If you’re anything like me, you’re a planner. Whether you have a specific interest you’d like to explore, or you want to maximize your sightseeing time, planning ahead is essential. The last thing you want is to spend a lot on a Viking cruise and feel like you didn’t get your money’s worth. Unfortunately, when I was in your shoes and I was planning my trip, most articles didn’t seem to give much detail. Each one might have a good tip or two, but it felt like I had to read a million of them to really piece together a solid itinerary. Hopefully this series will help you get a clearer picture of what the Viking Rhine Getaway is like, show you some pictures, and provide some good ideas to enrich your trip.

Best Time to Book Your Viking Rhine Cruise

When selecting your cruise, consider important factors such as the time of year and direction. These decisions are all about balancing your priorities and trade-offs. Personally, I recommend booking a cruise for spring or fall, traveling from Basel to Amsterdam. Booking for spring or fall has some distinct advantages including avoiding peak tourist season and benefitting from cheaper cruise fares. Many consider these seasons the best time to book a Viking river cruise. A downriver trip starting in Basel also makes it more likely that the ship will be on time or even early to your destinations.

 However, there are some trade-offs to consider, such as the higher likelihood of rainy weather and colder temperatures in the spring and fall. Additionally, it is also much easier to find a direct flight to Amsterdam compared to Basel if you plan to go straight to your embarkation port. To get around this, I would recommend that you consider spending a couple days in another city before you embark. Not only does this increase your flight options but allows you to see another European destination at the same time. Most people fly into Frankfurt or Zurich and then head to Basel, but with a little planning you could take a direct train from any one of dozens of major European cities to your cruise port. This will enrich your Viking Rhine Getaway voyage immensely!

If you would prefer to start in Amsterdam, don’t forget that you could consider adding a trip at the end of the cruise instead. In fact, if you have the time and means, I would definitely consider doing both! On my trip, I went to London and Paris before the cruise began and stayed an extra day in Amsterdam afterward.

Selecting Your Stateroom

Choosing your room Just like we discussed about choosing the time and direction of your cruise, this is all about priorities and tradeoffs. Do you want a balcony? A spacious room? Do you care which side of the ship you’re on? And most importantly, how much are you willing to pay for your preferences?

The most recent Viking guide I got in the mail has the pricing as follows:

For us, we determined that the extra cost for a French balcony or a veranda just weren’t worth it. To be completely honest, the only time I spent in my room was when I was sleeping or getting ready for dinner. If you’re going on excursions and sightseeing, you probably won’t spend much time in your room either.

• Top tip: Consider booking your cruise through a travel agent. Not only can they help you select a room, date, and direction that fits what you’re looking for, but they will also fill out your Viking forms, and can even help you get travel insurance. You can read the stories online about people getting sick, missing their ship, or having to cancel their cruise: it is notoriously hard to get a refund from Viking. If you don’t want to use a travel agent also look into whether your credit cards might offer travel insurance: many leading brands do!

Dining Onboard Viking

Viking prides itself on offering world-class dining experiences for their guests, and the Viking Rhine Getaway is no different. They have several dining options for each meal, where you can eat on the Aquavit Terrace or the onboard restaurant, for breakfast there is even a third “café breakfast” option. On our trip we were told that both the terrace and restaurant offer the same menu for lunch and dinner, so it really comes down to the preference of eating outside or not. For breakfast, each location offers a slightly different menu, however. When it comes to the dinner menu, there are classics that are always available, a rotating menu, and a regional specialties menu. Lunch features both the classic and rotating menus, and breakfast has both a buffet and a menu of classics as well.

Here’s an example menu from the day we visited Kinderdijk:

Classics	Rotating Dinner Menu	Regional Specialties
Starters:	Starters:	Starters:
Caesar Salad	Farmer’s Pecorino Market Salad	Bitterballen
	White Bean Soup
Main Course:	Main Course:	Main Course:
Angus Rib Eye Steak	Smokey Beef Brisket	Steamed Halibut with Fennel Pernod Foam
Chairman’s Choice: Poached Norwegian Salmon	Spiced Chickpeas
Roast Chicken Supreme
Desserts:	Desserts:	Desserts:
Crème Brule	New York Cheesecake	Tompoes
Fromagerie

My Thoughts on Viking Dining

All the food is included in the price of the cruise. When you sit down to order dinner, the waiter will ask you your starter, main course, and dessert selections. If there’s more than one dish you’d like to try, go ahead and order them! There is no extra charge or problem with ordering multiple items. I frequently had both a soup and salad, ordered an extra starter for the table to share, or even asked for the Fromagerie (cheese course) before dessert to better replicate a French-style dinner. The world really is your oyster with the Viking Rhine Getaway dining experience!

• Top tip: If you’re a little worried about ordering an entrée from the regional specialties menu, but you still want to try it, you can order it for the table! This means that you can try the dish, but still order something you’re more comfortable with as your main meal. For the particular example meal above, I ordered Bitterballen for the table, a Caesar salad, the Angus Ribeye, Fromagerie for the table, and the Tompoes for dessert.

Truth be told, however, not all dishes from Viking’s onboard restaurant were hits. Please see my review of their shipboard restaurant here for a more detailed account of the meals on the ship, and what we liked and didn’t like.

Regardless of my thoughts on the onboard dining, I would be remiss to not encourage you to enjoy some meals off the ship. One of the best ways to really understand and connect with another culture is through your stomach, so go and explore your ports of call to your tastebuds’ desire. In the following articles I’ll detail some of the portside establishments we really enjoyed.

What Else to Expect on the Viking Rhine Getaway

The Viking river boats offer several additional amenities onboard that can enhance your time on the ship. If you’re taking the tours, seeing the sights, and eating off ship occasionally, you probably won’t be trying to kill time on the boat. However, you will probably need a break from exploring ports of call at some point. On the top of the ship, there’s a walking track, lounge chairs, shuffleboard, and minigolf. Despite my packed itinerary, I even found time to use these amenities myself.

In the interior of the ship there is a lounge and bar area that is perfect for a little pre or post-dinner refreshment. The bar and wait staff in the lounge were excellent and very attentive. Be forewarned however, when ordering mixed drinks, you’re billed for both the mixer and the alcohol. For example, if a Coca-Cola costs €4 and the rum you choose is €12, the total for your rum and coke would be €16. This pricing method was a source of confusion for some passengers, though I’m not sure how other river cruises handle their pricing.

Adjacent to the lounge there are some café stations that have coffee, tea, and cookies. Further on, there is also a library with books that are meant to provide more insight into the ship’s destinations. I did not see anyone using the library, but if you’re in need of a book you should be covered!

Within your stateroom, there is a TV with shows, movies, and music already on it. I found the show and movie options to be somewhat limited, but my parents enjoyed the available entertainment, nonetheless. I also had quite a bit of trouble with the Wi-Fi, so I probably wouldn’t plan on streaming your own media.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully this article gave you some good advice for choosing the best cruise options, room selections, and dining experiences to ensure you get the most out of your Viking journey. With personal anecdotes, practical tips, and insider knowledge, I hope you’ll feel confident and excited about your upcoming adventure. Don’t miss out on the next articles in this series, where we’ll explore each port of call in vivid detail, review the best local restaurants, and provide some packing tips to make your trip seamless. Read on and let’s make your Viking Rhine Getaway truly remarkable!

Don’t forget, by subscribing below you’ll automatically receive access to my Complete Viking Rhine Getaway Guide & Itinerary!