First Viking Cruise
Our first Viking cruise was on the Rhine River. We have previously taken ocean cruises, but never with Viking and never a river cruise. My expectations were high because of Viking’s reputation and price point. I am so happy to say that the cruise met my high expectations. Viking puts much care and attention to detail into the cruise. This post is a summary of our experience.
Our cruise began in Amsterdam on August 21 with a two-night extension of the cruise. It gave us an opportunity to recover from jet lag plus a full day in the beautiful city of Amsterdam.
Amsterdam
We landed in Amsterdam and a Viking representative met us and transported us to our hotel. Additionally, there was a representative on site to answer questions and facilitate transfer two days later to the Mani, our Viking ship. Our time in the city is detailed in Amsterdam, City of Bicycles.
Our Cabin
We decided to get the most basic cabin based upon a recommendation from friends who recently took this cruise. Most of the cabins are basically the same size with the window being the big difference. Those with a veranda or balcony come with a pretty substantial increase in price. The window in our basic cabin was small, but we didn’t really spend much time in the room except for sleeping. I think it was a queen size bed, which works for us. The room was laid out very well with room under the bed for our luggage and plenty of places to store our clothing and accessories.
On Board Entertainment
The entertainment was not a big production like some of our previous cruises. However, the entertainment on two nights was wonderful.
On the first night, The Nostalgic Music Trio, performed music from decades ago. They did a fantastic job on songs from Elvis, The Beatles, and others. Passengers filled the floor with dancing and was a fun-filled evening.
Near the end of the cruise, a lady who is a cellist and opera singer performed. She was accompanied by a piano player. I am sad to say I didn’t get their names, but they were professionals performers and I think they were from Strasbourg. The hour or so they performed was probably my favorite hour of the entire cruise. They were phenomenal. Near the end, the opera singer walked around the room and basically sang around the room to us individually. It was almost it was like being on stage during a live opera. My husband loved her performance too.
Other nights, there was an on board musician playing in the background. Also, they had game nights. We generally retired to bed early, so we didn’t participate. Old folks!
Stops Along the Way
Viking includes an excursion at each port and for most they have optional excursions for additional costs. So, we took all of the included excursions and one optional one, The Colmar Pocket. Below our links to each of those excursions.
Koblenz Germany, An Ancient City
Above Deck
The top deck of the ship has a large area for walking plus an area that is shaded with lots of seats. Additionally, there is a small eating area as an alternative to the main dining room. Above deck was a good place to see the surrounding area and get some fresh air and exercise.
First Viking Cruise Food
The food was very good on the cruise. In fact, it was better than what we have experienced in prior cruises. While there isn’t food available where you can basically graze all day, there were three solid meals a day with many options. Choices for appetizers and desserts were always available for lunch and dinner. House wine, beer, coffee, or soft drinks were also included during lunch and dinner.
Some passengers purchased the additional beverage package that has unlimited drinks, including higher end whiskeys, wines and beers. We didn’t elect to take that package and didn’t really miss it. I’m more of a drinker than my husband and we would’ve had to have bought it for both of us. I did buy one individual drink that wasn’t included and it was relatively inexpensive.
My favorite meal was the night they had a focus on German food. The servers were dressed in German attire and they pulled out all the stops on the food. The food was abundant with lots of options and very delicious.
Overall, the food was excellent and the servers wonderful. There was no assigned seating, so we had an opportunity to meet lots of people and make new friends.
The Middle Rhine
One day of the cruise was dedicated to traveling the Middle Rhine. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful areas of the Rhine because there are castles and vineyards all along the way. We sat on the upper deck along with a large portion of our fellow passengers. While traveling, we heard details as to which castle we were passing and a little bit of information about them. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was really cool to see all of them. Most of them were high up in elevation and not really close enough to see a lot of detail .
Stolzenfels Castle below is a thirteenth century castle, but a Prussian king rebuilt in the 1800s.
I believe Marksburg Castle was an optional excursion on our trip, but we didn’t participate.
Fourteenth- century Katz castle sustained damage by Napoleon’s army, but they rebuilt it during the Victorian era.
The castle below is a toll castle. The rulers of the Rhine exacted considerable tolls to allow passage through the river.
The castle below is next to a vineyard. The only thing we saw more than castles on the Middle Rhine was vineyards.
The Middle Rhine is wine country. The vineyards are planted on slopes that have an incline from 55-70%.
Locks on First Viking Cruise
Our first Viking cruise included many locks, but we went through most of them during the middle of the night. It was an interesting process and we had ample opportunity to watch it on one of the last nights onboard. Passengers filled the upper deck to watch the transport through the lock.
Transport to Cities
Viking motor coaches transported us from the ship to most of the cities and excursions. They were nice well-maintained. We often had a local guide describing the area and providing interesting details.
We crossed many rivers during the cruise. The Lahn River is in the photo below, but most often we were crossing the Rhine.
Disembarking at Basel
Our cruise ended at Basel, Switzerland. We did not book additional days at the end of the cruise in Basel. That is a regret because we learned from other passengers that the extension at Basel is really worthwhile.
Conclusion on First Viking Cruise
Our first Viking cruise was wonderful. However, I wish we had traveled with them earlier as we are currently experiencing some mobility issues. However, we liked it so much that we have booked a trip for next year.
