Pricey but worth it to explore Danube cities and culture
Viking Egil Cruise Review to River Cruises - Europe
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 10
7 Night Romantic Danube - Eastbound (Regensburg To Budapest)
Sail date: May 18, 2024
Ship: Viking Egil
Cabin number: 206
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 3 months ago
Review summary
Great overview of Danube area and culture, delivered in a comfortable setting. My wife and I were in a party of twelve, with two other couples, a mother and daughter, a pair of sisters, and a pair of friends. Viking made it easy to arrange travel, actually get between the ship and the airports, see the cities, learn about the cultures, and so on. All of us had a great time! Doing it by cruise also maximizes the use of the time, as you can be en route from one place to another while you sleep, eat, etc., and I for one find it a lot easier to sleep on a river boat than on a plane, train, bus, etc. (This was our first *river* cruise, though I had been on an *ocean* cruise long ago, not with Viking.)Embarkation
Very convenient! Minor PITA to have to wait for another couple that got delayed, but that's beyond Viking's control. Suggestion: water bottles, maybe snacks, if we need to wait.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Food was absolutely top-notch, varied, including from the cultures we were there to explore plus familiar favorites, even vegetarian options. Didn't sample the drinks all that much, aside from the beer and wine included at meals, which I appreciated. (Forgot to check whether they had any mead, which would be appropriate for a company named Viking!) Also appreciated that there were snacks and coffee available 24/7 at the self-serve coffee alcoves -- and that there were multiple alcoves, to reduce the morning lines. :-)
Onboard Activities
Limited facilities on a river boat (vs. ocean), but they made very good use of them. If I didn't have a bad knee I would have joined the waltz lessons. The trivia nights weren't as trivial as I thought they would be, so it was more enjoyable.
Entertainment
The "demos" before the waltz lessons were fascinating. Main lounge performer was good, and at just the right volume, enough to hear it and recognize a tune but not loud enough to interfere with conversation (one of my main gripes about most bars).
Children's Programs
no children allowed on this cruise, hence no program for them
Service and Staff
All friendly and polite without being hovering or obsequious. Service generally very good, sometimes a bit slow at peak busy times but that's understandable. Customer service desk was very understanding when I pulled the classic bonehead move of locking myself out of my room. :-)
Ship Quality
Nice simple design, functional layout, easy to find everything, everything seemed clean and well maintained, even after a bunch of people returned from a tour on a rainy day. Hardly ever saw any dirt, certainly none on tableware.
Cabin / Stateroom
It used space very efficiently, especially with nice touches like being able to stow our empty luggage under the bed. The only things I didn't like were that it was the bed had a couple lumpy areas, and it was a bit difficult to close the shower properly so as not to leak enough to soak the bathmat. One additional suggestion would be drawers in the nightstands. (Which reminds me, I also appreciated that there WERE nightstands on BOTH sides of the bed! It annoys me when hotels have only one, for a bed sized for two.) Unlike many hotels, it even managed to have enough storage space in the bathroom; my wife used the area under the counter, while I used the high shelf.
That said, we chose our cabin type carefully. We definitely wanted more of a view than the lower deck would have (especially when docked against another ship or the port), and wouldn't have actually used a balcony very much, so paying the extra for that would have been a waste. "French Balcony" was a perfect compromise, though having windows instead of a full sliding door would have been fine for us too.
We also found it surprisingly quiet! I thought there would have been more noise from our neighbors (including up and down), the lobby, people walking past, and so on, but it was quieter than most hotels.
Ship tip
Be prepared for it to be cold and windy if you go up on the sun deck while under way in the evening!
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Nice small city with fascinating history, great for wandering around in. Included excursion had lots of little interesting bits; we did the version with the added Jewish history.
Nice small city with fascinating history. Included excursion had lots of little interesting bits. Wife did the palace hike instead, and then I showed her the stuff from the included tour.
Wonderful city, I think everybody should see as many major cities of the world as possible, especially outside one's own country. This one is chock-full of great stuff to see and do; we had been there before, I had just recently visited, and we STILL found more to do on this cruise, with more left for next time. We took the included excursion, plus the Schönbrunn tour. Docking site was fairly convenient to the U-bahn, which we took straight "downtown" (to Innere Stadt) to see more stuff there.
Wonderful city, I think everybody should see as many major cities of the world as possible, especially outside one's own country. This one is chock-full of great stuff to see and do; we had been there before, and we STILL found more to do on this cruise, with more left for next time. We took the included excursion, plus the horsemen show, which was fascinating, not just for the skills of the performers but the history as well.
Disembarkation
We took an early morning flight, but Viking made that as little of a PITA as it could reasonably be. :-)