Viking Prestige Review
Viking Danube Waltz on Viking Prestige Ship (Budapest to Passau)
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Viking Prestige Cruise Review (Danube Waltz) August/September 2018
I have always wanted to go to Budapest and consider it one of the great cities besides Paris, London and major cities in Italy. Hence, we researched a river cruise that began or ended in Budapest and chose Viking.
We did the Viking River Cruise with the cruise itself beginning on August 26 with 1 ½ days in Budapest and finishing on September 2 in Passau. It was FABULOUS and our first Viking cruise ever. (I’d been quite concerned beforehand.) Cruise Director Suzy was superb! Viking employees are incredible with the level of detail and care that they give to passengers. We actually arrived in Budapest on August 24 and did a 1 ½ day private cruise (arranged through Cruise Critic boards) and shared with several other Viking couples. We really enjoyed getting to know them even though they were on a different Viking ship and knew each other previously. In hindsight, Budapest is such a fascinating city that we wished we had arrived 3-4 days before the start of the cruise rather than just 2 days (plus the 1 ½ days) of the “cruise” in Budapest. We’d considered cancelling because we were told we would be in a hotel on the first night in Budapest due to low water level (and our ship was 1 ½ hours by coach away). However, they put us up in the New York Palace hotel which was a WONDERFUL experience. Viking’s service and caring for each person is absolutely amazing. One can shop around for possibly glitzier ships but only Viking provides this kind of caring service I’ve been told and saw for ourselves. We heard that other cruise lines did last minute cancellations which would make me always recommend Viking since they would accommodate guests or I’d envision cancel in advance rather than leaving guests stranded due to water levels. This hotel was built in 1894 and the ground floor had been a meeting place café for the artists and authors who met there at the café. It was nationalized during the Communist era and became a Boscolo era later. In 2006 it was totally renovated as a luxury hotel with gold leaf, marble, columns etc all restored. We felt so fortunate that our private guide took us to the Café for lunch (Hungarian Orchestra was playing) and that was before we were told that Viking was lodging us there the first night of our cruise and providing breakfast there the next morning before our included tour of Budapest. [The locals pronounce it Budapesh saying they are not an insect! The “S” at the end of Budapest is the odd looking slanted B which is prounounced “sh” in their language.)
Cabin Review
Deluxe Stateroom with French Balcony
Our room had a nice bathroom with shelves for personal items. It had a French balcony which means sliding glass doors and a railing outside about 8" so you could open the door and look outside each way but not large enough to go outside. We thought it was great. My friends were on the lowest level with a window and no balcony. It seemed fine and they were happy with the price. The only downside is that you could hear water noise in the pipes from showering or toilet flushing above during the day (about 7am until about 11pm). This could be an issue if someone was a light sleeper or wanted to nap during the day. Fortunately they weren't in the back of the ship where one could also hear engine noise. I did hear some water noise from the cabins on either side of us occasionally but it didn't bother me. I did wake up when the ship's engines started at 3am on our first night on the ship. I am a light sleeper though and very few other people heard this noise and were awakened including my husband in the same room. I would recommend this room.