Excited about second Viking cruise - Prague to Budapest

[zitsky]

This is only my second cruise with Viking. First was Avignon to Lyon (Provence) in 2016. I am looking forward to the Prague to Budapest trip in September. Hope we got a good deal but travel agent says so. It was a little cheaper than our first cruise.

 

Anyone else going?

[alexkrn46]

We did that cruise in December 2015, it was very enjoyable. Think about doing an extension in Budapest which is a fabulous city.

[zitsky]

We did that cruise in December 2015, it was very enjoyable. Think about doing an extension in Budapest which is a fabulous city.

 

We are doing Prague extension so we decided not to do the Budapest extension also. I have more vacation time than my husband does, so I could do it, but it's more difficult for him to get extra time. If we really like Budapest we will come back another time. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip!!!

[Bailey Swedishfish]

You are going to love it. Prague is beautiful, but be sure to get off the beaten path away from the main tourist squares (go a few blocks in any direction) and you'll find lovely little restaurants and bars. Beer is cheaper than water in Prague. It's home to the original Budweiser which is much much better than the American Bud.

 

We've done the Danube Waltz (basically 3 times) and love that itinerary. Passau is lovely, we like Melk and Durnstein, who doesn't love Vienna and Budapest is my favorite city in the world. It's stunning. We were in Nurenberg for the start of our Heart of Germany cruise and it was chilling to be at the **** Party Rally grounds. If you go up the top where Hitler would have stood--it smells of urine. Many people go up there and pee on it as way to dishonor him. Fortunately we were there in the winter so...the smell wasn't too bad.

 

You are going to have a fabulous time. The cities are all incredibly beautiful and have so much to offer. The Wachau Valley is also very pretty to sail through.

 

The ONLY thing I find on this cruise that gets a bit tedious--and it might be my own undoing--(because we go to all the Christmas markets and eat ourselves silly) is that the food on this cruise is pretty heavy. I found it got repetitive--but it could have been the bajillion sausages and dumplings and potato pancakes and chocolates and gluhwein and-and-and I was snarfing off ship that filled me up before I got back on board. At that point, a salad would have been welcome relief. Instead we got roast pork, roast lamb, big hearty meaty vegetable-scant entrees...

 

Enjoy!

[zitsky]

The ONLY thing I find on this cruise that gets a bit tedious--and it might be my own undoing--(because we go to all the Christmas markets and eat ourselves silly) is that the food on this cruise is pretty heavy. I found it got repetitive--but it could have been the bajillion sausages and dumplings and potato pancakes and chocolates and gluhwein and-and-and I was snarfing off ship that filled me up before I got back on board. At that point, a salad would have been welcome relief. Instead we got roast pork, roast lamb, big hearty meaty vegetable-scant entrees...

 

Enjoy!

 

Thanks very much for the reply. Isn't there supposed to be an alternative menu on Viking? I don't remember asking for it on my first cruise, but I've heard people mention it. It's mostly comfort food, burgers and such. But I wonder if there are any salads on the alternative menu? Did you ever ask for a salad? What did they say?

[Bailey Swedishfish]

Dinner is offered in the Viking lounge as well as the dining room. We've only done dinner once in the lounge so I'm not sure what menu is offered--altho I do know it's an abbreviated version of the big dinner.

 

The alternative menu in the dining room, offered on the right side of the evening menu is ribeye steak with chimichurri and steak fries, bbq chicken breast with mashed potatoes, salmon with a side (never ordered) and Caesar salad.

[zitsky]

Dinner is offered in the Viking lounge as well as the dining room. We've only done dinner once in the lounge so I'm not sure what menu is offered--altho I do know it's an abbreviated version of the big dinner.

 

The alternative menu in the dining room, offered on the right side of the evening menu is ribeye steak with chimichurri and steak fries, bbq chicken breast with mashed potatoes, salmon with a side (never ordered) and Caesar salad.

 

Thank you! That's so helpful. Funny how I don't remember details like the menu.

[Carol From California]

This is only my second cruise with Viking. First was Avignon to Lyon (Provence) in 2016. I am looking forward to the Prague to Budapest trip in September. Hope we got a good deal but travel agent says so. It was a little cheaper than our first cruise.

 

Anyone else going?

 

We did this cruise with Viking a few years ago and loved it. We did Budapest to Nuremberg and rather than do the Viking extension in Prague we did it on our own. We loved Budapest and Prague...two of our favorite cities. To find out if "anyone else is going" you could check to see if there is a roll call started for your cruise. Unfortunately not many river cruisers seem to know about CC and the roll calls, but we were lucky enough to find another couple on our cruise that we shared the transportation to Prague with and some of the private tours we planned. When you say you hope you got a good deal, all you have to do is look on the Viking website and see what the price is and then see if your TA gave you any discount. Our TA gives 15% off for example.

[zitsky]

When I hear about 2 for 1, I wonder if our deal us good. But travel agent gave us a price about a thousand less than Viking quoted.

[D-Ville Guy]

We are doing our first Viking river cruise for the Christmas Markets. I booked 18 months in advance for $5200 including air for the two of us. I think we got a terrific deal.

[zitsky]

We are doing our first Viking river cruise for the Christmas Markets. I booked 18 months in advance for $5200 including air for the two of us. I think we got a terrific deal.

 

Is that $5200 per person, or total? If that's the total it would be a great deal!

[dolllover]

Yup I'm doing this cruise in Oct. We are going with my in laws. They really just want to do private excursions on this trip since they don't like crowds all that much. I'm torn about the private tours since we pay for the included ones already.

[zitsky]

Yup I'm doing this cruise in Oct. We are going with my in laws. They really just want to do private excursions on this trip since they don't like crowds all that much. I'm torn about the private tours since we pay for the included ones already.

 

Because this is our second trip we will skip some of the included tours and walk around on our own. Maybe have lunch or dinner separately.