"I now know that I'm not a fan of big box cruises. The Regal is huge and jam packed. Not my thing. However, if you fancy big crowds, lots of flash aka Vegas, then it's the cruise for you. The staterooms are well..."Read More
Itinerary (2 days in Berlin, 5 day cruise including Wittenburg, Meissen and Dresden, 2 days Prague) appealed to us and didn't disappoint. Viking's cruise environment is (for us) a good mix of levity, entertainment and enrichment led by excellent program director Rik and enhanced by unadvertised extras such as an evening walk in Torgau, a lacemaking demo (and chance to try), a talk from a local ...
My husband and I have been on one previous Viking cruise and loved it. This cruise on the Astrild did not disappoint us. We had a wonderful time. We traveled with friends and had many opportunities to visit with them, as well as meet fellow travelers. There were many activities in which to participate on board. Our shore excursions were very well organized and met the different ability levels ...
I recommend this cruise to everyone I know. It's the perfect way to get an introduction to Scandinavia and by far the best way to see St. Petersburg, Russia. Everything about the cruise was stress free and very well organized, the medallions were incredibly easy to use.
Embarkation:
Embarking in Warnemunde was the fastest and most painless experience I have ever had with a cruise. We took ...
We chose this route because we are interested in Reformation history, medieval architecture, and we had been on Danube, Rhine, Rhone, and Main. Astrild is smaller (94 guests) than other Viking longboats but has all the same amenities in suites, dining room, lounge, etc. The balcony (rooms on the right side; rooms on the left have French doors and a rail but no place to sit) is actually useful on ...
We had not been on a Viking Cruise prior to this trip and had always been told how marvelous they are. I can now fully understand the comments.
Never having been in Berlin we were looking forward to seeing the city of such important parts of history. Our tour guide had lived behind the Berlin Wall. Her stories became a tremendous lesson of perseverance of life as she shared of her family ...
The trip offered 2 nights in Berlin and 2 nights in Prague. I wanted to see those cities combined with a river cruise. The Elbe River is not a commercial waterway like the Rhine and offered an almost private cruise of the countryside. The cruise was very relaxing as well as informative of the cities we visited. The river depth was low and we could not make the last port. But that really only ...
We chose this one because we wanted to visit two of the places on the itinerary. We were not disappointed.
Unfortunately we had not read the brochure properly and had not realised that the first two and last two nights would be in hotels, in Berlin and Prague respectively. However, that was our fault, not Viking's! In the event, we found the experience in Berlin rather dry, but Prague is a ...
Overall, we had a fantastic time. We chose this cruise initially because it included Berlin which had been on our bucket list for a few years - and it seemed overall like a great value (free air/all inclusive, etc.). We were more than a little reluctant because we had a poor experience on a large cruise ship and vowed we would never take another cruise. Even though we weren't able to actually ...
We have taken many Viking river cruises. Unfortunately this was the non cruise cruise as the Elbe did not have enough water to allow the ships to navigate the river. Therefore we were bussed everywhere and there was zero cruising. If you take this route ask what months are best to give the chance of water in the river as apparently this happens quite a bit around the time we took the cruise. ...
It was actually my friends & travel companions who picked this particular cruise. I was intrigued as it was an areaic never visited nor had I done s river cruise before,just ocean cruises. The size of the boat and being able to have a view of something everyday appealed.
The meals were great. We mostly ate in the dining room...just one seating but the choice of tables and dining companions was ...