Live from the Viking Bragi

[rivercruiser12]

I've benefitted so much from all the postings on Cruise Critic that I wanted to pay it forward. I'll do my best to tell you what this cruise is like, and pass along any tips I can. I'll report in as often as free time and wifi allows.

 

This is our second day on the Grand European from Amsterdam to Budapest. Let me start by saying the ship is beautiful and the crew is extremely friendly and helpful.

 

We arranged our flight and transfers through Viking and were met by their staff at the airport after we picked up our luggage. We only had to wait a few minutes until they had enough people to load up the bus for the 20 minute drive to the ship. (Tip - if you're interested in unique modern buildings, sit on the right side of the bus for a slightly better view of some really interesting buildings you can see right after you leave the airport.)

 

When we got to the ship, it was docked right next to the Viking Var which will be going on the same route for the first few days, then it leaves us to go down towards Basel.

 

We got on board at around 10:30 and enjoyed checking out the ship. There is a herb garden, and a huge chess board, along with a shuffle board and many lounge chairs on the top open air deck. A nice place to watch the world go by.

 

After a nice buffet lunch we were able to get into our room. There was a quick one-hour walking tour at 1:30, which was repeated at 3:00. I'm told they also gave the tour in the morning for those who got on board early. We had wanted to go to the Anne Frank house, and I had tried to get tickets online about a month ago, but they were already sold out for this day. We could have waited in line, but it was about a two hour wait - not what we wanted to do when we had less than a day in Amsterdam. (Tip - if you want to go to the Anne Frank house, get your tickets online more than a month ahead of time!).

 

The lovely Dewi Klop is our program director and each night she gives us information about the next port.

 

The second day of our cruise was a little strange. We were supposed to be in Kinderdijk in the morning for a guided tour of the windmills. But we were told that they were doing repairs on a bridge, so we had to take a detour and couldn't go back because we'd lose too much time. So we would continue on to our next stop in Cologne. We were disappointed, but these things happen, so you roll with it.

 

But then after we had been cruising towards Cologne for quite a while, there was an announcement that we were turning around and going back to Kinderdijk. I'm not sure why all of a sudden we could go back, and why it no longer mattered that we were losing so much time. We were also told that we could go see the windmills, but because of the change, we would not have a guided tour. However, when we got to Kinderdijk we saw people from the Viking Var on their guided tour. So I guess they only had enough guides for one ship, and we drew the short straw. It was a little frustrating, but not catastrophic.

 

That's all for today. Will report back soon.

[ural guy]

Thanks for report, we'll be making the same trip in 2 weeks.

I'll be reading along with much anticipation. :)

[anandaindonesia]

Subscribe.

Hope you have great cruise onwards.

 

Does Viking has table for two during dinner?

If we can't stay for the long dining process, is there any alternative for simple dining?

[TravelBugM]

In the main dining room, there aren't tables for 2. You would find tables for 2 in the Aquavit lounge, which has a small dinner menu and would definitely be more "simple dining" than the main dining room.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[rothbury]

Thanks for the report on your Grand European cruise. Sure could use some info on the Bragi as we will be on her in a few months.

[cherylakers]

Thanks for the live report. We are doing the same cruise on the bragi in October 2015.

 

Hope she stays as beautiful as you say she is.

 

Cheryl

[Viking Cruises]

I've benefitted so much from all the postings on Cruise Critic that I wanted to pay it forward. I'll do my best to tell you what this cruise is like, and pass along any tips I can. I'll report in as often as free time and wifi allows.

 

This is our second day on the Grand European from Amsterdam to Budapest. Let me start by saying the ship is beautiful and the crew is extremely friendly and helpful.

 

We arranged our flight and transfers through Viking and were met by their staff at the airport after we picked up our luggage. We only had to wait a few minutes until they had enough people to load up the bus for the 20 minute drive to the ship. (Tip - if you're interested in unique modern buildings, sit on the right side of the bus for a slightly better view of some really interesting buildings you can see right after you leave the airport.)

 

When we got to the ship, it was docked right next to the Viking Var which will be going on the same route for the first few days, then it leaves us to go down towards Basel.

 

We got on board at around 10:30 and enjoyed checking out the ship. There is a herb garden, and a huge chess board, along with a shuffle board and many lounge chairs on the top open air deck. A nice place to watch the world go by.

 

After a nice buffet lunch we were able to get into our room. There was a quick one-hour walking tour at 1:30, which was repeated at 3:00. I'm told they also gave the tour in the morning for those who got on board early. We had wanted to go to the Anne Frank house, and I had tried to get tickets online about a month ago, but they were already sold out for this day. We could have waited in line, but it was about a two hour wait - not what we wanted to do when we had less than a day in Amsterdam. (Tip - if you want to go to the Anne Frank house, get your tickets online more than a month ahead of time!).

 

The lovely Dewi Klop is our program director and each night she gives us information about the next port.

 

The second day of our cruise was a little strange. We were supposed to be in Kinderdijk in the morning for a guided tour of the windmills. But we were told that they were doing repairs on a bridge, so we had to take a detour and couldn't go back because we'd lose too much time. So we would continue on to our next stop in Cologne. We were disappointed, but these things happen, so you roll with it.

 

But then after we had been cruising towards Cologne for quite a while, there was an announcement that we were turning around and going back to Kinderdijk. I'm not sure why all of a sudden we could go back, and why it no longer mattered that we were losing so much time. We were also told that we could go see the windmills, but because of the change, we would not have a guided tour. However, when we got to Kinderdijk we saw people from the Viking Var on their guided tour. So I guess they only had enough guides for one ship, and we drew the short straw. It was a little frustrating, but not catastrophic.

 

That's all for today. Will report back soon.

 

Dear rivercruiser12,

 

We are glad that overall you are having an enjoyable experience, however we regret to hear that your cruise encountered some necessary itinerary changes. It sounds like the changes could have likely been communicated a little better, and for that we do apologize. We hope you continue to have a great trip and we encourage you to email us at tellus@vikingcruises.com upon your return so that we may discuss your entire experience.

 

Best,

Viking Cruises

[rivercruiser12]

It is really nice to see that Viking is monitoring these boards and cares about our experience! I have to say that the staff has been outstanding and that the ship for the most part is wonderful. There has, however, been some trouble with the sewage system for the past few days causing an odor to back up into some cabins, and they had to close down some public restrooms. I know the staff is aware of it and they are working to solve it. Let's hope they solve it quickly!

 

Okay, back to our review. Since we left Kinderdijk late on day 2, they had to change where we docked for our stop in Cologne. We got off the ship in Dusseldorf and boarded buses for about an hour trip to Cologne. There we were met by our guides for the walking tour. Unfortunately, it was a holiday and many of the shops were closed, and we were told that, although we could go into the cathedral on our own, our guides could not take us through as they normally do. Once we started the tour it began to rain a little, and although I thought our guide was excellent for the brief time we had him, he cut the tour short to avoid the rain. I heard that other guides had given their group the option to leave the tour, or to continue on despite the rain. I wish ours had at least given us the option. To make matters worse, when we went into the cathedral on our own we saw many guides giving tours inside!

 

The sun came out as soon as we came out of the church and we took a walk to the bridge where many people had put padlocks with their names on it on the chain fence and thrown the key in the river to signify their enduring love. There were thousands of locks there!

 

Today we went to Koblenz and Marksburg castle. We had just enough time to take a quick walk around the quaint town of Koblenz and then we boarded buses for the trip up to the castle. I had read many warnings about how difficult the trek was up to the castle, but I found walking inside the castle to be more treacherous due to the very uneven stone floors and the very steep stairs. But it was all worth it! If you go, just make sure you wear good sturdy shoes, and watch where you walk.

 

Then this afternoon, we cruised along the section of the Rhine where there castles after castles. Dewi, our PD, did a running commentary explaining each one as we went past. Although it was very hot today, it was wonderfully relaxing and informative. (If you can, try to get a spot in the shade, then kick back and enjoy the scenery.)

[banditoo]

Am enjoying your review. We do Amsterdam to Basel just over a year from now on Viking Idi so to date, your itinerary matches ours.

[rivercruiser12]

Today we headed towards Miltenberg. As we cruised a glass blower came on board to give a demonstration. He was thoroughly entertaining. Don't miss it! We're on the Main River now which has 34 locks. This has slowed us down quite a bit because we often had to wait if another boat is going through the lock. We were late getting in to Miltenberg which unfortunately caused us to have barely an hour in town and another sharply abbreviated tour. My heart goes out to our PD who is valiantly trying to rearrange/reschedule buses and tour guides to salvage what's left of our tours.

[ural guy]

I hope that your trip picks up. It sounds like you've been on the boat a lot more than planned. Having time to wander the small towns on your own is nice.

 

Are you getting a sense of being cooped up on the smaller boat?

[deec]

I wonder if the dramatic increase in River boats this year is slowing the transit through the locks. How many ships, boats fit in a typical lock at one time.

 

I imagine this is slowing commercial traffic as well.

[rivercruiser12]

Anandaindonesia - Travelbug is correct. The best place to get a quick, light meal at a smaller table is in the Aquavit Terrace. The smallest table I saw in the diningroom was for 6 people.

 

DeeDC - only one boat can fit in the lock at a time...and for our longboat, it is a tight squeeze, with only 30 cm to spare on the sides! We had a presentation on the locks and we learned that sometimes a boat will have to wait until another boat comes through from the opposite direction before they can get a turn because they don't want to change the water level in the lock without a boat in the lock. In other words, they don't want two boats going in the same direction to go through the lock one after the other because it is inefficient.

[rivercruiser12]

Ural guy, there definitely is down time on this cruise. We've found that the best way to handle it is to grab a good book, or find a group of other passengers you enjoy spending time with. We've been meeting so many wonderful people on this cruise and the down time gives us a chance to get to know them better and share experiences. Although after a while we get antsy, we try to think of the down as an opportunity to relax and learn about the other passengers.

[CPT Trips]

What a small world . . . we had Dewi as our PD on GCT on our first river cruise some eight years ago. You lucked out . . . Let her know we, Randy and Lynn, say "hoi."

 

You are doing a great itinerary. Enjoy!

[alexkrn46]

enjoying your review,we are doing Amsterdam to Basel this December. silly question what Tv stations do you get? how about the speed of the internet?thanks again

[rivercruiser12]

To continue..day 5 -we docked in Karlstadt and took a bus to Wurzburg, about a 45 min. drive. Some passengers went to Rothenburg in the morning before visiting Wurzburg in the afternoon. By all accounts most who took the Rothenburg tour enjoyed it. The tour of Wurzburg started with the Bishop's Residenz, a palace modeled on Versailles. Then we had a walking tour through the town. Then we had the option to go back to the ship for lunch or stay in Wurzburg until the ship pulled up to the dock at around 3:00.

 

The group that went to Rothenburg in the morning does the same tour of Wurzburg in the afternoon.

 

If you can handle a steep climb, I recommend walking up to the fortress for a spectacular view of the city. Make sure you walk all the way around so that you get to see the gardens. There is a a fee to go inside the fortress museum, but no fee to walk around.

[rivercruiser12]

Day 6 - in the morning our PD gave a really interesting presentation about the locks. I was tempted to skip it, but I'm glad I didn't. You go through 67 locks on this itinerary, so it's nice to have some idea of what is going on.

 

After lunch we bussed to Bamberg for a walking tour. Our guides were amazingly open and forthright about the holocaust during this tour.

 

We had some free time in the city, and then back to the ship for dinner.

[ourWorldnow]

Can you comment on the relative value of the different class rooms on the Viking Longships? Considering cruising them next May...

[CPT Trips]

Day 6 - in the morning our PD gave a really interesting presentation about the locks. I was tempted to skip it, but I'm glad I didn't. You go through 67 locks on this itinerary, so it's nice to have some idea of what is going on.

 

After lunch we bussed to Bamberg for a walking tour. Our guides were amazingly open and forthright about the holocaust during this tour.

 

We had some free time in the city, and then back to the ship for dinner.

 

Just wait until the canal crosses the roads . . . Definately a photo op

[jojocmcla]

I so agree about meeting the other passengers. We met two other couples on our Danube cruise last month; and, the 6 of us just hit it off right away. I jokingly referred to us as the six musketeers!

 

Ural guy, there definitely is down time on this cruise. We've found that the best way to handle it is to grab a good book, or find a group of other passengers you enjoy spending time with. We've been meeting so many wonderful people on this cruise and the down time gives us a chance to get to know them better and share experiences. Although after a while we get antsy, we try to think of the down as an opportunity to relax and learn about the other passengers.

[rivercruiser12]

Can you comment on the relative value of the different class rooms on the Viking Longships? Considering cruising them next May...

 

If you check some other threads on this subject you'll see that it's a matter of personal opinion. Some feel it's absolutely worth the extra cost to get a balcony while others feel that you spend so much time in ports, that it's not worth it.

On this itinerary, you might consider that since there is a lot of down time, if you'd rather be by yourselves than reading or socializing in the public areas, then maybe a balcony or French balcony is for you. If you are more of a social person, or reading or relaxing in the company of others is fine by you, then it might be worth it to save your money.

[banditoo]

Can you comment on the relative value of the different class rooms on the Viking Longships? Considering cruising them next May...

River cruises generally sell out quickly particularly for peak periods so if you are looking at May next year, some room categories may already be sold out depending on the itinerary you are looking at. Most categories for our August 29, 2015 Viking Rhine Getaway are sold out.

[nana541]

Not sailing with Viking but my Avalon Sept 2015 sailing is sold out! Just sayin don't wait too long, there is huge demand with all the companies and very limited inventory....vs Ocean cruising with 1000's of room.

 

 

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