Viking Sun Rhine Getaway review August 2014

[Got2Cruise]

Thank you for that information about the cable car. I'm more glad than ever that I took the opportunity to ride it. Not only is the view from the top wonderful, but the ride itself gives you unique views. Do you know why it has to come down? It seems like a great tourist thing and certainly an easy way to get to the top.

 

 

It has to come down because in order to be remain aWorld Heritage Site. everything has to conform to strict rules and remain original.

[mimmy52]

My choice for dinner was the standard salmon. I'm not a vegetarian because I do eat fish, but the non-meat offering was another pasta dish.

 

I opted for the cheese plate, Manchego and Bonifaz, for dessert. I love sweet desserts, but the cheese offerings were always so tasty!

 

 

Most evenings our Daily listed dancing in the lounge at 9:00. I went up one evening just to see if anyone was dancing and hardly anyone was in the lounge. There was always music, though, in the evening.

 

We weren't casting off until early the next morning, so I went up on deck for one last view. It was too chilly to stay up there long, but I like this final picture I took of Wilhelm I.

[mimmy52]

That's helpful information! So, would you have not had enough time to do the Avalon old town walking tour AND the cable car? Seriously considering jumping the walking tour to take the cable car too but I'm going to want some time to walk around the fortress.

 

If takes a while to see the Fortress, but if you get the opportunity, see if you can learn something about the various areas of it first. I would have enjoyed it more if I had.

[mimmy52]

Still loving your review and all your great photos! Love the photos from the cable car.

 

Thank you, MinotLight.

[mimmy52]

It has to come down because in order to be remain aWorld Heritage Site. everything has to conform to strict rules and remain original.

 

So even access to it has to remain original. What a shame.

[Got2Cruise]

That's helpful information! So, would you have not had enough time to do the Avalon old town walking tour AND the cable car? Seriously considering jumping the walking tour to take the cable car too but I'm going to want some time to walk around the fortress.

 

 

We were on the Basel Amsterdam itinerary and I was just not engaged in Koblenz so I just left the tour mid way and then took the cable car. No need to jump from the tour though the ship is docked right in town. I know our stay was only a half day there. Our week was on the rainy side we just wanted to enjoy the glorious sunshine of that day. There is also an opportunity to take a smaller type cable car in Rudesheim up to the vineyards but it was too foggy the day we were there to enjoy it.

 

But yes if you want to enjoy the fortress skip the tour included of old town and then walk around yourself when you return if there is time. The big statue is right where the ships dock

Edited September 14, 2014 by Got2Cruise

[Cary Cruiser]

WOW Mimmy - It looks like a really great trip. And your review/journal is excellent. Maybe the best I have seen on CC.

 

Hats off to your fantastic writing and photo journalism. Thanks for taking the time to share.

[DrivesLikeMario]

If takes a while to see the Fortress, but if you get the opportunity, see if you can learn something about the various areas of it first. I would have enjoyed it more if I had.

Yes - I was thinking it would mean more with the tour. Thanks!

 

We were on the Basel Amsterdam itinerary and I was just not engaged in Koblenz so I just left the tour mid way and then took the cable car. No need to jump from the tour though the ship is docked right in town. I know our stay was only a half day there. Our week was on the rainy side we just wanted to enjoy the glorious sunshine of that day. There is also an opportunity to take a smaller type cable car in Rudesheim up to the vineyards but it was too foggy the day we were there to enjoy it.

 

But yes if you want to enjoy the fortress skip the tour included of old town and then walk around yourself when you return if there is time. The big statue is right where the ships dock

 

That's the same itinerary we'll be on with Avalon. It sounds like there's time for both - the included walking tour AND the cable car to the fortress. I'd really like to do both. Thanks for the information!

[mimmy52]

WOW Mimmy - It looks like a really great trip. And your review/journal is excellent. Maybe the best I have seen on CC.

 

Hats off to your fantastic writing and photo journalism. Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

Thank you, Cary Cruiser! It takes a while to do, but it also helps me re-live the trip.

[Mackenzie1]

Minotlight, you are so right! The Viking Sun and Viking Helvetia hold 198 passengers while the Viking long ships hold 190 passengers. I am very surprised. It makes sense to design the long ships to be lower to deal with high water. We had to be bused to Basel because of high water, and perhaps that would not have occurred with the long ships.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Mackenzie1

[ural guy]

I love the pictures of the cable car! I wasn't able to do that in Koblenz, and so it's most fun seeing it from your camera. I would prefer the Sun Viking over the newer Viking long ship you were docked by because the Sun Viking is smaller and doesn't have as many passengers.

 

I showed the picture with the two boats side by side to my wife to highlight why I would want to be on the longship; I think that the bow seating in the Aqavit lounge is the best spot to be. I haven't seen any other designs that put you so far forward.

 

Fewer people would be nice, but it wasn't terrible. The lounge made up for it.

[mimmy52]

Minotlight, you are so right! The Viking Sun and Viking Helvetia hold 198 passengers while the Viking long ships hold 190 passengers. I am very surprised. It makes sense to design the long ships to be lower to deal with high water. We had to be bused to Basel because of high water, and perhaps that would not have occurred with the long ships.

 

We had to be bussed to Basel too. There were 189 passengers on the Viking Sun on our trip.

[mimmy52]

I showed the picture with the two boats side by side to my wife to highlight why I would want to be on the longship; I think that the bow seating in the Aqavit lounge is the best spot to be. I haven't seen any other designs that put you so far forward.

 

Fewer people would be nice, but it wasn't terrible. The lounge made up for it.

 

I was envious of the outside lounge seating, although we had such cool August weather during our trip that I don't think I would have used it much.

[Mackenzie1]

Mimmy and Ural Guy, it's occurred to me that my impression that the Sun Viking holds fewer passengers than the longships is probably more because our earlier Viking cruises on the Viking Neptune and Viking Helvetia were not completely booked. Viking has begun advertising a lot, which is probably why our Viking Longship Embla was completely booked, which made it appear that it holds more passengers.

[Thyme2cruise]

If you go to http://www.bafg.de and scroll down there is a webcam of the Wilhem statue, the cable cars and the ships that dock there. I've been watching that webcam for about 2 1/2 years. I like to try and find webcams of places I'm going and save them and check back to see the weather, the ships etc. I found this cam before we went on the Holidays on the Rhine in 2012 with Vantage. Some days the cable cars aren't running it seems because other days you can see at least a couple of them suspended above the river. What a shame they are taking them down. What great photos! Loved your review.

[mimmy52]

Thanks, Thyme2cruise. I bookmarked the webcam.

[mimmy52]

A new day.

 

As soon as I finished breakfast, I went up on the top deck to watch our arrival in Cologne. We passed the Lindt Chocolate Museum. I recognized it from photos I'd seen.

 

Then we passed the church with a name I've forgotten and the cathedral.

 

The captain left the wheelhouse and negotiated the docking maneuver from controls on the side.

[mimmy52]

Fifteen minutes after we docked, our tour began. We were moored so far from the old part of town that busses took us into Cologne. The tour guide for our group was Marcus, very witty guy. Our first stop--Cologne cathedral. Marcus said he couldn't take us inside, but later I saw other Viking tour groups inside. I don't remember his reason.

 

 

There are Roman ruins everywhere. This was part of a sewer system built by Romans. Our guide referred to its purpose as taking care of "used food."

 

We passed an archeological dig.

[mimmy52]

We passed the Fruh brewhouse.

 

We were taught a new word, "Fringsen," named after this guy. During WWII, he told people it was ok to take fuel and food if they needed it to survive. Some people overdid it. But it wasn't stealing, it was Fringsen.

 

We were shown City Hall where one wedding was coming out and another going in. If you live in Cologne, you must have a civil marriage. If you want a church wedding, you get married a second time.

 

Marcus showed us these two statues and named them (but I forget the names). He said if you stood in front of the one on the left and rubbed its nose three times it would bring you luck. I was afraid it would bring me germs, so I didn't.

[ea6b5]

Time to go. We straggle back to the bus.

 

Across the river. Our guide said duels still take place in this house with the fanciful roofs. A facial scar is still a badge of honor.

 

The ship has moved while we were touring Heidelberg. We meet it at Gernsheim, board, and it sets sail for Rudesheim. It's time for our lunch.

 

How long of a stay did you have in Gernsheim? I lived in this quaint little town for four (4) years back in the 70's while I was in the Army!

[mimmy52]

How long of a stay did you have in Gernsheim? I lived in this quaint little town for four (4) years back in the 70's while I was in the Army!

 

Jim,

All we did was board the ship in Gernsheim and sail away.

[mimmy52]

I don't know what happened the other night when I was posting, but suddenly the screen froze and I wasn't able to get back on the cruisecritic site for the rest of the evening.

 

But now I'm back. To continue with our walking tour of Cologne. Our guide showed us this building. Unfortunately, I didn't hear exactly what he said about it, but I thought he said something about mooning and something about a window. I never did figure out what window he was talking about, so I took a picture of the building thinking maybe I'd see it in the picture. It's the building on the left.

 

 

No, there's no mooning going on. Then jpalbany posted a photo to Cruisinskier's review, and I saw that the tree branches were hiding the statue doing the mooning and that it was on the outside of the building, not in a window. So, duh. I did notice this guy though.

 

Then we were turned loose for free time. I spent most of it inside the cathedral. It was huge and beautiful, but dark, so I have a lot of dark photos.

 

[mimmy52]

There are tombs and effigies, mostly of archbishops, but there's also Gottfreid.

 

 

The bones of the three wise men repose here. Or so they say.

 

But before I saw that casket, I saw this one and thought this was the gold casket they were talking about. So now I don't know what is inside this one.

[mimmy52]

Right across from the cathedral was a small shop filled with the 4711 brand of cologne. I never did figure out whether 4711 or 1709 was the first cologne, but I bought some of the 4711, then had to hurry to catch the shuttle back to the ship for lunch. If I could do anything over again, it would be to stay in Cologne for lunch and ignore the penny pinching side of me that said lunch on the ship was already paid for. It would be one thing if the ship were docked close enough to walk, but going back for lunch meant I then had to wait for the shuttles to start running back into Cologne in the afternoon.

 

At least lunch was good. Appetizers from the buffet table were Obazda with dark bread and stuffed eggs with black caviar. I had one of each and they were delicious. In fact, I went back and got a second of the Obazda one.

 

I had the classic minestrone soup as my entrée, but ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture.

 

Dessert was Black Forest cake.

[mimmy52]

After lunch, I caught the first shuttle back to the cathedral area of Cologne, but even so it was 2:00. There's a mini-train you can ride for a sightseeing trip through Cologne and it makes a stop at the Lindt Chocolate Museum. I didn't take a picture of the train for some reason, but I got off at the Chocolate Museum.

 

One room showed chocolate being made, and that was about the only really interesting thing in the museum. My opinion only, of course. This woman is bagging the small wrapped chocolate pieces. I was given one when I bought my ticket.

 

And this woman is dipping wafers into a chocolate fountain and handing them out.