August 5-15, 2024
Where did the idea of us taking a Viking Cruise begin? I guess it all started when Downton Abbey initially aired on tv. If you watch any kind of PBS broadcasting, you’ve seen the commercials. But how did it actually happen for us? I wanted to book a trip to Oktoberfest in Germany (through Bucket List Events), yet could not justify the long flights for that short of a trip duration. I started trying to plan an extension on my own and quickly got overwhelmed with transportation and lodging options. It was also becoming expensive very fast without even considering the cost of meals. I turned my gaze back to Viking (because no children are allowed), Jason was finally able to take 2 weeks off consecutively, and so we pulled the trigger. Seeing 4 countries without having to haul luggage around and plan things ourselves seemed relaxing. This was our first trip to Europe after all and the less stress on me (always the trip planner) the better.
>>Transportation
Hello, let Viking handle everything! Flights were $599 round trip per person through them when we booked this trip, so that was a no brainer. We flew out of Lafayette, connected in Atlanta, and landed in Amsterdam. Viking was waiting for us and walked us through every step of the way to a shuttle, the ship, etc. It is basically like being a kid guided around on a field trip and I loved that aspect. You can unpack on the ship and have it as a home base with the freedom to go on and off as you please at every stop. At the end of the cruise we were shuttled on a nice motor-coach to our hotel. There was transit scheduled to get us to the airport from Lucerne to Zurich to fly back home as well.
>>The Ship – Freya
The river boats are small with I think just under 200 rooms. It was quiet and relaxed. The upper desk had sun loungers and tables/chairs in and out of the shade where many parties played card games they brought with them (we played a lot of Phase 10 while sailing). There was a little putting & shuffleboard area as well as a small walking track too. Inside was a bar/lounge open at all times. The restaurant was only open during dining hours. The lounge did have live piano music and trivia nights that were actually rowdy and fun considering how old most of the crowd was. Our room was small, cozy, and comfortable. I’m glad we ended up at the lowest level of the ship & will touch on that later.
>>Eat
Breakfast has a buffet and a menu of food to order each day. The restaurant has about a 2 hour window in which you can go eat in the morning. The waiters were fantastic and remembered everything we wanted to drink at every meal. A lunch and dinner menu were available outside the doors every day so you could see if you wanted to buy your own meal elsewhere when docked or venture back to the ship to eat for free. Supper usually had some basic everyday options (think burger, chicken, salmon) as well as a few things local to the area we were visiting that day. Unlimited wine and beer were included at meals and mimosas were plenty at breakfast. Instead of buying drinks in the lounge after meals, they were happy to give you another full drink on your way out to enjoy on the deck. The free cookies and coffee/espresso machine were awesome. You could purchase food/drinks off the ship and bring on to enjoy without corkage fees. We surely didn’t go hungry on this trip.
>>Ports
Each evening you will have an itinerary for the next day in your room with lots of extra information about the area. A brief port talk was available in the lounge before each stop as well explaining your excursion options (free and paid) plus major points of interest. There is a free excursion included at every stop, generally a walking tour with a guide and a personal listening device. All guides are local to the port. You can choose to participate or simply venture out alone and make sure to return to the ship on time. All guests scan in and out using their room key. Water bottles were provided on your way off the ship.
Amsterdam – we started here severely jet lagged; left luggage with the ship and had quick guided walking tour where she showed us how to get through the train station, made suggestions of directions to walk, and brought us in a really old cathedral; the city is basically the New Orleans of the Netherlands, smelly and quite the party scene; walked through the red light district, then pub to pub trying draft beers and using their restrooms (you have to pay to use toilets otherwise); it really was a whirlwind since we had been awake so long after minimal sleep on the flight over
Kinderdijk – felt like home but with windmills; marshy area with super old working windmills people still live in and maintain; more interesting than we expected and got to tour inside one of the windmills; there is a nice gift shop and a small cafe where you get a little free time
Cologne – the walking tour took us across the bridge full of padlocks, around the outside of the massive cathedral, and included time to go inside; weather was a perfect sunny day which made the stained glass really show off from inside cathedral; talked with guide after the tour and had food/beer at a few places he recommended; freshened up with coffee on boat and walked to Lindt Museum while wandering the streets in this beautiful city; wild green parrots greeted us as we crossed a small bridge right near the dock
Koblenz – very interesting history and walking tour here; the courtyard around the small church was stunning; saw pieces from the Berlin wall and a giant thumb statue; had free time to shop and explore on our own; popped into more old cathedrals and had a few beers; was a gorgeous small town where we would have liked a little more time
Scenic Sailing: Castles of the Middle Rhine – sailed by 21 castles with live commentary about them from 1:30pm for about 3 hours; we were there during a heat wave and many napped or went inside as the heat set in; I stayed on upper deck watching the numerous small waterfront towns pass by with giant old castles in many different physical states looming over them
Rudesheim – small city where many shops close pretty early; restaurants stayed open and many had supper off the ship and found live music; after 2 loops through the small town and a few glasses of wine I was tired (I also sat on that hot deck all day) and opted to dine aboard the ship; facetimed my mom and had wine on the deck after dinner to relax and unwind
Speyer – we were tired of guides and took off here on our own; cathedral here was maybe my favorite of the whole trip and was one of the oldest; gorgeous clean little town where we walked around the main streets eating and drinking whatever looked good and enjoying the clear sunny day; stopped in a nice garden for more beers on the way back to the dock
Petit France/Strasbourg – summer was poppin and flowers/plants were blooming everywhere, which nicely masked how France was dirtier than Germany; we walked through Petit France and it looked straight out of Beauty & the Beast with people sitting in their windows and milling about; Strasbourg was BUSY (guide warned us of pickpockets) but the architecture was amazing; city center near carousel had live music and dancers on a stage; the cathedral was closed for a mass with a crazy long line, but we did climb the tiny spiral staircases to the top (8 euro per person) and the views were amazing; lots of free time for shopping; tried flambee tarte at the cutest restaurant patio for lunch
Breisach – small and not touristy; yards near port had beautiful gardens; city is built up a hill with a very old cathedral at the top, so we climbed the hill to go see inside and it was worth it; not much in way of food or beverages and most did not take cards but the scenery was nice; they had the biggest hibiscus flowers I’ve ever seen in many colors
The Black Forest – motorcoached us to this destination with commentary along the route; nice nature hike to waterfall, cuckoo clock demonstrations, and black forest cake demonstration; not much else to do unless you go eat in the restaurant here; world’s largest cuckoo clock goes off on the hour
Lucerne (extention) – motorcoached from Basel to Hotel Montana Lucerne; hotel was amazing and clean (hooray AC) and breakfast was included; free shuttle passes provided to help us get around without walking a ton; included walking tour with guide was nice; food is SO EXPENSIVE; booked paragliding with Paragliding Luzern and have no regrets – it was an amazing experience and worth every cent; Peters Brauhaus was our favorite meal; bought local Swiss chocolate bars in a local bakery and wish we’d bought more; did the Mount Pilatus “Golden Ticket” counterclockwise (you can Google what all that entails) and just wow! This is the start of the Swiss Alps and the scenery is breathtaking, ferry ride back was relaxing with even more gorgeous views; also climbed the old watchtower wall & the clocktower; walked to Lion Monument
>>Cost
I HATE reading about trips and they never tell you what they paid, so here it is with all prices per person:
Cruise fare $2899
Air Fare $599 (regular $1899)
Lucerne Extension $899 (hotel, transportation, & breakfast included)
Travel Insurance $599 (optional)
Grand Total = $4996
We booked direct through Viking, but now my TA friend is an agent for them and we would use her in the future. This all required a $50 deposit per person & travel insurance had to be paid up front.
>>Final Thoughts
We couldn’t help but notice that every day aboard the Freya, the restaurant was getting warmer and warmer. Mind you it was an actual heat wave going on outside and we get that. However, we should not have been sweating through all of our garments while trying to eat meals. Servers’ white button downs were drenched. We felt awful for the staff knowing they were probably even more miserable than us. It was beyond uncomfortable by the last couple nights. On our final night aboard they finally announced that the AC had completely gone out and we were running on half of the generator power we should have been. Our room got to about 78F while rooms on the 3rd floor were in the 90s. That is not okay! Especially for the premium prices you pay with a company such as Viking. There was no apology or remorse from them. I think they kept that boat running knowing the issues and hoping the weather would cool down enough to make it less obvious. Freya is one of the oldest of the ships in the river fleet. It was clean and well kept cosmetically.
All that being said… had the air never gone out I would have ZERO complaints about this trip. Not. A. One. Now that it’s been months, would I do it again? Probably. I would research the ship before booking the trip and book on one of the newest – which could of course change before departure. I loved the fact that our hotel drove us around. There is a Viking Ocean Cruise that hits all the islands in the Caribbean from Puerto Rico that I’ve been eyeballing pretty hard. I know their ocean ships are much bigger and offer a lot more. They also have some Mediterranean cruises that hit Spain, Greece, Italy, Croatia, etc that are appealing.
Breauxs Geaux 