Thanks again. For example, sometimes two sister ships sail on the same one-way voyage starting at the same time just at opposite ends of the itinerary. By the way, the excursions included in the trip are typically large group experiences, while the optional excursions (available at an extra cost) are usually much smaller groups as they are more focused on specific areas of interest. We noticed that the crew was cleaning the common areas early in the morning, as soon as we left for excursions, and in our rooms while guests were enjoying dinner. Great article. Also, dinner is served on the Aquavit Terrace; service begins 15 minutes after dinner service starts in the restaurant. Your husband doesnt need to pack a blazer if he wouldnt normally wear one for dinner. Viking has guest departures timed to match their future travel plans. That is, you sleep and eat on the ship and are transported to your destinations along a river. Hope this info helps you a bit! Power is supplied at 110 volts. I know the hair dryer is in the bathroom, so that is not an issue. It has served my family well. If you have taken a Viking river cruise and want to share your experiences, please do so in the comment area below. We also took along some thank you cards and put in some extra cash to give to those we felt went above and beyond during our cruise. Hope your sister finds her Viking river cruise everything she hopes it to be. The Viking Bar on Deck 1 has sweets and savories available through midnight. One thing to keep in mind is that things can change from day to day, week to week and that includes river levels. Is that a crazy thing to say?! your journey, you'll want the . What a great experience she has ahead of her! We are experienced travelers on land but this will be a new experience. Some of these plugs are grounded and some are not. But I noticed that I had 3 pillows and had to throw the extra one on a chair. I really dont want to bring any shampoo but Im supposed to use phosphate free. There was a broken lock near Regensburg, about halfway between the two big cities. My husband and I are doing the Grand Tour B > A in early October 2023. Sometimes the river water levels may be too low in spots (due to the lack of sufficient rain during summer) or there is another issue (like a broken lock) necessitating the change. How early are they available to avoid the rush? We're with you. LauraS For a 7-night cruise, the cost is $139.65 USD p.p. We are really looking forward to this cruise and its wonderful itinerary. Hi Ricardo, It sounds like you have a great trip ahead! Best, Irene, Hi Glenise, After that, we went to an assigned group on the upper deck (groups are determined by what floor the staterooms are on), and we had to give our stateroom number to the staff at the assigned location (for roll call). Now to your questions. free wi-fi (though connection speeds vary depending upon location). Your comments are really appreciated. And Im so glad I was able to help you prepare for your cruise. Likewise, when the ship is ready to leave, it leaves as long as all the guests are accounted for. And theres an extensive Room Service menu available at no extra charge 24 hours a day. Would an excursion like that feel to rushed to enjoy, or do you know if Salzberg is a not to be missed kind of place? Onboard youll have port talks to prepare you for each new day along with musical entertainment in the lounge. You make an excellent point, Julia. Suffice it to say that Viking has this all figured out and has contingency plans firmly in place. After morning housekeeping, we had some fresh fruit and baked treats waiting for us in our room. Each time you leave the ship, you scan your room key. complimentary Silver Spirits beverage package, private arrival and departure transfer (from and to the airport). Hi Deb, youre just a few days away from your journey. Dinner begins at 7:00 pm in the dining room. We cant say enough about how well-run and maintained the ships are. I wasnt sure whether or not to bring my usual cruise lanyard and hole punch? And the small umbrellas! Good luck! And, yes, there is a nice vanity area where you can sit and do your hair and makeup, across from the bed. If you think you may be tempted to bring snacks back to the ship from a cruise excursion, do remember to pack a few Ziploc bags. To conserve resources, you could easily fill a reusable water bottle from home with water in the rooms. Also, we had booked an English-speaking tour of the Hungarian Parliament which ended up being fascinating; if you plan to do this, make sure to make reservations online ahead of your visit. Owned and operated by Viking, Viking Osiris is a brand new vessel, the most upscale ship in Egypt, and the sister ship to Viking Aton. However, if such devices are determined to pose a hazard, they will be removed and returned the last day of the cruise . Is there a "dress code" on the ship? That includes any drinks up to $15 like cocktails, aperitifs, and premium wines by the glass. (The price of the package varies, but it comes to about $20 or so a day per person.) Ive taken mine on multiple Viking river and OCEAN cruises and have never had a problem. Often, a crew member will place towels on your bed the night before if youve booked an excursion that might call for beach towels. While all Viking Longships are non-smoking on the interior, in staterooms and verandas, for those of you who are cigarette smokers, each ship has an outdoor smoking area, typically on the sun deck. We are thinking we would might rather be wandering through the town and trying local cuisine. Are there any solo travellers on their cruises. Some guests preferred to stay in the Lounge and simply relax, read a book, or enjoy the view beyond the big plate glass window or take in the views from the sun deck. But having to pack additional converters or keeping your fingers crossed . Shampoo and conditioner have to be packed extra carefully when youre flying because these liquids can easily leak onto your belongings and are subject to TSA 3-1-1 rules if you bring them in a carry-on. We leave Saturday for Prague followed by the Budapest to Amsterdam Viking river cruise. Lots of good options, just not sure how fast everything could charge if it needed to be all at the same time! That saved precious counter space. Thanks Francis M, I am re-thinking the amps on the power strip for that very reason, we will be in an apartment in Amsterdam for a few days precruise, so we definitely will need one. Staterooms are guaranteed to be ready at 3:00 pm. We are planning to take the Grand European Tour in July of 2023. Just before the drill, we were all asked to return to our staterooms and don our life vests. Your email address will not be published. We could not have chosen any better than the Skirnir and Viking. The Silver Spirits package offers unlimited drinks including cocktails, premium wine, and beer. My first question is, without using the laundry service on board , do you have suggestions on washing items in your cabin? We sent some clothing to be laundered, and we were happy with that choice. In Southeast Asia the ships use a 2-pin Euro plug. Here are some examples from our cruise: Tipping is the universal way to thank someone for providing excellent service and you will find excellent service on Viking. Also, regarding a curling ironI had one and used it and had no problem. Designed and crafted to safely navigate the Lower Mekong River in Viking style, Saigon will carry a maximum of 80 passengers between My Tho and Kampong Cham as part of the . (European river cruise ships are limited in size due to the rivers they cruise on, so they have the same overall dimensions. Common power strips are prohibited from cruise ships for safety reasons, and there aren't "cruise ship power strips", but there are alternatives. when we traveled) to your shipboard account. Viking isn't one of them.. You set the code, so its a cinch to remember. bring a trailer american cars; stone and log cabin homes . These are typically large-group bus or walking tours of a city that provide a nice overview of a place. Just found your sitelots of great info! TIP: Take a picture of The Viking Daily each evening before heading to bed. Thanks so much for the kind words, Laura! Im glad you found the article helpful, Thomas! Having said that, I know that Salzburg is lovely and many people enjoy that excursion. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. We had grown to like the crew on the Skirnir, but we quickly came to like the new ones as well. We saw you comment about change for guides and such and credit cards with no foreign charges. We chose a French Balcony room. Youll be glad you did! Thank you so much for this detailed account. Are there computers, or should I bring my laptop? I will be on the Viking Sky so joined anunofficial Viking FB group to ask if all was repaired after the incident ~ a month ago (it is!) Our stateroom steward kept the room immaculate. The good thing is there are always tomorrows treats to look forward to! Im so glad you found the article helpful, Rich! 110/220 volt outlets & USB ports. I would suggest that you call Viking. You will find both 110V and 220V electrical outlets in your stateroom. (This is handy because you might encounter tour groups from other Viking ships that are docked in the same city at the same time.) Even the sharpest dressed had their athletic shoes or keen sandals on during the day. I will bring an adapter since we will be in Amsterdam pre-cruise. Have fun! Scenic Tours: 220 V and international power adaptors required. Once unpacked, you can put your backpacks in your empty luggage and slide it all under the bed(s) and not think about them until its time to leave. If you like tea, youll also appreciate the high tea service in the Wintergarden. We are in a veranda A stateroom and doing business class flights as a bucket wish. What does Viking do with our luggage once we check out of the hotel? queen-size beds that can be split to make two twin beds. The longships have both American 110v and Euro 220v service and outlets. How many outlets are available in the cabin? We thoroughly enjoyed our Viking river cruise. Staterooms will have one or two 115V . Herding 169 tourists onto separate buses all going separate places at separate timeswow, thats a job! Im so glad you found the article helpful, Ronnie! Our US-based cell phone service does not work outside of the US. We also got a power strip with USB ports for all our stuff. Hope this is helpful and have a wonderful cruise! I just have one clarification about dressing for dinner mentioned in the article you read. Serious question..how to get coffee in the morning without getting dressed??? Fayetteville, GA, USA. If you think you might do that, you may want to take along a few blank thank you cards to enclose your extra tips, so you can explain why you valued their service so much. with an electronic keypad is provided in each room. The number indicates which ship youre on. I understand drinks are provided with meals but I enjoy a few drinks before dinner. Electrical outlets in Viking Ocean staterooms run on either 110V and 220V so when packing for a Viking Ocean Cruise, there is no need to bring other adapterseven though youll be visiting different countries. We also like to explore on our own, so there were times when we just joined a tour for a while and then told the guide we were going to branch out on our own. who made the move with us. We cant say enough about how well-run and maintained the ships are. I find the quart-size bags to be the most versatile. Since we booked through our travel agent, Viking sent her the final travel documents, and she checked them before passing them on to us. Have a wonderful cruise! For example, once the crew knows that everyone is accounted for after excursions, the ship is sailing within minutes of the anticipated departure (as noted in the. To the best of my knowledge, every stateroom has a mini-bar. We are going on the Grand European tour in October 2022. By Jjg34219, July 3, . Our luggage awaited us, and our new room keys were on the dresser. Frankly, I dont think you can go wrong either way, but theyre two very different experiences. People are relaxed aboard Viking river cruises (no dressy occasions), and thats one thing people tend to enjoy about the experience. us, and our new room keys were on the dresser. We learned this the hard way one day, and we realized that we actually prefer exploring the little towns that we dock at more. On our cruise, this was done in the Lounge just after the evening port talk by the program director. In my experience, this is great advice! After all, we travel to experience new places, new food, and new people, so we like to eat local specialties whenever possible. Oh not to bring adapters! My hair is unruly amplified. Use down arrow key to expand the menu and up arrow key to collapse the menu and hit enter to select the link Having to dock the ship next to another cruise ship also means that the view from your stateroom could be blocked and your cabin could be a bit dark. You can store your luggage under the bed(s). Heavy bags are tricky to manage, too. ? And finally the umbrella. Hope that helps! In China the ships have a 3-pin blade safety plug; an adapter with just the two slanted blades will also work. View on Amazon. Do you have to go on the planned excursion or can you go off and explore on your own? The dining room has a variety of tables that can seat 6, 8, or 10 people. We often take a few with us on tours for snacks on the bus. Im going on a Viking River Cruise (Paris-Normandy). We have booked all the included excursions, but have held off booking the optional ones as we love to do our own thing when in port, and perhaps covering more ground than the optional excursions. Trying to guess the weather so we can narrow down what to pack. Having said this, there are often opportunities to book optional excursions once you board the ship. Before leaving a dock, there may be announcements asking for guests in certain rooms to let the staff know they are on the ship. Did you bring euros or use credit card? We actually enjoyed sitting outside in the dark before bed, too, cruising by small towns.) Its also where youll find freshly baked goodies throughout the day. I hope you two have a fabulous time on your cruise! I hope you have a wonderful time! There are so many choices of destinations and lengths of the trip. For a walking tour (directly from the ship), some passengers go on the tour to learn about the destination and then spend the rest of the day shopping, enjoying a meal, or just wandering around. Paying upfront might offer peace of mind if you like knowing that its already paid for and you dont have to think about an upcoming beverage bill. 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. Have a wonderful cruise next year! This will be first river cruise for us. Good to know. It arrived promptly that evening while we were at dinner. The general experience on all Viking river cruise ships is the same, no matter what ship youre on. 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. Since you need the refrigerator for your medicine, I would call the cruise line just to make sure it will be large enough to meet your needs or to see if a larger one can be placed in your cabin. Haha, I got a kick out of being tempted with just one little pastry! There are times when river cruise ships have to have guests disembark a ship and then board a sister ship. My husband and I will be sailing with Viking on a Rhine River cruise (Netherlands to Lucerne) this month and our very first river cruise (during a pandemic). Did you use local guides? Going from A to B with two extra days in Amsterdam and Budapest. The 220V outlets are German Schuko 2-pin safety plugs. Viking had a sister ship sailing the same journey in the opposite direction from Budapest to Amsterdam so we switched ships. I like a foam pillow so I asked for one on my Bermuda cruise with Viking. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. My hair is very unruly and I am mortified at the thought of no heat styling tools! Poweradd 3-Outlet Power Strip 5-foot Heavy Duty Extension Cord with 3 USB Charging Ports. I was really glad I had brought my own shampoo and conditioner. There was one set of outlets on either side of the bed and another set at the desk near the TV. The hairdryer is not in the bathroom, but in the bedroom, in a drawer under the counter where the outlets are. Youll find beach towels near the pool areas and also in bins by the security exit before disembarking. We would either meet in Bamburg or Wurzburg. (Its not uncommon for someone to forget to scan their card when returning to the ship.). We opted to book through our travel agent with whom we could meet face-to-face, ask questions, and learn from her knowledge of cruising and different cruise companies. As you know, Viking offers an included excursion in each port. That worked well as we enjoyed some nice non-touristy lunches and other walks and tours on our own. We will definitely be using it in the years to come. Is that a crazy thing to say?! During lunch and dinner, guests are served complimentary soft drinks, beer, or wine. I am not thinking we will have any need for a converter, just additional plugs. Use down arrow key to expand the menu and up arrow key to collapse the menu and hit enter to select the link Hi Cynthia, I bet youre so excited about your upcoming trip! NW Ohio. Cramming too much in your suitcase increases the odds of incurring additional airline fees for oversized or overweight checked bags.
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