class and so far I am glad I went on it and avoided all the negative reviews.

We sailed out of Bordeaux at 9:00 AM this morning, looking forward to a nice trip today to Libourne. It has been very hot in Bordeaux the last 2 days and it is refreshing to cruise the river and have cooler weather. so far the cruise is better than expected. The service on the boat has been first class, the food and wine are exceptional. Yesterday morning we had a bus trip and a museum stop in Bordeaux, the ship is in a convenient location, walking distance to downtown and many sites. The French tall ship Hermione is docked and it is walking distance to the boat. There were many food vendors set up yesterday in the morning near the ship selling fruits, breads, cheese, wines and oysters. At 2 PM we took the bus to Sauternes for a wine tasting and then a visit to Cadillac. Apparently the water in this area is too low to travel by boat. It appears we will be sailing the rest of the week and coming back to Bordeaux on Friday.

I purchased 4 vouchers in December on the Viking Tor and had no problem using 2 of them and the two I gave out as gifts, they had no issues redeeming them either

Hello, I was on Viking's Rhine Getaway December 2014, enclosed is a link for the picture's I took, we traveled from Basel to Amsterdam and enjoyed this river cruise

https://flic.kr/s/aHsk94E171

I will chime in with positive experiences with Viking river cruises, We have been on 3 Viking cruises, Danube Waltz, Portraits of Southern France and Rhine Getaway, we are going on Chateaux, River and Wine this August and Heart of Germany December 2016. We have always booked through Viking and used Viking air transportation. Our last cruise which was Rhine Getaway December 2014, we needed to fly out of JFK and we were on the phone with viking for an hour and they did everything they could do to satisfy our flights. We left a day early with an evening flight out of JFK, to Amsterdam then to Basel. We arrived with plenty of time to visit the Christmas Markets, stayed in a hotel in downtown Basel and was able to get up early Saturday morning, take the train to Lucerne, sightsee the town and have plenty of time to make it back to the ship for a Saturday departure, The Viking air representative even gave us $100.00 ship board credit to use as we wish on our cruise. This year we are going to France, we have arranged the same type of flight, leaving on a Thursday evening, arriving Friday morning and staying overnight and relaxing in Bordeaux and then departing on our cruise Saturday. I have never had a problem with Viking or their flights. They seem to work with you and your schedule and will try to rectify any problem. i will remain a loyal viking traveller.

We did the Danube Waltz 3 years ago and went to the Gellert Spa in Budapest to unwind after the long flight from JFK, it was very relaxing and we both had massages. Our Viking boat was unable to dock in Budapest because of low water and we were bussed an hour away.

I did this same trip in December on the Viking Tor, we traveled from Basel to Amsterdam. This was my favorite river cruise, you get to see 4 countries and also travel on the Rhine and relax.

We were on the Viking Tor last December, this was the Rhine Getaway Christmas cruise.

Basel - we were there in the evening and went into the old town and visited the Christmas Markets, very nice

Lucerene - we took the hour train to Lucerne and walked around, it was an unseasonably warm 60 degree December day. It was so foggy that day the mountains were not visible. Lucerne had some nice sights but it was fairly expensive to go there just for one day.

Breisbach- we were there on a Sunday and everything was closed, it was warm out and we were able to walk around the city. there are a couple of high spots that give you a nice view of the mountains.

Strasbourg- we took the bus into the city and the guide was very informative, the architecture was splendid, many cafes and wine shops. The cathedral and the astronomical clock inside were nice to see. There were many Christmas Markets scattered around the city and they were nice to visit and had really good food.

Heidelberg- This was the second time i have been here so I knew what to expect, the bus ride through the narrow streets up to the castle is fun. There are nice views from the castle and the city was crowded with shoppers. We found a nice brewery called Vetter and enjoyed fresh holiday ale

Rudesheim- we arrived at dusk and the town was all closed up with the exception of 2 Christmas Shops, we walked around and stopped at a wine bar for some local wine.

Rhine River- this day is the highlight of the trip, we traveled the Rhine and saw many vineyards and castles. It was a good day to unwind and relax after all the sightseeing we did so far. We stopped at the Marksburg Castle and did a walking tour, it is best to wear good shoes because the floors and rocks can be uneven.

Koblenz- this was Christmas Eve, so all was closed, we did walk around, saw the statue of Emperor William and the Rhine and Moselle confluence.

Cologne- this was Christmas Day and the city was crowded, we went inside the cathedral and it was impressive, we walked around the city and went to the Fruh Brewhouse and drank the Kolsch beer that is only brewed in Cologne. I was interested in Cologne because my father flew in a B24 during WW2 and the cathedral was used as a landmark for navigation. His plane was shot down not far from there and was a POW in northern Germany.

Kinderdijk- this was a short pit stop, but it's worth seeing and taking pictures. The closest windmill to me is in Eastham MA and it is a fraction of size compared to these windmills.

Amsterdam- we did the Viking post cruise here, the first day was bitter cold and flurries, our guide took us into the city from the hotel and showed us some canals and departed us when we were downtown. We saw the Anne frank House that day, I purchased the tickets online months ahead, we walked around and made it back to the hotel. The Movenpick is not centrally located and it is quite a walk downtown. The next day we bought tram passes for 7 euros a day and really saw the city, we went to the Rijksmuseum, took a canal boat ride and did the Heiniken Experience. I would recommend to spend 2 or 3 days in Amsterdam either on a pre or post cruise. it is easy to get around and there are many sights to see. This was one of my favorite cities, Plenty to do, good food and friendly people. Be on guard for bicycles.

In Heidelberg there is a local brewery named Vetter. it is about a 2 minute walk from the bus stop that brings you back to the ship, they serve food and make beer there too. You can purchase liter bottles or mini 5 liter kegs. I purchased a mini keg for 10 euros and brought it back to the ship. Viking has small refrigerators in each room and it fit perfectly, I brought the mini keg up to the upper deck and shared it with other beer drinkers while we cruised up the Rhine.

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We were on the Viking Tor and cruised from Basel to Amsterdam in December. We went to the Fruh brewhaus in Cologne and found it a great spot. They served Kolsch beer in the traditional .2 liter glass which is tall and narrow. The food was really good, the menu was in German and English and they had a wide variety of traditional pub food. We ordered the sampler platter which had a variety of meats, cheeses and breads. This was right near the cathedral and a short walk to where the boat was docked.

I traveled on the Viking Tor in December, the beers on the ship were Bitburger Draft, Real Budweiser and Erdinger Weissbier in bottles

In Heidelberg there is the Vetter Brew pub which is close to where the buses pick you up.

In Wurzburg you can go to the Wurzburg Hofbrau brewery, there was a nice restaurant and beer garden.

In Bamburg go to the Schlenkerla Hellar Brau, this is where they have the famous smoked beers, unique to this area, served from wooden barrels.

I purchased a 5 liter mini keg of Vetter for 10 euros in December and it fit very nicely in the refrigerator in my cabin.

We traveled on the Viking Tor in December and stayed in room 120. This was on the lower level , and it was a nice room. There was a shelf that ran the whole length of the room below the window and we were able to use it as extra storage space.

You can rent or buy the PBS video on iTunes, it is 4.99 to buy. The video is a Rhine river cruise , stopping at the German towns along the river including Basel and Lucerne and describing some of the castles along the way.

Thank you for sharing, we are on the Viking Tor, departing Basel December 20th, doing the same trip with the 2 day post cruise extension in Amsterdam. We are departing a day early from JFK and staying overnight in Basel on the 19th and taking a train early Saturday to visit Lucerne for a few hours.

We are cruising on the Viking Rhine Getaway this December 20th, we received our itinerary with flights from JFK and they had us traveling all day Saturday and we would have missed Basel and the first day of our vacation. We called Viking and were on the phone with them for an hour and we were able to change flights and work out the details which works best for all of us. They even gave us a 100.00 ship credit for making the changes and being patient with them. This is our 4th river cruise, 3rd with Viking and we have another booked for next August with them. I have always found their customer service outstanding and never had a issue dealing with them. Whatever changes we needed to make they were always helpful, courteous and positive about making any changes so we would have a pleasant trip.