@AndyD Thanks! All iPhone here! I used to dabble in photography and used a DSLR, but the best camera is the one you have with you, and I got sick of lugging around all the gear!
@pique We have loved cruising with Viking! This was our second Viking cruise, and I loved both for different reasons. Previous to this we had never cruised or gone on a ātourā. We had just planned travel ourselves. I worried that I would miss the spontaneity of self-guided travel. But on a river cruise, you get to go to smaller towns that you would never see if you were planning it yourself. I also like the forced downtime of āscenic sailingā, as when Iām in charge of the itinerary we pack so much in that we need a vacation from our vacation! We never would have seen some of the things we did without the Viking tours. For example, getting to sit down in a localās kitchen and talk to her about the Croatian War for Independence! The included tours are usually very good. The extra tours that you can pay for have been, in my experience, EXCELLENT. They are usually a smaller group (8-10 or less) and usually include some private access or high quality food experience. If you donāt want to go on a tour, you just donāt! You can either stay on the boat or, in some ports, just walk off the boat to do your own thing. Once we got to Amsterdam, we ditched the provided tour and went out on our own. When we were in Cologne in 2023 with Viking, the ship was docked about a 20 minutes walk from the city centre so after the included tour we just stayed in the city and joined the ship later. We wandered several smaller towns as well when the ship was docked there. There are some people who never leave the included tours, there are some who never leave the boat! There are also some who rarely do the included tours but head off to do their own thing. They have you scan your key card in and out of the ship when you leave so they know you are off the ship, but other than that you are free to do as much or as little of the itinerary as you like.
Some of Vikingās itineraries are completely on the ship - our first cruise was. But when they are visiting cities that arenāt on the river (like Bucharest) or when the ship is continuing on because the section you booked is part of a larger tour (in Budapest that is sometimes the case, as it was with us), then they put you in a hotel for those portions. I donāt love the Viking hotel portions of the tour, but the itinerary we booked this time had no other options. When you are on the boat, they take care of everything and your meals and beverages are included. When you are in the hotel, breakfast is included but you are on your own for meals, unless you happen to do a tour where one is included, and usually those cost extra. Part of the allure of Viking is that though the upfront cost looks high, we donāt spend a dime when we are on the boat. It ends up being very similar in cost to when we travel independently, assuming we are also booking tours to sites during our independent travel, which we do. When you have a hotel stay with Viking, we found the value wasnāt the same. But for the itinerary we did there werenāt really any other options.
We always stay in the departure city an extra couple days independently because you generally donāt have time to see it as part of the Viking cruise. As an example, when we did Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, we boarded the boat at lunch time and sailed after dinner in Amsterdam. The morning we arrived in Basel was the day we headed to the airport. So if you want to see those cities you either need to book a Viking extension or book it independently.
I hope that helps! If you have any other questions let me know!
