90% wonderful, tips to help future travelelrs
S.S. Victoria Cruise Review to River Cruises - Europe
Sail date: May 12, 2024
Ship: S.S. Victoria
Cabin number: 215
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 6 months ago
Review summary
Staff, food, ship, room all excellent! What I would do different next time: See previous comment above about clothing. Too many excursions were centered on always ending up in shops and shopping areas. With so little time we wanted local culture not shops. We had a much better time looking up local things to do and also asking the staff what they recommended and then going out on our own. Now to the big tip! Watch out for sick people!!!!! We were placed in close quarters (excursion bus for example) with people who were obviously ill. Severe wet sounding constant cough with no attempt at covering the mouth, they also couldn't stay awake. It was disgusting. Two men in particular, their wives refused to sit with them. I am not sure why these people did not stay in their room as they looked extremely miserable. I can only speculate maybe because the extra excursions had a no refund policy? Also at what point does staff intervene when someone obviously ill is constantly in public areas? To be fair I understand this can be a very touchy issue. We ended up eating dinner in our room each night (the staff was wonderful about our repeated room service!!!) and staying away from organized excursions and onboard activities. We did end up with a pretty hefty case of covid, feels like a bad flu. (didn't know it was covid until we got home, and I know no one makes a big deal out of it anymore). I am sure a tremendous amount of people on board our cruise are ill.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Leave the dinner clothes and any attempt at european fashion at home, everyone everywhere just looks like an american with logos and ball caps etc. Dinner was casual, just wear your respectable regular clothes. I could have saved a lot of space as I read a lot of articles and maybe fake reviews? I was happy to anticipate "dressing up" The first night at dinner my view was of a hairy guy in a tank top! Thank goodness I did not have to see that again!
Ports of call
Boppard, Germany
Germersheim (Heidelberg), Germany
Kehl (Strasbourg), Germany