and special treats made nice surprises. How exciting! Please hare your opinion with me. Ecologically friendly hybrid engines producing less vibrations for a smoother ride. How will payments on board be handled? Hi Deb, youre just a few days away from your journey. Although we have some other trips planned (that we organize ourselves, as we often do), we are contemplating which Viking cruise river or ocean we will be booking next. For handwashed garments, there is a clothesline in the shower. Your email address will not be published. Were doing the Rhine Getaway, Amsterdam to Basel in early Oct, but havent actually booked yet! Many folks do tend to change from the clothes they wore for daily excursions to something a little dressier for dinner, but I wouldnt call dinner attire dressy. http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/frequently-asked-questions.html#LIFEABOARD-FAQ-LIST/55787. When you return to the ship, you scan it again. Thank you for your time. During the day on excursions, travelers dress very comfortably as they leave the ship to explore a destination. Likewise, when the ship is ready to leave, it leaves as long as all the guests are accounted for. Thanks, Tom! Have a wonderful cruise! This includes the Viking Daily which provides information for each new day and the evening updates by the program director in the Lounge before dinner. Some folks elect to get the Silver Spirits package because they enjoy trying new cocktails and/or premium wines while on vacation. Emerald Cruises offers onboard laundry services and charges a fee per piece of laundry. I am sure i will have more later but your thread is wonderful. Im so glad you found the article helpful, Ronnie! That way, if they reach a low point in the river, they can have passengers disembark, go on bussed excursions, and afterwards be taken to the sister ship that completes the journey. If you decide on the stateroom with a french balcony, you will still be able to enjoy some time outside in the common areas while the ship is sailing. http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/frequently-asked-questions.html#LIFEABOARD-FAQ-LIST/55787, Click here to reload the page in order to enable certain features. Laundry Provide clean linen to support operations, cleans crew uniforms and guest clothes to Viking Standards. I liked the posted copy of the daily news and we had already decided from our ocean experiences to take the drinks package. Im so glad you found the article helpful, Rich! Enjoy your cruise this fall! (Its not uncommon for someone to forget to scan their card when returning to the ship.). Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. But it looks like pre purchasing using on board credit isnt possible. I learned that I probably should have packed a small collapsable umbrella to stuff in my backpack; that way, I wont be carrying the big Viking umbrella around after the rain has stopped while were still sightseeing. Veranda Stateroom (V) Stateroom size: 268 sq ft (includes private veranda) We do the red eye and get into Amsterdam early morning. Once youve booked a Viking cruise, take the next steps, like creating an online account with Viking, to ensure a wonderful adventure. The bar is on one end of the lounge; theres wait service in the Lounge during lunch and in the late afternoon and evening. Is there a restaurant seating option for introverts? The Aquavit Terrace is one advantage Viking has over its competition. Having said that, I know that Salzburg is lovely and many people enjoy that excursion. Our stateroom steward kept the room immaculate. What does Viking do with our luggage once we check out of the hotel? Scheduled for Grand European in September 2023. Ever consider a Viking European river cruise? pontac, June 28, 2016 in River Cruising. As for Tours by Locals, Ive used them, as well, and was pleased. That is, you sleep and eat on the ship and are transported to your destinations along a river. If you arrive before your guaranteed time of 3:00 pm, you can spend time in the Lounge or leave your luggage on the ship and begin to explore the city on your own. Our luggage awaited us, and our new room keys were on the dresser. WebStateroom size: 548 sq ft (includes Nordic balcony) Ocean-view two-room suite, 80% larger than junior suites, with private Nordic Balcony, private veranda, separate dining area for 4, additional storage and seating features, plus private access to Explorer Suites Garden. We are scheduled to take the Viking Danube cruise in early June 2022. Have fun whatever you decide to do! The 190-passenger Viking Egil Thank you. Were planning on a dinner in a town, tour of some beer gardens and lunch in Heidelberg, and just walking around. Powered by Invision Community. As for money, we used a credit card (with no foreign transaction fees) and Euros (very handy for tipping tour guides and purchasing small incidentals). Just in front of the Lounge to the bow of the ship is the Aquavit Terrace. Plus, some travel agents provide onboard credit to cruising clients. Located off the main corridor, the library has books you may borrow while aboard as well as abridged newspapers that are prepared for Viking guests daily. But, what else would we spend money on? Were planning a Viking river cruise May 2022. More information on menu choices is below under Meals. Enjoy your cruise! Once everyone was accounted for, we were able to leave, return our life vests to our stateroom, and resume what we were doing. Haha, I got a kick out of being tempted with just one little pastry! Enjoy! Theres a mix of traveling overnight (almost all of the time) and during the morning/afternoon/evening (some of the time). That way, Viking could clean the staterooms and ready the ship for the passengers boarding later that day for the next cruise. And the small umbrellas! However, the information in this article is from our, The staterooms and bathrooms are efficiently designed to maximize usable space. There youll find a countdown to departure, background on each port of call, the entire list of excursions available (some are complimentary; others cost extra) that you can book online, a calendar showing your itinerary for each day, and other helpful information about the cruise. After the excursions, we all met at a restaurant in Nuremberg for lunch, had a little free time, and then were bussed to the new ship in the late afternoon. When passengers get to the sister ship, their luggage is in their new cabins (which are usually the same cabins they had on the original ship). Did some underwear, jeans and a golf shirt. All came back same day. No complaints. For a complete list of action steps. Thank you! If you send your clothes away to be professionally cleaned, the fees range from $1 for small items to be washed and pressed up to $20 or more for a three-piece suit to be dry cleaned. There are large windows on the port and starboard sides so views are available while cruising the river at mealtime. Viking asks that guests not walk on the sun deck from 10:00 pm to 7:00 am as a courtesy to those whose cabins are just below the sun deck. I hope things go smoothly for you and that you have a wonderful time! These are typically large-group bus or walking tours of a city that provide a nice overview of a place. In addition, there are quite a few optional excursions available at an extra cost. Enjoy your cruise! To conserve resources, you could easily fill a reusable water bottle from home with water in the rooms. A few weeks prior to your departure, Viking will send stickers for you to wear at the airport when you land, so they can identify you as a Viking guest. My husband prefers to jog each morning, and he was able to when we were docked in the early morning before excursions began. We would either meet in Bamburg or Wurzburg. Cons: Viking is adults only; passengers must be over the age of 18. I have seem videos of rooms but cannot perceive where we can place our 2 luggages + backpacks and not having to hop over them inside our room. We had grown to like the crew on the Skirnir, but we quickly came to like the new ones as well. My first question is, without using the laundry service on board , do you have suggestions on washing items in your cabin? You said you enjoy a few drinks before dinner, and if you add in some premium wine at dinner, the total you spend each day might add up pretty quickly. Enjoy! First timer on river cruise. All guests left the ship for excursions (the times of the excursions were modified that day so they would all be timed for the same number of hours). There are also bright red full-size Viking umbrellas to take along on excursions if its raining. expansive 445 square foot living space (separate living room and bedroom) with wraparound balcony at the stern of the ship plus a French balcony in the bedroom. Have a fabulous cruise! Each time you enter the dining room, you find a table that you want to sit at. Id suggest you ask about picking up excursion cards and other details like that once youre on the ship, as some procedures like this may vary a bit. We had to have our luggage packed and placed outside our stateroom door by 7:00 am on the day of the switch. means the walking could be a little more strenuous or have more stairs or inclines. Thank you for your article and your help! Weve had no regrets. Just sayin'. Another consideration, of course, is how often you might order specialty drinks from the bar: at lunch, throughout the day, before and/or after dinner? 19952023, The Independent Traveler, Inc. Special Event: Q&A with Rudi Schreiner, President, Co-Founder & Co-Owner - AmaWaterways River Cruises. We kept our itinerary full, which might have been an error trust me, you want to take a breather every few days! You mentioned laundry, and although theres no laundromat on Vikings European river cruise ships, there is a laundry service that you can use. will visit your room in the morning to clean it. Did you use local guides? Not used it before (indeed didn't think there were onboard facilities) but its mentioned in the info for our upcoming GET. There are also daily announcements with information on docking and reminders about impending excursion departures. 11 AM Embarkation 11 AM priority stateroom access There is an extra charge for the Silver Spirits package for guests who want to enjoy premium wines and beer, cocktails, and champagnes. Thanks again! The tips cover all onboard staff. As for how much money to bring along, I usually start out with about $300 worth of local currency. Hi, Considering the Silver Spirits package. Do you travel overnight for most of the time or is there day travel as well? Otherwise, we had a brand new crew. We saw you comment about change for guides and such and credit cards with no foreign charges. Thats where you might find biking or hiking options, or as you mentioned, the Top of Cologne optional tour. Do you have any experience with that destination? On our walk, we passed the Shoes Along the Danube (very moving) and other interesting sights. One tip we learned is to put a shoe (just one!) Regarding local currency in Hungary, you can head to an ATM once youre there to get the amount of local cash you want. Hi Linda, youre facing a big decision: to go with Silver Spirits or not! I wonder if you have any thoughts on us meeting up with friends from Stuttgart. Thats because some people end up canceling their reservations for optional excursions. When the cruise ends, you settle your account in cash (U.S. dollars or Euros) or by credit card. Sound like you have a great cruise coming up! Of all the stops on the Grand European Tour, these are the cities in which our ship had prime docking spots (making it very easy to go out and explore on our own): Budapest, Vienna, Melk, Passau, Regensburg, Wurzburg, Cologne, and Amsterdam. On our cruise, this was done in the Lounge just after the evening port talk by the program director. I was curious about what time you have to be back on the ship at night. The Silver Spirits package is complimentary for guests in an Explorer Suite. Good luck! Theres also no guest laundry on board, and this is also true of other The recommended tipping (for each guest) on excursions is 2 Euros for local guides and 1 Euro for bus drivers. If you choose to eat on the Aquavit Terrace, dinner begins at 7:15 pm with all of the same options as in the dining room. Question please, how fast, how good, how expensive? Some companies may take space from common areas to put into spas and fitness centers; others, like Viking, use all that available space for staterooms and common areas.). Guests can use their own laptops or one of the public computes available onboard each ship. Needless to say, its handy to have small change for tipping. Laundry is folded and returned on the same day if you have it ready in the morning. There are times when river cruise ships have to have guests disembark a ship and then board a sister ship. Thank you! There is no self-service laundry. The general experience on all Viking river cruise ships is the same, no matter what ship youre on. I will add one note that we experienced. Suffice it to say that Viking has this all figured out and has contingency plans firmly in place. That way, youll have current informationand be able to talk to people in the know to see if your plans will work. Any comments on safety in cities? Have a wonderful time! Remember to notify your bank of your travel dates and destinations before leaving home! WebDo you have laundry and dry cleaning facilities? We thoroughly enjoyed our Viking river cruise. Good Job!! See. One thing we learned is that although some excursions will guide you through a large city, if it is inland a bit, you may be spending a significant amount of time traveling from the ship to the city and comparatively modest amounts of time actually in the city itself. Viking ships all sport calming Scandinavian decor and are designed efficiently. Others get the package because they like having their drinks all inclusive without having to think about a bar tab. All the best. Check-in time for the hotel is 3:00 PM. What are your thoughts on the Silver Spirits package? We thoroughly enjoyed our Viking river cruise. excursion card with a number and a letter. Do you have to go on the planned excursion or can you go off and explore on your own? Was our first Viking cruise, so we used your article as a guide. There are costs associated with the optional tours and they vary, and I suppose that correlates with the costs Viking incurs. Thanks so much for the kind words, Laura! What it meant for guests was a minor inconvenience. On each of the two ships we were on, there was a duo in the evening that included a vocalist and a pianist. Prepaid gratuities came to 18 Euros per guest per day. We are traveling with 8 other people. As you probably know, the package includes unlimited beverages when the bars are open. This is one way the crew can account for all guests. Hope you have been able to enjoy more Viking cruises since your original one. This is one way the crew can account for all guests. Hi. Viking keeps track of your expenses during the cruise, including bar items, laundry, phone calls, and purchases from the Viking shop (logo wear and souvenirs). On our ships, there were separate newspaper versions for Australia, Canada, and the U.S. For example, we arrived in Cologne at 9:30 am and our walking tour began at 10:00 am. One question though How can we tell how much bus travel time is involved in each excursion? Its not a deal breaker for us, but its something every river cruise guest should be forewarned about. As you leave the ship, you are handed a bottle of water. After that point, guests still on board could use the common areas (Lounge or sun deck) until their transfer to the airport or other destination. To accomplish this, passengers pack up the night before the transfer, and while out on excursions, their luggage is transferred to the other ship. This happens when bridges are too low to safely pass under with guests on the sun deck. Some areas also have other popular ride-share companies like Bolt in Europe. Having to look for the shoe on the last day will remind you to open the safe so you dont forget your valuables. on your bed. Indeed, very VERY helpfulespecially for first time river cruisers. WebLaundry is completely free on Viking Ocean cruises, including soap, wash, and dr Viking Ocean Ships Ultimate Dining Guide 2022 - Relevant to ALL Viking Ocean Ships Visit With As for keeping the itinerary full, its hard not to when you have so many great places to explore, but I agree that scheduling downtime is important, too. What are the charges for individual cocktails, apertifs or premium beers/wines by glass?
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are there laundry facilities on viking river cruises