Does anyone have any recent Viking Daily programs for Grand European Tour B to A?

[LuvSushi]

Hello,

 

I would love to see the Viking Daily programs from any recent cruises from Budapest to Amsterdam.

 

Can anyone help?

 

If you have them, but don't want to post them all, I am mostly interested in the 2 days for Regensburg and Nuremberg.

 

I know many things could impact the schedule of my actual cruise in September/October, but I am trying to get a general idea of how long the ship is in those 2 ports.

 

Thanks!

[suspaul]

Hi LuvSushi,

 

We did the Grand European May 30-June 13, same direction as you, Budapest to Amsterdam. I'm starting to work on a Shutterfly photobook and have pulled out our copies of the Viking Daily for the trip.

 

In answer to your question about times in port,

Regensburg - approximate arrival 8:30 am and cast off 3:45 pm

 

Nuremberg - will tell what was posted

8:30 am approximate arrival in Roth with shuttle bus from Roth to City Center of Nuremberg

11:15 shuttle bus back from city center to Roth

1:00-6:00 Optional WWII tour

1:15-6:00 Shore excursion Nuremberg

6:15 cast off

Here's where the day in Nuremberg gets sticky, Roth is an industrial area outside of Nuremberg, nothing there so I don't think it's possible to take a taxi on your own back to the city center, you must use the shuttles provided by Viking

We chose to go in at 1:15, did the included sightseeing tour then spent a few hours on our own before taking the shuttle back. There was not back & forth shuttles, I guess due to the ship moving from Roth to closer to Nuremberg, just a set return time late afternoon, however once we arrived back to the meeting point outside the city center the Bragi wasn't there, we had to sit in the bus for approximately 45 minutes then go to the other side of the river ?? to board the ship so we left a little later.

 

I know you're specifically interested in time in Nuremberg, so hope this helped.

 

We had a wonderful 14 nights on the Viking Bragi, there were several issues with so many ships and different companies doing river cruises, there were long waits to go thru the many locks all along the trip, I'm thinking there were 68 locks but could be off on the count. This was not only an issue for Viking but everyone from cruise to working barges along the rivers. The times in port, tho shown as approximate, we're just that...approximate.

 

If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer and give you our take on the trip. This was our 5th river cruise with Viking and we have the 6th booked early Spring, 2016.

[Hoyaheel]

we had to sit in the bus for approximately 45 minutes then go to the other side of the river ?? to board the ship so we left a little later.

 

We boarded our Avalon cruise in Nuremberg in December. We had arrived in NUE a couple days early so we arrived at the ship a little early (about a half hour before the pre-cruise Prague bus trip arrived, and those who were carrying on from Vienna were also off on a day trip) We were welcomed aboard but after exploring the ship we walked along the dock - there were many boats docked there, maybe 7? And everyone was joking that the Viking boat was docked on the other side. Seriously - Viking all alone on one side, 7 other companies on the other side. I don't think it was just a space issue, as there was some movement among the other boats. Would love to hear the discussions & negotiations that go on behind the scenes on these topics!!

[suspaul]

Only my opinion but there are just too many river cruise ships on the river, probably had to do with the time of year we were there, early June. As I said, we've done several Viking river cruises along with Uniworld and GCT and have never seen the rivers as crowded however our usual time is early Spring and October. Hoyaheel, I'd think it had to do with the direction the ships were headed, we had already visited Vienna several days prior and were traveling from Budapest to Amsterdam. No matter what the issue was, it's wasn't a big deal and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip.

[LuvSushi]

Hi LuvSushi,

 

We did the Grand European May 30-June 13, same direction as you, Budapest to Amsterdam. I'm starting to work on a Shutterfly photobook and have pulled out our copies of the Viking Daily for the trip.

 

In answer to your question about times in port,

Regensburg - approximate arrival 8:30 am and cast off 3:45 pm

 

Nuremberg - will tell what was posted

8:30 am approximate arrival in Roth with shuttle bus from Roth to City Center of Nuremberg

11:15 shuttle bus back from city center to Roth

1:00-6:00 Optional WWII tour

1:15-6:00 Shore excursion Nuremberg

6:15 cast off

Here's where the day in Nuremberg gets sticky, Roth is an industrial area outside of Nuremberg, nothing there so I don't think it's possible to take a taxi on your own back to the city center, you must use the shuttles provided by Viking

We chose to go in at 1:15, did the included sightseeing tour then spent a few hours on our own before taking the shuttle back. There was not back & forth shuttles, I guess due to the ship moving from Roth to closer to Nuremberg, just a set return time late afternoon, however once we arrived back to the meeting point outside the city center the Bragi wasn't there, we had to sit in the bus for approximately 45 minutes then go to the other side of the river ?? to board the ship so we left a little later.

 

I know you're specifically interested in time in Nuremberg, so hope this helped.

 

We had a wonderful 14 nights on the Viking Bragi, there were several issues with so many ships and different companies doing river cruises, there were long waits to go thru the many locks all along the trip, I'm thinking there were 68 locks but could be off on the count. This was not only an issue for Viking but everyone from cruise to working barges along the rivers. The times in port, tho shown as approximate, we're just that...approximate.

 

If you have any questions I'll be glad to answer and give you our take on the trip. This was our 5th river cruise with Viking and we have the 6th booked early Spring, 2016.

 

Thank you so much for that detail. I thought I read on Viking's website that the ship would dock north of Nuremberg in Erlangen. Did you leave from there at the end of the day?

 

Since we will be in Germany in late September, and at this point unlikely to return to that region (it is a big world and all) - DH thinks it would be horrible to miss Oktoberfest in Munich.

 

So....we've been trying to work out if we could leave the ship in Regensburg, hit Munich for one night, and then join back up the next morning in Nuremberg. But, I don't want to miss out on the tours of either of those cities.

 

Seems risky to me. And, I assume there will be lots of Oktoberfest celebrations outside of Munich.

 

Thanks again all!

[suspaul]

In all honesty I don't have a clue where we finally met the ship, other than it was closer to Nuremberg from where we disembarked earlier in the day. Has your husband checked into the logistics of taking a train from Regensburg to Munich and then back to Nuremberg? Also, hotel availability in Munich may be a problem, at this late date I'm thinking it would be hard to get a booking and during Oktoberfest many of the hotels have a minimum of several nights stay.

 

As to Oktoberfest in other cities along your route - in Nuremberg there are many great cafes serving local biers and wurst, my fav wurst is in Regensburg at

http://www.wurstkuchl.de/tavern.html, not far from where you'll dock. Another idea, in Regensburg we walked across the the Old Stone bridge in front of the Wurstkuchl to the Spitalbräu biergarten on the left, a nice shaded spot with great German food and biers, not exactly Munich but it was fun and a nice way to spend an hour or two.

 

We often travel independently in Germany, but this sounds risky to me too. Not trying to talk you out of Munich, this is only my opinion. Is there any chance of going in a few days prior to your river cruise, enjoying Oktoberfest and taking a short flight to Budapest?

 

Whatever your choice, have a wonderful trip. Happy travels.