Fantastic video. We took this exact cruise with Viking in May 2023. Watching your video brings back so many great memories. It was our first Viking tour and we would definitely recommend Viking to anyone. We have booked our second Viking tour (Danube) this Fall
The best presentation, professional cinematography, music, camera, narration, thanks Pryde, Now I will cruise thru Vikings next year tired of Ocean cruise.
Wow! I feel I did the whole 7 day cruise on the viking ship! Very professionally done, so detailed, love how the music complimented each change of scenery, the narration was very informative, honestly, this is the BEST video of any river cruise that I have watched. I am sure Viking cruise company will buy this video from you 😄. Thank you for an amazing job so very well done. I am subscribing to your channel🙏🏼
My wife and I were very impressed with your tour !! Your grasp of local historical facts were informative as well as colorful..I have entertained at the Villages several times with my group The Platters...Thank You ..Derek David
Derek, thank you for the kind comments. We only touched the surface on the history of those towns on the Rhine. Hope you get a chance to entertain in The Villages again soon. Charlie
This was a great video with enough information for me to fill in my own Viking Daily that I had forgotten. Since I have just finished the same cruise I can't imagine another video being any better!
Thanks for the kind comment, we do our best to provide viewers enough details for them to make an informed decision on whether the cruise is right for them.
What a wonderful vacation you had with Viking! I have this on my radar it would be a dream cruise for me! Looks like it would be a top notch cruise to take with all the tours and delicious food to experience! Thanks for taking the time to video and share with all of us as it is very informative!
Thank you for all the wonderful footage and information. I've never been on a cruise but European river cruising seems more enticing than ocean cruising.
i absolutely loved this post. well done I am English & was stationed in Germany in the 70s & this brought back some happy memories. Not sure if the railways still do it but when i was there you could board a train that went one way doen the Rhine & come back up the other side of the river, cheaper than a cruise but i'm guessing not as much fun
I've been to Amsterdam on business at least 20 times. One of my favorite cities on Earth! Smart decision to add on. Free tip: if you visit Museumplein, have dinner at Cafe Loetje on Johannes Vermeerstraat.
Great Video! Enjoyed all of the history you told us and the Viking overview- we are going on our first Viking Rhine River cruise this Jan 2024- it's the first year they are offering winter cruising.
Interesting that they are expanding the cruising schedule past the Christmas markets. Best advice having lived in Germany for four years: bundle up and drink lots of Glühwein to stay warm. Have fun!
Wow what a great video and a great vacation. Thank you so much for sharing all the information in the video of such a beautiful place to visit. Right away I said to my wife let’s go. We really appreciate you videotaping this adventure as we do for all your videos. Thanks again😀
Congratulations on an excellently produced video, full of good information, and well put together from start to finish. I applaud you. Not many I've seen have that sort of quality. We plan on going on a Rhine River Cruise with Amawaterways in August of 2023, starting from St Pancras Station in London, by train, to Basel, down the Rhine, ending in Amsterdam, and then taking the train again from Amsterdam back to London. Can't wait. We certainly didn't pay what you paid for your cruise, but the extra train journey probably makes up the difference. Thanks again for such an informative video. Keep up the good work.
We got a good deal because we booked during the height of COVID, cruise lines were desperately trying to sell seats. Fortunate timing to sail two years later after all the travel restrictions were gone. Enjoy your cruise, the Galapagos Islands are a very special place.
I apologize, thought you were referencing the Galapagos cruise video. Yes, great price for the same reason, we booked during Covid when prices were lower and Viking was trying to get customers back. However, even at today's prices I think the Rhine Getaway cruise is value for the money in comparison to other river itineraries.
Thanks for another great video! We especially liked this one because we were also fortunate enough to take a Viking cruise this summer starting in Amsterdam...We loved it! Can't wait to do it again🙂
I think this is exact itinerary. My sister and I are doing November 2023 during Thanksgiving week. We leave from Amsterdam and go to Basel so this will be interesting to watch. Thank you. By the way, my daughter is just now home from the villages visiting her friend who just passed the bar and I think it’s going to become a attorney for the villages.
Thank you for sharing. We are doing the same cruise in Sept flying from Australia. Great overview. Loved Jennifer’s ice creams too. We leave from Basel. Sadly us Aussies pay so much more!
The gondola lifts in Ruddesheim was made famous by Elvis Presley in the film G.I. Blues. Did you see the tower with the bells that play a tune? Also the large Christmas shop?
Thank you for sharing your trip. Just now planning our first ever river cruise in 2024 on the Rhine and hopefully a few days in Paris. You got a great value for sure!
We did get a great deal as we booked coming out of the pandemic and Viking was looking to get their boats full again. I believe the Rhine Getaway trip during the same month is now running about $500-600 dollars more for the same cabin class that we had. Still, I think Vikings Rhine Getaway is value for the money compared to other European river cruises. We just booked a 7-night cruise for Portugal's Douro River and it was $3699 per person for lowest category cabin and did not include free air.
@@PrydeofTheVillages Just booked the Rhine 7 night cruise starting in Amsterdam for March 2024 with a Veranda state room for $2799 each (500 discount), no free air. Will fly in 2 days early to adjust and not feel rushed and do some touring. I found the same hotel Viking uses and can get a room for $140 per night and can walk to the ship. Headed to Paris for 4 nights via high speed train (Free Style Touring). Thanks again for sharing your experience!
I just came back from our Viking Cities of Light tour, Paris to Prague. We travelled on the river boat up the Moselle river to the Rhine. It was lovely, but a lot of people, including me, came home with Covid. Viking didn’t have anything in place to help.
Yes, COVID is still out there. Cruise lines are treating COVID more like the flu now. All the previous mandated precautions (vaccination, masking, health checks) are no more.
Great review of the Rhine cruise and Viking longships.We are looking at the Viking company to cruise on the Rhine. Your video explains all we were unsure of. Thankyou. 1 question. What is the classical music you have used also part way through the review? Kind Regards Matt.
Matt, here are several of the songs I used, Kinderdijk - "Rennaissance Revelry" (Jon Presstone), Koln Cathedral - "German National Anthem" (Organ Played), Strausburg Cathedral - "French National Anthem" (Organ Played), Colmar - "Old Europe" (Patrick Smith).
Thank You for the great video...we are looking into the same or eastern cruise in May...hearing some negative things about the rivers being too low to operate on...BTW fellow Villager here---south of 44
Yes, there can be issues with the European Rivers being too high (boat can't get under the bridges) and too low (not able to sail through the middle Rhine). Hard to predict those conditions so far in advance of your booking. We were fortunate to have enough rain occur up-river that we did not have to transfer boats.
Very informal, as there were no formal nights as you might find on most ocean cruise ships. It was August for us so shorts/t-shirts during the day for breakfast/the tours/lunch and smart casual (collared shirts/slacks) for dinner. The most important thing is to have comfortable walking shoes as you do a lot of it on old cobble stone streets. We did not have any rain, but that is something else you would need to be prepared for.
The music was titled "Old Europe" by Patrick Smith. I got the song through the video/music subscription "Storyblocks." Not sure where else the song would be available.
Your video is the best one I have seen on European river cruising. Excellent videography, excellent video editing, excellent voiceover, etc... 5 stars!!!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ My question is: Would you recommend this cruise for people who are elderly with mobility issues?
I would recommend it as the vast majority of the passengers are elderly on European River Cruises and Viking does a pretty good job in accommodating passengers with mobility issues. That said, many of these old European towns are cobblestone roads/walking paths and there may be some challenges. Nevertheless, the ship's staff and the local guides are well versed on these challenges and how to navigate them. Viking does address these issues on their website. www.vikingrivercruises.com/frequently-asked-questions.html I do like your photo of the Sally Lightfoot Crab. Jennifer and I just returned from an expedition to the Galapagos Islands, and it was amazing. Video will be coming soon.
@@PrydeofTheVillages Okay, thank you very much for your reply! I have never seen Sally Lightfoot crabs in real life. So glad you have seen them for yourself!
Fantastic video! We just got back from the same cruise and it was really cool to hear you reviewing all of the wonderful places we visited. Which cruise (Rhine/Danube) did you prefer better? just curious.😀
They were totally different cruises as our Danube cruise was through eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary) and really focused on the countries coming out of their communist pasts. Therefore, I don't think there would have been much difference between the Rhine and Danube rivers had our Danube cruise been through Germany and Austria. We enjoyed both of our cruises, but there was certainly a different theme to them.
We opted for the Colmar France excursion, a beautiful town. If the weather is nice, view the Middle Rhine cruising from the sundeck as you will be able to hear the cruise director's narration and have a 360 view of both banks of the river. If you do have any time in Amsterdam, explore as the cruise ship docks in the city center. Have fun!
Best to check with Viking before travelling as rules for countries change. In August, the Netherlands required us fill out a form with our vaccine information before entering but they never checked it at immigration. The airline checked our vaccination status before boarding plan in US. Crew on Viking wore masks with the exception of when Captain/Cruise Director were speaking to a large audience. Masks were optional for passengers.
Weather was good, no rain until we got to Basel which was end of cruise and a travel day to the airport. No masks required for passengers. Crew was wearing masks on our August cruise, not sure what the crew is doing now.
GREAT video, thanks for sharing. My wife and I are looking at doing same tour, but reverse direction, in August 2024. What time of year did you go for this trip?
We went in August 2022 and the weather was very nice, but there was a lack of rain prior to our cruise which dropped the river level. The ship was able to navigate through the middle Rhine, but just barely. Weather/rain fall/river level differs every year so not something you can plan for long term.
Thanks for The informative videos of your viking cruise. It helps a lot. I can see a lot of walking in this video, which I Love it. However, I am so curious if the cruise offer an electric scoter ? My family been wanting to do a viking cruise, but my Main problem, is my husband has a parkingson disease and cannot able to walk for 1 minute, so I dont know How we can manage to do this kind of trips? We were planning to go on summer, hopefully I can get an answer from you. Thank you!
Yes, there is a large amount of walking with a good portion of it on cobblestone streets and unfortunately these old towns are not the most handicap accessible. I can't remember anyone on our trip being in a scooter; but there was a lady that used a wheelchair. In fact, I helped get here up a steep hill in Koln. It would be best to reach out to Viking Cruise Lines to see what options are available to accommodate your husband's mobility.
Enjoyed the video! My wife and I are considering the same cruise in the future. I'm curious if you every had to provide proof of COVID vaccination to Viking prior to your cruise? I keep getting conflicting information - I suppose it depends on which cruise you take with Viking.
Per the Viking website "Viking requires that all guests be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at least 14 days prior to travel. For added protection, we strongly recommend that guests who are eligible for a booster receive one before departing. You may be required to show proof of vaccination for embarkation on a Viking ship." So it looks like the Viking's current general policy applicable to all river voyages is you have to be fully vaccinated. Now I don't remember Viking checking our vaccination status on the ship, but our status was checked by the airline before flying to Amsterdam as The Netherlands required it for entry in August 2022. However, country requirements and cruise lines are constantly revising their COVID protocols so best to check the websites for the latest. I saw where Emerald Cruise lines was removing their checking of vaccination status starting 1 March 2023. We are sailing with Emerald on The Douro (Portugal) later this year. Emerald is very comparable to Viking on voyages catering to English speaking guests (US, UK, CAN) and they run many of the same itineraries on the Rhine.
Enjoyed your video !!! We are taking this trip next year 2023, and will recognize so many things (Thanks to you) we would love to know if you remember the restaurants (I think was in Rudesheim or Speyer) the food and ice cream looked so good and we would like to try it if we get a chance (we are foodies !)
The restaurant we showed in the video was the Restaurant Ratsstube in Rudesheim. It is located at 26 Markstrasse in the middle of the town. Easy walk from the boat dock. Good wait staff with english menu available, food will not disappoint. The ice cream cafe was the Bromserhaus located at Rheinstrasse 25. This street runs along the river and has several ice cream shops on it.
In Rudesheim. If you are thinking of doing the gondola, watch your time because there was not a lot of leeway from the boat docking late afternoon and the gondola closing early evening. That is why we only got a one-way gondola ticket up to the monument and then the long walk down through the vineyards. Good exercise on the down-hill hike back into town.
Yes, this would be something you would have to do on your own as we did. There is no Viking excursion for the gondola ride to the monument. This is the website for the gondola www.seilbahn-ruedesheim.de/en/
Elcellent Video with music and narrative! Very informative and well done. Question - What type of camera did you use, as your video editing was awesome.
Viking flew us on Delta Airlines from Orlando to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Amsterdam. We departed Orlando at 5pm and landed in Amsterdam at 10:30am the next day. We were in the economy section in aisle seats across from each other, which we had requested. Our return from Basel to Frankfurt was on Lufthansa, then Frankfurt to Washington Dulles on United and Washington to Orlando on United. Departure from Basel was at 2:10pm and arrival in Orlando was at midnight. Again, we had aisle seats in economy. You can request what type of seat you want if Viking is making your flight arrangements.
Looking at your video Again !!! We had our trip canceled Again !!! ( for the 3rd time) but plan to go again in Oct. Did you take the excursion Medieval Village of Colmar? I can't decide ...
It would not be a bad idea if you can get a good rate without a big service charge. I would not do it at an airport exchange kiosk (bad exchange rates/big fees). We picked up a small amount of Euros from an ATM when landing in Amsterdam and before departing on the Viking Bus for the ship. There are also ATMs in the towns you tour. We primarily used our credit cards for any purchases in the port visited. Only exception was tipping the local guides which we did with cash Euros. So unless you plan to use paper Euros for all your purchases, you shouldn't need many (only for tips and small things). Have a great cruise!
The only tour that we showed that was not included was the one to Colmar France, we paid extra for that. Most of the included city/town tours started with a guide and then you had time to explore on your own. The only exception to this was Rudesheim where you explored on your own, but that was easy as it is relatively small.
Great video! Can you tell me which airport you used to fly out of Basel? I am confused because American Airlines offers 2 different options, EAP and BSL. We are taking the Viking river cruise "Christmas on the Rhine" and end in Basel. Thank you.
Here is the wiki explanation on this airport: Due to its international status, EuroAirport has three IATA airport codes: BSL (Basel) is the Swiss code, MLH (Mulhouse) is the French code and EAP (EuroAirport) is the neutral code. Which makes some sense as there is a Swiss side and a French side to the airport. Our itinerary provided by Viking air had us flying BSL to Frankfurt on Lufthansa and then United Airlines back to the US. Therefore, the Viking shuttle dropped us off on the Swiss side of the airport.
If it is to start planning the trip, then I would decide whether you want to book it directly with Viking or through a travel agent. If it is where to begin the cruise, I would recommend starting in Amsterdam versus Basel.
Nice video. We are doing the same cruise June 2023. It was a bit more expensive but we did get the free air which helps. Did you feel the additional Colmar tour was worth it? It looks great.
We thought this optional tour was worth the cost. Colmar was the only optional tour we purchased as all the other included tours were good. Also the Colmar tour leaves from Breisbach (the scheduled stop for the day) which is a very small German town with not a lot to walk to. The afternoon tour was the included Black Forrest village which was the furthest bus ride of the cruise. So we got our daily walking in Colmar and it was a beautiful town.
Doug, Viking will send out sale offers by email and snail mail. If you don't want the hard copy brochures in your mailbox then sign up for the emails on their website www.vikingcruises.com/ If Viking does not fill up the boats by a certain time (several months out), then you will start to see them reduce the fares and offer free air. Sometimes you have to be flexible on your travel period if you are seeking a deal. In our case we received an offer in mid-May for the Rhine Getaway cruise standard cabin for $1999 with free airfare plus free silver spirits beverage package. This was for voyages occurring June-November 2022. We booked Amsterdam-Basel sailing for 21 August. The offer was only good for new reservations made until 31 May and not sure if that offer was extended. They will typically extend the offer if they still have cabins to fill. Hope this helped and good luck on your trip.
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Fantastic video. We took this exact cruise with Viking in May 2023. Watching your video brings back so many great memories. It was our first Viking tour and we would definitely recommend Viking to anyone. We have booked our second Viking tour (Danube) this Fall
The Danube was our first Viking cruise, Bucharest to Budapest. Have fun!
@@PrydeofTheVillages Thank you very much. Look forward to any of your future videos.
This was one of the best videos i have seen about the Rhine River getaway! Love how informative it was and that you showed cost!
Thanks for watching. Costs have gone up some since our booking, but I still believe it is value for money.
We are cruising the Rhine in 2025. Your video was an informative peek into what we can expect from ship to land to dining. Thanks for sharing.
Hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did.
The best presentation, professional cinematography, music, camera, narration, thanks Pryde, Now I will cruise thru Vikings next year tired of Ocean cruise.
River cruising is definitely different, no sea days. I think you will enjoy it.
Wow! I feel I did the whole 7 day cruise on the viking ship! Very professionally done, so detailed, love how the music complimented each change of scenery, the narration was very informative, honestly, this is the BEST video of any river cruise that I have watched. I am sure Viking cruise company will buy this video from you 😄. Thank you for an amazing job so very well done. I am subscribing to your channel🙏🏼
Thanks for watching, subscribing and the kind comments. Have not gotten any offers from Viking as of yet. 😊
My wife and I were very impressed with your tour !! Your grasp of local historical facts were informative as well as colorful..I have entertained at the Villages several times with my group The Platters...Thank You ..Derek David
Derek, thank you for the kind comments. We only touched the surface on the history of those towns on the Rhine. Hope you get a chance to entertain in The Villages again soon. Charlie
This was a great video with enough information for me to fill in my own Viking Daily that I had forgotten. Since I have just finished the same cruise I can't imagine another video being any better!
Thanks for the kind comment, we do our best to provide viewers enough details for them to make an informed decision on whether the cruise is right for them.
Thanks for the video! It was tough finding an informative river cruise video, but yours really hit the mark!
Glad it was helpful!
What a wonderful vacation you had with Viking! I have this on my radar it would be a dream cruise for me! Looks like it would be a top notch cruise to take with all the tours and delicious food to experience!
Thanks for taking the time to video and share with all of us as it is very informative!
Ann, thanks for watching and commenting.
his was a great video that give information for the Rhine River cruise.
Glad it was helpful!
Great video and awesome musical overtures. Makes me want to visit many places in Europe soon
Hope you get a chance to visit there soon.
Thank you for all the wonderful footage and information. I've never been on a cruise but European river cruising seems more enticing than ocean cruising.
It is definitely different from ocean cruising and for us, very enjoyable.
i absolutely loved this post. well done I am English & was stationed in Germany in the 70s & this brought back some happy memories. Not sure if the railways still do it but when i was there you could board a train that went one way doen the Rhine & come back up the other side of the river, cheaper than a cruise but i'm guessing not as much fun
Thank you for the comment and glad you enjoyed the video. We were stationed in Germany from 85-89. It was happy memories for us as well.
We are booked for a Rhine for a Christmas Market cruise in 2024. Thank you for your video and giving me a glimpse at what we will be seeing. :)
We lived in Germany for four years and the Christmas markets were very special, enjoy your trip.
Just booked this tour going in reverse and added two days on either end. Loved your video it solidified our decision. And gave great tips.
Two days in Amsterdam should be fun, it is a great city.
I've been to Amsterdam on business at least 20 times. One of my favorite cities on Earth! Smart decision to add on. Free tip: if you visit Museumplein, have dinner at Cafe Loetje on Johannes Vermeerstraat.
Thanks your video was very informative.
You are very welcome!
Wow what an incredible video and trip!!! Thank you!!! ❤️ You both are terrific!
Thanks so much Adam.
Great Video! Enjoyed all of the history you told us and the Viking overview- we are going on our first Viking Rhine River cruise this Jan 2024- it's the first year they are offering winter cruising.
Interesting that they are expanding the cruising schedule past the Christmas markets. Best advice having lived in Germany for four years: bundle up and drink lots of Glühwein to stay warm. Have fun!
We have had three incredible cruises on Viking. Love to reminisce thru your video
Glad it brought back some good memories.
Superb! You made a really nice video. I’ve always wanted to on a river cruise. Thank you for sharing your lovely trip. Great music .
Thanks for the nice comment.
Beautiful video. Thank you very much for your fabulous work! So artistic.
You are welcome, thanks for watching.
I'm not a cruiser but this cruise is on my bucket list. I'll vicariously thru you for now. Thanks for sharing!
Wishing you the best on checking this off your bucket list.
thank you, very enjoyable and helpful!
You're very welcome!
Very informative and some great architecture, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it
Thank you, this video was very helpful to fill in all the gaps of what we would want to know before taking the cruise.
Glad it was helpful!
Very well-done! One of the better river cruise videos I've seen. Wonderful footage. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
You make great videos, I did skip a second and didn’t get bored at all. Excellent and thank you for the information
Thank you for the kind comment.
Very nice videography and narration. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you! I am looking forward to my Viking Rhine River Cruise in April & this will prepare me for that.
Glad it helped. Have fun on your trip!
Wow what a great video and a great vacation. Thank you so much for sharing all the information in the video of such a beautiful place to visit. Right away I said to my wife let’s go. We really appreciate you videotaping this adventure as we do for all your videos. Thanks again😀
Our pleasure Mike!
Excellent video. Great information on what to expect. Will be taking this cruise in 2026
Hope you enjoy it, we did!
Great video. A wonderful teaser for our own Viking Rhine River cruise in April.
Have a great cruise.
Beautifully filmed and edited. Your musical choices are wonderful!
Thank you so much!
Well done! Thanks for posting.
Thanks for watching!
You guys live the way I’d like my wife and I to retire. This is why we work all our lifes … God willing we’ll be hanging our cleats up soon.
Good luck on that retirement; hopefully it is sooner than later.
Very helpful thanks. We are looking to book the same cruise on Viking for May 2024.
Enjoy, it should be a good time of the year to do the cruise.
Great informative video. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for watching!
Congratulations on an excellently produced video, full of good information, and well put together from start to finish. I applaud you. Not many I've seen have that sort of quality. We plan on going on a Rhine River Cruise with Amawaterways in August of 2023, starting from St Pancras Station in London, by train, to Basel, down the Rhine, ending in Amsterdam, and then taking the train again from Amsterdam back to London. Can't wait. We certainly didn't pay what you paid for your cruise, but the extra train journey probably makes up the difference. Thanks again for such an informative video. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for the kind comments. Cheers!
Nice job with the video! Very informative and helpful. Thank you.
Very welcome!
This was very informative and enjoyable. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you! Informative, detailed and fun!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome video! I'll have to persuade my wife into a trip like this!
I wish you success.
We booked a cruise for the end of July. It was helpful to see how everyone was dressed for the summer. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
Glad it was helpful! Luckily, we had no rain except a little while on our excursion in the Black Forrest. Have fun on your trip.
Great video! We are going on the same cruise in 2024. You certainly got a tremendous price! Thanks for the info.
We got a good deal because we booked during the height of COVID, cruise lines were desperately trying to sell seats. Fortunate timing to sail two years later after all the travel restrictions were gone. Enjoy your cruise, the Galapagos Islands are a very special place.
I apologize, thought you were referencing the Galapagos cruise video. Yes, great price for the same reason, we booked during Covid when prices were lower and Viking was trying to get customers back. However, even at today's prices I think the Rhine Getaway cruise is value for the money in comparison to other river itineraries.
Thanks for another great video! We especially liked this one because we were also fortunate enough to take a Viking cruise this summer starting in Amsterdam...We loved it! Can't wait to do it again🙂
Glad you enjoyed it! Viking certainly puts together a quality product.
Very informative and helpful thank you 😊
Glad it was helpful!
Wow, that was a tremendous value.
We thought so, especially for Western Europe travel which can be very expensive in the summer.
Informative, helpful, delightful!
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent! Loved the narration!
Thank you kindly!
Love very this video..thank you!
You are welcome.
We are considering planning a dream cruise and this was very help and informative! Thanks!!
Glad it was helpful!
I think this is exact itinerary. My sister and I are doing November 2023 during Thanksgiving week. We leave from Amsterdam and go to Basel so this will be interesting to watch. Thank you. By the way, my daughter is just now home from the villages visiting her friend who just passed the bar and I think it’s going to become a attorney for the villages.
The Villages continues to grow and I'm sure your daughter's friend will have plenty of work to do.
Thank you for sharing. We are doing the same cruise in Sept flying from Australia. Great overview. Loved Jennifer’s ice creams too. We leave from Basel. Sadly us Aussies pay so much more!
Yes we did get a good deal as we were coming out of COVID. Likely we will not see those prices again. Have a great trip.
Amazing video,thanks!
Our pleasure!
Good job brother. Bless you for the hard work putting this together ❤️
Thanks for watching and the nice comment.
Excellent! About to go on a river cruise myself: Budapest. Hopefully ours will be just as enjoyable.
We did a Viking Bucharest to Budapest cruise a few years ago. Budapest is amazing and one of our favorite cities.
Taking this trip just after Thanksgiving. Thanks for sharing your trip
Should be very festive with the start of the Christmas Markets. Have fun!
Very informative ❤ Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
We did the same itinerary on the Hlin in August of 2019. Great memories watching your video!
Glad the video brought back the good times travelling the Rhine.
Very good video, informative with great pics. We are doing the Danube cruise later this year and now would really like to do your Rhine trip. Thanks
You are welcome, enjoy your cruise.
The gondola lifts in Ruddesheim was made famous by Elvis Presley in the film G.I. Blues. Did you see the tower with the bells that play a tune? Also the large Christmas shop?
Yes we did, Ruddesheim was great stop on our cruise.
Looove this vlog! What a nice trip!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Wonderful and informative video!
Glad you liked it!
Good job with this video!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing your trip. Just now planning our first ever river cruise in 2024 on the Rhine and hopefully a few days in Paris. You got a great value for sure!
We did get a great deal as we booked coming out of the pandemic and Viking was looking to get their boats full again. I believe the Rhine Getaway trip during the same month is now running about $500-600 dollars more for the same cabin class that we had. Still, I think Vikings Rhine Getaway is value for the money compared to other European river cruises. We just booked a 7-night cruise for Portugal's Douro River and it was $3699 per person for lowest category cabin and did not include free air.
@@PrydeofTheVillages Just booked the Rhine 7 night cruise starting in Amsterdam for March 2024 with a Veranda state room for $2799 each (500 discount), no free air. Will fly in 2 days early to adjust and not feel rushed and do some touring. I found the same hotel Viking uses and can get a room for $140 per night and can walk to the ship. Headed to Paris for 4 nights via high speed train (Free Style Touring). Thanks again for sharing your experience!
Brian, sounds like you have planned well; especially having that time in Amsterdam on the front end of the cruise.
Excellent video! We are taking this cruise next year and i really enjoyed all of your footage!
Glad you enjoyed it and have a great cruise.
Thank you. I really enjoyed your video.❤
You are so welcome!
Thank you, very well done.
Our pleasure!
I just came back from our Viking Cities of Light tour, Paris to Prague. We travelled on the river boat up the Moselle river to the Rhine. It was lovely, but a lot of people, including me, came home with Covid. Viking didn’t have anything in place to help.
Yes, COVID is still out there. Cruise lines are treating COVID more like the flu now. All the previous mandated precautions (vaccination, masking, health checks) are no more.
Well done!
Thanks for watching.
Excellent 🙂👍
Thank you 👍
Great review
Thanks for the comment!
Great review of the Rhine cruise and Viking longships.We are looking at the Viking company to cruise on the Rhine. Your video explains all we were unsure of. Thankyou.
1 question. What is the classical music you have used also part way through the review? Kind Regards Matt.
Matt, here are several of the songs I used, Kinderdijk - "Rennaissance Revelry" (Jon Presstone), Koln Cathedral - "German National Anthem" (Organ Played), Strausburg Cathedral - "French National Anthem" (Organ Played), Colmar - "Old Europe" (Patrick Smith).
Awesome video!
Thanks!
Thank You for the great video...we are looking into the same or eastern cruise in May...hearing some negative things about the rivers being too low to operate on...BTW fellow Villager here---south of 44
Yes, there can be issues with the European Rivers being too high (boat can't get under the bridges) and too low (not able to sail through the middle Rhine). Hard to predict those conditions so far in advance of your booking. We were fortunate to have enough rain occur up-river that we did not have to transfer boats.
@@PrydeofTheVillages Thank you...thinking of alternate plans--either by train or bus
You two are great! This was such an informative video.
Please share any info on dress requirements on Viking cruises. Thanks so much!
Very informal, as there were no formal nights as you might find on most ocean cruise ships. It was August for us so shorts/t-shirts during the day for breakfast/the tours/lunch and smart casual (collared shirts/slacks) for dinner. The most important thing is to have comfortable walking shoes as you do a lot of it on old cobble stone streets. We did not have any rain, but that is something else you would need to be prepared for.
What was the sound track during the view of Colman? Beautiful
The music was titled "Old Europe" by Patrick Smith. I got the song through the video/music subscription "Storyblocks." Not sure where else the song would be available.
Nice video 👍
Thanks for watching.
Is always funny to see these churches look similar in other countries.
This looks like St Patrick's in NYC as I lived there. Of course not as grand.
Very similar architecture. Although likely separated by several hundred years in building.
Your video is the best one I have seen on European river cruising. Excellent videography, excellent video editing, excellent voiceover, etc... 5 stars!!!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My question is: Would you recommend this cruise for people who are elderly with mobility issues?
I would recommend it as the vast majority of the passengers are elderly on European River Cruises and Viking does a pretty good job in accommodating passengers with mobility issues. That said, many of these old European towns are cobblestone roads/walking paths and there may be some challenges. Nevertheless, the ship's staff and the local guides are well versed on these challenges and how to navigate them. Viking does address these issues on their website. www.vikingrivercruises.com/frequently-asked-questions.html
I do like your photo of the Sally Lightfoot Crab. Jennifer and I just returned from an expedition to the Galapagos Islands, and it was amazing. Video will be coming soon.
@@PrydeofTheVillages Okay, thank you very much for your reply! I have never seen Sally Lightfoot crabs in real life. So glad you have seen them for yourself!
Fantastic video! We just got back from the same cruise and it was really cool to hear you reviewing all of the wonderful places we visited. Which cruise (Rhine/Danube) did you prefer better? just curious.😀
They were totally different cruises as our Danube cruise was through eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary) and really focused on the countries coming out of their communist pasts. Therefore, I don't think there would have been much difference between the Rhine and Danube rivers had our Danube cruise been through Germany and Austria. We enjoyed both of our cruises, but there was certainly a different theme to them.
Our trip is coming up. Except we start in Basel and end in Amsterdam. Any advise? I can't wait. Thank you for sharing your video.
We opted for the Colmar France excursion, a beautiful town. If the weather is nice, view the Middle Rhine cruising from the sundeck as you will be able to hear the cruise director's narration and have a 360 view of both banks of the river. If you do have any time in Amsterdam, explore as the cruise ship docks in the city center. Have fun!
@@PrydeofTheVillages covid rules? Thank you
Best to check with Viking before travelling as rules for countries change. In August, the Netherlands required us fill out a form with our vaccine information before entering but they never checked it at immigration. The airline checked our vaccination status before boarding plan in US. Crew on Viking wore masks with the exception of when Captain/Cruise Director were speaking to a large audience. Masks were optional for passengers.
@@PrydeofTheVillages oh wow. I thought mask etc. was not required. Thank you
How was the weather?
Weather was good, no rain until we got to Basel which was end of cruise and a travel day to the airport. No masks required for passengers. Crew was wearing masks on our August cruise, not sure what the crew is doing now.
GREAT video, thanks for sharing. My wife and I are looking at doing same tour, but reverse direction, in August 2024. What time of year did you go for this trip?
We went in August 2022 and the weather was very nice, but there was a lack of rain prior to our cruise which dropped the river level. The ship was able to navigate through the middle Rhine, but just barely. Weather/rain fall/river level differs every year so not something you can plan for long term.
Thanks for The informative videos of your viking cruise. It helps a lot. I can see a lot of walking in this video, which I Love it. However, I am so curious if the cruise offer an electric scoter ? My family been wanting to do a viking cruise, but my Main problem, is my husband has a parkingson disease and cannot able to walk for 1 minute, so I dont know How we can manage to do this kind of trips? We were planning to go on summer, hopefully I can get an answer from you.
Thank you!
Yes, there is a large amount of walking with a good portion of it on cobblestone streets and unfortunately these old towns are not the most handicap accessible. I can't remember anyone on our trip being in a scooter; but there was a lady that used a wheelchair. In fact, I helped get here up a steep hill in Koln. It would be best to reach out to Viking Cruise Lines to see what options are available to accommodate your husband's mobility.
Enjoyed the video! My wife and I are considering the same cruise in the future. I'm curious if you every had to provide proof of COVID vaccination to Viking prior to your cruise? I keep getting conflicting information - I suppose it depends on which cruise you take with Viking.
Per the Viking website "Viking requires that all guests be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at least 14 days prior to travel. For added protection, we strongly recommend that guests who are eligible for a booster receive one before departing. You may be required to show proof of vaccination for embarkation on a Viking ship."
So it looks like the Viking's current general policy applicable to all river voyages is you have to be fully vaccinated. Now I don't remember Viking checking our vaccination status on the ship, but our status was checked by the airline before flying to Amsterdam as The Netherlands required it for entry in August 2022. However, country requirements and cruise lines are constantly revising their COVID protocols so best to check the websites for the latest. I saw where Emerald Cruise lines was removing their checking of vaccination status starting 1 March 2023. We are sailing with Emerald on The Douro (Portugal) later this year. Emerald is very comparable to Viking on voyages catering to English speaking guests (US, UK, CAN) and they run many of the same itineraries on the Rhine.
Enjoyed your video !!! We are taking this trip next year 2023, and will recognize so many things (Thanks to you) we would love to know if you remember the restaurants (I think was in Rudesheim or Speyer) the food and ice cream looked so good and we would like to try it if we get a chance (we are foodies !)
The restaurant we showed in the video was the Restaurant Ratsstube in Rudesheim. It is located at 26 Markstrasse in the middle of the town. Easy walk from the boat dock. Good wait staff with english menu available, food will not disappoint. The ice cream cafe was the Bromserhaus located at Rheinstrasse 25. This street runs along the river and has several ice cream shops on it.
@@PrydeofTheVillages Thank You...If you don't mind me asking you where was the Gondola ride?
In Rudesheim. If you are thinking of doing the gondola, watch your time because there was not a lot of leeway from the boat docking late afternoon and the gondola closing early evening. That is why we only got a one-way gondola ticket up to the monument and then the long walk down through the vineyards. Good exercise on the down-hill hike back into town.
@@PrydeofTheVillages Thank You...So, this is something we can do on our own???
Yes, this would be something you would have to do on your own as we did. There is no Viking excursion for the gondola ride to the monument. This is the website for the gondola www.seilbahn-ruedesheim.de/en/
What time of year was this? I may have missed that in the video but it looks like perfect weather. Great video, so we'll done!
This trip was in August 2022.
Elcellent Video with music and narrative! Very informative and well done. Question - What type of camera did you use, as your video editing was awesome.
I use of combination of Sony 6400, GoPro 10 and GoPro Max (360)
Thank you for the information. Can you tell me how long the flight was , what seats were you assigned, etc?
Thank you
I also will travel from Orlando!
Viking flew us on Delta Airlines from Orlando to Atlanta and then Atlanta to Amsterdam. We departed Orlando at 5pm and landed in Amsterdam at 10:30am the next day. We were in the economy section in aisle seats across from each other, which we had requested. Our return from Basel to Frankfurt was on Lufthansa, then Frankfurt to Washington Dulles on United and Washington to Orlando on United. Departure from Basel was at 2:10pm and arrival in Orlando was at midnight. Again, we had aisle seats in economy. You can request what type of seat you want if Viking is making your flight arrangements.
Great video! Quick question: what was that first song? Where did we go… 🎵
The Artist is Humans Win and the song is "Where Do We Run" (featuring MMKAY). I downloaded the song from my "Storyblocks" subscription.
I enjoyed watching this! It was very informative and footage is of very good quality. May I ask what camera you used?
I used a GoPro 9 & 10. The drone footage was stock footage as I was not permitted to fly my drone from the boat.
Looking at your video Again !!! We had our trip canceled Again !!! ( for the 3rd time) but plan to go again in Oct. Did you take the excursion Medieval Village of Colmar? I can't decide ...
Yes we did and it was well worth it in our opinion. It was the only optional tour that we took.
@@PrydeofTheVillages Thank You....I booked it !!!!!
Thank you for a great video. Please tell me if I should exchange the dollar for Euros before we leave on our cruise. Thank you.
It would not be a bad idea if you can get a good rate without a big service charge. I would not do it at an airport exchange kiosk (bad exchange rates/big fees). We picked up a small amount of Euros from an ATM when landing in Amsterdam and before departing on the Viking Bus for the ship. There are also ATMs in the towns you tour. We primarily used our credit cards for any purchases in the port visited. Only exception was tipping the local guides which we did with cash Euros. So unless you plan to use paper Euros for all your purchases, you shouldn't need many (only for tips and small things). Have a great cruise!
We signed up for all the tours that were included. Are the tours you showing the ones that were included?
The only tour that we showed that was not included was the one to Colmar France, we paid extra for that. Most of the included city/town tours started with a guide and then you had time to explore on your own. The only exception to this was Rudesheim where you explored on your own, but that was easy as it is relatively small.
Great video! Can you tell me which airport you used to fly out of Basel? I am confused because American Airlines offers 2 different options, EAP and BSL. We are taking the Viking river cruise "Christmas on the Rhine" and end in Basel. Thank you.
Here is the wiki explanation on this airport: Due to its international status, EuroAirport has three IATA airport codes: BSL (Basel) is the Swiss code, MLH (Mulhouse) is the French code and EAP (EuroAirport) is the neutral code.
Which makes some sense as there is a Swiss side and a French side to the airport.
Our itinerary provided by Viking air had us flying BSL to Frankfurt on Lufthansa and then United Airlines back to the US. Therefore, the Viking shuttle dropped us off on the Swiss side of the airport.
@@PrydeofTheVillages Very helpful. Thank you!
Very through!
Thanks for the comment!
We are interested of going but we don’t know where to start. 😊
If it is to start planning the trip, then I would decide whether you want to book it directly with Viking or through a travel agent. If it is where to begin the cruise, I would recommend starting in Amsterdam versus Basel.
Nice video. We are doing the same cruise June 2023. It was a bit more expensive but we did get the free air which helps. Did you feel the additional Colmar tour was worth it? It looks great.
We thought this optional tour was worth the cost. Colmar was the only optional tour we purchased as all the other included tours were good. Also the Colmar tour leaves from Breisbach (the scheduled stop for the day) which is a very small German town with not a lot to walk to. The afternoon tour was the included Black Forrest village which was the furthest bus ride of the cruise. So we got our daily walking in Colmar and it was a beautiful town.
If you don't mind me asking, I'm looking to book this trip June 2023, and I'm curious how you find discounted fares or free air? Thanks
Doug, Viking will send out sale offers by email and snail mail. If you don't want the hard copy brochures in your mailbox then sign up for the emails on their website www.vikingcruises.com/
If Viking does not fill up the boats by a certain time (several months out), then you will start to see them reduce the fares and offer free air. Sometimes you have to be flexible on your travel period if you are seeking a deal. In our case we received an offer in mid-May for the Rhine Getaway cruise standard cabin for $1999 with free airfare plus free silver spirits beverage package. This was for voyages occurring June-November 2022. We booked Amsterdam-Basel sailing for 21 August. The offer was only good for new reservations made until 31 May and not sure if that offer was extended. They will typically extend the offer if they still have cabins to fill. Hope this helped and good luck on your trip.
Beautiful video and informative. Did you take the drone footage yourself? When were you there?
We were there 21-28 August. No, I was not permitted to use my drone off the boat, that was some stock footage that I had access to.
How was the flight from Orlando? That's where I would be flying out of. That price is amazing.
Air was included so Viking made the flights and they were ticketed on US carriers. The connections were reasonable.