We were booked to fly by scheduled airline (KLM) from Edinburgh to Amsterdam then from Amsterdam to Basel before being taken to the boat berthed in Basel. I was pleased with the baggage allowance too - none of the 15kg only!! You were allowed one item of hold luggage each, weighing no more than 23kg and one item of regulation size cabin luggage each, weighing no more than 12kg. In addition, I was also allowed a handbag!! I was surprised at myself however as my cases weighed way under the 23kg allowed, so I'm wondering if I've eventually found the secret of packing light!!
On arrival at Edinburgh we were able to check in our luggage straight through to Basel, which left us free to go and have some coffee and breakfast. The flight over to Amsterdam was only 55 minutes and once into the airport we had some free time to explore the airport and do some shopping before the short hop over to Basel.
Now here's a strange thing, Basel Airport is actually in France! This is all explained in the very comprehensive notes you get from Viking, but when you leave the airport in Basel you MUST make sure that you exit through the Swiss gates and NOT the French ones!! Everything is very clearly marked so we had no problem in exiting through customs and finding the Viking reps who pointed us in the direction of the transport awaiting us. Within about 15 minutes we were on the boat!
However, due to us arriving a wee bit on the late side due to the timings of our flights, we did miss some of the introductory talks and briefings aboard, and we floundered a little to begin with, but we soon found our feet and got settled into our cabin before making our way to the dining room for our first dinner aboard.
Now, prior to going on this cruise I looked for photos and reviews and could find hardly anything, so I'm hoping this blog goes some way to rectifying that until more reviews and photos start to come online. I will be posting photos here, but for those of you who would like a sneak preview of the cabin we had and some views of the boat, this is the link to my Flickr album of the Viking Gullveig
Flickr album for Viking Gullveig
Our cabin was very nice. It was bright, airy and modern and decorated in nice neutral colours. Our cabin No. was 334 and we had a 'French balcony'. A review that we had read on Cruise Critic criticised these cabins for being too small as other cabins with just a window were actually larger, and what the reviewer said was true. The cabin is really tight for space. However, there is good storage space which is a bonus. We had the beds configured to a twin orientation, but you can have them made into a double if you wish.
All of the following are included in your cabin: 40" flat screen TV, hairdryer, mirrors, power sockets, walk-in shower, L'Occitane toiletries (Verbena), telephone, safe, fridge (empty for your own supplies), complimentary water every day, clothes drying line in shower cubicle.
The toilet was lovely too, but I would say that the shower cubicle was rather narrow and perhaps a bit on the small side for a large person.
Dinner was scheduled for 7.30 p.m. so there was really no time for us to change, so we just made our way to the dining room. There are stands containing hand sanitation units at the doors for everyone to use on entering. We were on holiday with our friends, so we sat at a table for six and another Scottish couple joined us. I must say that dinner was lovely. There is a different menu every night, but if you don't want what's available, there are other things that you can have which are available every night, such as roast chicken, salmon or New York strip steak. You are always served with an amuse bouche prior to your meal. I would not however recommend the cheese plate - that was a bit of a joke really. There were only two small slivers of cheese, a spoonful of chutney, a strawberry and one or two crackers.
After dinner we headed back to our cabin where we found that our luggage had been delivered, so we unpacked and had an early night after a long day of travelling. Our trip the next morning was to begin at 8.30 a.m. so we wanted to have a good night's rest.
I should say now before I forget, is that this is a river boat and, if you've ever been on a Nile cruise, you'll know what I mean. Sometimes the river boats moor up together when visiting their various ports of call, therefore you can sometimes find that when you open your curtains, you're tight up beside another boat. When moored together, it also means that either you will have to walk through the foyer of another boat to disembark, or people from another boat will have to walk through your boat to do the same. It's a completely normal practice, but it is something you need to be aware of.
This was a very quiet running boat, so we were never interrupted by engine noise during any time when we were travelling at night.
