Viiking -Grand European - cabin selection advice

[mjthecruiser]

i am trying to decide on cabin type for this cruise.

 

If I get regular stateroom, will I have trouble finding place to sit while cruising where I can watch the scenery? I read that sun deck is closed for much of this cruise due to low bridges.

 

Are there chairs in staterooms with French balcony? Is there room to bring these onto balcony?

 

Is balcony worth the $3500 upcharge from regular stateroom? Do you get a lot of use from it?

 

Thanks for all of your help.

[pacmom]

Viking's french balcony are the smallest of the staterooms on the "longships" 135 sq.ft. Last heard there was no chair. A French balcony is a glorified sliding glass door with a railing. You cannot sit out on it . If you really want to see both sides of the boat while moving, use the lounge or the Aquavit terrace. Good luck finding what you want. Pat

[mjthecruiser]

Hi Pat,

Thanks for the information. Which cabin type did you have? Were you happy with it?

Marsha

[jrkstl]

I'm not Pat, but I'll chime in. On our three cruises, we've been more that happy with the standard stateroom on the lower level. We find that we're not in our rooms long enough to justify the increased cost of French balcony, etc.

 

Also, I rather like the sound of the water while in bed, since quite a bit of cruising is done at night.

 

Jeff

[sharpgirl]

We've had both the lower room with a river level window and a French balcony. I preferred the lower room. There were plenty of places indoors and out to watch outdoors even when the roof deck was closed mist if the way inti Budapest. The French balcony was pretty useless. Enjoy your cruise. I love the river cruises.

 

 

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[rpfin]

We did this cruise a couple years ago and had a lower level room. Most of the cruising was done while we were sleeping except for the portion down the Rhine. You will want to be on the sun deck during that portion so you can hear the narration while cruising. IMO don't spend the extra $'s for a French balcony which will only cut a few feet off the stateroom size. There was always plenty of room to sit in the common areas except prior to dinner where the lounge got very crowded.

 

 

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[pacmom]

Have only had aquarium class cabins on Viking. Never been on a longship, but the size of the cabin is not at all to my liking. Pat

[notamermaid]

I certainly would not spend the money on a balcony that has enough room to put a chair on. It gives you privacy but the scenery is much better enjoyed from the sun deck with the 360 degree view. It will be open on almost all of the Rhine (if not all), closed most of the Main and all of the Main-Danube-Canal I believe, and is open again most of the Danube. It depends a little on the water level when you are travelling as well. There is lots of seating in the lounge and some outside seating. Rafting in a dock could mean your balcony faces another boat's cabin window, so that time would be lost for viewing as well.

 

notamermaid

[denny girl]

Not on Viking but I`m loving our french balcony. Just floor to ceiling windows really.

Fairly snug but we have a lounge chair and I love the sound of water lapping at the boat, and watching slide past.

[mimmy52]

When I cruised on a Viking longship last year, I had a standard room with what I believe they termed a half window. I'm short, so if I wanted to see outside I had to stand on the little stool provided under the desk. There was no room for a regular chair. A couple who had a French balcony room and I compared rooms. They are the same size. No room for a chair in the French balcony room either (and no balcony). As other have said, it is a wall of windows but you can slide them open. The couple who had the French balcony room wanted to see mine since they were planning another river cruise and wanted to see if they would be happy without the big window. They decided the standard room would do for them. On the other hand, I really would have enjoyed the French balcony, although if I cruised again the additional cost might change my mind.

[knoxclone]

We sailed on the Viking Sun w a french balcony. Really enjoyed the large windows it was balmy for october. I must admit, when we had the windows open - I was always worried that I was going to accidentally kick a shoe through the railings or drop something out into the water - or something would catch the breeze and glide out the window!!

 

When we booked this year on a Longship - we noticed that the French balcony rooms actually have the smallest sq footage and opted to upgrade to a veranda. We'll see if its worth the up charge to us.

 

I visited an "aquarium" level room on the sun and was too short to see anything out the window -but have not been on a longship before - so perhaps the windows are a bit lower.

[HokiePoq]

I'm not Pat, but I'll chime in. On our three cruises, we've been more that happy with the standard stateroom on the lower level. We find that we're not in our rooms long enough to justify the increased cost of French balcony, etc.

 

Also, I rather like the sound of the water while in bed, since quite a bit of cruising is done at night.

 

Jeff

 

Thanks, Jeff. I'm very relieved to hear that as we are in standard for our upcoming trip, first river cruise. We are doing two back to back, so the cost of upgrade was prohibitive.

[Host Jazzbeau]

When I cruised on a Viking longship last year, I had a standard room with what I believe they termed a half window. I'm short, so if I wanted to see outside I had to stand on the little stool provided under the desk. There was no room for a regular chair. A couple who had a French balcony room and I compared rooms. They are the same size. No room for a chair in the French balcony room either (and no balcony). As other have said, it is a wall of windows but you can slide them open. The couple who had the French balcony room wanted to see mine since they were planning another river cruise and wanted to see if they would be happy without the big window. They decided the standard room would do for them. On the other hand, I really would have enjoyed the French balcony, although if I cruised again the additional cost might change my mind.

 

According to the Viking website, veranda cabins are 205 sf, French balconies are 135 sf, and standard cabins are 150 sf. This was touted by Viking as a breakthrough in river ship design, offsetting the corridor on the upper decks to make the veranda cabins bigger -- but the result is that French balcony cabins on longships are among the smallest in the river cruise industry.

[denny girl]

River cruising is certainly a whole new ball game.

Love having wifi which we don`t normally have on ocean cruises

Our cabin size on the Monarch Empress is 170 sq ft so I guess that`s reasonable.

The upgrade cost to base level french balconies was $200 each,

 

not too exorbitant for a seven day cruise

Not really helpful to mjthecruiser who`s looking for Viking info, but perhaps someone else may find this info useful

[gnome12]

According to the Viking website, veranda cabins are 205 sf, French balconies are 135 sf, and standard cabins are 150 sf. This was touted by Viking as a breakthrough in river ship design, offsetting the corridor on the upper decks to make the veranda cabins bigger -- but the result is that French balcony cabins on longships are among the smallest in the river cruise industry.

Does the 205sf include the balcony?

[mimmy52]

According to the Viking website, veranda cabins are 205 sf, French balconies are 135 sf, and standard cabins are 150 sf. This was touted by Viking as a breakthrough in river ship design, offsetting the corridor on the upper decks to make the veranda cabins bigger -- but the result is that French balcony cabins on longships are among the smallest in the river cruise industry.

 

So my standard room was 15 sf larger than the French balcony room above mine? They seemed the same size to me. Now I wish I could compare again.

[jrkstl]

So my standard room was 15 sf larger than the French balcony room above mine? They seemed the same size to me. Now I wish I could compare again.

 

Yes they really are :) This is due to the off-center hallway on floors two and three that allow the balcony cabins on one side, and the French balcony rooms on the smaller starboard side.

 

On our last cruise, I was in a friend's French Balcony room, and you really only notice the difference on the window side of the bed.

 

Jeff

[wheezedr]

Interesting in that as I searched Viking cruises prior to my booking the French balcony rooms disappeared quicker than any other category. Even though I realize the river is much different than the ocean I went with a balcony rather than a standard as the DW loves her balcony on ocean ships. Leave in a month, see how it goes.

[hawkeye65]

Yes they really are :) This is due to the off-center hallway on floors two and three that allow the balcony cabins on one side, and the French balcony rooms on the smaller starboard side.

 

On our last cruise, I was in a friend's French Balcony room, and you really only notice the difference on the window side of the bed.

 

Jeff

I wish this thread had been around before we booked our French balcony for our June cruise. We're set now. For pax who've had a French balcony, does bed configuration (together or apart) make any difference in usable space?

 

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[notamermaid]

I have read about this off-centre hallway giving more space for a real balcony on one side of the ship. Not sure if this new layout is that great. Admitted, Viking normally has their own docking places in town and they hardly raft with another company but they raft with their own ships and sometimes dock in not so scenic locations. For those occasions when you are rafted and look into another cabin or out onto a crane-com-factory-cum-whatever place a real balcony makes no sense to me. For scenic cruising - unless it is cold and/or pouring down with rain the 360 degrees view on the sundeck is preferable anyway.

 

I was perfectly happy with my French balcony but would have been ok on the bottom deck as well. I hardly spent any great amount of time in the cabin. What was great with the French balcony was waking up to the river front in Bratislava. All other "important" views I could experience from the lounge or the sundeck as much as from the cabin.

 

notamermaid

[dogsarepeopletoo]

We opted for a full balcony room (our first Viking river trip). In hindsight, we probably would have been as happy with a French balcony. A standard room with a high window? I'm short and don't relish the idea of standing on a stool to peer outside.

 

I've only been on my ocean cruise (1980s) courtesy of a generous grandparent. We all had interior rooms. I vowed never to have a room where I could not see outside (easily or at all).

[Cyber Kat]

We've only done this Rhine Getaway but we are planning on doing the Grand European Tour. We had a veranda B (on the deck between the Aquarium class and the upper deck. We were very happy with the room and will be booking another for our next cruise.

 

We loved having the extra room and the chair. We sat out on the balcony often enough to make it worth the extra money IMO.

 

My husband would sit out there while I was showering or getting changed and I sat out there when he did. Our cruise was at the end of August so it was warm enough in the morning or after dinner. I also went out to take pics in my pjs going through locks in the middle of the night.

 

 

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