Cool! I did the ground version from Sweden down to Prague/Budapest and lots of other places in December. You picked the right time because the sun doesn’t go down at 3 in the afternoon. We picked up a new Volvo in Gothenberg and drove around for over 2 weeks. The cruise is nice. One of my buds is starting from Budapest in October…I’m “pooping” him on how to order beer and find the bathrooms in Hungary!
A river cruise isn’t a party trip — unless you make it one. It’s not a great way to really get involved with the places you go. It’s a hit and run type trip. You mostly travel at night and visit a stop during the day. All the stops had tour guides and there were optional tours such as dinner and the opera in Vienna. No, I didn’t go on that one.
The food on a Viking Cruise is truly outstanding — taste, presentation, variety, quality. All 3 meals are a dining experience if you are into that. The wait staff will get you just about anything you want — just ask. The entire staff is most friendly and seems genuinely interested in you — from the Captain on down. The entire trip was terrific and I enjoyed to some degree most of it.
About 8 days out I picked up a cough, then chest cold and lost most of my energy and all my appetite. There’s no ‘getting off the ship and going to the doctor’ for a chest cold. On the return flight the chest cold evolved into acute bronchitus. I misread the dosage for the antibiotic for the bronchitus and only took half the dosage I was prescribed for 4 days.
Missed my first game in C-F in 15 years Saturday but will be back for Furman.
