by Jim Bellomo | Jun 15, 2024 | Uncategorized
Yesterday was our embarkation day on Viking Venus. This 14-night cruise will take us to three additional ports in Great Britain and five ports in Norway, including the one way up north on the map (that I can’t spell and would take 20 minutes to try and get right) deep inside the Arctic circle.
Embarkation was a piece of cake. If you are taking a cruise with Viking from Greenwich, you tell the driver to take you to “the Cutty Sark.” This ship (which is on dry land) is directly in front of where you want to be dropped off. If you are coming on a coach, you will be about half a block from where you are if you are dropped by a car. You will be right at this spot as soon as you are out of your car. Two or three Viking people will take your luggage and send you to the next Viking person, who will be about halfway to the Cutty Sark. From there, you turn right and head into the back of the building directly next to the Cutty Sark. Inside, you get your sea pass card, and they send you to the “tender” that takes you to the ship. All along the way (about every 10 feet) there is a Viking person in red telling you where to go next. It is impossible to get lost.
Thankfully, Viking does not use its lifeboats at Greenwich as tenders. Instead, it hires the same type of boat we took yesterday—the Uber Boats (aka The Thames Clippers). Each boat holds about 200 people in decent seats. The best part is that the entire trip from dock to ship takes about five minutes. From the time we got out of our taxis until we were onboard, it was less than 20 minutes. Impressive.
Before I tell you the next step in embarkation, I would like to mention taxis and Ubers. We had been using Uber for everything on this trip until we checked out of the hotel to head to the ship. Because we needed room for our luggage we decided to take two cars, so we thought, why not ask the hotel to get us a taxi. Not a great plan. The day before, when we headed to the Ted Lasso Tour, we left the hotel and took an Uber to the Cutty Sark, where we boarded the Uber Boat. The total charge by Uber for four of us (UberXL) was $6.43, or about £5. When we took the taxis at the same exact distance later in the day, the charge was £13 for Kathleen and me and £20 for Steve and Jamie! WTF??? (Please excuse my French.) And we thought we would get one of those nice London Black Cabs you see everywhere, but I am pretty sure the hotel desk person called his relatives because two guys showed up who barely spoke English and had VERY ratty cars. Our driver even had a hard time finding the Cutty Sark/cruise terminal, even though it is less than a mile away as well as being the biggest taxi destination in Greenwich. So beware! Take an Uber. Download and learn the app before you go.
Once we finished our short tender/ferry ride, we were on the ship which is still moored in the center of the Thames. I need to mention here…keep your sea pass cards in your hands. We had to show the at least six times between the pier, the tender and the ship. It was crazy. Not bad, just crazy. Once onboard, they sent us to deck two forward to the Star Theater for our quick life jacket demonstration. One of the young entertainers showed us how our life jackets worked and then told us that once we were in our rooms, we should watch the video on our TV and then answer a question at the end of the video. By the time we finished that, it was 11:45. We had left the hotel at 10:50, so we were at lunch in the World Cafe (buffet) by noon. That’s what I call a great embarkation. We finished our lunch (the food was excellent) and headed forward to our favorite place on the ship, The Explorer’s Lounge. We sat down and had a single drink, and they announced that all staterooms were ready at 1:00 pm. Exactly as promised.
We have precisely the same stateroom as we had on Viking Sky two years ago in the Mediterranean—5030. It was like coming home. It’s a Penthouse Verandah, which is slightly bigger than your standard verandah stateroom—338 square feet as opposed to 270 square feet. Besides our one-time upgrade to a Neptune Suite on HAL and our stateroom on Celebrity’s Flora in the Galapagos, this is the nicest stateroom we have ever been in. After three weeks in the Med in this room, we feel we are back home again. BTW: we weren’t actually in this room because we were on Viking Sky, and now we are on Viking Venus. But Viking builds all their ocean ships to be pretty much exactly the same, so if you have been in one of their staterooms, you can be very confident that you will have the same one on another of their ships.
We were in the stateroom for a very short time when our luggage arrived. This, too, was pretty impressive since it had to come over by barge. It was not far, but still, it had to be put on and taken off a barge. When the luggage got there, we quickly unpacked, took all our dirty laundry and headed to the deck 5 laundry! YEAH! Clean clothes. We were the first ones there and started two loads immediately. After two weeks on the road, it was great to have 99% of all the clothes I had with me, clean and dry. If you have not used Viking’s laundry before, There is one on pretty much every deck with staterooms. The washing and drying are free, as is detergent. So you pop them in, set a timer on your watch, go back to your stateroom and then return to change them or bring them back. We were sure glad we got there first because there were a lot of people like us who had been in the country for a few days or, in our case, weeks and needed clean clothes.
After laundry, Kathleen took a quick nap, and I headed to the Promenade deck to do a little walking. The Promenade Deck on a Viking ship is deck 2. And four times around, it is a mile. I did a quick three so I could shower and be up in the World Cafe for dinner by 6:15. It felt great to get out and walk for exercise. We have been walking a lot, but you saunter when you walk on a tour. When I walk on the Promenade Deck, I walk for speed. And I love that the Viking Ocean ships have a deck that goes completely around the ship.
We had dinner at the World Cafe (buffet), and the food was excellent. Contributing to my happiness was finding an entire seafood section of the buffet, where they had mussels, seafood salads, poke, halibut ceviche and more. All of it was delicious. Throw in a roll and two breadsticks, and I was all set. So far, through two lunches, a dinner and a breakfast, the food has been delicious.
After dinner, I got kind of Victor Mildrew again because, by this point, it was 8:00 p.m., and our room wasn’t made up; we had not met our stateroom attendant(s). To top it off, Steve texted and told me that our excursion for the morning (today) was at 8:00 a.m., but my excursion ticket said 8:30. The ticket also said to check the meeting place in the Viking Daily. The only problem was that since our room had not been changed over, we didn’t have a Viking Daily yet. But never fear; there is one in the Viking app. So we go our phones and look up the excursion to see where we were supposed to meet, and it said, “Check your ticket for the time and place of the tour.” We went back to the ticket, and it said, “Check the Viking Daily.” WTF? (Again, please excuse my French). So I called the Explorer Desk that handles shore excursions, and she told me that “you can find the time and meeting place in the Viking Daily.” I explained to her that we don’t have a printed copy yet, but we had checked the Viking Daily on the Viking app. She tells me, “Oh, don’t bother with that. The app is hardly ever correct.” Seriously? Then why have it? We finally got it all figured out, and we went on the excursion. More about that tomorrow. Today I just want to get this online.
Tonight, we sail for Edinburgh at around 7:00. This should be a great sail out as we are pretty far up the Thames. Our guide told us today that when she does big ship tours, the closest they can dock to London is Tilbury, a 90-minute drive to Greenwich. That’s three hours total in both directions. YIKES! I don’t care if it is on a “luxury motor coach;” no thanks!
We start our cruise with an overnight here in London/Greenwich, so that means later, I will have some port info for you as well. I just wanted this one to be about our embarkation.
BTW: we did finally meet our stateroom attendant and his assistant, and as Kathleen and I both believe, their tardiness in getting to meet us and turn our room over has much less to do with them than it does that they have more than 30 staterooms to take care of. When we started cruising, most stateroom attendants handled 10 or 12. I am not sure how Viking (or any cruise line) expects them to be able to meet that many guests between boarding and bed that night. Another case of staff shrinkage.
One last thing. On our previous Viking cruise (21 nights in the Med), I had a real problem with the beds on Viking Sky. Well, I am VERY happy to report that the beds on Viking Venus are wonderful. I slept like a baby last night. I didn’t wake up until 6:15, which is late for me. YEAH!
You can find tranquility, you can find party, you can find new friends. I’m a cruise convert. —Guy Fieri
by Jim Bellomo | Dec 28, 2023 | Photography
I am so sorry this has taken me so long. I am back with my final summation of our entire European trip this month. As usual, I will break it down into some categories so it doesn’t look like you have a massive block of text to read all at one time. I welcome any comments about my views, but please realize that they are based on my experience.
We loved Lisbon!
If you read my Lisbon reports, you know that we loved it. It was like the early days of travel for us—just the two of us having a great time in a great city. If there was one thing we didn’t like, it was living out of a suitcase. We loved our tours, the food, the hotel (especially the hotel) and pretty much everything else. It is also a very inexpensive place to visit. Oh, we didn’t have a very good time at our Fado dinner. There must be better places. But that was just a minor annoyance.
Our flights and airport experiences
Again, I have detailed these pretty well in this post in my huge rant about Charles DeGaulle Airport in Paris. All the rest of our flight experiences were excellent. We really liked our flights with Delta much more than we did a year ago when we flew with them home from Barcelona.
Prague—ice and cold
Bathed in snowy white.
After we flew to Prague from Lisbon, we became Viking’s problems as this was part of our pre-cruise extension. Read and see all about it by clicking here. It was an OK extension but we could have done without the ice and snow. I know that Viking can’t do anything about ice and snow, but they can figure out a way for people who are not great walkers when it is dry and warm to see some of the city’s sights. Viking offers an “included excursion” for every day of an extension and for every port on a cruise. But to only have an excursion that on a dry and warm day would be “challenging” leaves out a huge part of their clientele and those that shouldn’t attempt it but do hold back those that can handle it.
But other than my complaint about shore excursions, we loved Prague. It was a great hotel with a great breakfast; we found a super place for dinner, thanks to a friend here in Redmond, and the tours we were able to take were pretty darn good.
Nuremberg—worst hotel, best tour of the entire trip
Nuremberg’s lousy hotel
Viking should immediately stop using Le Méridien Grand Hotel. Yes, it is very well situated, but it is so old and out of date, they need to find something better. Our room was tiny and felt like a cell, not a room. There was one elevator to serve more than 200 rooms. The restaurant was never open to guests for lunch or dinner, so we ended up eating in the bar (where the menu was as small as our room). Their breakfast was good, but that can’t make up for the rooms and the fact that there was no place to eat. If you do any pre-extension with Viking, make sure to pre-book your restaurant reservations for dinner yourself. If you get there and find you can’t get into any place, check with your tour manager (who works for Viking) and see if they can find you somewhere. That worked for us in Budapest.
But in Nuremberg, I went on the best tour of the entire trip. If you go, do the WWII Nuremberg tour. If you can get Werner as your guide, you will have hit the jackpot. His knowledge and understanding of the topic are encyclopedic, and he was great with the delivery—a born storyteller.
The Cruise—from Regensburg to Budapest on Viking Gulveig
Now that’s a long ship. Maybe that’s why Viking calls it a longship.
This was our first river cruise, and I have to say we truly enjoyed it. It is quite different from an ocean cruise, and we are looking forward to our next one on the Douro River in Portugal next October. It will be a really different experience than the ice and frigid cold we experienced on this one.
The cruise (as you may recall) was billed as Christmas on the Danube—Europe’s Christmas Markets. I don’t know what I thought the Christmas Market thing would be, but it wasn’t that. My expectations were that once we were in Europe, we would be Christmased to death. We weren’t. If anything, it was almost the opposite. As much as I loved the ship, it just wasn’t very festive. We saw a lot of other riverboats/ships, and 90% were better decorated for Christmas than ours was. And there was little to no Christmas music on board. The piano player would drop one or two holiday tunes into his nightly repertoire, but that was it.
And the Christmas Markets were pretty much all alike. The ones we saw in Lisbon were our favorites, followed by the ones in Budapest, but otherwise, they were all about the same. The same merchandise, the same foods, the same crowds, the same drinks. It truly was a case of if you have seen one, you have seen them all. And Viking felt we wanted to see them all for three or four hours. I don’t know what I was supposed to do at a Christmas Market for that amount of time.
Getting back to the ship, our stateroom was excellent. We had a typical verandah, which is tiny by ocean ship standards (205 square feet with the verandah), but it was so well-designed that we barely noticed. The bed was much more comfortable than the bed we had on our Viking Ocean cruise in October 2022. We had plenty of storage, and by the time we got to our stateroom (after being in three hotels in the last ten days.
Things we loved about the cruise and the ship
- Embarkation was amazing and easy. We arrived from Nuremberg, got off our “luxury motor coach,” and went right onto the ship. We (about 40 of us coming from the extension) gave them our credit card info and got our room keys in less than 10 minutes. Then, every person was escorted directly to their stateroom by a crew member. We got Natalia from Poland. She later turned out to be one of our servers in the dining room. She was so great, showing us how everything in our stateroom worked and telling us how to get help if we needed it. She stayed and talked for about 15 minutes, asking about us and seeing if there was anything else she could do for us. What a treat! Best embarkation ever.
- The main dining room was surprisingly spacious. But unlike ocean cruises, you better like to meet people because there are NO tables for two. There aren’t even tables for four. There are tables for six, eight or ten people. That’s it. But that worked for us. We were thrilled to have meals with new friends, especially our new friend from New Hampshire, Carol.
- We never had to wait for an elevator. Because we really didn’t have to. There are only three levels on a Viking longship. And the only reason to go below level two is if you have a stateroom on deck one. We were on deck two (stateroom 213), so we never went down to one. The main dining room is on deck two as well, so we could have eaten all our meals and never even gone upstairs if we didn’t want to. But the top deck had the only lounge and a small buffet. We went up for drinks most nights and to hear what Debra, our Program Director, told us what was on tap for the next day.
- Dinner times were interesting. By that, I mean that they were later…or earlier. They changed every day. They were usually close to 7:00 pm but, one night (because of an after-dinner concert in Vienna that many attended), dinner was at 5:30. Other nights, if there was a late shore excursion coming back to the ship, it might be as late as 7:30 (which is really late for us).
Things we would love to see changed
These things are going to be really picky. Why? Because Kathleen and I could only think of some minor annoyances that we didn’t like.
- The pianist in the lounge was too loud! Why do cruise lines, restaurants, and pretty much every public lounge or bar think we want to hear loud music every single second of the day? We met some great people on this cruise—people we would have loved to have traded travel stories with. But most of the time, when we were in the only lounge on the ship, we couldn’t hear people sitting directly across from us talk. The pianist thought that louder was better, and he played one of those electronic pianos that made him the entire band, and he liked to show it off. Not to mention the fact that he barely played any Christmas music. TURN HIM DOWN PLEASE! During the rest of the day there is excellent recorded music playing in the lounge. At a low volume. Low enough that you can have a conversation. We would have loved to have that in the evenings. If you read my review of our ocean cruise on Oceania’s Vista in October, you know I complained about that on that ship as well. On Viking Ocean ships, there are many places to go and. have a nice, quiet drink with conversation. But river ships only have one lounge, and if Mr. Loud is playing the piano, you are screwed.
- Laundry service was highway robbery. By the time we boarded the ship, we had been on the road for ten days. We needed to send some things out to get clean. We knew there was a chargeable laundry service on the ship, but not one that charged $4 to wash a pair of socks, $7 to wash a pair of jeans or $6 to wash a tee-shirt. We ended up sending out six items, and the bill was $42. That’s HORRIBLE!
- Rafting was fine, except once when it was UNSAFE! If you aren’t familiar with rafting (as it pertains to river ships), it is when two, three, or four of these very long ships tie up to each other. Then, if your ship is the second, third or fourth ship out from the dock, you cross through the lobby area of each of the inside ships to get to yours. It’s not a big deal, and you can look at the other ships a little. But this kind of rafting only happened with other Viking ships. The one time we were rafted with a non-Viking ship, we had returned from Munich, it was very dark and we were not allowed to cross through the other ship’s lobby. We had to climb to the top (observation/sun) deck, cross over and climb down into our ship. This meant climbing some slippery stairs, crossing over an icy deck, then onto a very narrow gangplank between the ships (three stories off the water) across our ship’s icy deck and then back down some more slippery steps. This should not happen.
- The lunch on embarkation day was just wrong. We left Nuremberg at 11:00 am (too early for lunch). We arrived at the ship at 2:00 pm and were told that there was a buffet lunch in the lounge on deck three. That lunch was really sparse. And really poor. They need to improve this situation. Better scheduling (leaving Nuremberg earlier or later) would help.
As you can see, we are nitpicking here. It was a great cruise with four tiny blips. All of them are easily fixable.
Viking Shore Excursions
I have already mentioned that our pre-cruise tours were outstanding. And our post cruise tours were even better when we got to Budapest. But I want to run through the ports really quickly. You can always go back for a more in-depth look in previous posts.
- All the tours on this cruise were better than any of the tours we took on our Viking Ocean cruise in the Mediterranean back in 2022.
- The worst guide was the guy we had in Regensburg. His job was to show us around the city in about 45 minutes. What he did was get us off the ship on back streets, told misogynistic jokes as we walked, took us to see nothing really interesting and then left us in the middle of town saying, “The river is over that way. Just get there and turn right.” WTF? He should never be used again.
- The second worst was the guide who took us to Munich. He was just okay as a guide, but what he or Viking did to us was not. This was the day that we enjoyed going to the BMW headquarters and then downtown Munich and then a very nice lunch. But after that, we were just told we had three hours of free time and no place to go to get out of the cold. That was WRONG! No one needs to shop for three hours, especially on a Sunday when all the shops in the old town core were closed. The only real option for shopping was the Christmas Market but how many ornaments can you buy or how much mulled wine could you drink (and still find your way back to the bus). This needs to change.
- Some of the excursions were just “fine.” They were nothing to write home about. The tours on the extensions were much better than those on the cruise, except for maybe the “Panoramic Budapest” tour that we took with the hilarious Barbie. The rest were either bad (like the first two above) or just “fine.”
- It would be VERY hard to do private tours. On an ocean ship, we would just have done private tours, but I am just not sure if you could do that on a river cruise. The reason you would have a hard time doing that is that you never know where the ship is going to be. For instance, we went to bed in Regensburg with the knowledge that the next morning, we would still be in the same place. If we had been doing a private tour, we would have told our guide to meet us there and then found out where we could rejoin the ship. But when we got up, we were miles down the river because the ship had to move quickly to get under some low bridges just outside Regensburg. This was NOT Viking’s fault. The river levels cannot be controlled. When we got up that morning, we were going to Munich. The ship just pulled over, tied up in the middle of nowhere, and we got off and met our “luxury motor coach” on a very rural road.
- I make jokes about “luxury motor coaches,” but that really didn’t apply to the buses we rode on during this cruise. They truly were luxury motor coaches: great seats, lots of legroom, places to put anything you carried. We had been dreading the long bus rides from Prague to Nuremberg and from there to Regensburg, but they were very nice. And they planned restroom breaks when needed. I would have no problem taking them again. Much better than on our Viking Ocean cruise in October 22.
The Food
Our last ocean cruise on Oceania’s Vista in October 2023 was all about the food. The rest of the cruise was nice, but I wrote a lot about the food, as I do on many of our cruises. On this cruise, we had very little to complain about food-wise. Our servers were outstanding. Breakfast in the dining room was a buffet, but you can also order from a really nice menu.
We had only one complaint about the food in the entire cruise. Jamie and I ordered fish and chips one day, and we sent it back. The fish had sat too long and had turned to rubber instead of being crisp. That may have been more of a service thing than a cooking thing. We do wish that the chef had some heartier soups. When you come in from a cold excursion and go to have lunch and all the soups are just broth, you kind of wish for a nice clam, corn or potato chowder.
Other than that, the food was great. Lots of variety, lots of interesting dishes. My brother said it passed the “Steve Test.”
Beautiful Budapest
If you have been following along for the last three weeks, then you know we LOVED Budapest: great tours, a very nice hotel with an amazing view, and a super tour coordinator. Only one guide was truly horrid, and we have already forgotten the horrible Lazlo. If you missed my detailed reports on Budapest, they start here.
The Final Word
And that does it. I hope you have enjoyed coming along on this trip. We had a great time; it only felt like we had hit a wall a few times and would do it again (but NOT a Christmas Market cruise). We are going back to do another river cruise in October. But for my faithful readers, stick with us. We are off to England, Scotland and Norway in June for almost a full month. And, of course, a few posts before that.
Don’t fear failure so much that you refuse to try new things. The saddest summary of a life contains three descriptions: could have, might have, and should have. —Louis E. Boone.
by Jim Bellomo | Dec 15, 2023 | Photography
As I write this, I am sitting in a darkened lounge looking out across the Danube at the Buda side of Budapest. So much has happened in the day since I last wrote (our first day in Vienna) and today that it is hard to take it all in and put it in order. But I shall do my best. I only hope I get this online before 6:00 am as we have to be off the ship today by 9:45 for the last time—our cruise ends today. We are transferring to the Intercontinental Hotel for two nights, and then on Monday, we fly home.
But back to day two in Vienna. When we got up, the skies had cleared, and there was no fog. After posting and breakfast, we really had nothing we had to do before lunch and our afternoon excursion, so I decided to take another walk. This time, instead of staying on the side of the river our ship was moored on, I walked to the big bridge ahead of the ship and crossed over to an island that turned out to be pretty cool. I took the panoramic shot at the top of this post from the middle of that bridge.
On the way, I found some colorful workers, a lighthouse, and some modern landscapes (Vienna does have skyscrapers, but they are limited to being far from the old city. It’s like the modern city on one side of the river and the old one on the other), a beautiful park, strange statues, a sandy beach and Kathleen. See the pics below to find out how I saw all that on an early morning walk. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Santa Claus has helpers loading supplies on ships.
The sky was much clearer than the day before.
I find out we are on the wrong ship…these guys have a hot tub!
The skyscraper I shot yesterday in the fog.
Our ship from across the Danube looking back.
The skyline of the newest part of Vienna on the other bank of the Danube.
Some strange sculptures in the park.
Not sure what this is but I think in the summer it is a recreation swimming area.
They have a sandy beach…
A lighthouse…
That is mostly a cell tower…
Some views of the skyscrapers on one side of the island…
And views of the old city on the other.
This crazy building looking back at me…
And a minaret off in a distant old city.
And Kathleen (look close) on our balcony, across the Danube.
After my walk, it was lunchtime, and after lunch, we were back in the Old City for the only paid excursion we had signed up for on our original trip (we didn’t take) back in 2020—visiting the Spanish Riding School and seeing the Lipizzan Stallions. If you have no clue what I am talking about, then allow me to tell you. Found in 1572 by the Hapsburg Dynasty and brought to Vienna from Spain, the Spanish Riding School trains Lipizzan stallions to perform. Suffice it to say that if you really are intrigued after seeing my photos, make sure and check out the linked website. The horses and the organization are truly amazing.
How did we find out about them? A long time ago…(1963), there was a Disney movie called “The Miracle of the White Stallions.” It was all about how the Spanish Riding School had saved their beautiful and incredible white stallions from the Nazis. When we were kids, Kathleen and I had both seen it, and these incredible horses were something we have always wanted to see ever since. And on Wednesday, we got our chance. And not to see them perform but to go backstage to meet them and get to see (and smell?) them close up. Check out the photos below and the captions for the story…or go watch the movie (because of the limitations of the WiFi on board, I can’t check to see if it is on Disney Plus, but you can buy the DVD at the link). Or just look at my pics. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
The Spanish Riding School is located…
In the Imperial Palace in the center of the city.
The entrance is guarded by…
These two rather impressive statues.
This is their performance hall. Truly beautiful.
This is our view as we walk into the stables
We can see just one of the stallions peaking out into the courtyard.
We get to tour the tack room.
So much tack.
Saddles.
Tiny horses the saddles rest on.
No photos are allowed in the stables but some of the horses face outside and you can take their pictures.
Like this friendly guy.
Who did his best to pose for us.
After our backstage tour of the stallions, we had a little bit of time in the area of the Imperial Palace, and we went to have coffee and cake at a small Viennese Cafe in one of the museums (OK, it was a cafeteria, and the coffee was cold and cake stale) but that meant I had time to take a few photos of buildings that had been fogged in the day before and I really liked some of the shots I got of this opulent city. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Some buildings on the way to the stallions…
with BLUE SKIES!!!
Atop the museum with the lousy coffee shop.
In front of the museum with the lousy coffee shop.
City Hall…
A truly magnificent building…
Especially at night.
And then we were back on the “luxury motor coach” and headed into Viennese traffic for our ride to the ship. As soon as we were on board, the captain untied and set sail for our final cruise destination—Budapest! More about that tomorrow. I have to go take a shower, put my bags out (unlike ocean cruise ships, on a river ship, you don’t put out your bags until 8:00 am on the day you get off), have breakfast and be out of our room by 8:00. Our time to leave the ship is 9:45 for our transfer to the Intercontinental Hotel which will be our home for the next two nights. I will try to post again tomorrow, but if the weather is good, I am going to bundle up and go for a pre-dawn photo walk so it might be two days. You never know.
A barn with cattle and horses is the place to begin Christmas; after all, that’s where the original event happened, and that same smell was the first air that the Christ Child breathed. —Paul Engle
by Jim Bellomo | Dec 11, 2023 | Photography
I fully realize that yesterday’s post said I would not be back for a couple of days because we would be “taking a sea day” on the river. For those of you non-cruisers, that means we didn’t go on an excursion, and I really thought we would not get off the ship. I also thought I had nothing I wanted to write about. But I was wrong!
It turns out we (Steve and I) did get off the ship, and it turns out we did find some interesting stuff to take photos of, and it turns out I thought of some other things to write about. So here we are.
Let’s start today with the photo at the top of the post. That’s a panoramic photo I took from our verandah from where the ship was moored yesterday in Engelhartszell an der Donau, Austria. I have been told that “an der Donau” is German for on the Danube. So this is Engelhartszell on the Danube. We let the general population of fellow travelers head off to Passau and Salzburg, and we stayed behind to do…nothing. When the buses first left, and we were four of about 20 that stayed behind, it was raining pretty heavily. Soon enough, the sun came out (as you can see in the photo), and Steve and I decided to take a short walk in the village. The village itself wasn’t much, but there were photos to be taken and a lovely church that was quite interesting. I will let the photos tell the story of this little village. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
Until today I had not taken a decent shot of Viking Gulveig so here we are all tied up at the dock.
This is the village church. Looks pretty outside.
But inside it knocks your socks off. We never expected this.
Above the altar was the traditional ceiling art.
The organ was magnificent.
But above the main part of the church was MODERN ART???
The church had four complete relics.
I have tried to find out who these are but only one had a name.
But the interior was magnificent for such a small village.
Even the pews were hand carved.
It was quite the surprise to find this church in such a small village.
The view from the front.
And down the river. We got a great break from the rain which started again in about an hour.
The Gullveig from the front.
I did a little further research on the church because we were truly shocked to find such a magnificent church in such a small village. It turns out there has been a church on that site (either as a church or as a monastery) since 1045. It has gone through many great changes to become the building it is today. If you don’t mind doing translation by the paragraph, you can read about it by clicking here.
That was about it for yesterday, but I do want to address some other general topics about this cruise.
Am I really that negative?
First, I am not understanding some of the comments I have been getting. Am I making this trip sound that bad, or is everyone (including me) just focusing on things that are bugging me? This started from the very beginning when someone said, “Thanks, I will try to avoid Delta Airlines in the future.” I went back and read what I had written about Delta Airlines, and I said I thought that the flight was very good. Here is what I originally wrote about the flight:
We are on an older plane (in this case, it turns out that’s a good thing as the newer ones have harder seats), and the food was pretty darn good. The service was excellent, and I am actually looking forward to going home on their service from here in Paris to Seattle.
Does that sound bad? Does it sound like I didn’t like the flight on Delta?
Yes, there have been times that have been a challenge. Yes, in Munich, we had to sit around for three hours while others shopped. But that’s the point…others really were shopping. We just aren’t into that.
Yes, the weather has been sucky. But who doesn’t complain about the weather? We chose to take the cruise in the winter.
Yes, the Christmas Markets are boring and have the same stuff. But I fully admit to being the person who fell for the marketing of those same Christmas Markets. The photos on Viking’s website look awesome. And the same is true for every other river cruise company—the photos make it look like everyone is having a great time. And they might be. I had different expectations. And those were in my head. I, in no way, blame Viking for any discomfort I may be experiencing on this trip. Well, it would have been nice if they had let us sit on a warm bus in Munich. I would have happily read a book or played games on my phone for three hours while others shopped and partied if I could have been someplace warm and comfortable and the “luxury motor coach” could have been that place.
But other than that, Viking has done a great job. We have a Program Director from Wales who is an amazing woman. Can you imagine having a job where the level of a river dictates what you will be doing the next day and where you will be doing it? Talk about a logistical nightmare. Our program director, Debra, went to bed on the first night of the cruise thinking she would wake up the next morning in one place, and all the prep she had done (like getting buses and arranging walking tours) would be taken care of. In the middle of the night, the ship (due to the weather) went to another place entirely, and all of a sudden, she had to find a way to get ground transportation for 180 people back to the place we were supposed to have docked. And this can happen to her every single day. YIKES! I honestly don’t know how she does it.
I think that any complaints I have had on this entire trip have had to do with my expectations. We have been planning this trip for so long (remember, we bought it in 2018, and we were canceled in 2020 and 2021) that the idea of being in Europe at Christmas really appealed to me. And if I were a shopper and a partier, I would LOVE every single second of this cruise. Every trip you take is all about expectations.
Maybe part of it is the river cruise industry’s marketing. Yesterday afternoon, we were in our cabin, and I turned on the TV to watch Downton Abbey (you can watch every episode of Downton Abbey on every Viking ship). I told Kathleen if they were really great at customer service when I went to watch it, it would restart from the same episode we stopped watching on our 2022 Med cruise ?. Now that would be something!
If you watch much PBS television (we do), you know that before most of their programs, there is a little ad for Viking. Usually, it shows the river ship sailing through these idyllic valleys with castles around every turn. Those views are what I was expecting. But if I really think about it, I can never get those views unless I am in a low-flying airplane or take a photo with a drone.
Let me tell you something great that happened yesterday. Our thermostat didn’t seem to be working. We like it cooler at night, and it seemed stuck at 72 (22C). We asked our stateroom attendant to show us how to use it, thinking it was a user error. She checked it and then called the maintenance guy, who arrived in minutes. He checked it and asked us when we would be out of the stateroom for about 30 minutes. We said we hadn’t planned on going anywhere but to cocktail hour at 6:00. He said, “No problem! I will be back at 6:00.” Sure enough, we went to cocktails, and when I came back to the stateroom between dinner and drinks to use the facilities, it was working like a charm. He had pulled a panel out of the ceiling, done some work, and fixed it for us in less than half an hour. Amazing.
I also need to mention that the beds are great. On our Viking Ocean cruise, I found them way too hard. On this cruise, I pre-ordered a mattress topper, and I have slept great every night.
Have I mentioned the food? It has been marvelous. And there is too much of it. I want to try it all. Great breakfast, lunch and dinner. Last night was a German-themed meal, and the entire service crew dressed up in their best traditional German costumes. I will write more about the food later on the trip.
I have to go now. Kathleen just texted me that she is up and in the shower (we don’t have breakfast today—it’s brunch and it doesn’t start until 8:00 am), and then there is the scenic cruising, and I will want to be out taking photos. Tonight we sleep in Vienna. And before that, we have a concert in a Vienna theater—Strauss and Mozart. Full report tomorrow—I hope.
When you have expectations, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. —Ryan Reynolds
by Jim Bellomo | Dec 9, 2023 | Photography
We are finally onboard our Viking Longship, the Gullveig. Yesterday was kind of a little bit of everything day. We woke up in Nuremberg, had breakfast, I went across the street to one of the largest train stations in Europe to take some pictures (below), and then at noon, we boarded a “luxury motor coach” (which really was very nice) and headed to Regensburg, Germany to board the ship.
Here are the photos I took before we left Nuremberg. Don’t forget; if you click the first shot, you can then scroll through with your arrow keys or by swiping…and PLEASE…don’t look at my photography on a phone. Please…
On my way to the train station I passed through the moat around the Old City.
There is a tunnel from one side of the street to the other.
We had been told there were 72 tracks leaving and entering.
We didn’t see how that could be possible but there were nine platforms that each opened out to 8 tracks…72
Of course I took a minute to do some street photography.
I did a time-lapse of this but I can’t post those in WordPress. I will have to figure it out.
Outside the station…
and in the old city, the weather had improved.
Even in the Disneyland part.
I need to take a second here to thank someone. When you do a pre or post-extension, you have a tour coordinator who is with you the entire time. That person just takes care of you. They know the schedules; they tell you when and where you need to be; they schedule buses and organize tours, and so much more. They even wind up loading luggage. Being a tour coordinator is all about logistics. And ours was amazing. Our tour coordinator was Victoria, and she always had a smile on her face. One of the nicest and, for sure, the most organized person I may have ever met. We just want to thank her here for taking such good care of us.
We arrived in Regensburg around 2:15 and were met by our Hotel Director, JP (that’s what he told us to call him because his name is amazingly hard to say) and his wonderful staff. This being our first river cruise, we were kind of expecting that embarkation would be easier than an ocean cruise, but we never knew how much easier it would be. In the space of 10 minutes, they got us off the “luxury motor coach” and onto the ship, looked at our passports, had a crew member escort us to our room, and we went up to lunch. We could have done it in five if we hadn’t chatted so long with Natalia, who took us to our room.
The chef and his staff had prepared a “light lunch” for everyone. We were not impressed. It was sad that this would be our initiation to Viking food. Lunch was just OK. Not a lot of food. There were salads, but the empty bowls were not being refilled when 30% of the incoming guests had not had lunch yet. The food was fine but not really that great. There was a broth with very little in it, half a Rueben sandwich that was grilled but sitting out so long it was cold, and that was about it. I am happy to say that dinner was much better.
After lunch, we went back and unpacked in our stateroom. If this trip has made one thing perfectly clear to us, it is this: WE HATE LIVING OUT OF SUITCASES. This might just be the biggest reason we cruise. We like getting someplace and unpacking, and that’s our home. And it moves every day. It was so wonderful to be able to put things away. And what really amazed us is the amount of storage in our fairly small stateroom. We put all our clothes away and still had empty drawers.
Speaking of the room, it is incredibly well-designed. It is (I am sure) smaller than the room we were in last night in Nuremberg, but it is so well-designed it actually feels bigger. The lighter colors help as well. Here are some pics of stateroom 213, our home for the next week.
The bed pretty much fills the entire room.
Looking the other way.
The bathroom is small but…
brilliantly designed.
We actually have a verandah.
It is strange to look out our window and see people passing by.
After our little lunch and unpacking, there was a short, free, guided walk around the old parts of the city by a guide named Hubert Koenig. He was under the impression that he was not only a guide but a comedian and Olympic sprinter as well. He made the worst (and in some cases very sexist) jokes about everything, and as soon as he would tell one, he would race off, leaving most of this group behind—the EXACT opposite of all the guides we had had in Nuremberg and Prague.
He also just walked us to the middle of the city and left us. That was fine for me, but others got totally lost and ended up taking some strange and mysterious routes back to the ship. And the spot he left us was right next to a department store. If he had walked us up a half of a block, we could have seen one of Regensburg’s Christmas Markets (which I am glad that I found). Here’s the photos I took following this “wonderful man” around Regensburg.
We start our tour off the ship. As you can see there is a lot of snow and ice…
which made for a foggy experience.
We are downtown following Hubert through the traffic.
The took us to see an ancient underground Roman wall that dated to before Christ.
And through a shoe store and down a busy street.
I loved the lighting in the restaurant.
And I finally found some Christmas decorations.
But still all in gold. Apparently, Germans don’t like multi-colored lights..
But they do have nice Bavarian architecture.
And lots of old churches.
With really golden altars.
I liked the mix of forms here.
A shop lit up for Christmas…
was a good guide to finding…
…one of Regensburg’s FIVE Christmas Markets.
This one had a carousel for the kids.
And it was PACKED…
…with people. The crowds were nuts.
On the way back to the ship I passed the cathedral.
And the Stone Bridge…all lit up.
And another, smaller Christmas Market.
After getting back to the ship, we had a wonderful dinner (the food was excellent for dinner, and there was just enough of it). All the tables in the dining room are for groups of six or eight, so you always have someone to have dinner with. We were joined by Carol from New Hampshire who is cruising alone after losing her husband since they purchased the cruise. She is a hoot. We look forward to sharing more meals with her in the coming week. Our server took a photo for us, and at the last minute, the head chef stuck his head in as well.
After dinner, we were off to bed as we had a full-day excursion into Munich tomorrow. The ship was scheduled to stay in Regensburg overnight, but changing river levels forced them to move us down the river during the night, and we are now south of Regensburg. Excursions to Regensburg will still go on, but they will have to be bused back to Regensburg. Right now they are scrambling to bus folks back that way. I will see you tomorrow with a report on Munich.
You’re thinking of Europe as Germany and France. I don’t. I think that’s old Europe. —Donald Rumsfeld