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.