Booked first ever river cruise: Viking Hlin from Basel to Amsterdam

[herb]

As you can see from our signature we are not new to cruising, but definitely new to river cruising. Our experiences are with huge cruise ships with thousands of guests sailing to blue waters and palm trees in the Caribbean :D

 

We had always toyed with the idea of trying a river cruise, but with air fares to Europe so high (we could actually book a cruise with the air fare spent) we always put the idea on a back burner.

 

With an upcoming "special" birthday for my wife we've decided to give it a go and have booked with Viking on the Longship Hlin from Basel to Amsterdam with a 2 night pre-stay in Lucerne. Our good friends will be joining us on this cruise.

We've been to Germany and Switzerland numerous times since we both have alot of family as well as friends in Germany and Switzerland but we were intrigued by the "small ship" atmosphere, not having to take the elevator to deck 15 to go swimming ;) , and just enjoying a quiet and leisurely cruise up the Rhine. We both speak German fluently so we should have no problem communicating in town as well as with ship personnel in case their native tongue is German.

 

Our only question .... for now... ;) is that of the flights offered. We are using Viking Air and were wondering how far in advance they will notify you as to which flights they've booked you on. We live very close to Kennedy Airport in NYC so I was thinking that a direct flight to Zurich and a direct flight from Amsterdam would not be that difficult to arrange. I know they offer Custom Air. Do you sign up for that once they give you their flight arrangements and you wish to change that, or do you sign up for Custom Air way before you even know what Viking is offering?

 

We will both be following CC and all that the website has to offer in upcoming year to give us a heads up on all that is important to us to make this once in a lifetime vacation a very positive and happy experience.... :)

[id est]

Our only question .... for now... ;) is that of the flights offered. We are using Viking Air and were wondering how far in advance they will notify you as to which flights they've booked you on....

About 2 months in advance. But no worries: the flights are usually good with at least 2 hours layover if there is one.

 

... I know they offer Custom Air. Do you sign up for that once they give you their flight arrangements and you wish to change that, or do you sign up for Custom Air way before you even know what Viking is offering?..

Need to sign up not later than 50 days before departure. The flights schedule is usually available 8-10 months before the cruise.

Our cruise is in December and we already have flights arranged using Custom Air. Good Luck!

[Riverroad]

If Viking gives you the flights purchased through them only two months before your departure, that will be much too late to change them if they're not to your liking. Since you will be departing from JFK, there is no reason that you can't be on a non-stop (not "direct") flight to Zurich and return from Amsterdam. AA and DL and their partners fly non-stop to/from both those cities. Viking may put you on a "direct" flight with one or more stops to your destination.

 

Why not look at booking your own flights instead of through Viking? No one knows what the prices will be more than a year from now but you can look at flights for this July and get a sense of what it will cost. Do you have any ff miles? If so, you could start looking at @ 330 days out to see if you can get seats using miles. Keep checking because award seats are not all loaded into the system on the first day. Yours is not a complicated itinerary and I see no reason to have to use Viking for your flights.

[alexandra cruiser]

and suggest you read the sticky under cruise flights here on CC.Gives a lot of info re.these along with the pitfalls.Learned a LOT and now book own flights and get refunds .Much better for me to control all the details.

Took 1 Viking cruise flight thru them and awful with many layovers,etc.

Others like the convenience,but sounds like many options for you to think about.;)

[Host Jazzbeau]

PS - If you want to communicate with the crew in their native language, German isn't going to be much help. Start learning Eastern European languages: Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian...

[notamermaid]

Well I have to agree with that from the experience on my cruise last year:

 

PS - If you want to communicate with the crew in their native language, German isn't going to be much help. Start learning Eastern European languages: Hungarian, Romanian, Ukrainian...

 

Out of the crew max. a quarter had German as their native tongue.

 

It seems to be similar across the river cruise companies now.

 

I have recently learnt that the staff is hired via agencies, they have "large job interview event days" in places like Budapest.

 

Of course, they all have to have a good command of English.

 

But I am sure you will have lots of fun speaking German to the locals and your friends.

 

notamermaid

Edited April 9, 2014 by notamermaid