First river cruise - any tips?

[SecondCor521]

For anyone who has taken this journey, I know Viking includes one excursion per day, but are there any optional excursions that you recommend? This could be either Viking or Private. We are doing a pre cruise extension in Amsterdam.

The one excursion per day on Viking is generally just a walking tour in the morning of whatever city you're in that day. Usually you have the afternoon to explore on your own or do one of the purchased excursions.

I see that the optional wine tasting tour is NOT recommended. Has anyone done the cheese making tour or the Lipizzaner tour?

What I have done on all my cruises is just read the descriptions carefully and think about what sort of things I want to do or see. I have found that the descriptions are accurate and the quality of the guides is generally consistently good to great.

So personally I'm not into wine tasting, but for people who are they might enjoy that one. I saw the Lipizanners briefly on the general city tour I chose; there was a more specific and more involved one that focused more on the horses which probably would have been good too. I had never been in that city and wanted to see a variety so that is what I chose.

There are advantages to private tours that the poster above describes. Personally I appreciate the coordination with and vetting by the cruise companies, so I just stick with those. I'm sure the cruise ship ones are more expensive and maybe less flexible on timing and itinerary, but those are tradeoffs I'm willing to make.

 

[ABQ2015]

I see that the optional wine tasting tour is NOT recommended. Has anyone done the cheese making tour or the Lipizzaner tour?

I am on a Facebook page for this particular cruise and the cheese making excursion in Kinderdijk has gotten some good reviews. One former passenger, who is a cheesemonger, was impressed with the cheese and bought some of the vacuum packed Gouda to take back home.

 

[FIYes]

I got my flight information today. It all looks okay except for one seat assignment. The flights are on Delta and the time frame is good. Reasonable departure times and layover times.

I did sign up for the cheese making excursions based on Facebook comments

 

[audreyh1]

The Dutch are really into cheese making! If you see the countryside you’ll see lots of happy dairy cows spread out on their large polders (reclaimed pastures). Butter is great too.

 

[Sunset]

I got an email about a sale Viking is having right now, and while I get a lot of these emails from being on their list. This one shocked me as it's such a good deal, lowest price I've seen for June , which is when we went.

Nine years ago, we took the Grand European River cruise and felt we had a good deal paying $5K /pp free air and free gratuities.

The current sale is far better: Only $4K , free air, free beverage package. offer code PM26 | EXPIRES APR‌ 6‌, 2026
Link to see details:

https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/grand-european-tour/2026-amsterdam-budapest/index.html?promocode=PM26

(Mods, remove this posting if it violates some rule, I'm not trying to be a shill here, I don't get any reward for this, just think someone might like a great deal.)

 

[richardsok]

It IS a great deal. Last week they quoted me $17,000 for two on the Portugal to Salamanca tour, economy air.

 

[Gumby]

That is a good deal. Although I'm sure the advertised price is for the waterline rooms with only a small porthole and coach class on the plane. We're taking the same trip in May and paying a lot more.

 

[FIYes]

We are going on this same trip in June and paying more. We have a veranda stateroom, pre Budapest extensionand flying coach. I just wasn’t willing to pay for the upgrade on the flight, but was willing to pay for the upgrade on the cabin.

 

[Sunset]

That is a good deal. Although I'm sure the advertised price is for the waterline rooms with only a small porthole and coach class on the plane. We're taking the same trip in May and paying a lot more.

Yes it is, coach class for the flight which is what we did 9 years yrs ago so very comparable.

We also did the waterline room. They have a large wide window, not a porthole, but we spent all our awake moments up on deck or in the lounge as it was so interesting to us.

 

[Tibbets]

The young wife and I just booked a Viking river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest for next May. We have never been on a river cruise and our only "ocean" cruise was 25 years ago on a very small boat (~100 passengers) in the Alaska Inside Passage. I am willing to bet that at least some people here have taken a river cruise and would have some tips and tricks for newbies like us. Thanks.

Great trip/ we did the reverse from Budapest- stayed several extra days in Amsterdam - great town. Bring good hiking shoes
And as others have stated be prepared for chilly/ rainy weather- enjoy!

 

[Lemonade]

@Sunset, that code was too good to pass up! Looks like we're off to Europe this summer. Thank you

 

[FIYes]

We just got back from our first River cruise. It was a Viking cruise and I felt that they managed it quite well. We did have to swap ships midway through the cruise due to water levels but that was handled very well. I really enjoyed only having to pack and have bags out one time during the cruise.

Our cabin was small even compared to ocean cruises. However it was well designed with plenty of storage space. We had a balcony cabin and I appreciated the access to outside. I liked the days when we were docked within walking distance of town/old town. I did find that I didn’t walk as much as I expected. That was largely our choice since we were in Europe for the excessive heat. A few days reached 100 degree Fahrenheit!

 

[audreyh1]

We just got back from our first River cruise. It was a Viking cruise and I felt that they managed it quite well. We did have to swap ships midway through the cruise due to water levels but that was handled very well. I really enjoyed only having to pack and have bags out one time during the cruise.

Our cabin was small even compared to ocean cruises. However it was well designed with plenty of storage space. We had a balcony cabin and I appreciated the access to outside. I liked the days when we were docked within walking distance of town/old town. I did find that I didn’t walk as much as I expected. That was largely our choice since we were in Europe for the excessive heat. A few days reached 100 degree Fahrenheit!

Oh man, too bad you ran into that horrendous heat wave!

We were so glad to have missed it. We experienced cooler than normal temps most of the trip. We disembarked in Edinburgh two days after they had experienced 98 degrees late May, and it was back to normal temperatures except that the hallway in the hotel was still super warm.