A Viking River Cruise

Earlier this year, after I had already made plans to go to Iceland in March with Scott and to Africa in August/September with Caty and Becca, Scott’s brother, Craig, asked us if we would like to go with them on a Viking cruise on the Danube in late October/early November. They were going to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary, which was actually in June of this year.

Boarding the boat

I mean, how could we say no? The itinerary was Budapest to Vienna, Krems, through the Wachau Valley, Passau, Regensburg, ending in Nuremberg. 

Budapest, Vienna, Krems, Wachau Valley, Passau, Regensburg, Nuremberg

Our route: Viking Cruises

Plus, we added on a three-day extension to Prague. 

Týn Church, Prague

I had already been to Budapest, Prague twice (once on business and once with Scott) and Vienna three times (an additional week-long business trip where I saw lots of Vienna) and I love all those cities. And, it would be nice to see them from the river perspective. I had always been interested in the river cruising concept, so this seemed like a great way to try it. I will admit that the timing – which worked well with my other planned trips – concerned me because I was afraid it would be cold and wet. I was also concerned that, although Scott was eager to go, that he would feel constrained by the tour format. He is not fond of any restrictions on his travel. And, there’s that long-haul flying, which he also dislikes intensely.

I must say that I was quite impressed with Viking’s travel planning process. They have a fabulous personalized website that lays out your tour and all your options for activities and extensions. 

Like most cruises, many of the activities cost extra, but every city had an included tour as well. We opted for a couple of extras – a Mozart/Strauss concert in Vienna (which we had actually attended when we had visited Vienna on an independent land-based tour years ago), a folklore dinner in Prague and a beer fest in Passau, which was later cancelled because of the All Saints Day holiday. 

Local culture

The site allows you to pick and pay for options, to peruse the schedule, to ask questions and the see your account/expenses. 

Docked in Budapest

One thing we found puzzling – and which later became clear – was that, even days before the scheduled embarkation, we could never discover what TIME the ship would arrive or leave a port. That, of course, made it tough to plan any activities of our own. 

When we booked, we opted to have Viking handle our airfare, which was a great deal cheaper than doing it ourselves. 

I was pretty certain that I wouldn’t have enough miles to book flights because I was using American Airlines miles to go to Africa. 

But, as the trip approached, we did pay an extra fee to get customized flights. We stipulated American (which, for this travel, actually means British Airways) so I could continue to rebuild miles and we minimized stops because Scott hates long-haul travel. Although I had no concerns when I booked, I will admit that I was really dreading the flights after my return from South Africa on hot, crowded and reasonably run-down British Airways planes – and, after Caty’s terrible experience with lost luggage. 

My broken fingers

Of course, another complication that occurred prior to our departure was my broken finger and subsequent bone infection. I was really afraid that the doctors were going to advise that I cancel the trip. Rather, they were quite accommodating. I had two weeks of daily antibiotic IV infusions with a mid-line in my right arm. They removed the mid-line two days before departure and I went back on oral antibiotics. Then, two days after we returned from the trip, I had a PICC-line inserted and I am in the midst of four weeks of IV infusions. 

With the exception of some minor digestive issues from the antibiotics and a left hand that isn’t very good for lifting and carrying things, all was good. And, that is an advantage of being on a ship – you unpack and stay in place for the majority of the trip.

Before I detail the trip, I must also admit that I struggled with the concept of THREE international trips in one year. I am not sure why – it just seems so extravagant. We could afford it – even with all the unexpected expenses from my finger injury. It just seemed so decadent. Oh, well, I should just adjust to the fact that I worked damn hard for years. I earned it.

Iceland, Africa, Europe

Ok, so let’s go the Europe.

Budapest, Esztergom, Vienna, Krems, Wachau Valley, Melk, Passau, Regensburg, Nuremberg, Prague

First, a negative. Scott was not feeling well before we left. So, the trip over wand the first few days were pretty miserable for him.

Ship Egil

But, that was slightly assuaged by a rather pleasant British Airways flight. 

We booked the two seats in the very back lefthand row. I decided that I prefer to never be packed into three seats with a stranger beside me if I can avoid it and I always assume that most people hate to sit in the back. Sometimes that thinking pays off and this time it did. Both going and returning, the entire row in the middle was empty, so we were able to spread out and get comfortable. 

It was so different from the South Africa experience (and one of the flights was the same flight)!

Plus, we had just the one long haul (Denver to London) with just a couple of hours of layover (where we chilled in the American Airlines Ambassadors Club). Then the flight to Budapest was only a couple of hours. Everything worked out , even the luggage. To be safe, we had split our packing between three bags just to make sure we'd have some clothes if any of the bags were lost.

Sofitel Chain Bridge

I booked going in a day early to give Scott a chance to decompress and to avoid any problems with flight delays. We booked two nights at the Sofitel Chain Bridge Hotel in Budapest, which turned out to be a great location – across the street from where our ship docked.

We arrived a night, much preferred to an early morning arrival. That gave us a chance to get settled and sleep before exploring the city. 

Unfortunately – and this is a theme of the trip – the weather as gloomy and intermittently rainy. October in Central Europe. Exactly as I had expected, but actually cooler and wetter than the weather forecasts had been.

Budapest in the rain

So, we had a day before Craig and Cheri arrived. Often when we have a short stay in a city, we buy tickets to a “hop-on-hop-off” bus. Scott bought some from City Sightseeing Budapest. 

Bad choice for touring

They shoved several maps at us and we set out on the Pest-side tour. It was too rainy to sit on the top for much of the trip and Scott wasn’t feeling well, so he bailed after a while and I did the rest of the tour myself. I had seen most of the city before and the Pest side is less interesting than the Buda side, so we planned to do Buda the next day before transferring to the ship. Plus, after joining the Viking tour, we were scheduled for a panoramic tour that I was sure would repeat a lot of what we were seeing. 

On part of the Pest tour, we did cross over to the Buda side to stop at the Fisherman’s Bastion. 

Hooded Crow

It was raining, so I didn’t get off the bus. Unfortunately, they stop there for about 15-20 minutes, which they do at several stops. If you are not getting off (or if you didn’t hear the announcement about the stop duration, which I didn’t), it’s real pain and slows down your tour. I spent the time photographing Hooded Crows outside my window.

As I result, I didn’t make a full loop, but got off the next stop (back over the Elizabeth Bridge) and walked about four blocks back to the hotel).

Instead of sharing lots of sights from the tour here, I will include them when I talk about Budapest in general in my next post.  

Beautiful buildings

Rather, I will continue with the experience.

The next morning (after a trip to the City Market, which I will talk about in a minute), we walked over the Chain Bridge to catch the Buda side tour. The bus said Buda Side, so on we hopped and the next stop was at the Fisherman’s Bastion with a long delay. 

What? I got off and looked at the bus front.

Dry for a short time

Now, it said something else. After several confusing conversations with the driver, who was not too polite or helpful, we discovered that City Sightseeing has two sets of routes (not just two routes) that are highlighted on different maps that look completely different. 

They had merged with another company and not yet consolidated instructions, maps or anything. 

Our only option was to ride back to the Pest side, get off and wait for a different bus. The map showed that we needed to walk to another stop, but the driver said the bus we wanted came to the stop where we were getting off. So, 30+ minutes later, we were off and waiting and waiting and waiting. Twenty minutes later, a bus arrived, but it was the wrong route. And, even though the actual sign at the stop indicated that the route we wanted was going to stop there, the driver of the bus said it wouldn’t and that our stop was about two blocks away. So, we walked there and waited and waited and waited. The guy who was selling tickets informed us that even though they advertised buses every 10-15 minutes, the Buda-Side bus is every 40 minutes. 

We were done! We gave our tickets to someone else and walked back to the hotel. I DO NOT recommend City Sightseeing. A total waste of money. And, I do recommend researching the various hop-on-hop-off options because most cities have several.

That was disappointing and we had already had a minor disappointment earlier that morning. Budapest has a large market called Great Market Hall that has fruit, vegetable and meat vendors as well as food vendors and other vendor stalls. 

City Market

It opens early on Sunday morning, so we decided to get up early to visit and get some breakfast. Scott likes early breakfast and our hotel’s didn’t open super early (plus, like most European hotels – it was very pricey – about 30 euros per person!).

It was cold and foggy, but not really raining when we walked over in the dark. 

City Market

The market was open – sort of. There were few people but lots and lots of beautiful fruits, vegetables and sausage vendors that were open. No food vendors, not even coffee vendors, were open yet. It was clear that there was a whole additional level of stalls upstairs that were not open.

Consequently, we didn’t stay long and we ended up having a breakfast at a different hotel along the walk home. 

The one bright spot – literally a bright spot – was a few minutes of actual, honest-to-god sunshine. That was the only sunshine we saw in Budapest and it beautifully illuminated the Royal Palace ...

Momentary sunshine

... and the Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthias Church and the Chain Bridge ...

Lovely sky

 A silver – or maybe really golden – lining.

Royal Palace

Budapest does have some interesting architecture and it is a lovely city. On this trip, we managed not to see much despite our time there, but fortunately, I have been there before with much better weather.

So, after a day and half in Budapest with mainly frustrations and failed plans – plus, on top of that, we had a disappointing lunch at one of Budapest’s oldest restaurants.

Pretty, but disappointing

The atmosphere was lovely, but my salad was minuscule and Scott’s soup was tepid. 

While eating, however, we did notice something in the restaurant that was repeated several other places – Halloween.  Halloween – at least Halloween with jack o lanterns and trick or treat – is pretty much a U.S. holiday. But, it has spread to Europe. We saw evidence several places.

Halloween

Anyway, with all our frustrations, we packed up and transferred to our ship.  Well, actually, we stopped by the ship to check on timing and found out our room was already ready. So, it made sense to go on over.

Docked right across from the Royal Palace

We were on the Viking Egil (it’s a Norwegian word that was pronounced different ways by different people – I still have no idea how to say it).

Viking Egil

It’s a new ship and was quite lovely. 

Our room

Although compact, the room was more spacious than other ships I have been on. There were enough drawers and closet space to fully unpack (and then stow bags under the bed). The balcony was small, but big enough for two chairs. 

The bathroom was also small, but had a decent-sized shower and nice hot water.

The ship, which has only 95 staterooms is compact enough to make moving around very easy. We were on the main deck, just steps from the reception desk and dining room. Upstairs was a small library and access to the lounge.

Lounge level

For some of the trip, we could also go up one additional level to the rooftop deck. 

Our deck (and another Viking ship alongside)

And, here’s where October/November are a problem. I had envisioned spending all the cruising time either on my balcony or on the top deck, watching the scenery go by. And, I did spend a fair amount of time up there when the deck was open. But, it was windy and it was cold. I guess I should have packed for an Alaskan cruise. It was cold. And wet.

And, after we reached the more easterly parts of the Danube, the top deck was closed because the bridges we had to pass under were so low. In fact, they have to take down all the covers and actually lower the bridge for that portion of the trip.

Lounge

If you check in early, they offer light lunch in the lounge. They had delicious Cuban-type sandwiches and soups. For all meals, once underway, you can eat in the dining room or opt for lighter fare up in the lounge. Or, you can actually do both. 

Meals have open seating and were generally quite good – often featuring local specialties, which I believe is a must for traveling in foreign countries.

The Viking staff – very international as all cruise ships feature – were delightful. They make a concerted effort to learn your name and your preferences. 

Egil Crew

The lovely Belle brought me two tall glasses of iced tea every morning for breakfast. When getting iced tea is tough in most European cities, this was heaven! By the way, I took my Yeti so I could fill it up and have tea all day!

Scott had asked me to purchase the “Silver Beverage” package for him (Craig was getting it). For $150, it gives you unlimited access to name-brand liquor and better wines. I discovered when purchasing it that you have to purchase it for both parties in a stateroom (I guess, otherwise, you’d be sneaking alcohol back to your partner ???!!!). So, it cost us $300. 

Welcome drinks

I wasn’t sure I would even be able to drink with my antibiotics, but I was told it was OK. I was surprised to find that without the package, the ship served some really nice wines – non-stop – with meals. I tried to keep up, but just couldn’t. I just can’t drink that much. So, the $150 was pretty much wasted on me. But, I think Scott got his money’s worth. So, whatever.

Oh, a one more thing -- the most frustrating for a blogger -- the WiFi was awful. Simply awful. It generally didn't work at all in my room, so I would have to go sit by the reception desk to get anything done. I finally gave up. It just wasn't worth it.

In my next post, I'll start with the beginning of the Viking trip, with more in-depth information on Budapest.

Royal Palace

Trip date: October 25-November 7, 2017