Introduction

This is a post cruise recounting of our experience on Viking River Cruise's Switzerland to North Sea Cruise traveling from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Basel, Switzerland.  Thus the dates blogspot attaches to each post will be wrong.  I will recount the day to day locations and activities along with my impression of the trip.

My wife, Carol, and I are both senior travelers, I have even reached the "minimum required distribution age" for my IRA, in case you know what that means.

The trip was booked through Affordable Travel, our second Viking booking Yulanda has handled;

Yulanda Hanson

Tour Agent

AffordableTours.com

11150 Cash Road

Stafford, TX 77477

Toll Free: (800) 935-2620 Ext. 152 

Direct: (281) 269 - 2652 

Fax: (281) 269-2690 

E-mail: yulanda@affordabletours.com 

My Working Hours: 

Mon-Fri: 9:00AM - 5:30PM CT

Our experiences with Yulanda have meet all of our expectations, she has always been available via phone and e-mail when we had any questions, and we have had no problems. The saving made by booking via Affordable helped offset the cost of trip insurance, which we purchased via InsureMyTrip, our third time with them. We originally found them via Clark Howard's web site.

The cruise was booked in August of 2015, we were traveling with my niece and her husband, They were departing from a different origin, and we would meet on the Vidar on day one. Yulanda handled everything for all of us. I even received Vikings discount for referring a new customer. Because of the Viking promotion "2 for the price of one and free air" we opted to fly via Viking Air. We took advantage of the business class upgrade ($700 per person). Be sure to join frequent flyer programs of Viking's preferred partners for your route, and make sure it is included in your booking. We were already British Airways Executive Club members, but didn't have enough points to do the business class upgrade via BA. We were able to do our seat assignment with BA, as soon as the bookings were made. 

As on our previous cruise we booked a "Veranda Suite". I usually wake up an hour or two earlier than Carol, so with a suite I can be up without disturbing her. We recommended that our niece book a "Veranda Stateroom", which she did. We had rooms across the hall from each other.

Even though we live in NE Florida, we fly from Atlanta, rather than Jacksonville.  We have a Bouvier des Flandre and a Black Russian Terrier which we board at Valkin Bouviers, in Pine Mountain, Ga.  So our trip starts, a day early, with the drive from Yulee to Atlanta, via Pine Mountain.  We stay at the Atlanta Airport Marriott overnight and fly out the next day, taking advantage of the long term parking they have.  Because we had an evening departure we also take advantage of late check-out.  We skip there airport shuttle, it drops you at domestic and you have to transfer to an airport shuttle to get to international.  We take a taxi ($20.00 plus tip).  We are looking forward to when Lyft will be able to service the Atlanta airport, reportedly July 2016.  On return we also stay overnight at the Marriott. 


For anyone else departing and returning on a cruise/trip from a hotel, vice home, take advantage of their baggage storage room, pack a small suitcase with your arrival and return clothing and leave it in baggage storage.

Checked-in, on-line, with BA at 10:10 PM, hoping to be able to snag seats 15E and 15F which are reserved for passenger with infants, until 24 hours before departure.  No such luck, I was able to move from 11E/F to 14E/F, as someone had booked 12 D & G and 15D & G were open, and if no-one booked them we would have easy access to the aisle. The BA business class seats lay flat to form a bed, using a fold down foot rest as part of the bed.  If you are in the center seats (E/F) in any row but 15 you must step over the foot rest of the aisle seats to access the aisle, if they are down.  Thus row 15 are the best center seats since there is the bulkhead and no aisle seats to step over.

Day 0, Atlanta to London Heathrow

Wednesday, June 8th

We are flying British Airways flight 226, which is scheduled to depart at 10:10 PM.  We had a meeting in Peachtree City at 4:00 PM, returning to the hotel at about 5:30.  We hung out in the lobby until 7:00 PM when we took a taxi to the International Terminal.

Breezed through BA check-in and TSA security and headed for "The Club" lounge.  Settled in with a snack and a drink and did a little reading on the Ipad.

The flight was delayed by an hour and ten minutes, we headed down to the gate at 10:40 PM for an 11:30 departure.  Boarding was uneventful, except for the mobbing of the gate area. we both commented on how we had come to  appreciate Southwest's boarding process.  Luckily seat 15G remained open so we had easy access to the aisle.

We settled in and dinner was served.  After dinner I reclined the seat and put the foot rest down and grabbed about six hours of sleep.  

Day 1, Heathrow to Amsterdam, Netherlands

Thursday, June 9th

Our flight landed at 11:43, 48 minutes late, cutting into our scheduled connection time.  But since it was a terminal 5 to terminal 5 connection we made it with a little time to spare, thanks to Fast Track.

If I were to do this again, I would look into Viking Custom Air to see if a non-stop could be booked, I hate Heathrow transfers.

BA 438, Heathrow to Amsterdam business class consist of a standard coach seat with an empty middle seat with a tray installed.  Better than coach, but I was glad it was a short flight.

Landed at 3:04, a little ahead of schedule.  Breezed through passport and customs, after a long walk from our gate.

Way down there is the way to passport control & customs.

Viking representative was waiting.  I made a trip to the Telecon kiosk to buy a SIM card, only to find out they only had Netherland's SIM cards.  Evidently the Prepaid Europe card in only available online.  I got back to the guide as the last of our party was arriving.  We exited the terminal, with our baggage in tow, and crossed over to the parking garage where our mini-van was waiting.

After a 25 minute ride we arrived at the dock where the Vidar was berthed.

Interactive Google Map

The Vidar staff took care of the baggage, the check-in process was a breeze and we were escorted to our room where all of the features and controls were explained.   One thing to note if you haven't traveled in Europe before, the shower controls are not Hot & Cold, but Volume & Temperature.  On ship the volume was on right and temp on left.

Amanda and Sean had arrived that morning and crashed.  We all decided to skip the afternoon walking tour.  We relaxed on the Aquavit Terrace, then went down to dinner.  On the first night I opted for the alternate menu's ribeye, Carol went with the Duck.

The key Viking Staff Members

 The Hotel Manager, Arthur Carvalheiro, entertained us many evening with his vocal talents, accompanying Boris the piano player.  Diana van der Tuuk, our Program Director was outstanding.  Executive Chef, Iulian Isaila and his staff keep us well fed.  Maitre D' Jochen Kunkel, also known as the "Soup Nazi", a la Seinfeld or Pretzel man, always urging us to have soup or pretzels.  As with our previous cruise, the day to day interaction with Viking staff was a pleasant experience, always a greeting and a smile.  Dining is open seating so we met most of the restaurant/bar staff, several of whom greeted us by name by mid-cruise.  Boris, the Vidar's musician, did an exceptional job of entertaining us in the lounge, with frequent help from Arthur. Felipe, took exceptional care of our room and could always be counted on for a cheerful greeting.  .

At 6:45 every evening Diana briefed us on the next days schedule, and a copy was waiting in our room.

Dinner at 7:00 most evenings, in the dinning room.

Day 2, Amsterdam, walking tour, canal tour, and free time.

Friday, June 10th

Today's Viking Daily

Note the ship information in the lower left, I recommend that you either carry a copy of the Viking Daily with you or take a photo with you cell phone/camera to have with you in case you get separated from your group.  

For breakfast, each day, you have a choice of "Cafe Breakfast" coffee/tea and pastries available at the coffee stations, on each side, at the entrance to the lounge.  My first stop in the morning.  A Continental Breakfast on the Aquavit Terrace or full breakfast in the dinning room.

The full breakfast has choices, the buffet, with egg/omelet station or from the kitchen (waffles, pancakes, french toast, eggs Benedict)

The continental breakfast offers a wide variety.

The dinning room buffet is three sides of the buffet station plus a table on the far side, there is champagne for those that want a mimosa.

When you leave the ship you pick up your "boarding card" from the reception desk, and return it when you return.  If you are in a group you will also pick up a group number, in our case it was 37C, 37 is unique to Vidar and the C is basically a bus assignment.  The bus will have a placard in the window with 37C on it.  Your guide will carry a "lollipop" with your group number.  Your group will be assigned a frequency on the QuietVox, ours was 33, in most cases.  Note, our QuietVox had a standard earphone connector, so it would be possible to use a Y splitter and record the tour narration.   

  

QuietVox

Today's tour of Old Town consist of a bus tour, where we learned the difference between a "Coffee Shop" or "Pot Shops"  and a "Coffee House" where you get coffee and pastries.  As we briefly passed through the "red light district" we learned that 50% of the women are lured by sex traffickers and the remainder are part-timers supplementing their income.  After the bus tour we broke up into two groups, ours walked around while the other did the canal tour.  At the end of the walk we then took the canal tour. 

The first stop on our walking tour was the statue of Anne Frank, just down the street from the Anne Frank house.  Note; you need reservations to visit the house, the line to get in was long today.  The front door to the house and the statue.

"From 9 AM to 3:30 PM the museum is only open to visitors with an online ticket for a particular timeslot.  Tickets are made available on the website two months in advance."

Here is a collage of images from our walk and boat ride, I forget the term for the icon that represented the trade/owner of a home.  The facade at the top of the building depicted the wealth of the owner, the more ornate the wealthier.  Most also had a beam that allowed them to hoist goods to the upper floors.  Bike are everywhere in Amsterdam, you are more likely to be run down by a bike than a car.  It is hard to see but the houses are leaning, the foundations are settling.  We also saw a couple of the shoe boats.

We disembarked from the canal boat just down the wharf from the Vidar.  Returned to the ship, turned in our boarding cards and group cards, put our QuietVox's on charge and relaxed before dinner.

As jet lag was setting in and the weather was threatening, we opted to relax on board this evening.  

Day 3, Kinderdijk's Windmills

Saturday, June 11th

We sailed overnight from Amsterdam to Dordrech, a little upriver from Kinderdijk, arriving after breakfast about 8:30.



Today's Viking Daily.

We boarded the ever present Viking bus for the short drive back to Kinderdijk.  The drivers are masters of maneuvering the buses in tight spaces.  The weather is gray and overcast with rain.  The Windmills at Kinderdijk are pumps, taking water from the channels around the fields, pumping it into the diked holding area where it flows into the river via a set of flood gates.

The windmills have been replaced by an Archimedes screw pumping station, but they are still functional.  They were all in a maintenance state, with their sailcloth removed.

The windmill has two doors, on opposite sides.  The door has removable handle on the inside, the Miller would keep the handle on the door opposite the windmill's blades, so that you didn't walk into the blades.  The windmill is turned into the wind using a windlass system with bollards set in the ground around the perimeter.

If need be the Miller can climb the steps and use his body weight to turn the windlass.

The Miller lives on the ground and second floor, the blue alcove is the master "bedroom", they slept sitting up.  It was believed that laying down would bring on fluids from the stomach somehow leak out and the head is filled with overflow.

Some History; "The name Kinderdijk is Dutch for “Child’s Dike”.  In 1421 during the Saint Elizabeth flood of 1421, the Grote Hollandse Waard flooded, but the Alblasserwaard polder stayed unflooded.  It is said that when the terrible storm had subsided, someone went on to the dike between these two areas, to see what could be saved.  

He saw in the distance a wooden cradle floating. 

There was no hope that anything would be living in it, but when it approached, movement was seen. 
When the cradle came nearer, someone saw that a cat was in the cradle trying to keep it in balance by jumping back and forth so that no water could come into it. When the cradle eventually came near the dike, someone fished the cradle out and saw that in it a baby slept quiet and dry. 
In some of the stories the cat kept it balanced and afloat. 

This folktale and legend has been published as " The Cat and the Cradle " in English (Meder 2007; Griffis, 1918). ( from Wikipedia )

We skipped out on the last half of the tour of the site, and opted for coffee in the gift shop, where Amanda ran afoul of the owner for having her umbrella hanging on the back of her chair rather than in the umbrella bin by the doorway.

Back on the buses for the trip back to the Vidar, for the mandatory "safety drill" where you don your life jacket and assemble in the lounge, for the safety briefing. After the drill the Vidar was underway up river.

Lunch on the Aquavit Terrace, rather than the dining room, as we cruised the river.

Some sight along the river.

Carol went forward for the "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?" presentation, while I backed up photos using the Kingston MobileLite.

As usual the daily briefing at 6:45 followed by dinner at 7:00.

Day 4, Colonge

Sunday, June 12th

The Viking Daily

We pit stopped at Zons, to disembark for the Cologne tour, the Vidar will continue sailing while we take buses to Cologne, it will meet us there for lunch.

Interactive Google Map

First stop on walking tour is Cologne Cathedral, rather than trying to remember all of the details I will just link to Wikipedia.  Because it was Sunday morning, and services were in progress, we were unable to go inside.

THE HEINZELMANCHEN

Statue depicting Tailor's Wife and Heinzelmachen

The Heinzelmänchen, as they are called, used to live and perform their exploits in Cologne. They were little naked mannikins, who used to do all sorts of work; bake bread, wash, and such like house-work. So it is said, but no one ever saw them.

In the time that the Heinzelmänchen were still there, there was in Cologne many a baker, who kept no man, for the little people used always to make over-night, as much black and white bread as the baker wanted for his shop. In many houses they used to wash and do all their work for the maids.

Now, about this time, there was an expert tailor to whom they appeared to have taken a great fancy, for when he married he found in his house, on the wedding-day, the finest victuals and the most beautiful vessels and utensils, which the little folk had stolen elsewhere and brought to their favourite. When, with time, his family increased, the little ones used to give the tailor's wife considerable aid in her household affairs; they washed for her, and on holidays and festival times they scoured the copper and tin, and the house from the garret to the cellar. If at any time the tailor had a press of work, he was sure to find it all ready done for him in the morning by the Heinzelmänchen.

But curiosity began now to torment the tailor's wife, and she was dying to get one sight of the Heinzelmänchen, but do what she would she could never compass it. She one time strewed peas all down the stairs that they might fall and hurt themselves, and that so she might see them next morning. 

They fell and injured themselves, and since that time the Heinzelmänchen have totally disappeared, as has been everywhere the case, owing to the curiosity of people, which has at all times been the destruction of so much of what was beautiful in the world. The Heinzelmänchen, in consequence of this, went off all in a body out of the town with music playing, but people could only hear the music, for no one could see the mannikins themselves, who forthwith got into a boat and went away, whither no one knows. The good times, however, are said to have disappeared from Cologne along with the Heinzelmänchen.

As we continued the walking tour we came across a section of the Roman Sewage System.

This is the modern interpretation, by the artist Ewald Mataré, which can be found at the house "Em Hanen" Alter Markt Nr. 24. Which was put up as reminiscence of an old Kallendresser  (Cologne gutter shitter) figure (or even only a relief) which was nearby but lost in WWII.

After the walk we waited for the Vidar to arrive.

Interactive Google Map

Vidar backing into berth, river is running at 4 - 6 knots (est.), isn't dynamic positioning great?  

Captain Jan van Dasler overseeing Mate at controls on bridge wing.

We didn't sign up for the Optional Excursions, either the trip to Bruhl or the Cologne dining experience.

Amanda and Sean ventured out after lunch, only to get caught in a downpour, without an umbrella.

Hint: when drinking Kolsch, your glass will be refilled until you put the coaster on top of the glass.

The Salmon was great.

Day 5, Koblenz, Braubach, and Rudesheim, cruising the Rhine River Valley

Monday June 13th

Sailing from Cologne to Koblenz overnight.

Viking Daily

We arrive at Koblenz at 8:30 AM, a pit stop to disembark those that are touring Marksburg Castle, or the optional excursion to Ehrenbreitstein Fortress.  Amanda and Sean are doing Marksburg, we opted to stay on board and cruise the Rhine Valley.  The Castle has lots of uphill walking over cobblestone roads.

A collage of the Rhine River Valley, the top right is Marksburg Castle.

The vineyards of the Rhine Valley were impressive, they are on hill sides, this photo doesn't do the slope justice, I am sure it was 45° or greater.  Someone said that the workers wear cleats.

We pit stop in Braubach to embark the Marksburg Castle group just in time for lunch.  As soon as all were aboard we cast off for Rudesheim.

Underway for Mannheim at 11:45.