June 24, 2025. Would you pay $9000 per person for 14 day Grand European river cruise Amsterdam to…read moreBudapest? We paid for a 205 sq ft full balcony Veranda 9 months before departure.
$7000 for a 150 sq ft standard room with only a foot wide window across the ceiling. $8000 for a 135 sq ft french balcony room with a railing to look out the floor to ceiling window. Other river cruise companies like Overseas Adventures have discounts closer to departure time. But the choice of rooms becomes more limited, and the price of airfare goes up.
Flew United airlines business class from San Francisco to Amsterdam, at $2000 apiece, roughly half the fare if we had purchased it 2 month in advance. Seamless transfer by Viking from airport to cruise ship.
Our river cruise was open to board noon of the first day, with rooms available in the early afternoon. Brought 30 five dollar bills for tipping drivers and tour guides for the next 7 days. And you will need coins in Euros or florins for bathrooms on shore. Packed quick drying clothes. Stretch a provided plastic clothes line with clothes pins in the bathroom for drying.
Queen size bed, with space for sitting chair next to the floor to ceiling window with sliding door. Mini fridge with electronic safe and drawers for folding clothes, and closet for hanging clothes. No microwave oven.
Standard rooms, French balcony rooms and Veranda rooms with full balconies have the same cramped bathroom design with shower. Shower panes fold inside or outside, so there's elbow room on the toilet. Housekeeping comes at 7am and 6pm to change towels and vacuum the unit.
We sailed during the heat wave of 2025, and used the balcony when sailing late afternoons into the night. Our cabin faced the starboard side, and was usually anchored next to shore. Often when anchoring for the day the ship will be side by side to other cruise ships, with a balcony view of the other ship's quarters. Once I got on the wrong boat as had to remember the name of the other boats if crossing over to your boat, as your boat would not be visible from shore.
No kids, no casinos, on Viking river and ocean cruise ships. Only Viking ocean cruise ships have pools, laundry facilities and exercise rooms.
Daytime excursions in the morning, as early as 8am. Fees $90 to $1000 for optional excursions.
Viking provides luxury coaches to bus you from the dock to the town centers, picking up to return to the boat. Once, the bus had to turn back and pick up a couple who missed the pickup.
Dining room can hold 140 people, and sun deck or lounge 100 people. At the Rhine Gorge all 100 of those chairs were occupied with people looking at the 24 castles going by.
Buffet breakfast, and three choices of lunch and dinner served in the dining room at set times. Unlimited wine, beer, soft drinks and orange, apple, grapefruit, tomato juices. Drinks served in the bar at the lounge are at user's expense. Evening music and other entertainment shown in the lounge part of cruise price. Many drinkers paid in advance the $27 per day silver spirits drink package, or $400 for the entire 15 day trip.
Cruise price does not include gratuity to the crew, nor to the tour guides and bus drivers. Suggested tip is 20 euros per person per day. 560 euros for the two of us, or $650 in tips.
There is a 140 meter oval walking track on the sun deck. I did some running on it, until passengers downstairs complained of heavy footfalls shaking their ceilings. Three consecutive days when the sun deck was closed due to innumerable low bridges
The temperatures were so hot that the river levels were too low for passage on the water. At Nuremberg we had to pack and transfer from one boat, and take a 3 hour bus trip on the autobahn to another boat at Passau. At least one couple overslept and missed the bus. 600 euro taxi fare, but in the interests of PR Viking paid the tab.
In each year 2024, 2025,2026 I got one cold. Every time on Viking river cruises. The seniors and communal dining and lounging, and bus rides in close quarters meant colds were common and spread quickly. Crew members mainly in their 20s had stronger immune systems to ward off colds.
Low waters meant we had to anchor two days 90 minutes bus trip outside of Budapest. At the last moment we were able to dock in Budapest, arriving after midnight, the day of departure to the airport.
I got up at 3am to take pictures of lights of Budapest at night from our prime anchoring spot,as daylight by 430am.
On the last day, Viking had buses take passengers, who flew with Viking arranged flights, to the airport, starting at 4am. Others left their luggage out before 8am to be loaded onto taxis for later flights.
9am all room card keys expire, although some stayed for lunch. Public restrooms on third floor outside of the lounge became the most popular rooms after 9am.
