On the travel wardrobe @conmama waa asking about our recent river cruise.
We loved it. Loved the ease of the river cruise. We were taken care of from the moment we stepped off the plane until we were dropped off at the end. We loved that we got a great overview of the region.
We liked being busy and learning. We took quite a few tours arranged by Viking, the cruise line we were on.
We also did the pre and post extensions provided by Viking. It includes all your transfers that way so it’s an easy option.
@conmama asked about dinners off the boat. We were on the Rhine river, which mostly traveled at night, and you would be in a port during the day. There were 2 stops that you were there late. Viking had dinners offered (for a price) but you could definitely go to dinner on your own.
We always ate on the boat. One because it had been paid for and two because we met great people that we wanted to dine with. And three we liked the food. We had great dinners out before and after the cruise in Basel Switzerland and Amsterdam.
I put this in a thread because I know others have gone on river cruises. I’d love to hear your thoughts also.
We are trying to decide our next river cruise.
I know this type of touring is not for everybody. We liked it and found it a very enjoyable way for us to vacation.
My sister and friends did a Viking River Cruise in 2019. She also started in Basel and ended in Amsterdam, so probably same or similar itinerary. She really enjoyed it and was happy she could do it before Covid hit (as she had always been interested in trying a river cruise). She had been on a few ocean cruises, but never a river cruise before that one.
Thanks for starting this thread, as we are pretty serious about wanting to do it. Travel is expensive, so I think this would be a nice way to see a snapshot of somewhere interesting, while not committing to a lengthier stay. Not that the places visited don’t warrant that…but there are several places I do want to research and travel on my own,but many cities I don’t. This just seems to be a fun way to do that.
I get tons of emails and snail mail from Viking. I would wait or ask if there’s a code for the cruise you are looking at. Once you search river cruises, you will get tons of targeted facebook ads
I have a code right now for free air and free silver spirits package. That was the offer I booked with.
Wine and beer are included with the meals. Silver spirts includes upgraded wine and all drinks at all other times. There’s a lounge and many people sat in the bar area having drinks before and after dinner.
I would explore the different river cruises. The Rhine is a good first cruise. But there are lots of other options and some you would stay in a city overnight. Or before or after the cruise which is what we did.
It’s not cheap. But once you add up all that it includes, we thought it was worth it. Viking is the most known with the most boats but there are other companies.
We loved Switzerland and loved seeing the Alps which we did before the cruise started. Would definitely try and schedule more time there. Spent a couple of days in Amsterdam afterwards and while it was very worthwhile, it was a big city. Would go back but there are lots of other places in the world I’d like to visit.
I’m 60 and was afraid that we would be on the younger side. I would think that 40% of the people were in our age group.
There were some younger people there say mid 30’s and early 40’s. There was one young couple there with her parents (think mid 20’s) and they were visibly bored. But it might not have been the vacation they would pick out and with her parents.
There were definitely older people there.
But we found a lot of people our age. Young retirees or still working with young grandchildren. Or children in college. Met quite a few retired military. I would say that the crowd was much like CC. College educated people who wanted to travel and were curious.
Mostly Americans but a few from Australia and one couple from Canada.
I heard that Viking is skewering younger after the pandemic.
I like the idea of a day or two at the beginning and end of the cruise to just do your own thing.
I do alot of research and organizing on all our trips. I actually think I’m pretty good at it…but the thought of just showing up with all the work done sounds wonderful!
We’re 63, so sounds like we are in a decent age group…although we still think of ourselves as 10 years younger…lol!
I’m trying to still figure out how you got free air!
Friends of ours went on a Viking cruise this year, but they had a somewhat different experience. (I can’t remember where they went - but on a river in Europe). They invited us to go, but when they came back they said they didn’t think we would have liked it - it wasn’t active enough for us. Seems like @deb922 had a more active experience than our friends.
Viking includes one tour per day and then they offer an “optional” tour that you have to pay for. We did a bunch of those. And really enjoyed them.
We did things like a Mercedes Benz tour. A visit to a palace, a castle and a visit to Colmar a lovely medieval village. Before we boarded our ship, we took a tour of the Alps and in Amsterdam we took an all day tour with the most amazing guide who told us so much about the art at the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, home of the Dutch masters
There were wine tastings and a world war 2 tour that I wish we had time to do. When it’s not winter you can do an e-bike tour through the Black Forest (we did a short hike and it was awesome). We saw windmills. There was a beer dinner in Cologne that I heard was a blast.
These are just some of the things you can do on the Rhine river cruise.
It’s all about what you make it. We did tons of stuff. Never bored.
But we like to be active and we like to learn about the area we were visiting. We did not shop at all.
We did the Viking Grand European in 2019. From Amsterdam to Budapest; we added on two days in Amsterdam in the beginning. It was fabulous. I echo all you have said. Taken care of from start to finish and all in between. We met some fabulous people.
We are older and were fine with the less strenuous excursions but there were several, including a few bike riding tours. Lots of walking at any rate. But, I would never equate “cruise” with “active vacation” anyway, so I’m sure mountain climbers, trekkers, etc. wouldn’t be looking at a river cruise to begin with.
@itsgettingreal21 It might not sound like it would be your cup of tea but there may have been a better way to express that. Lots of people do love river cruises.
@deb922 - you mentioned doing several tours that Viking offered. Could you have explored on your own? We’ve been on a few other cruises (not river cruises) and typically plan our own day trips when in port. I’ve been looking at river cruises just because the itinerary is so different from the others. We too like being very active, but as you said, it’s kind up to you to make that happen.
I was looking at doing a Viking cruise specifically for my 50th birthday, which ended up being cancelled because of covid, but one of the reasons we started looking at other lines was because Viking is all inclusive, including the shore excursions. We hated the idea that we were paying for something we wouldn’t be using. That said, IMO, they had the best ports of call for what we were looking for so we were torn. We will very likely do one in the future.
