River Cruise Critique

REVIEW OF VIKING IDUN GRAND EUROPEAN RIVER CRUISE--AMSTERDAY TO BUDAPEST--AUGUST 2012

                                               By Rick Weiler

EMBARKATION
Excellent:  Not sure of the Idun’s dock location prior to leaving Hilton Amsterdam.  Spotted boat right away as taxi drove up to “primary” docking location.  There were 4 young crewmembers in red Viking shirts waiting to help us with our luggage.  Boarded right by small purser’s desk and immediately checked in.  No line.  We arrived at boat about 12:30pm.  Our luggage was kept right there by the reception area as rooms are not available until 3:00pm.  Exactly at 3pm, an announcement was made that cabins were ready for us.  Our luggage had already been taken to the cabin before our arrival there.  Lunch was served while we waited for rooms to be ready.  It consisted of small salad bar, ham & cheese sandwiches, and pasta and was at Aquavit lounge.  A pianist played during our wait.

CABIN
Very Good:  At first sight we wondered where we would put all the stuff we brought.  Three 50 lb checked bags and two carryon bags of stuff.  We got everything put away and all empty bags fit nicely under the bed.  Ask for extra hangers as there were only 10.  They brought 11 more right away after I made a request.  We are pleased with size of the room.  Actually, much larger than balcony cabin we had on RCL Oasis of the Seas.  Bed is very comfortable.  Air conditioning works very well with 90+ degree days we are having.  (Something I cannot say for rest of the boat.  More about that later.)  Bathroom size is adequate.  I like the shower but larger people may have problem due to size.  Bath towels are large and new.  The bathroom sink is small and would be difficult to do any hand washing of clothing items.  Large new flat screen tv above dresser across of the bed.  Frig is nice and cold as had some ice form in a water bottle.  Will hold 4 bottles of wine at a time if need be.  Safe is nice size and just below eye level so you can easily see how to open it and then see what is in it.  Balcony is small but plenty of room to sit out on it.  Balcony door can be very easily opened.  Not like on ocean going cruise ships where you need lots of muscle.  Glass sliding doors are floor to ceiling and full width of the cabin so views out are excellent.  I love the balcony.  No electric outlets in bath which I did not like.  Have to use hair dryer elsewhere in cabin.  Lighting to use big mirror next to tv is inadequate for makeup or doing hair.  Three 110 volt outlets:  one on each side of dresser and one on side of bed nearest bath.  Three European type outlets:  one on each side of dresser and one on side of bed by balcony.  You will need to bring the two pole adapters for these.  I can plug my laptop into these as it can use 110 or 220 volts.  Only real problem with the cabin (and it is a huge problem) is walls are very thin.  If you neighbor has his tv on, it is like it is in your room not theirs.  You can hear conversations sometimes also.  Viking has great design idea for their drawers.  When you close them the last last couple of inches, they close QUIETLY by themselves.  No slamming of drawers that can be heard in next cabin like on every other cruise ship we have sailed on.  This is fantastic innovation.  Big kudos for it.  On deck 2, I would not want to be in cabin #219 as it is across from small ice machine.  People staying in it did not have a problem with it though.  Our cabin (#231) was 4th one from back of the boat.  We felt no vibrations from propulsion system and very little noise either while cruising.  Was a little noise from side thrusters during docking but it did not last long.  On deck 2 our balcony was only 4 feet up from river.  There are cabins on deck 3 and they are more expensive.  View from deck 2 is more than adequate.  Save your money.
     Cabin Stewardess/Steward
          Outstanding:  Ours was named Ruxandra.  She had a great personality and was a real sweetheart of a person.  As with most cruises, the cabins are cleaned in the morning.  She did a very thorough job every day and attended to any requests immediately.  While we were at dinner she returned to turn the bed down and replace used towels.

BAR SERVICE & DRINK QUALITY
Excellent:  Bartender is named Roman and there are normally two waitresses (during cocktail hour there is at least 2 more who go down to the dining room at 7pm).  Roman is very nice and gave me a discount on drinks several times.  We brought our own bottles of wine on board which we purchased in Amsterdam.  We normally sit at the bar for pre dinner cocktails and he always offers to open our wine, pour it, and place it in a cooler.  Our glasses never get completely empty as he is very attentive even though he gets busy making other drinks.  The waitresses are attractive young ladies and do a similar good job.  Interesting how they pour wines.  They have small carafes they pour wine into and serve you with the carafe and a glass.  You pour it.  They get about 3 pours from a bottle so you get more wine than you do per service in the states (about 4 glasses per bottle there).  This carafe of house Austrian white or red wine costs 4.20 Euros/$5.25.     These wines are served complementary with both lunch and dinner.  They have 3 Austrian white house wines to pick from, 3 reds, and a Rose.  The white wine has no oak so definitely not like a CA chardonnay.  The Austrian red wine is like our merlots.  Both are not bad.  Hard liquor drinks are nice sized except my martini last night was quite small.  The have a Premium Beverage Package you can purchase but it is pretty expensive at around $34 per day.

VIKING LOUNGE
Very Good:  Windows all the way around it so view is great.  Not enough seating when everyone is up there, as was last night at Captain’s reception.  They bring in folding chairs that is kind of tacky for a bar.  There is a pianist who plays during lunch and cocktail hours who is very good.  Air conditioning is not enough to keep it cool especially when full of people and with warm weather we have been having.  I wanted to wear a sports coat last night to Captain’s reception but was way too hot up there.  I did see 3 gentlemen wearing jackets however.  I wear long sleeve shirts and perspire.  Ambiance in lounge is very nice.  This is where they have their lectures also.  They have big screens at front and back for multi-media presentations plus smaller screens on each side of the bar.  Speaker sound is good even for us older folks.



DINING ROOM
     Ambiance
Terrible:  I’m NOT talking about the food or service.  I’m talking about “the room“.  It is EXTREMELY noisy with everyone talking.  You have to yell to talk over the people at other tables which leads to a shouting match.  Tables are for 6 & 8.  Too big!  First night we were at table for 6 but no one in middle two seats and I could not hear what our table mates were saying.  This absolutely ruins the whole dining experience as far as I am concerned.  The noise wears me out and I am very glad to leave after dinner.  I wish there was an alternative place to dine with some atmosphere, peace, & quiet, but there is none.  You have to eat when they say, ie, normally noon or 7pm.  No room service is available.  Once again, floor to ceiling windows on both sides of the room making it good to sightsee while you are dining.  After dark, the lighting in the dining room is very nice, like a dining room should be.  You are NOT dining under spot lights.  Again when room is full, it can get warm.  Napkins are white cloth that leave lint on black pants/jeans/skirts.  So take a lint roller with you.  Again, inadequate air conditioning in dining room.  I was perspiring with just long sleeve shirt.  Wearing a sports coat (which I wanted to) would not be possible.  NO dress code enforcement.  Most people complied but some wore shorts and t-shirts.
      Food
Excellent:  Menu consists of “Starters” which include a couple appetizers, soup, and salad.  Three entrees, one being a vegetarian selection (pasta or risotto for example).  Several desserts selections.  Menu changes daily but you can always get Cesar salad, salmon, chicken breast, or sirloin steak. Waiters seem surprised that I want an appetizer AND Caesar salad but they gladly bring it.  We usually like one of the 3 entrée choices that change daily so have not tried to alternative entrees.  Appetizers could be better, for example, crab cake was mostly mashed potatoes and could barely taste any crab meat.  Never seen crab cake with potatoes!  Entrees have been very good.  Surf & Turf consisted of sliced sirloin steak (was med rare just like we asked for) and one small shrimp on top.  Was expecting a much larger shrimp.  For my birthday I asked the chef if he would make us veal Parmesan  with side of pasta.  He said his kitchen was small but he could still do it for me.  It was the biggest portions of veal parmesan I have ever seen and very good too.  Lunch menu also has 3 entrees to pick from and a salad bar in middle of the dining room with several salad choices, meats & cheeses, and a pasta station  where a cook will make the pasta for you.  My only complaint is with their salad dressings.  Might be a European thing but they sometimes seem to be watered down.  Not thick like dressings we have in States.  At lunch they also have a small buffet set up on terrace on front part of boat.  Small salad bar, sandwiches, maybe a pasta, and desserts.  There is iced tea (sweetened and unsweetened), juices, & sodas at both places or complimentary beer or wines with both lunch and dinner.  I have been disappointed with the desserts.  Europe has some of the best pastries and desserts but could be better on this boat.  They’re ok, but I was expecting much better.  On other hand, the vegetables and fruit has been super fresh of great quality.  Much better than large ocean going cruise ships.  The eggs that are cooked to order for breakfast are also very fresh.  Pastas are excellent.  I had heard before coming on this cruise that Viking’s portions can be a bit small.  I found this not normally to be a problem, and if I wanted more, all I had to do was ask.  Chef George Pereira and his staff do a FANTASTIC job.
     Service
          Excellent:  These kids work very hard and really try to make you happy and satisfied.  Some are even entertaining will bring a smile to your face.  On a few occasions the waiter/waitress wanted to take our orders before we had been served wine or had much time to look at the menu.  Menu was posted in front of dining room all day long so it was not a big surprise or something you had to study.  I simply ask them to come back in a few minutes.  No problem except for one evening.  The Hotel Director took care of problem I was having.  The bar waiters/waitresses come to the dining room during dinner to serve the wines.  I can almost guarantee your glass will never get dry!  Just discovered last night that they have white wine glasses AND red wine glasses.  Service is very efficient with little wait time between courses and food is served hot.
     
ENTERTAINMENT
          Good:  Dari plays the piano several times during the day in the Viking Lounge, notably during lunch hour, during cocktail hour and after dinner unless there is a show.  He is very good with large array of music and sings while playing after dinner, but that about extent of entertainment.  Sometimes there are lectures during the day.  After dinner there is some sort of game in the Viking Lounge (for example, Newly Wed Game or passenger talent show) or local entertainers brought on board while docked.  There is a small library that also has some board games or puzzles.  There is a daily USA Times 4 page news letter in several languages.  They also have a few things for sale.  I would not call it a gift shop, just things on the wall across from reception desk.  At 7am every morning there is a stretch class but no workout facility which we really miss.  This was our biggest problem with river cruise.  You can walk on the upper deck when it is open.  Due to low bridges it was closed for 5 days of the cruise.  You have to remember this is not a large ship with facilities for entertainers.  Some excellent local group were brought on board 4 evenings to entertain us.  TV channels were adequate.  There were a couple movie channels, CNN World News, ESPN,  British news channel plus others I can’t remember.  You could also see weather forecasts for ports coming up which was nice.
First half of cruise the ESPN channel showed USA sports news and last half was international sports.  We both had big issue with having to watch CNN instead of FOX NEWS CHANNEL.  Most ocean cruise ships now have Fox News so wish Viking could also.  Probably a satellite coverage issue.

PRGRAM DIRECTOR & STAFF
          Excellent:  Viking calls it Program Director where ocean cruise lines call it Cruise Director.  Seems to be same thing basically.  Luk, our PD, was very good and a way of making passengers laugh even when we had the 2 day delay in Frankfurt putting us constantly in catch up mode.  When we did leave Frankfurt his staff had to work even harder replanning our tours.  Unfortunately, this resulted in some long bus rides to ports ahead of the boat.  So the boat could continue moving while tours took place.  There were some very long days associated with the bus rides.  We elected not to tour several days because of this and enjoyed staying on the boat cruising the rivers.  We would have liked to see these cites had we not been delayed.  When on tours a staff member was on every bus in case someone had a problem.  There was also a local guide for each bus group.  Without exception, these guides were very good and spoke good English.  Tours started and ended right on time.  Buses were all very nice.  We all carried listening devices around our neck and ear piece.  This way we could hear our guide while on walking tours.  This worked very well.  Jessica was part of staff and also our concierge.  If anyone wanted a dinner reservation while in port city or had any problems, she would take care of it.  She arranged taxis on disembarkation day in Budapest for those of us who did not have Viking transfers.  The Program Director and his staff worked very hard and had other jobs besides.  They helped carry luggage on embarkation & disembarkation days, as just one example.

DISEMBARKATION
          Excellent:  If you had a Viking transfer to airport or Prague, you were given a time to leave the boat.  If you were traveling independently, then you told them what time you wanted to leave the boat.  Regardless, you had to be out of cabins by 9am so they could be prepared for next cruise.  If you wanted, you could stay on boat all day and even have lunch.  You could leave your luggage on boat and go tour the city if you wanted.  They were VERY flexible.  You had to have your luggage outside cabin 30 minutes before you wanted to leave boat or 9am at latest.  I ask for taxi at 9:30am to take us to Hilton.  There was no line at reception when I checked out.  Our taxi was not a cab but Mercedes sedan.  Cost for ride to Hilton was about $12 so very reasonable.  (I used same woman to take us to the airport the next morning.  $36 including tip)  Car was early and Viking staff members carried our luggage out to the car.  Gerald, the Hotel Director, came out to say bye to us.  Disembarkation could not have been better!

SUMMARY

          This Viking river cruise was very enjoyable but not what we are used to.  I think we would have enjoyed it more if not for the delay at Frankfurt due to bridge construction over the Main River which closed a lock we needed to transit.  Obviously, not Viking’s fault and they did the best they could to catch up.
          Our main concerns with river cruising are mostly ship size related:  1) no workout facilities, 2) single seating dinners at set time, 3) very noisy dining room, 4) thin cabin walls, 5) large tables in dining room, 6) no room service, 7) public areas were warm.
          Advantages are: 1) smooth ride so no seasickness problem if you are prone to that, 2) nice new cabins with balconies available on Viking now, 3) smaller more intimate crew, 4) some incredible scenery as you cruise on river, 5) get to tour and see many beautiful European villages and cities, 6) less than 200 passengers and no kids on our cruise at least.

ABOUT REVIEWER:  This was our 70th cruise but first river cruise.  We have been on many of the ocean cruise lines.  Lately we have been doing longer cruises on Regent Seven Seas Cruises, a luxury line so admittedly we are spoiled.  Most people love river cruising so don’t let my critique dissuade you.  Hopefully, it will be helpful however.
   

Sunday--Flight home & Photos of friends

Sunday, September 2^nd

London to Home

          AA79 left Heathrow airport right on time and was half hour early arriving at DFW.  It was a 9 ½ hour flight.  Our seats in business class were last row before coach and there was a baby in first row of coach.  They always find us!  I still managed to get a nap after my filet for lunch.  We arrived at gate in DFW at 7pm.  We now have Global Entry cards so did not have to wait in the long lines at Immigration and Customs.  Only hang up was 30 minute wait for our luggage to come our on carousel.  We grabbed a taxi ($70 with tip- OUCH!) and was home few minutes after 8pm.  We were two beat puppies but had a few things to do before bedtime which was 10pm.  I woke up at 4:30am as my body thought I was still in Europe.  I got up at 5am as had lots to do and Rebecca was up few minutes later making coffee.  Got my American flag out at crack of dawn for Labor Day.

          I worked on trying to transfer my photos from laptop to desktop all morning and still this evening have not been able to do it.  Flash drives would not do it so I went to electronics store and got a transfer cable and that was useless also.  Any hints??  I did download photos from my small camera that I carried in evenings so will put those at bottom of this posting.  Will post my cruise critique tomorrow, hopefully!

**You have to "Cut & Paste" the link below onto a browser "New Tab".  A photo album will appear.  Click **Thanks to Google deactivating Picasa Photos, I now have to use Google Photos.  So you will now on first photo which will make it much larger.  In upper right corner under "Info" you will see caption for that photo.  Putting your cursor on right side of photo (under 3 dots at top) will produce an arrow for you to page through the rest of the photos.

https://goo.gl/photos/FWKNtTXMVc8Sp6ir6

Sunday--Trip Home

Sunday, September 2nd
Heading Home

          Last night we had a great dinner at place called “21” just couple blocks from the Hilton.  Our club lounge concierge recommended it.  They had traditional Hungarian dishes.  I had Hungarian veal goulash and Rebecca enjoyed chicken paprikish.  Lots of food and very good.  Our waiter was entertaining and helpful.  Most young people here speak very good English.
          We were up with the chickens this morning at 5am.  The same lady we had yesterday was to pick us up in her Mercedes at 6am for trip to airport.  She talked non-stop the whole way.  Very attractive woman but about drove us crazy.  She was right on time and we arrived at Budapest airport at 6:35.  The check-in lines at British Air were long but I quickly located the Club Europe (first class) line and there was only 1 couple ahead of us there.  The nice BA agent checked our bags all the way to DFW and gave us boarding passes for both the BA flight (Budapest to Heathrow) and AA flight (Heathrow to DFW).  The line for security was not very long and then no line at passport control.  So only took 25 minutes to be at gate and it was now 7am.  We are waiting in the clubs lounge now and will be going to our gate shortly.
          Heathrow:  Now sitting in Admirals Club at Heathrow airport.  Our BA flight here was great.  Left right on time.  We were served a very good breakfast consisting of:  Scrambled eggs, ham, big sausage, potatoes, breads & pastries.  We decided to have some French champagne with breakfast.  I told the male purser that Rebecca was a retired F/A so he chatted with her quite a while.  Later he brought us a big bowl of heated nuts and more champagne.  The airplane was an Airbus 320 with 3 seats on both sides of the aisle.  In Club Europe (1st class) the center seat was left empty.  After landing we had parked on ramp so had a short bus ride to the terminal.  1st class had first bus to themselves so no crowding as usual.  In the terminal we had a long walk following “Connections” signs so it was quite easy.  This time we did not have to change terminals.  Finally came to another security check of our carry on bags but no line there.  Next was AA check-in (again).  A security guy ask questions about our travel in Europe and then agents rechecked out tickets.  From there into the “masses of people” in the terminal.  We stopped at a Harrods duty free shop to get a gift for Jim & Bobbie, our neighbors, who always watch our house for us while traveling.  Sure am glad we have access to this Admirals Club for our 4 hour wait to catch the flight to DFW.  Hour and a half to go before our Boeing 777 leaves the gate for home.  I wasn’t planning on sleeping but am tired as did not sleep well last night.  I have been working on the critique of our cruise while sitting here.  Should have it done by tomorrow sometime.  I warn you it is long.

Saturday--Day 2 in Budapest

Saturday, September 1st
Budapest, Hungry

          The fun is over!  We have to leave the boat today and they want us out of our cabins by 9am.  They have to get them ready for the next bunch of cruisers.  After getting dressed we headed to dining room for breakfast and some more good byes to new friends.  When back in cabin we finished last minute packing and sat our bags outside the door so crew could take them for us.  I had arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 9:30 for short drive across river and up to the Hilton.  Unlike the big cruise ships there are not dedicated bag people on the river boats.  So there were some dining room waiters, cruise director’s staff, and just anyone who was not doing something else, carrying bags from rooms to dock.
          Our female taxi driver showed up a few minutes early so off we went.  I had stopped at purser’s desk and paid our bill earlier.  There was no lines, no customs, or immigration so disembarkation was a breeze.  We arrived at the Hilton at 10am and check-in was not until 2pm so desk guy said our room was not ready.  We had been upgraded to the Executive Floor and he mentioned that we would be checking in later up there.  So I decided to go up and see if we could get a room on side with beautiful view of the Danube and city below us.  She told me all those rooms were booked but did give us a room and said there would not be an early check-in charge.  With my “diamond” status with Hilton we usually get upgraded to Executive Floors.  There they have complimentary breakfast in the morning, dessert snacks in the afternoon, and free drinks & hot canapés from 6pm to 8:30pm.  I also get free internet.  The hotel’s DSL is so fast compared to what I have had for the past 2 weeks on the boat.  As you noticed, I uploaded Vienna and Budapest photos already.  Hope you can see them on the link.  Also note there are two new blog postings today.
          It rained some this morning but stopped about noon so we went out to check out restaurants for dinner tonight.  I had our concierge on boat make us a reservation at place for tonight.  It is not far but there are quite a few steps down and then back up after dinner so decided not to go there.  We found 5 or 6 alternate places fairly close by but not sure where we will go yet.  Right next to hotel and chapel is a fair going on this weekend.  Locals dressed in costumes of castle days.  We had lunch at a little food stand.  Shared a big sausage and some bread.
          While I have been working on blog and doing some internet stuff, Rebecca has been resting her eyes.  Now we will get ready for cocktails and dinner later.  We need to pack what we have been wearing today and move some other stuff around.  Want to get most of that done as same taxi woman is picking us up at 6am tomorrow.
          Our British Air flight departs at 8:25 and will arrive London Heathrow at 10:05am (hour time change so flight is about 2 ½ hours).  We will have 4 hours to wait for our American Airlines flight on the DFW airport.  I upgraded our BA flight to first class and our AA flight will be in business class so trip home should be fairly painless.  We are to land at DFW at 7:30pm.
          There will be one more posting after we get back home.  I am writing a critique of the cruise for our travel agent and think you might be interested in it also.  Especially if you are ever thinking of doing a river cruise.
          Stay tuned for that.  My next blog will be in January 2013.  We will be doing a 66 day cruise on Regent Cruises from Auckland, New Zealand to Beijing, China.

Friday--Day 1 in Budapest

Friday, August 31st
Budapest, Hungry

          We had to be up early this morning as our tour was to start at 8:30am.  Rebecca had to wash her hair (this takes more time than one would think) as she did not have time to wash it yesterday evening due to   getting back on boat late.  I spoke briefly again with Gerald and apologized for disturbing his dinner last evening.  We got our cruise critique forms last night.  I did not mark the dining or waiter evaluation down because I only had a problem with one individual, and I wanted him to know that.
          Anyway, we boarded buses for a 4 hour driving tour of the cities of Buda and Pest (they are on opposite sides of the Danube.   We stopped a few times for photos and had some free time up in the Castle District.  The Hilton Hotel we are staying at tomorrow night is in the Castle District next to the Matthias Church.  During our free time I went in to check on my room upgrade.  It is a very nice hotel!
          We are really impressed with Budapest.  It has to be one of the most beautiful cities we have ever seen.  One exception may be Salzberg, Austria on a previous trip to Europe.  Our tour guide was very dramatic in telling us about Budapest and its history.  There are 1.7 million people living in Budapest so is similar in size to Vienna.  1/6th of Hungary’s population live here.  Our 4 hour tour was very thorough and covered all the major sights.  It really is a lovely city.
          We were back to ship at 12:30 just in time to eat AGAIN.  They were cooking hamburgers outside which sounded good to about everyone by now.  After lunch we did some more packing and mostly finished it.  It takes a lot less time to pack at end of trip, just throw the stuff in.  At 2:30 one of our boat’s staff took us on walking trip to Vaci Street.  It is a pedestrian street lined with shops and cafes.  We did not buy anything but enjoyed people watching.  I have to admit Hungry has a lot of attractive young women.  One of our group tripped and fell flat on her face resulting in bloody nose.  Another in our group was a gynecologist so he helped with that.
          This was last dinner of the cruise so I have coined it, “The Last Supper”.  After dinner we were entertained for over an hour by a local Hungarian group of musicians and dancers.  They were VERY, VERY good.  After that we went up on top deck to see the lights of Budapest.  Awesome!!

Photos--Budapest, Hungry

**You have to "Cut & Paste" the link below onto a browser "New Tab".  A photo album will appear.  Click **Thanks to Google deactivating Picasa Photos, I now have to use Google Photos.  So you will now on first photo which will make it much larger.  In upper right corner under "Info" you will see caption for that photo.  Putting your cursor on right side of photo (under 3 dots at top) will produce an arrow for you to page through the rest of the photos.

https://goo.gl/photos/AJETpjwW3rgY1nnp7

Photos--Vienna, Austria

**You have to "Cut & Paste" the link below onto a browser "New Tab".  A photo album will appear.  Click **Thanks to Google deactivating Picasa Photos, I now have to use Google Photos.  So you will now on first photo which will make it much larger.  In upper right corner under "Info" you will see caption for that photo.  Putting your cursor on right side of photo (under 3 dots at top) will produce an arrow for you to page through the rest of the photos.

https://goo.gl/photos/2VsTdKF2i857UYQV6