Just returned Viking Freya Budapest to Amsterdam...thoughts and tips

[Riversedge]

I wish you would post some pictures Lauren. I am sure many would love to see them. Thanks again for the great reviews.

 

If I can figure out how to get them from my iPad to here I'd be glad to! I could write a little bit about each port with a couple of pictures. If someone knows how to do this let me know.

[firstplacechef]

Swamp1sg, we are on that cruise Dec 2013, what should we expect? Tours, food, service, weather? TIA. Scott

[Viking Cruises]

Dear Lauren,

 

We first want to thank you for such a detailed review of your Grand European Tour. Please know we have read all of your posts and like your fellow travelers here, we’ve been taking notes. It makes us so happy to know that you had a good trip overall, enjoyed the dining options at breakfast and lunch, were pleased with the staff, enjoyed your French Balcony stateroom, and even shared mention of the impromptu ice cream party on the Sun Deck. (Ice cream on a summer day while passing the castles along the Rhine sounds lovely. Kudos to Viking Freya’s crew for putting that together! They come up with so many reasons to make the company proud.) Sharing so much information and your travel tips learned from experience is truly a gift you are giving this community — thank you for your generosity!

 

Regarding your feedback on dinner menus and the dining experience, we again appreciate your fair and detailed comments and we offer our sincere apologies for your disappointment with this aspect of your trip. We are looking for solutions to help lower the volume in the restaurant. As you guessed, it is not a quick fix. You are also not the first to mention portion size, though opinions on this often seem to vary (an example being TFC’s comments in post #48, which made us laugh). Seeing as dining is so subjective, we are always working on enhancing this area in an effort to deliver an experience that a vast majority of our guests will enjoy. Though you’ve offered such rich feedback here, we’ve also asked our Customer Relations team to call you, as we often learn even more through a conversation.

 

Lauren, we would love to have as our guest again and hope to have the pleasure of introducing you to another wonderful crew, another wonderful destination, sometime very soon.

 

Kindest regards,

Viking River Cruises

 

P.S. Let us say one more time, Happy Anniversary!

[zahav1]

We were on the Viking Europe a long time ago, I think 2006. To this day it has been our most favorite trip, we still talk about it often. It was the most amazing experience, loved the stateroom and regarding the food, breakfast was our favorite. Yes, the dinners were a smaller portion, but that was fine, you can always order more of anything and we never did. I'm sure the ships today are more modern and bigger, but we loved ours.

[Riversedge]

Viking: I did receive your phone call. Unfortunately we weren't home at the time but I will be calling back. We appreciate your efforts to make everyone's experience a great one to remember.

[The Old Fogies]

THANKS soooooo much for all the info about cruising! I am packing right now for a month long cruise with Uniworld. It's our first river cruise. So far the only problem I have is that they say "no shorts at dinner". UGH - my husband will not be a happy camper. He LIVES in shorts! And the 7 PM dining time is sort of late - especially if we have to get to bed early because we will have to get up early for the tours!!! Here comes the Acid Reflux!!!! I like to eat earlier to let everything digest! Someone suggested eating more at lunch. That might be an option. On cruise ships, we actually eat ALL meals in the buffet!!!!

 

I do have one tip - buy Purex Laundry Sheets - which are a combination of detergent & fabric softener in one sheet. It goes in the washing machine with the clothes and then goes into the dryer with the clothes - works great! Weighs less than detergent powder!

 

Ladies - Walmart carries a Revlon Dual Wattage curling iron! You need to bring along a plug adapter so it will fit into the European outlet

 

And Lauren - I am now removing the dressier clothes from my suitcase and putting back in the capris which I was afraid of trying to wear at dinner!!!

 

THANKS for all your tips!

 

Karen

[LHT28]

I do have one tip - buy Purex Laundry Sheets - which are a combination of detergent & fabric softener in one sheet. It goes in the washing machine with the clothes and then goes into the dryer with the clothes - works great! Weighs less than detergent powder!

 

Karen

Do not know about Uniworld but most river ships do not have self serve laundry

[lcj4]

Most Uniworld ships have free self serve laundry. Also, after one Uniworld cruise, you get free laundry service once a week.

[The Old Fogies]

Most Uniworld ships have free self serve laundry. Also, after one Uniworld cruise, you get free laundry service once a week.

 

lcj4 - Sounds like you have been on Uniworld! I knew that they have a SMALL laundry room. BUT - can you tell me about how everyone dresses???? They try to sound sooooooo upscale in their booklets. I just checked with friends who went on 2 different river boat cruise lines. One said that everyone wore jeans in the dining room in the Fall. And they both said that no one really dressed up for dinner or the Welcome & Farewell dinners. Do you know what everyone will be wearing???? Can I wear Capris for dinner??? Except for the last 2 weeks of June in Norway, I haven't worn slacks/jeans since January!!! And OHHHHH - if anyone is looking for a great cruise, go to Norway. We went on Princess and went up past the Arctic Circle to Honningvag and hundreds of miles into fjords - absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!!!

 

Karen

[swamp1sg]

Firstplacechef: We enjoyed our Viking Normandy Cruise. The weather was overcast and chilly, with Paris being cold. The ship staff was great. We found their tour guides to be exceptional. Except for Paris, there is not a lot of shopping. Although you could probably find a place to spend your money in Rouen. Since you are going in December the Christmas market in front of the cathedral in Rouen should be open. Normandy was very quiet, with a lot of the small town closed for the winter. I think this added to the special dignity of the place. We did eat in a wonderful restaurant in the town where the museum was. This was included in our trip and the food was the best we are on the entire trip. The chocolate cake that I ate for desert was so good it made me want to lick the plate. One afternoon the ship had a "Taste of Normandy" in the lounge with food and drinks and an accordian player to add to the festivities. Of course, there are no words to describe the visit to the American Cemetery.

[lcj4]

Tennis Couple-Karen

On our two Uniworld cruises (mid September and end of May) we enjoyed very warm weather. Capris would be fine for dinner. Most people changed for dinner, but only out of day travel (ie sweaty) clothes, not into fancy clothes. I never saw anyone in jeans at dinner. The Captains welcome and farewell dinners were a little dressier...men perhaps in a button down shirt. Some men had jackets or blazers, but almost no ties. Women added a nicer blouse or shiny top to black or white slacks. A casual skirt would also work. No one looked out of place and no one cared what was worn. Dress for your comfort. Have a great time--you will really enjoy yourselves. Linda

[CountessOz]

I am enjoying your posts. My husband and I are thinking of going on the Viking Bragi on October 6th 2013. (We will both be having our birthdays during the cruise). We have some friend who we have cruised with extensively joining us. We are having difficulty deciding between APT and Viking but it sounds that you get better bang for your bucks with Viking. Could any tell me how old the Bragi is and has anyone travelled on it?:cool:

[buckeye82]

Tennis Couple-

 

Hi Karen! We were on the same roll call for the Norway trip and I met you briefly in the Internet Cafe on the last day of the cruise. My husband and I are also doing a river cruise with our daughter later this year. We traveled with Viking last summer to China and it was very casual. Had a great time. Hope you have a wonderful river cruise!

[John99]

Lauren,

 

Thanks for your insightful thoughts! Great stuff. I really enjoyed your detailed comments and helpful tips.

 

Like most people that travel you probably had some preconceived ideas about you Viking trip. When you look back, what one or two things really surprised you? Something you did not expect?

 

 

John

[Nippy Sweetie]

Lovely posts Lauren and much enjoyed. Reading the others it makes one realise how hard it must be for Viking (and all the other companies to please us all.) eg my husband would be horrified at anyone wanting to wear shorts at Dinner and we both find 7 pm far too early for dinner. You truly can`t please all the people all the time!

[Riversedge]

Lauren,

 

Thanks for your insightful thoughts! Great stuff. I really enjoyed your detailed comments and helpful tips.

 

Like most people that travel you probably had some preconceived ideas about you Viking trip. When you look back, what one or two things really surprised you? Something you did not expect?

 

 

John

 

Thinking about time on the boat I would say that the biggest surprise was the very casual way many people dressed at dinner. I wasn't expecting shorts and tshirts. I knew it wouldn't be as dressy as an ocean cruise but it was much more casual than I thought it would be. Also much hotter and sunnier but in that respect I think we were lucky!

 

I also wasn't expecting to be so worn out at the end of the day. We were so busy and walked so far. We're very active people and I'm one that rarely sits down during the day but it even wore me out.

 

As far as the ports, we were suprised at how much we fell in love with Budapest and Germany. We were in awe of the medieval cities, the castles and the cathedrals. We were also surprised at how little we liked Amsterdam. (dirty, marijuana smells everywhere, a different type of crowd in the streets) We were also surprised at how the walking was more difficult than we expected with the uneven cobblestones, hills, etc. I was on crutches so that made it harder but I do think it would be a challenge to someone not in fairly good walking condition.

 

As it was our first trip to Europe we were also surprised at how well you can get along even if you don't speak any language other than English. We had always heard people say that but it was much easier to get around, order in restaurants, shop in stores, etc. than we thought it would be. We weren't expecting to fall in love with Europe as much as we did. Can't wait to go back.

[SFO-F/A]

Lauren, I have really enjoyed reading your review and ideas of what to bring on the river cruise. We are excited about taking Viking Sun the end of November this year. The last time we were on Viking was probably 8 years ago, in the summer. We're looking forward to visiting the Christmas Markets this year.

[2onboardagain]

Lauren,

It wasn't until you mentioned that you saw the "big wigs" on board that I finally realized that we crossed paths in Vienna. We were on the Njord sailing from Amsterdam to Budapest and were tied up to the Freya in Vienna.

[Sittib11]

Hi Lauren:

 

We have friends that just returned from a Prague to Budapest Viking cruise. They thoroughly enjoyed their trip, but indicated that the "complimentary" wine and beer with meals was limited to just one glass. Can you comment on your experience?

 

Thanks for the "trip report". willbrook

 

We found it to be unlimited during the dining hours, very generous with that on the Idun...

[MoneyGuy]

We were on the Freya four weeks after Lauren and had a terrific time. I won't get into little issues because I'd rate this cruise as virtually perfect. We just got a call from our agent asking about the cruise because they've had many complaints about the Viking Sun and our cruise was so wonderful that we are wondering how anyone could have complained. A few people on our ship complained about Issues but that's more an indictment on them than on Viking or our ship.

 

Good job, Viking. You're wonderful in all ways and we will be back.

[janmcn]

Lauren…thanks for one of the best, most useful writeups of a cruise I've seen. As a "planning for a future river cruise" all your advice seemed to be just what I would need to make my journey a bit easier.

 

Great job…glad you enjoyed the cruise…shall put that Viking one at the top of my list (going from Budapest to Amsterdam was what we wanted to do.)

[Riversedge]

Lauren,

It wasn't until you mentioned that you saw the "big wigs" on board that I finally realized that we crossed paths in Vienna. We were on the Njord sailing from Amsterdam to Budapest and were tied up to the Freya in Vienna.

 

Yes, we were tied up together. I think we had to pass through the Njord to get to shore if I remember right. Weren't you having some air conditioning problems? I thought I heard some talk about that and it was so very hot at that time.

I think the bigwigs were there to see if they could find some solutions to a few glitches that always turn up with new boats. We were impressed that they were there and talking to the people on the boats and asking their opinions.

[2onboardagain]

Yes, we were tied up together. I think we had to pass through the Njord to get to shore if I remember right. Weren't you having some air conditioning problems? I thought I heard some talk about that and it was so very hot at that time.

I think the bigwigs were there to see if they could find some solutions to a few glitches that always turn up with new boats. We were impressed that they were there and talking to the people on the boats and asking their opinions.

 

Yes it was very warm in the public spaces that day. They only were able to produce 40% of the air conditioning load. As a consequence they were redirecting the A/C from one part of the ship to another while they awaited the delivery of a vital part. I assume that they received that part on the day we ended our cruise since there haven't been any postings about A/C on the Njord since that week. I can't say enough about how the crew slogged their way through those trying conditions. What little A/C that was available was directed to passenger cabins so the working conditions for the crew were really stressed.

[PROCRUISE]

Lauren,

 

Let me also thank you for this marvelous guide. We'll be on The Viking Bragi, also Budapest to Amsterdam, 8/24/2013. Your "novel" is just outstanding.

[PROCRUISE]

Thinking about time on the boat I would say that the biggest surprise was the very casual way many people dressed at dinner. I wasn't expecting shorts and tshirts. I knew it wouldn't be as dressy as an ocean cruise but it was much more casual than I thought it would be. Also much hotter and sunnier but in that respect I think we were lucky!

 

I also wasn't expecting to be so worn out at the end of the day. We were so busy and walked so far. We're very active people and I'm one that rarely sits down during the day but it even wore me out.

 

As far as the ports, we were suprised at how much we fell in love with Budapest and Germany. We were in awe of the medieval cities, the castles and the cathedrals. We were also surprised at how little we liked Amsterdam. (dirty, marijuana smells everywhere, a different type of crowd in the streets) We were also surprised at how the walking was more difficult than we expected with the uneven cobblestones, hills, etc. I was on crutches so that made it harder but I do think it would be a challenge to someone not in fairly good walking condition.

 

As it was our first trip to Europe we were also surprised at how well you can get along even if you don't speak any language other than English. We had always heard people say that but it was much easier to get around, order in restaurants, shop in stores, etc. than we thought it would be. We weren't expecting to fall in love with Europe as much as we did. Can't wait to go back.

 

We're thinking about staying an extra day in Amsterdam or arriving a day early in Budapest. Sounds like you'd recommend the latter? I've been to Amsterdam before but not Budapest. Assume we could get hotel fairly close to where riverboat docks and then just get a taxi to take us to the boat? Thanks again so much for your review. I've written down 22 of your suggestions!! :)