A very special fairytale Rhine river cruise!
Viking Sigyn Cruise Review to River Cruises - Europe
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 33
7 Night Rhine Getaway Northbound (Basel To Amsterdam)
Sail date: May 10, 2022
Ship: Viking Sigyn
Cabin number: 327
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
After a long research on river cruising, we booked in October of 2021 and our sail date was May 10, 2022 on the Viking Sigyn. To our surprise, the total amount was due 6 months prior to sailing. We decided it was time for us to take the plunge and continue our traveling adventures despite Covid still impacting the world. We could not be happier with our choice as it proved to be one of the most memorable trips we have ever taken. Viking selected our flights from Orlando, Florida to Basel then returned from Amsterdam. This was also a great experience as I was researching flights and found that they had the best prices. It added a leg to the journey but we were so excited to start the trip that it did not seem to really matter to us. We chose to do our own 3 days pre and post cruise and paid the extra $ 100 per fare to schedule our flights to accommodate the trip. This was an exceptional time of the year to travel as Spring was in full force. Once we boarded, our check in process was incredibly simple as we were early. The room was ready and our luggage was delivered quickly. Then we took a taxi to the Basel Art Museum and enjoyed this beautiful city on our own. Once we boarded the ship again, we began the muster process and listened intently on what to expect at the ports and the cruise in total. Viking had every step so clearly thought out and planned! Once we began to sail it was dinner time. The staff was SO intent on learning everyone's names and what preferences they have. I was amazed at how each time I saw them, they greeted me by first name and had a cold ice tea with a fresh lemon ready for me! It was a great touch by Viking! The food was freshly prepared and absolutely wonderful! Our server encouraged us to try the region specialty nightly and brought our a dish so we could all share. It was a great experience and we loved every moment of the restaurant and terrace staff! We never went hungry or thirsty! The tours were so thoughtfully planned out and truthful about the demands of the guests for walking. One tour had a 3 hour bus ride which prompted us to pay for an additional excursion, however, we had the BEST time! Many tours are demanding on your legs for walking. We were clocking in at over 17K steps in a day and we were pretty sore, however, we refused to miss a thing so we kept walking! They do have a leisure option that I would recommend for anyone struggling with long walks. Please keep this in mind! I am now addressing the "white elephant" in the room, COVID. For the first 3 days, we had test tubes brought to our rooms for saliva samples that we were to fill and bring to the front desk by 8am. (I did forget to mention, they did have a quick Covid test once your boarded the first day. ) We learned that a few people did test positive for COVID and were escorted to a hotel in Germany. This prompted an additional day of testing for us all. The ship is kept immaculate by the way! I must also say that I learned that if you test positive, they will not re-test you to confirm a false positive. This did not in anyway hamper our trip. We felt very comfortable traveling! It's hard to just pick one tour over the other but Strasburg was AWESOME! I just loved this incredibly sweet and quain town! The Marksburg Castle was exceptional as well. The beauty of the Rhine tour was so vivid in colors and just sheer beauty. I cant seem to stop smiling when I am talking about the trip to friends. My recommendation is to see everything you can! MOST IMPORTANT fun fact for you: Sunday's are what I like to call "Chick Fil-A Day", all the shops are closed except for a few souvenir stores. The disembarkation was as easy as check in! It is handled by time of departure. Wow what a great process. We spent the post 3 days in Amsterdam and absolutely fell in love with this city! Once we completed the trip, we were off on our schedule flight with the memories of an absolute exceptional fairytale of a trip.Embarkation
My husband & I frequently take ocean cruises and did not know what to expect at all other than reading through some of the reviews as a guide. This process was by far the most simplest and easy process that pretty much set the stage for the trip. We arrived early, around 11 am, and dropped our bags and signed in. Did not wait in any line at all and was super impressed with how Viking had everything so efficient and on point! Our rooms were ready and off we went to the art museum in Basel.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The Sigyn had a main dining room and a terrace for all food & beverage. The food was excellent and truly thoughtfully prepared given the regions we were travelling to. The chef was always out greeting the guests in search of feedback on how to better improve, although, improvements were really not needed! LOVED the variety and freshness of all the food! We enjoyed watching the food trucks deliver the fresh produce at one of the stops so we can all really see the excellent quality of the fruits & vegetables. We are in the food business and can honestly say that Viking does it right and actually due to the quality we were excited to get back on the ship to enjoy the dinner options! Also, keep in mind that you can always order additional offerings to sample the local region specialites! HIghly recommend this. The drink selections were excellent as well. They have (2) coffee stations on the ship with many offers, tea, cappuccino, espresso, etc.., as well as, danishes and sweets all day. The wine and spirits were also chosen by the regions visited so we enjoyed the wine during our dinners. We did not choose the all day drinking selection so our wine was covered at the meal time, which was perfect for us, as we really do not drink much so a glass or two at dinner fit our lifestyle. Ensure to fill your glass at the lunch or dinner so can sip it during the evening entertainment without a cost. A great memory was when many of the guests sat upstairs to watch the Rhine tour, narrated by our program director. It was chilly on the Rhine and the servers brought up hot Amaretto cocoa with whipped cream! It was decadent and so beautifully served. Classy! I had two! :) :)
Onboard Activities
This section was TOTALLY different than that of an ocean cruise. I did not really have anything to go on other than the reviews initially so I did not really know what to expect. Now that I have experience a Viking River Cruise, I can speak honestly about the on-board activity experience. A river cruise is a much different experience than an ocean cruise. Each day you are busy with included or purchased excursions that are so fabulously put together and a total culture immersive experience that you have very little time to partake in on-board activities other than the evening. The Sigyn did not have a pool, spa, rock climbing etc., that is typically found an ocean cruise. It did however have a small area in the back for shuffle board, which we enjoyed!, and a small putting area, also enjoyed. The evening activities kept us busy with an outstanding performance by two musicians, a glass blowing demonstration and another drink presentation. I did submit a few suggestions on adding a big screen TV at the top deck and offer a movie night with featured movies of the region among a massage therapist too would have been amazing given how many steps we were making a day, over 17K! Honestly, we were so exhausted at the end of the night that the on-board activities were just a nice way to relax before bed!
Entertainment
The musicians were excellent! There was a moment that was just so special during the violinist evening. On May 14th was my Father's birthday. He had passed away two years ago during Covid lockdown and I celebrate his special day each year. That evening, the violinist played a variety of classical music for 45 minutes then surprised us with "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. That was my favorite song for my dad so this was a most special moment. The rest of the days, they did have glassblowing, which was also quite excellent. They did have some of the pieces available for sale which I appreciated. Each evening they have a piano player that was quite good as well.
Children's Programs
There were no children. This was adult only.
Service and Staff
The service far exceeded our expectations. From the moment of meeting the foodservice staff, they remembered all our names and made it a point to ask and get to know us individually. Our wait staff became such a friendly face from the moment we woke up. OUr room steward was gracious and always ready to help and assist! Our friends we travelled with had a challenge the first day with the air conditioning and they were swiftly moved to another room. The hotel manager was quick to respond.
Ship Quality
Again, the ocean cruises can be massive with thousands of guests so this took a day or two to adjust to the small size of the ship. The group total on our sailing was only 130 guests and it accommodates 190. We loved the ease of the layout and every moment they were wiping and cleaning! The only call out is that they average age of the guests seemed to be 60's and higher, the elevator only went up to the main floor so there was the top deck which was a great space to see the locks, that was not available to see for those that struggled with stairs.
Cabin / Stateroom
I loved all the space for storage, although, the only complaint I have was the shower was trapezoid size which was a bit constricting. I loved the heated floor with a passion! I chose the balcony and was pleased with the size. I wished they had a little steam iron so that I could get a few of the wrinkles out of our clothes from the traveling. The only option was to have the cleaning service. The bed was super comfortable. It does resemble one of an ocean cruise. Our friends were relocated to a suite, due to their AC issue, and the shower was a square and had more space and they did have a small sitting area. I would highly recommend this upgrade! One thing to consider, we did not really understand how when at port, the ships actually tie to one another, inches apart. This means that when you wake up and open your blinds, you are staring right into another cabin! It was a little odd but again you are so busy getting ready for your excursions and breakfast that you really do not spend much time in the cabin. Be prepared for this when you have a balcony! Our agen knew this and book us on one particular side so it minimized the connection to the other ship. It did happen once or twice to us. It really wasn't an issue.
Ship tip
Bring an open mind to all the new experiences of what a Viking river cruise can offer. Most all shops are closed on Sunday's (Which I called it Chick-Fil-A Sunday)! I would recommend highly to get Euro's before you board the ship! They conversion rate onboard was high at around 15%! A few small shops along the Rhine did not take credit cards or American money. One important piece of information I did not include above was the fact that many of the excursions are a bit demanding with walking on unsteady floors. They do offer a Leisure option which will transport you directly to the tour area to avoid the walking. I would highly recommend this option for those that feel they may need the option. There really is little downtime as each day you are at port.
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Ports of call
We boarded at Basel but decided to do the Basel Art Museum on our own and loved it! It was a quick taxi ride.
This was our first stop and heard that the included tour was a 3 hour bus ride. We decided to pay extra for the WW2 tour and it WAS UNREAL! Our tour guide was super informative and what a great storyteller! It was all about the story or Audie Murphy and he took us through the town and the exact location Audie jumped on top of a burning German tank. For those that are not familiar with him, I too did not know who he was. It was truly a great experience seeing the space firsthand where the Americans helped to save the French during the war. After we toured, we took to our own walking tour of the city and loved every step! We self guided ourselves and walked the town. Beautiful!
One of our favorites! This tour was excellent! Lots of walking but indeed a spectacular visit of the cathedral with an amazing clock! We decided to stay longer in the city to shop and have a delicious lunch. There were a few times that the shuttle left after our tour so we had a few hours to enjoy this quaint town. Be careful as we heard there we pick pockets and lots of beggars. We just kept our bags close and enjoyed the day! LONG walks to the bus so wear comfy shoes!!!
This one was a sleeper town. We were not too impressed with this one but did enjoy the walk through town and the tour. There was the CUTEST dress shop, Susanne Kissel, Modehaus, but didn't have enough time to shop it. UGH!
We sat upstairs and LOVED this! Our Program Director narrated this and it was a wow factor! The staff brought our delicious amaretto hot cocoas' and we loved taking videos' and pictures for 2 hours! SO much to see and what a visual experience. I would suggest waiting till you are a little closer to what you want a picture and dont zoom too much! This was the highlight of the trip!!
We were dropped here to begin our journey to the marksburg Castle in Rudesheim. Only walked through this spot.
We took the Marksburg Castle tour and WOW!!! One of the most exceptional tours of the castle. This is a bit unsteady and lots of walking but an incredible journey! HIGHLY recommend this!
We took in the tour of the city and cathedral. Then we took in the town for shopping and a nice German authentic lunch. The tour guide was super nice and we really enjoyed the walk. Was not our favorite stop but it was quite good. I would recommend stopping by Papa Jon's brew pub and put in Euro to listen to music. It was amazing watching these two figures behind the bar emerge up and play instruments. We spent a good deal of time here!
This was our FAVORITE too! We took the Dutch Cheese tour and Windmill excursion. SO glad we did! The tour of Booji, a Gouda Cheese company, was exceptional. Loved seeing how hands on the process is and not skipping any corners with making this cheese! It was delicious and lots of time to buy some for taking home! The cows are right in the back adding to the great culture of the experience. I love cheeses and have a whole new appreciation for the process. Then we ended with a long walk to an active windmill. This was a WOW experience as well. I was overloaded with the beauty of this country and the green landscapes. HIGHLY recommend this!!! Lots of walking again...
We stayed in Amsterdam for 3 nights on our own with no post extension, staying at the Marriott Amsterdam (EXCELLENT PROPERTY!). It was a beautiful country and loved the culture! The canal tours, flower markets and just overall strolling the streets was just a fairytale!
Disembarkation
So simple! We were spending 3 nights on our own in Amsterdam and Viking coordinated a taxi for our requested time. We had a delicious breakfast then left the ship. The process was simple and easy!
Traveler Photos
