First river cruise - Amsterdam to Budapest in June 2019

[junglejane]

We're looking at booking our first river cruise. We've been on 20 ocean cruises and are soon to be empty nesters. We're interested in the Amsterdam to Budapest itinerary for June 2019. We've read a lot of the helpful stickies at the top of the forum and some of the comparison articles. We're also reading the Frommer's EasyGuide to River Cruising.

 

We've specifically been looking at Scenic on 6/10/19 and Viking on 6/11/19. We recognize that Scenic is more expensive but also more all inclusive. On our ocean cruises we've tended to DIY or book private excursions on our European cruises, but it seems that with river cruises it may make more sense to go with the ship's excursions.

 

Any tips or suggestions will be much appreciated!

[Toryhere]

Scenic is an Australian company. This means that there a substantial number of the passengers on Scenic cruises tend to be Australian.

I would therefore recommend that you try Scenic, because you will not only get to enjoy Europe you will also get to enjoy having a lot of fellow passengers whose culture and outlook, whilst similar to yours will be also be different enough to make your trip a lot more fun.

[murphy4]

We're looking at booking our first river cruise. We've been on 20 ocean cruises and are soon to be empty nesters. We're interested in the Amsterdam to Budapest itinerary for June 2019. We've read a lot of the helpful stickies at the top of the forum and some of the comparison articles. We're also reading the Frommer's EasyGuide to River Cruising.

 

 

 

We've specifically been looking at Scenic on 6/10/19 and Viking on 6/11/19. We recognize that Scenic is more expensive but also more all inclusive. On our ocean cruises we've tended to DIY or book private excursions on our European cruises, but it seems that with river cruises it may make more sense to go with the ship's excursions.

 

 

 

Any tips or suggestions will be much appreciated!

 

 

 

I am doing the Basel to Amsterdam June 23rd 2018 with Viking! Email me if you want help or Info! Rdmurph@comcast.net

 

 

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[jeb_bud]

When I was planning our first river cruise in 2015 I compared lines and wound up choosing Scenic. I made the comparison as “apples to apples” as possible by choosing a room on Viking comparable to what Scenic offers, then adding the things we would purchase on Viking that are included on Scenic.

 

I concluded that, for me, Scenic would not be more expensive than Viking all things considered.

 

 

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[notamermaid]

Junglejane,

 

the ship's included excursions are usually very good. I would have a look at them and see if they differ much between the cruise lines. With river cruises schedules are sometimes changed at short notice and private booking is sometimes awkward to do, i.e. fitting it in with the itinerary.

 

Perhaps have a look at cabin size.

 

Entertainment is "low key" in the evening on river cruises but the lines may have options of going to concerts or having a local small band on board on an evening or two.

 

Another thing to note is that Viking has no gym onboard their ships and the demographic is slightly older than on other cruise lines.

 

Have fun planning.

 

notamermaid

[Roz]

You're paying for the included excursions, so why not take them, especially if you're visiting places you've never been to before. You'll find that the groups are much smaller than excursions booked through ocean cruise lines. Enjoy your first river cruise.

 

Roz

[sandiegoredhead]

Wil be doing the Amsterdam to Budapest AMAwaterways May 6, 2018. Choose based on friends recommendations, will see. Will try to come back and post. Looks like an amazing itinerary. Have cruised large and medium ships but think this will be my favorite. Question if anyone has cruised AMAwaterways, can you bring wine on board from the shore excursions?

Edited March 26, 2018 by sandiegoredhead

[Ritabob]

 

Yes

[junglejane]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We're still pondering Scenic vs Viking. The Scenic website is a bit hard to use. Does anyone know if either line discounts the fare if you book your own air? Or do you have to pay for airfare in your cruise fare?

[sawtooth]

We are cruising Uniworld 6/2/19, Amsterdam to Basel.

They are all inclusive and fairly upscale.

Give them a look too.

[jeb_bud]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We're still pondering Scenic vs Viking. The Scenic website is a bit hard to use. Does anyone know if either line discounts the fare if you book your own air? Or do you have to pay for airfare in your cruise fare?

 

 

 

I don’t know about Viking but Scenic is offering air credits. The size of the credit varies by itinerary, deck and cruise length.

 

The scenicusa.com home screen has a link to “Choose your savings” that gives you a nutshell view.

 

 

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[Roz]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We're still pondering Scenic vs Viking. The Scenic website is a bit hard to use. Does anyone know if either line discounts the fare if you book your own air? Or do you have to pay for airfare in your cruise fare?

 

I'm not aware of any river cruise line that requires you purchase your airline tickets thru them, but I could be wrong.

 

Roz

[CarolinaKathy]

We used Avalon for our Amsterdam to Budapest cruse in 2015. Avalon was wonderful and we had a great time. We did a 2 day extension in Budapest that was well worth it. My suggestion is to check some of the reviews and see how the cruise line handles any problems that come up. Most of the time things go as planned but sometimes there are glitches. We had some issues on our cruise and Avalon did an amazing job of keeping us updated, providing optional tours at no charge an compensating us far more than we had expected. we have since taken 2 additional cruises with them

[junglejane]

Thanks everyone for the feedback! We just booked the Scenic Jewel for 6/10/19. There was some confusion about the cabin selection. I was on hold with the TA who was on another line with Scenic. I wanted a BD cabin and they offered a cabin that was not shown as a BD on the American website. I was puzzled until I brought up the Australian website and noticed that the deckplan was slightly different on the Australian website (obviously more up to date). Anyway we're booked and excited about our first river cruise.

[murphy4]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We're still pondering Scenic vs Viking. The Scenic website is a bit hard to use. Does anyone know if either line discounts the fare if you book your own air? Or do you have to pay for airfare in your cruise fare?

 

 

 

Viking has a promotion for $395 airfare. You are better off booking with them, if you don’t book with them it will only save you $395 per person

 

 

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[TravelerThom]

I'm not aware of any river cruise line that requires you purchase your airline tickets thru them, but I could be wrong.

I have had several cruises where the “discount” was “free air”, but with no cash reduction if you didn’t use their air. In essence you were required to purchase the “free air” whether you used it or not. I’m sure others might look at this otherwise but when pricing out the total cost of a trip that’s my analysis.

[TravelerThom]

...

We've specifically been looking at Scenic on 6/10/19 and Viking on 6/11/19. We recognize that Scenic is more expensive but also more all inclusive.,.

 

Any tips or suggestions will be much appreciated!

Any reason you are just looking at thes two very different cruise lines? There are lots of other lines out there, many of which fall between your two choices in terms of inclusion.

[Wings55]

Thanks everyone for the feedback! We just booked the Scenic Jewel for 6/10/19. There was some confusion about the cabin selection. I was on hold with the TA who was on another line with Scenic. I wanted a BD cabin and they offered a cabin that was not shown as a BD on the American website. I was puzzled until I brought up the Australian website and noticed that the deckplan was slightly different on the Australian website (obviously more up to date). Anyway we're booked and excited about our first river cruise.

 

I was going to post a note recommending Scenic but I see you beat me to it.

We booked our first R.C. with Scenic in 2016 after much research on my part. Yes the price is more expensive but I felt the value was better with Scenic. We couldn't have been happier with our experience and I'm sure you will feel the same way. You made an excellent choice!

 

Paul

[jbeuks]

We used Avalon for our Amsterdam to Budapest cruse in 2015. Avalon was wonderful and we had a great time. We did a 2 day extension in Budapest that was well worth it. My suggestion is to check some of the reviews and see how the cruise line handles any problems that come up. Most of the time things go as planned but sometimes there are glitches. We had some issues on our cruise and Avalon did an amazing job of keeping us updated, providing optional tours at no charge an compensating us far more than we had expected. we have since taken 2 additional cruises with them

My wife and I are booked on Avalon for the same itinerary in Sept./Oct. 2018. We plan to spend a couple of days in Amsterdam before the cruise and to return to Vienna for a few days afterwards. I'd greatly appreciate any guidance about what the cruise-included and optional excursions involve, so we can plan what we want to do independently and avoid duplication. Also, I understand that Avalon has passengers gather at a hotel near the docks rather than going to the ship by themselves. Do you recall what hotel was used in Amsterdam, and did you stay there? That strikes me as if it would simplify things a lot. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer on these subjects.

[junglejane]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. We were aware of the Viking free air promotion and had a quote from our TA for Viking. But with that kind of promotion Viking doesn't give you any fare reduction for booking your own air, and my DH definitely prefers to handle his own air. I realize we could do custom air and upgrade to business class on Viking, but considering the extra costs involved, we prefer to hand the air ourselves, especially since we probably want to spend time after the cruise not only in Budapest but also in London. Scenic, on the other hand, reduced the brochure fare by $1000 because we are booking our own air.

 

Scenic was more expensive but considering that Scenic includes gratuities and all alcohol, the difference compared to Viking wasn't that great. I spent a lot of time reading reviews on CC, studying the respective websites and watching videos. One thing I found interesting was that there are basically UK and Australian versions of the Scenic promotional videos. The UK version features what I would call a rather stuffy older male narrator (

), whereas the Australian version features a peppy blonde female. (Example:

)

 

I'm a bit puzzled by the dress code though. On this video they talk about the "casual" dress code in the Crystal Dining Room (the main dining room) and say you can wear whatever you feel most comfortable in. At that moment the video zeroes in on a Rex Tillerson lookalike in a gray pinstripe suit.

(see the 3:14-3:46 marks). Basically everyone in the restaurant looks very dressed up. We're fine with whatever the code is, but are confused by the mixed messages.

[jeb_bud]

Pay no attention to the man in the video. He’s not the man you’re looking for.

 

We’ve only been on one Scenic cruise(next one will be in 2019). On our cruise dinner attire ranged from shorts, tee shirt and flip flops to a tuxedo. I generally wore chinos and a polo shirt. The only time I felt a little under dressed was at the evening concert in Vienna. Even then a dress shirt would have put me safely in the middle of the pack.

 

 

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[KathyK13]

My wife and I are booked on Avalon for the same itinerary in Sept./Oct. 2018. We plan to spend a couple of days in Amsterdam before the cruise and to return to Vienna for a few days afterwards. I'd greatly appreciate any guidance about what the cruise-included and optional excursions involve, so we can plan what we want to do independently and avoid duplication. Also, I understand that Avalon has passengers gather at a hotel near the docks rather than going to the ship by themselves. Do you recall what hotel was used in Amsterdam, and did you stay there? That strikes me as if it would simplify things a lot. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer on these subjects.

 

I suggest you post this on the 'All Things Avalon' thread; you'll be more likely to get a response.

[junglejane]

Pay no attention to the man in the video. He’s not the man you’re looking for.

Ha ha! Thanks. :):):):)

[caripoo]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. We're still pondering Scenic vs Viking. The Scenic website is a bit hard to use. Does anyone know if either line discounts the fare if you book your own air? Or do you have to pay for airfare in your cruise fare?

 

 

 

You can ALWAYS book your own airfare...

[TravelerThom]

You can ALWAYS book your own airfare...

BUT you may be walking away from their discount with no, zero, nada credit. Viking usually will NOT give you credit for the discount built into their cheap airfare while I think Scenic (who I have not sailed) will give you some credit for not using their discounted air. YMMV