Viking Rhine River Cruise

:ship::cool: My wife and I are in the beginning stages of planning a river cruise in June of 2018. Have decided on taking Viking. We were trying to decide which Viking ship to take. Anyone have any experience with taking a Viking Rhine River cruise? Any suggestions, pro or con would be very helpful?

Thank you.

Greetings.

Just came home from the Viking Rhine Getaway cruise last week, which was a wonderful trip! We cruised on the Viking Alruna, but there are several Longships running this itinerary at the same time. All of them are pretty much the same, with only a few cosmetic differences.

I would concentrate on time of year, and the direction that you want to travel. For example, we were sold on the doing the Viking Lake Como cruise extension and we decided that it would be a great ending to the cruise so it made sense for us to start in Amsterdam.

Just be mindful that this is a very popular itinerary, and you'll need to book the trip soon so it doesn't sell out.

Jeff

What I would say is go to sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor and read about Viking and also read all the threads here on Cruise Critic about Viking. In fact, look all over the internet and read as much as you can about Viking BEFORE you make your booking. There is a lot of information out there that should be helpful to you in making your decision.

We went on the Uniworld SS Antoinette for Castles of the Rhine. It's a luxury all-inclusive experience at a price point very similar to Viking. I can say for sure our cruise on the SS Antoinette was wonderful with food that was suited to the areas in which we were cruising and local wines and cheeses, beautiful ship and outstanding service. As to Viking, I can't tell you one way or the other as I have not been on a Viking cruise just refer you to what others have written about Viking both here and elsewhere and you can decide for yourself if Viking is for you from there. The most important thing to do in choosing a river cruise is to research the heck out of it to make sure you are getting what you want and expect from a river cruise.

LOVED my honeymoon on the Jarl down the Rhine. Advice: pay the $50 to choose your flights and seats. Fly in as early as possible to get extra time in the first city. We did not extend the vacation in Lucerne and regretted that because we fly out first thing and missed the entire city. Extend to see your last city!

My husband & I are preparing for our very first river cruise... we chose the "Viking Rhine Getaway" cruise, beginning in Amsterdam, ending in Basel!

We are cruising from June 30th-July 7th, 2017!

Is there anyone going on this particular cruise we could chat here with... maybe end up meeting on this cruise?

Also, anyone been on this cruise who may give us some helpful hints?

Thanks so much!

Susu47

There is a roll call for the Viking river cruise on the board (see right hand side). You might find somebody on your date, if not certainly quite a few that travel before you and come back with tips that you may profit from.

Have a great cruise.

notamermaid

:ship::cool: My wife and I are in the beginning stages of planning a river cruise in June of 2018. Have decided on taking Viking. We were trying to decide which Viking ship to take. Anyone have any experience with taking a Viking Rhine River cruise? Any suggestions, pro or con would be very helpful?

 

Thank you.

We love Viking. Been on them 6 times and have 4 more booked.

We know what kind of weather we like which is short sleeve so we always go to AccuWeather and pull up the average high lows and last years temps for the cities we will be visiting. Suggest you do the same.

July and early September are our favorite times in Europe.

I am still having difficulty finding the Viking River Cruises Roll Call... any DETAILED guidelines would be greatly appreciated..( looked on right hand side without success)!

Susu47

I am still having difficulty finding the Viking River Cruises Roll Call... any DETAILED guidelines would be greatly appreciated..( looked on right hand side without success)!

Susu47

Click this link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2337826

Go to the last page and work your backwards until you find it.

Eventually you'll find the list which is currently:

2017 Viking Rhine Getaway Roll Call

MARCH

Mar. 18 - Viking Tialfi - BA - Buckeye shipheads (Dinesh & Amy)

Mar. 25 - Viking Tialfi - AB - kedmond@live.com (wife, hubby & 2 friends)

Mar. 26 - Viking Kara - AB - MadcityTravelers (Dee and Mike)

Mar. 29 - Viking Kvasar - AB - rspickel (Bob & Nancy)

APRIL

April 1 - Viking Alruna - AB - jrkstl (Jeff & Dave)

April 2 - Viking Hlin - AB - taussig (Tammy & family)

April 2 - Viking Kara - BA - richiebaseball (Richard & Debra)

April 5 - Viking Kvasir - BA - LoneStar72 (John & Mary Ann)

April 9 - Viking Hlin -BA - Paristx

April 14 - Viking Mani - BA - 105palmetto

April 14 - Viking Mani - BA - mijim (Mary Jo & Jerry)

April 16 - Viking Hlin - AB - Jaysee (John and Sherrie)

April 19 - Viking Idi - AB - sbb (Sharon & Andy)

April 26 - Viking Kvasir - AB - MauigalRN (Ava &Steve)

April 26 - Viking Kvasir - AB - glorydog

April 30 - Viking Hlin - AB - Mimi33 - (Mary & Rollie)

April 30 - Viking Kara - BA - uababs (Barbara, George, Theresa and Kathy)

MAY

May 3 - Viking Idi - AB - SantaRosatraveler (Pegi)

May 4 - Viking Vidar - AB - Redundant echo (Lynda & Larry)

May 6 - Viking Tialfi - AB - Mom2kandz

May 7 - Viking Idi - BA - HiLo71 (Lois & Larry)

May 7 - Viking Idi - BA - highland cruiser (Mary & Brad)

May 10 - Viking Kvasir -AB - mart&jim (Martha & Jim)

May 11 - Viking ?? - AB - RealCajunLady

May 13 - Viking Alruna - AB - EdgeStrategic (Ed & Natalie)

May 14 - Viking Kvasir - Bandcgarms

May 18 - Viking Vidar- AB - Lagunajames (Anne & James)

May 20 - Viking Alruna - BA - SurfSkiPaddler (Vicki & Paul)

May 24 - Viking Kvasir - AB travelor (Carol and John)

May 26 - Viking Eir - AB - Onemantax (Adam & Elena, Alan & Susan)

May 26 - Viking Eir- AB - brandalyn (Brandi & Jeff)

JUNE

June 1 - Viking Vidar - AB - tevegal (Barbara & Ed)

June 2 - Viking Mani - AB - TERRIER1

June 3 - Viking Alruna - BA - Chicken soup ( Bob & Marcia)

June 3 - Viking Alruna - BA - fob (Karen & Bonnie)

June 8 - Viking Lofn - AB - Tall texan too (Mark & Teresa)

June 11 - Viking Kara - BA - topcat76 (Theresa and Ted)

June 18 - Viking Kara - AB - kevdog71 (Kevin, Cynthia and family)

June 18 - Viking Kara - AB - ddaniel337 (Daniel + 38 guests - wow!)

June 24 - Viking Alruna - AB - Tmfritts (Terri & Bob)

June 26 - Viking Hlin - BA - Bob Kriwitsky

JULY

July 1 - Viking Tialfi - AB - kentchris (Chris and Catriona)

July 2 - Viking Kara -AB - Ladiewillow

July 12 - Viking Kvasir - BA - Sparky333 (Leslie & Rob)

July 22 -Viking Tialfi - BA - abstractgirl (Julia & Steve, Daryl & Diane)

July 26 - Viking Kvasir -BA - CrazyCruiseGirl61 (Alyssa & Steven)

July 27 - Viking Lofn - BA - mskaufman (Mark & Karen)

July 27 - Viking Lofn - BA - nagingmom

July 29 - Viking Tailfi - AB - Cairn Mom

July 29 - Viking Tailfi - AB - happytravelers123

AUGUST

Aug. 3 - Viking ?? - AB - jkmjkmjkm

Aug. 6 - Viking Kara - BA - catmandid2 (Steve & Debbie)

Aug. 20 - Viking Hlin - AB - KYwoman1962 (Sandy & Jeff)

Aug. 23 - Viking Idi - AB - travelingman (Karen & Stan and another couple)

Aug. 30 - Viking Kvasir - AB - London Bridge

SEPTEMBER

Sept 1 - Viking Alruna - AB - v72sonic (Debbie & Mike)

Sept. 1 - Viking Alruna - BA- mp324

Sept. 10 - Viking Kara - AB - Lewbie

Sept, 13 - Viking Kvasir - AB - pencilpusher44 (Lynn, Scott, Pam and Dave)

Sept. 29 - Viking Eir - AB - Lilyskittymom (Maria and Larry)

OCTOBER

Oct. 4 - Viking Idi - AB - TheRabbit (John & Cheryl)

Oct. 4 - Viking Idi - AB - INRN

Oct. 5 - Viking Vidar - ?? - bobchico

Oct. 11 - Viking Kvasir - AB - CruisewhenWecan (Jack & Sandra)

Oct. 14 - Viking Alruna - AB - Kellybc- John and Cathy

Oct. 15 - Viking ? -AB - Lovesgreys (Linda)

Oct. 18 - Viking Kvasir - BA - Gapper (Sheila & Gary)

Oct. 22 - Viking Kara - AB - Harrodsfan

Oct. 29 - Viking Hlin - AB - Psion gamma (Laura & Kris)

NOVEMBER

Nov. 1 - Viking Kvasir - BA - Jjean

Nov. 3 - Viking Eir - BA - G.C (with their son, daughter and their spouses)

Nov. 4 - Viking Tialfi - AB - leonidis712 (Jenn & Jason)

Nov. 5 - Viking Hlin - BA - putnam (Sheila & Linda)

Nov. 5 - Viking Kara - AB - sunfan03

Nov. 12 - Viking Hlin - AB - katfowler

Nov. 17 - Viking Mani - AB - Tootsiewootsie (Andrea & 6 couples from Florida and NJ)

Nov. 24 - Viking Mani -BA - lladage (Lynn & Steve)

Nov. 24 - Viking Mani - BA - Mooder (Kathy & Sister)

Nov. 24 - Viking Mani - BA - hopebh (Hope &Tim, Alex & Ritchie, Kyle & Louann)

Nov. 25 - Viking Tialfi - BA - BobKat26 (Kathy & Bob)

Nov. 25 - Viking Tialfi - BA - terry&mike. (Terry & Mike, Mary & Margaret ( Mom & Aunt))

Nov. 25 - Viking Tialfi - BA - KLEEBIEPAL

Nov. 25 - Viking Tialfi - BA - Florida Library Lady (Christy & Dennis)

DECEMBER

Dec. 1 - Viking Mani - AB - Grandma of five (Doug & Tanya)

Dec. 1 - Viking Mani - AB - JerryinBWB (Jerry and Marla)

Dec. 2 - Viking Freya - ?? - D-VilleGuy

Dec. 2 - Viking Alruna - BA - budamom (Ruth)

Dec. 3 - Viking Mani - AB - worldtraveler1234

Dec. 5 - Viking Eir - AB - CAgirl (Renee)

Dec. 8 - Viking Mani - BA - cassie cruiser (Yvonne & Dennis)

Dec. 9 - Viking Alruna - AB - WHMS

Dec. 22 - Viking Eir -AB - DisneyMemaw (Susan & Dick)

*****************

Welcome new cruisers , Maria and Larry!! Your cruise begins on my birthday!!

Let me know if you find any mistakes or if you aren't added!

 

Bon Voyage! Terri (tmfritts)

:ship::cool: My wife and I are in the beginning stages of planning a river cruise in June of 2018. Have decided on taking Viking. We were trying to decide which Viking ship to take. Anyone have any experience with taking a Viking Rhine River cruise? Any suggestions, pro or con would be very helpful?

 

Thank you.

We absolutely LOVED our Rhine Getaway with Viking. In fact we loved sailing with Viking so much we booked the West Indies Explorer on Viking Ocean, and we are about to book the Grand European Tour with them. There are a lot of Viking haters on these boards and many have never even sailed with Viking, so frankly I don't get it. But their ships sail full and you have to book way out to get the one you want.

I can tell you that from the first phone call until we stepped off the plane at JFK when we came home we had a wonderful, wonderful trip. (customs and immigration at JFK - not so wonderful :rolleyes:)

We booked our air through Viking. We paid the $50 to use Viking Air Plus (highly recommended!). It's a good idea to do a bit of research on your own for flights and have a couple of options. The Viking Air rep worked with us and we changed our flights a couple of times. And because we didn't do the pre-cruise extension with them, we paid the $100 deviation fee. You don't get the transfers when you deviate from the norm. But we'd been to Amsterdam before and felt confident in doing it on our own. Even with the deviation fee and paying for transfers, we saved money.

We did Lucerne post cruise through Viking and they handled everything - very easy and stress free! I would go either way, depending on the port.

We wanted flights on United because we have their mileage card, and hoped to add those miles to it. United is not a Viking "partner" so we had to pay more, but we were okay with that, and I knew that was a possibility going in. A few days later we talked it over and decided we wanted to upgrade to business/first class - not a problem, but again United was going to be more (and it always is because they have Newark Liberty locked up - they are a pain!) I asked the rep what she could do within the standard Viking upgrade. She said Delta - I said fine! She booked us on Delta, but the return flight from Zurich had us changing planes in Paris at CDG. I thought - okay, it's day time and I can say I was in Paris :) But then I started reading horror stories about changing planes in CDG and how hard it is to navigate through that airport. We only had an hour and half to do this.

I looked around and found a Delta flight that was direct, non-stop, Zurich to JFK. Now JFK is kind of a pain and it's an hour - an hour and a half away, but I thought better what I know at the end, than what I don't know in the middle. Called Viking Air - no problem. They switched the flights. We were already ticketed 10 months out. I was able to switch the seats to ones I preferred right on the Delta site. Worked out very well.

I have allergies with shampoos etc so I wanted to test what Viking offered in the bathrooms. At the time it was L'Occitaine. I got some - no issues - then they switched to their own brand. I contacted them, explained the problem and asked if I could purchase them somewhere to try. Not a problem - they sent a full set in a lovely silver gift bag with a nice note. They were perfect.

Yes - there are people who have had problems, but it seems to me - when reading them - that it comes from not doing research, reacting without thinking or just not understanding how things work, miscommunications. Do do your research - with any line.

I knew about rafting. I knew river cruises and ocean cruises are two completely different experiences and was not expecting anything like an ocean cruise. I knew there could be issues with water levels, so I chose the timing of our cruise carefully. Still could have been issues, but I knew going in that there might be a ship swap and I was okay with that. I've read the experiences of people who did it, and I thought, "I can deal with that." We had no issues.

I chose Viking after considering several other lines. The other lines didn't fit for various reasons - just our way of doing things and our likes and dislikes. I loved the look of the Viking longships, and they stopped in Kinderdijk - which few others did - and we wanted to stop there.

As I said - I'm glad I did! Just an all around wonderful experience. There's a group on that other site - which shall not be named - that are people who love Viking - and it's a big group :cool:

We were on the Mani, but all the longships are the same except for artwork and miscellaneous things of little consequence. The room was great - we had a veranda and rafting wasn't much of an issue. We did it mostly when we were off the ship. I was glad to have the extra space and that nice big window to look out. The staff were fabulous. We enjoyed every meal - food was great. We ate at the Aquavit Terrace most breakfasts & lunches, but ate dinner in the dining room/restaurant. I've heard people saying that the food Viking serves is "American" food - whatever that means. I thought of it as "continental" - without a specific cuisine of a specific country. I just know I was happy with the choices, thought everything was nicely presented and most importantly tasted great! My husband is a fussy eater and he was happy as well.

We were fine with the included beer and wine. We weren't paying extra for it, and we sampled local offerings at the stops along the way. Just an FYI, we both worked for a wine importer and distributor. We have tasted crappy expensive wine and excellent cheap wine. One of the sales reps at that company had the rest of us asking all the time whether a wine was good or not. His answer was always, "It tastes good and will get you drunk if you drink enough of it." The included wine and beer tasted fine. It bothered me not where it came from. It wasn't costing me more ;p

You can bring aboard wines and beers you find at those stops aboard and they will pour them for you at dinner - no corkage fee like most ocean cruisers. My husband likes cognac and we brought a bottle on board. I didn't find out until later that they would have kept it by the bar with his name on it, but he was happy to have it in the room for his nightcap..

There are a lot of river cruise lines out there, and they all have their fans. I'm sure each has their share of detractors as well. I have nothing to say about them either way, as I've never sailed on them. I'm sure each is wonderful in it's way and each has aspects that will annoy someone.

We have traveled a lot. We have cruised a lot. Viking has made loyal customers out of us, but I'd try something else if the situation presented itself and was workable. For the moment and the near future, I'm not looking to make a change. If it's not broke, don't fix it.

I will mention one thing that seems to come up often, and it's the one thing we weren't crazy about. Viking wants you to pay in full not long after you book. This is negotiable. You may have to push a bit if it's your first Viking cruise, but all I did was ask when I booked the ocean cruise - not a problem - easy peasy. "When would you like to pay for that?" I was asked. I picked a date that worked for us and that's when we paid.

All I can tell you is to do the research. Find a line and a cruise that works for the way you want to do it. That's what I did, and again - for us Viking was a good decision.

Happy sails!

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences on the Viking Mani. We are very excited since this is our very first river boat cruise. We are hoping to hear from some guests that will be traveling on the Viking Mani at the same time we are ...June 30 to July 7!

If this turns out to be a positive and wonderful experience we are thinking it will, we will definitely be booking other Viking cruises to other destinations!

Susu 47 (Susan & husband John) :cool:

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences on the Viking Mani. We are very excited since this is our very first river boat cruise. We are hoping to hear from some guests that will be traveling on the Viking Mani at the same time we are ...June 30 to July 7!

 

If this turns out to be a positive and wonderful experience we are thinking it will, we will definitely be booking other Viking cruises to other destinations!

 

Susu 47 (Susan & husband John) :cool:

With only 190 passengers it's not easy to find CC members traveling on the same sailing. We tried. I joined the 2016 Rhine Getaway group under the roll call section here. We had 40-50 people in the group and yet none of us were on the same sailing.

The Viking Ocean ships hold 930 and there is only one on my West Indies sailing and the ship is just about sold out.

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We traveled on Viking Forseti Rhein cruise, a couple of years ago. It was great. It was our first river cruise and will be taking our second one this July. I think the Rhein cruise is a perfect first river cruise experience. We started in Basel and spent one night there before the cruise. A very lovely city with easy public transportation. The crew is very personal and offered great information about shopping or local alcohol. They even shrunk wrapped bottles we bought that only had a cork for our travels

We will be taking Uniworld next. We look for the best bargain for the cruise itinerary we want. I am sure I will love it also.

:ship::cool: My wife and I are in the beginning stages of planning a river cruise in June of 2018. Have decided on taking Viking. We were trying to decide which Viking ship to take. Anyone have any experience with taking a Viking Rhine River cruise? Any suggestions, pro or con would be very helpful?

 

Thank you.

We are going on Viking in 2 weeks on the Rhine. This will be our first cruise. I will let you know how it goes. Jeff;)

:ship::cool: My wife and I are in the beginning stages of planning a river cruise in June of 2018. Have decided on taking Viking. We were trying to decide which Viking ship to take. Anyone have any experience with taking a Viking Rhine River cruise? Any suggestions, pro or con would be very helpful?

 

Thank you.

Hope I'm not too late to offer advice, but I have recently returned from just such a Rhine cruise.

I have written a full review on my cruise blog, with over 50 photographs.

Here is the link...

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2017/05/12/viking-eir-rhine-getaway-april-2017/

and ...

We just returned from our Rhine Getaway on Viking Eir., Basel to Amsterdam. We cannot say enough good things about our trip. All the staff from Captain on down were great. They could not do enough for us. They all worked hard as a team and wore many hats ! Chef Klaus and his staff turned out amazing and delicious meals daily. The wait staff was phenomenal. Kudos to Marlon, Kristijian and Almira, and Maitre D Ronnel. From their bar service to dining room service, they went above and beyond every expectation we had. Guest services and Viking host Renee are to be complemented on their knowledge and expertise. It was a trip of a lifetime. The ship was clean and comfortable and space was used to maximum effectiveness. Excursions were organized and educational. So many beautiful sights and experiences ! Optional excursions to Colmar were excellent. Dinner out in Rudesheim was a great night also. We would have loved to spend daylight hours in Rudesheim and Koblenz however. Pre cruise Lucerne with transfers was a breeze. Schweizerhof was a wonderful Hotel. Post cruise Amsterdam was rather effortless also, but we much preferred the serenity and beauty of Lucerne. Our group of 12 were all more than thrilled and happy with this cruise

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