Viking Atla Review
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Full Disclosure: We were on both the Viking Atla (which was supposed to be our ship originally) and the Viking Jarl due to a ship swap mid-cruise. I may leave reviews for both ships.
We flew Lufthansa through Viking Air (we did the custom air so that we could choose our flights). The flights were smooth and efficient, as were the transfers from the airport to hotel and vice-versa. We did a 2-night pre-cruise extension in Nuremberg and a 2-night post-cruise extension in Budapest. Although we booked these via Viking, we went off on our own instead of participating in the included city tours. We stayed at the Le Meridien Grand Hotel in Nuremberg and the Hilton Budapest (Buda Hill) in Budapest. We had rooms with fantastic views at both hotels (especially in Budapest, where the view of Fisherman's Bastion, the Parliament Building, and the Danube was breathtaking). Our view at the Grand Hotel was that of the old city. The Le Meridien Grand Hotel was fantastic - the service was superb. The included breakfast was the most sumptuous that we had on the trip. I would return for the bread and jam (all homemade) alone. The hotel also had some special perks for Viking guests, among them, welcome gifts, snacks, and a crafted coffee drink (like cappuccino/espresso) or tea per day.
The hotel was right across the street from the Nuremberg train station – which was perfect for us. We took the high-speed ICE train the next day into Munich and met our private guide for an excursion to Berchtesgaden/Salzburg. This was a fantastic introduction to our trip and gave us an interesting perspective on German culture. Since we arranged this trip on our own, I won’t go into detail here, but we greatly recommend it. The next day, we were supposed to transfer to our ship after breakfast – but since we planned another excursion on our own, we sent our bags ahead of us. The Viking Host was very helpful and gave us directions to the Nuremberg Harbour, where the Jarl was docked. This proved essential when we returned from our private excursion (to Dachau – very powerful).
Cabin Review
Veranda Stateroom
Cabin design was excellent - functional and attractive. Great attention to detail (such as the multi-position reading lights in the headboard) and copious storage space. The bathroom was very small, but well laid out. Heated floor was delightful. Shower water pressure was great. Loved the L'Occitane bath amenities. Lots of US (as opposed to European) style plugs and at least one USB port (handy for charging electronics/phones). Loved the Veranda. Actually go to use it, since the weather was beautiful (sunny and a little nippy). In the Atla, one of the wall sockets was broken - it was repaired very quickly after we reported it.
Port Reviews
Regensburg
A very beautiful, medieval city on the Danube with a rich history. Our walking tour guide was very knowledgeable. We loved walking through the narrow, cobblestone streets viewing remnants of architecture that dates to Roman times. We did the extension that included the Jewish history of the city. We did this tour in the afternoon, because we took the optional excursion to the Weltenburg Abbey in the morning. The trip to the Abbey was fun because it included a daytime sail through the Danube Narrows, which are quite scenic (and set the stage for the Wachau Valley sail later on in the trip). The Abbey itself is quite lovely (and ornate). Hubby enjoyed great non-alcoholic beer throughout our cruise. I had the real stuff - try the "dunkel" (dark) beer if you imbibe.
Nuremberg
We took the WWII tour with Viking. We were so glad that this tour was offered because hubby is a huge history buff and we thought we would have to do this tour on our own. Guide (Ann) was excellent. We went to the rally grounds, Zeppelin field, Collesium, Documentation center (museum), and the Palace of Justice (Courtroom) where the war crime trials were held. We did a 2-night pre-cruise extension where we visited Berchtesgaden and Dachau on our own. We highly recommend that as well. We would have liked a little more time to explore the old walled city on our own, but since we used our pre cruise time for more lengthy excursions, we weren't able to do so. Perhaps we'll return at some point for a Christmas Market.