Monday, March 25, 2024

Viking River Cruises 2022 Rhine

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Day : Cruise Through The Dutch Countryside Stop In Kinderdijk

2022 Viking Rhine Getaway – JNCPERKINS

In all honesty, the Rhine is less scenic in the Netherlands than it is in Germany. Youre no longer surrounded by hills, vineyards, and castles. Instead, the riverbanks are flat and sandy here.

Our final shore excursion ended up being a really fascinating one: a guided tour of Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the outskirts of Rotterdam famous for its windmills. Our tour guide did an excellent job of introducing us to the history and purpose of mills in the Netherlands.

The landscape here is so pretty, and one of the highlights of this visit was being able to see the inside of a mill. All in all, a short visit to Kinderdijk was a great way to wrap up our final full day on the Viking Hermod.

Sail Another European Classic

The Danube meanders through cosmopolitan capitals and quaint villages in Germany, Austria, Hungary and seven other countries before emptying into the Black Sea. Viking takes cruisers to amazing places, from the vineyards of Austrias Wauchau Valley to Passau, Germany, where three rivers meet, to Budapests Chain Bridge and ornate Parliament Building.

What’s Included With Viking

A Viking River Cruise is unlike any other. Viking Cruises is the only cruise line to guarantee their high level of service and the exclusive experiences available on board can’t be found anywhere else.

Find your perfect Viking River Cruise by using our search facility below! Our team of UK based river cruise experts are available from 9am to 9pm, 7 days a week, to help plan your river cruise holiday! Recently awarded the UK & Ireland’s NUMBER ONE River Cruise Agency, you can trust our 4th generation, family business to look after you! All of our holidays are protected by ABTA & ATOL for financial protection and 100% peace of mind. We are also proud to boast the 5* Platinum Feefo Trusted Service Award for our customer care, both before and after booking! Read more about our award-winning company here and we look forward to speaking with you soon!

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2022 Cruises

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Inside Prince Charles And Princess Dianas Troubled 1991 Second Honeymoon To Italy

Our first stop on the Rhine took us out of Switzerland and into France to Colmar, a city that could be a stand-in for Belles village in Beauty and the Beast. While the official inspiration for the Disney movie is said to be the nearby towns of Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé, walking through Colmars narrow cobblestone streets surrounded by colorful half-timber buildings still felt like stepping onto a film set. Filled with shops, food stalls, and cozy pubs, Colmar was a stark contrast to the foreboding Black Forest, just across the river, that inspired the dark fairytales of the Brothers Grimm. With a mixture of nostalgia and a sense of wonder, it was easy to let my imagination run wild with tales of cryptids and hidden castles.

Low Water Levels Disrupt European River Cruises A Favorite Of Us Tourists

Avalon Waterways

As the continent faces a severe drought, companies have had to use buses to transport passengers along parts of the Rhine and the Danube, where water levels have become too low for riverboats.

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By Jenny Gross

In fact, there was no boat at all. He and the other 150 or so passengers were shuttled around the Netherlands and Germany on buses, queuing up in long lines for bathrooms at highway rest stops and cramming into small restaurants.

We were not happy, said Mr. Farmer, a sales manager for a waste and recycling company. He and his wife, who live in Arizona, had booked the August trip, which had cost $18,000 including business-class flights, to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.

One of Europes worst droughts in decades has left the water level of parts of the Rhine and the Danube Rivers too low for ships to pass, paralyzing commerce and causing disruptions for companies that transport goods and commodities like oil and coal. The drought has also affected river cruises, forcing passengers to cope with last-minute changes to their itineraries, long bus rides and missed excursions.

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Should You Book Airfare Through Viking

Viking also offers airfare.

We set a fare alert and browsed for flights on our own, and after comparing it to the Viking customer service rep, found that they were able to get us a better deal. I was pretty amazed actually!

So I recommend booking airfare through Viking . It seems the company has relationships with partner airlines and is able to typically find flights cheaper than you can do on your own.

Another advantage to booking airfare through Viking is they also include round trip transfers.

We found this really handy after long travel days. For the arrival, our bus picked us up at the airport in Basel and left straightaway, which we really appreciated!

On our departure, we had a very early flight so they arranged a cab direct to the airport everything is totally taken care of!

Our Veranda stateroom was spacious, bright and airy with minimalist Nordic furniture and a cozy balcony.

The ships are well designed to really maximize space and cabins feature a giant closet and tons of drawers to put away your clothes, should you wish to fully unpack.

Most river cruises are quite cozy and I typically keep my clothes in packing cubes this was the first time Ive fully unpacked!

Theres also a flat screen TV to listen to the daily on-boarding speech or to check the weather, watch TV, etc.

Our cabin had plenty of outlets, both European and American, so I could easily keep all my electronics charged.

A Rhine Getaway With Viking Cruises

The Rhine is one of the most famous rivers in the world. From its source in Switzerland, the river winds its way into France, where it forms the border with Germany, before continuing into Germany and finally the Netherlands where it reaches the North Sea. Ive driven the length of the Rhine from the Netherlands to Switzerland, and did the reverse by train. When I received an invitation to embark on a Rhine Getaway with Viking Cruises, I accepted with glee from the stories Id heard about these cruises, I knew I was in for a treat!

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What We Both Loved

Finally, I agree with Peggy that the Flavors of Alsace was amazing and would highly recommend it. We had an excellent guide and a really great group of people from the ship on the tour, which made it even more enjoyable. We even had time to ride the double-decker carousel a first! I also loved the included Black Forest excursion. The drive up was a bit windy, in case tight turns on a bus can make you woozy.

Food And Entertainment On Board

Rhine River Cruise with Viking (August 2022)

Meals were served at the Aquavit Terrace and in the Restaurant. There was a buffet for breakfast and lunch whilst dinner was an a lá carte affair. The meals were of a constantly high quality. I especially loved the salads and the ever-changing menu that reflected the specialties from the regions we sailed through. My favourite though was the steak : tender, juicy and grilled to perfection!

Guests were kept entertained throughout the cruise with informative talks by local experts, glass-blowing demonstrations, classical music performances, and by the crew who were always in for a laugh.

I had a fabulous time on board and the week just whizzed by. I can definitely recommend this Rhine river cruise for the quality of the service, the incredibly comfortable ship and the seemingly effortless organisation.

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Day : Rhine River Castles & Koblenz Germany

We spent our morning above deck watching the gorgeous small German towns and castles along both sides of the Rhine River. Our Viking program director gave a guided audio tour along the way, pointing out castles left and right.

Many of them are situated high above local towns and we saw lots of German camper vans parked at the base.

I recommend bringing a pair of binocularsfor this part, as some of the castles can be set a bit farther away and the detail through a zoom is incredible.

We explored Marksburg Castle and wandered a bit on our own after. This was another ruined fortress high above the river.

Interesting history, but definitely wear good shoes! The entire castle is unpaved, rocky and entirely uneven.

Note a couple others from the cruise did the optional dinner excursion on this day and raved about it.

Day : Kinderdijk The Netherlands

Kinderdijk is home to the Netherlands famous windmills.

Ill admit I didnt know too much about the country outside of Amsterdam and our guide was quite helpful to explain the history of the nation and the purpose of its many windmills.

Much of the Netherlands would sink, were it not for windmills to pump away water.

We even got to tour inside the home of a windmill keeper . What I didnt realize was that windmill caretakers actually lived inside them with their families!

I thought the interiors were particularly interesting and our guide mentioned that some Dutch families managed to fit 13 children inside.

Theyre quite small so I noticed lots of hooks for hanging, curved bunk-bed type rooms and lots of stair ladders. The Dutch windmill keepers also had a number of really unique boats which I took too many pictures of!

Fun fact: Kinderdijk is in the region of Holland in the nation of The Netherlands where the people speak Dutch.

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Viking Rhine River Cruise 8 Day

7121,199

We are world travelers with many years of cruises and on our own travel. I can easily say that our worst experience was with Viking.In order to ensure that we would have the entire cruise experience and not miss the beginning of our Danube River cruise, we had our flights from California arranged by Viking. All the flights were late, and when we contacted Viking while stuck in an airport until after midnight, we were told by the Viking representative that we should have booked earlier flights. What? As a result, we arrived a day late and missed seeing Budapest.Then I came down with Covid and both of us were told to stay in the cabin, which we did. My wife few home after a couple of days and I was sent to a hotel. So, we didnt get to enjoy the cruise.Fast forward several months, and we were offered some credit, but no chance for getting any of our money back, so we booked a Mississippi River cruise at more expense. Today we were informed that one of the stops was eliminated. I phoned Viking to try to cancel. Guess what? Only 50% of our money would be refunded and we would lose our vouchers from the last trip.Viking obviously doesnt care about their customers. We will never travel with Viking again.

Rhine River Amsterdam To Basel

Cruise Holidays &  Cruise Deals for 2020, 2021 &  2022

Viking Cruises9799841,199

First of all, I thought the ship was clean and well appointed.Room service was prompt and seem to be continues throughout the day. We likedthe state room perfectly fine.Overall, with one exception, the staff was extremely nice. They all seem to be eastern Europeans, smiled and were very attentive. We loved the bartender and the activities director .We thought the food was generally very good. Breakfast omelettes were superb.Was very surprised at the quality of the liquor in the bar. No plastic bottles here. Upscale and high-quality drinks. We got the silver drinks package and thought that was a bargain. We drank way too much.My only gripe, I expected this river cruise the start and end at a point down river. Its seem to go back-and-forth from bordeaux. I heard one guest say that we couldve bought a beautiful hotel room in Bordeaux and simply done the excursions in a bus without the endless back-and-forth on the boat. I guess its just the nature of the river in this area and the tides. Good day tours were all pretty good except the trip to cognac where the bus broke down. We are stranded for one and a half hours at the side of the street. They shouldve organized and impromptu walking tour into the Medievil town of cognac. It wouldve been much better.Overall a solid B plus.

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Frequently Asked Questions For 25 Rhine River St

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Learn More About Viking River Cruises

Viking is a cruise company which was founded in the year 1997. The company successfully bought the KD River Cruises of Europe in the year 2000. This gave a boom to Viking’s growth because not only did KD River Cruises increased its fleet to 26 river vessels but also gave it a 40 year experience as a leverage and provided Viking with access to some of the best docks in the key cities of Europe. Viking opened its marketing headquarter in Los Angeles, California in the year 2000. This gave the company a chance to enter the United States’ cruising market. After so many successful endeavors like these in such a short time, Viking became one of the World’s largest River Cruise Line. All of which happened in less than a decade of it being introduced into the River Cruise industry. The itineraries that Viking offers have always focused on the destinations that will be visited by the cruise. Since, most of Viking cruises operate from Switzerland it gives a chance to the company to access some of the very best naturally rich destinations located in Europe.

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Booking Terms & Conditions

PRICE GUARANTEE: Once you have paid in full for your trip, you are safe from any additional charges. Airfare increases, currency fluctuations, increased fuel surcharges, new government taxesnone of these will apply to you.

20222024 RIVER CRUISE AND AIR SAVINGS: Offer valid on bookings made from November 1-30, 2022. Special fares plus FREE international air valid on 20222023 departures of Grand European Tour and European Sojourn 2023 departures of Capitals of Eastern Europe. Airfares vary on other gateways & departures. Airfare does not have to be purchased to get cruise/tour offer. All prices are in CAD dollars and for CA residents only. Additional restrictions may apply. Book by November 30, 2022. 2022: Pay in full by November 30, 2022 or at time of booking if within 90 days of departure. 2023: Pay in full by December 15, 2022. 2024: Pay in full by April 30, 2023. Offers expires November 30, 2022.

AIR OFFER RESTRICTIONS: Offer expires November 30, 2022.

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More About The Sights Not On Board Entertainment

Viking Cruise 2022 Rhine River

River cruising is a much more intimate experience, with unreserved seating at meal times so you get to mix and mingle with almost everyone on board by the end .

Theres less on-board entertainment but each evening people congregated in the lounge by the bar and Viking had an on-board pianist.

A couple nights during the week, Viking hosted either singers, dancers or local activities.

My favorite was the glass blowing demonstration by a glass master from Germany! He was quite an artist and had different glassblowing techniques than what I saw when I went to Venice.

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Exploring The World In Comfort

Early booking is essential for the best choice of cabins and also the best savings! Don’t miss out on a truly fantastic deal. Find the river cruise of your choice below and either send us an enquiry online or give our River Cruising team a call today!

Did you know? Viking have 6 luxury ocean cruise ships! You may have seen them featured on Channel 5’s Cruising with Jane McDonald. You can view and book any Viking Ocean Cruise with our sister brand The Cruise Village – .

Viking River Cruises offers exclusive experiences with class-leading, premium service. Sailing the world’s most beautiful rivers on a Viking ship means travelling in style, enjoying each destination in as much depth as you choose.

Not only are all excursions to World Heritage sites included with every Viking river cruise, but you’ll also have the chance to learn from the Culture Curriculum on board, where exclusive talks on local history, art, food and drink equip you with all the expert knowledge you need to make your river cruise a life-enriching experience.

The luxury experience isnt limited to the service. The attention to detail is what sets a luxury river cruise apart from the rest, and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises exceed expectations down to the smallest detail. Suites are elegantly designed to be welcoming, warm and unbelievably comfortable. Handcrafted beds, complete with Egyptian cotton sheets, are just the start you even get to choose your pillow preference from the pillow menu.

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