Saturday, December 01, 2012

 The check-in at Dulles went very smooth, with virtually no waiting through TSA. Our flight was with Lufthansa Airlines, and was very good. Free wine and mixed drinks with dinner cannot be beat. Even in the economy section, legroom was good compared to most American Airlines that we have flown on. Very good flight overall and we actually arrived about ½  hour early.

We met up with the Viking reps, and shortly after were taken to our bus and were off for Passau. The bus ride was about 1 hour 45 minutes. Arriving at the ship around 2:30 pm, we didn’t have to wait long  before we were escorted to our cabin, #116 on the lowest level.

 

The room was compact though advertised at 170 square feet, but was typical of what we have had in the past on other Viking ships. Suitcases fit nicely under the bed. Some of the changes from older ships were noted and listed below:

 

1. There is a supplied night light in the bathroom now. You do not need to bring one with you.
2. Each room has a small refrigerator under the desk area.
3. There are three 110VAC outlets now in the main part of the cabin. One on each end of the vanity, and one on the left side of the bed as you face it. This is a big improvement over their older ships.
4. We are in cabin 116, in the bottom of the boat (sometimes referred as the
5. lot of stuff. Much larger than any other ship we have been on.
6. Plenty of storage in the bathroom now. A shelf under the sink area, shelving on the right side of the mirror, and a couple of nice stainless steel holders in the shower area.
7. TV is wonderful. It’s a large flat screen LCD, with a lot of built-in capability. There are selections for an overview of the cruise, maps, movies, and much more. The movie selection is very good, and “FREE”!!

 

Bad things:

 

1. The “tables” next to the bed are pretty much useless. They are about 8-10 inches across with no drawer, only a pull out shelf, and one small shelf at the bottom of the table.
2. Only four drawers at the vanity because of the refrigerator.
3. There is a small shelf under the left side of the vanity, but it is only about 2.5 inches in depth, thus pretty much useless. I did figure out that it would hold my laptop however so it’s not a total loss.

 

Overall a big improvement over older ships. The general feel is one of roominess. Even the lounge and dinning room really does not feel like it’s crowed, even with most folks there.

 

I do not have any pictures processed yet but will get them posted as soon as possible. After we arrived, we walked into town and went to the Christmas Market. That was great. A really nice market albeit small, it was quite crowed but every one seemed to be enjoying themselves.

 

Tomorrow we have a walking tour of the town scheduled, and we will probably eat lunch in town so that we can sample some local food. Overall so far, we are very impressed and feel that Viking has really stepped up their game with these new longships.