Avalon pre cruise transfer and Walking Tour Vienna

[lilli]

Hoping someone who has been on Avalon Danube could answer a couple questions--We are taking a Christmas Market Cruise in December and starting in Prague for a few days and then to board the ship in Nuremberg.  We are wondering what the timing is on the transfer to the ship?  Is it first thing in the morning or more midday?  Avalon just said "morning"  

also for the included city tour of Vienna, the description I was given from Avalon is "For Vienna, you will see Imperial Palace Complex, Vienna Opera House, St Stephens Cathedral. There is an optional excursion to Schonbrunn Palace,"  

Can anyone comment on whether it was just a walking tour around the exteriors or did they go inside the palace complex, opera house etc?  Trying to plan our time in Vienna.  

Thank you!

[CDNPolar]

The cruise line will generally take you from the hotel in line with the hotel checkout policy.  Often 11am is the checkout, so the departure from the hotel will be about that time.

[lilli]

Thanks--this is helpful!

[vada_9]

In June 2022 , the morning walking tour in Vienna went as follows. Bus dropped us off near Opera House, we then walked past Albertina, Lipanzer Stables/Palace then down pedestrian street and ended near St Steven’s.  We left at this time as we had pre-purchased tickets to The Spanish Riding School show. We made our own way back to ship via metro and walking plus extra site seeing. (This was the evening of the concert- so plenty of time to plan your own afternoon activities). To answer your question- all outside viewings.

Edited August 27 by vada_9

[lilli]

2 minutes ago, vada_9 said:

In June 2022 , the morning walking tour in Vienna went as follows. Bus dropped us off near Opera House, we then walked past Albertina, Lipanzer Stables/Palace then down pedestrian street and ended near St Steven’s.  We left at this time as we had pre-purchased tickets to The Spanish Riding School show. We made our own way back to ship via metro and walking plus extra site seeing. (This was the evening of the concert- so plenty of time to plan your own afternoon activities)

Thanks for sharing. So you just walked by the outside?  How many people are in the tour groups--roughly?  and did you attend the concert and if so, what was your opinion/thoughts?

[vada_9]

2 minutes ago, lilli said:

Thanks for sharing. So you just walked by the outside?  How many people are in the tour groups--roughly?  and did you attend the concert and if so, what was your opinion/thoughts?

Yes just walked by outside. With lots of stops on the way. I’ll have a guess maybe 20-30 in the group. Think there were 4 options of tours for the morning - a couple may have been inside visits to museums. We had never been to Vienna - so good introduction for us. Also meant we could use bus to get to city centre for our own planned touring. Did not attend concert - so can’t comment. 
As you are doing a Christmas Market cruise - I would guess the evening markets would also be an option if staying late. Remember it will be getting dark around 4pm.

[lilli]

Yes--it will definitely be dark early and late sunrise too!  We will definitely be heading to the markets for afternoon and maybe evening.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

I didn't want to post until someone shared their experience – but @vada_9 has now confirmed what I suspected:  in descriptions of excursions, 'see' means outside.  'Visit' means inside.

[Canal archive]

I love Vienna it is one of Europe’s easiest cities to navigate and their coffee and Sachertorte are to die for, enjoy. Just be careful as you approach winter their version of hot winter wine is extremely potent.

Edited August 27 by Canal archive

[lilli]

Thanks for all the input—the “see” vs “visit” makes sense and will definitely watch out for the winter wine!!

[JordanF]

It is a 3 1/2 hour drive from Prague to Nuremburg.  We recently did it in reverse (Regensburg to Prague), and it included a lunch (on our own) and short tour of Pilsen.  The transfer will be designed to get you to Nuremburg so that the boat is ready for you--so not too early.  But they will not expect you to skip a meal!  So the bus may leave Prague mid-morning to allow for a stop somewhere.  The more involved the stop is, the earlier you will leave.  Have a great trip.

[lilli]

1 hour ago, JordanF said:

It is a 3 1/2 hour drive from Prague to Nuremburg.  We recently did it in reverse (Regensburg to Prague), and it included a lunch (on our own) and short tour of Pilsen.  The transfer will be designed to get you to Nuremburg so that the boat is ready for you--so not too early.  But they will not expect you to skip a meal!  So the bus may leave Prague mid-morning to allow for a stop somewhere.  The more involved the stop is, the earlier you will leave.  Have a great trip.

And I definitely don’t skip meals!!🤣🤣. Thanks!

[Daisi]

Our tour of Vienna (general walking tour) was much the same as @vada_9 described, but we were lucky enough to see them walking the horses around and seeing them poking their heads out of the stalls. We had never been to Vienna either, so it was a good general overall viewing of the city. We managed to get the full trip around the Ringstrasse, as some of our passengers on our bus were doing the museum tour so they were dropped off. I would say we had about 15 on our tour, and it ended just outside the Cathedral. These are some of my photos. The Cathedral was nice, but we found some of the others we saw on the Danube nicer....Regensburg's was really peaceful, and Budapest's St. Stephens was very impressive. 

[lilli]

Thanks for your input and love the pics!!