Viking Christmas River Cruise: Review of our Trip on the Danube!

Join our family as we sail down the Danube River on a Viking River Cruise. We started in Budapest, Hungary December 17 and ended in Regensburg, Germany December 24 - just in time to see the end of the Christmas markets.
Our Viking River Cruise Itinerary is linked below:
www.vikingrivercruises.com/cr...
Austrian Restaurant:
www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...

[@jesusvalencia3450]

Great & Beautiful family, these two sisters are very professional in their presentation ,camera images are evenly focus to the food, scenery to them selves to inside of the ship and their activities, their narrations & observations are exceptional and fantastic, I feel I was with them, now I am looking forward to book for Viking river cruise, I am an Ocean Cruisers all the time.

[@1997nick]

You did a great job with the voiceovers and covering everything on this trip. On the bucket list for sure!

[@DooWopKing2011]

It was joyous to watch you two upbeat smiling ladies show us your fun time on this Viking river cruise!

[@FraserAtSea]

Ahh, this sort of Christmas cruise is on my bucket list - I'm SO SO SO jealous of this. Everything about it just looks so beautifully festive!

[@Obsessionchick]

Thanks Fraser! Definitely recommend :)

[@dthomas7929]

Really good review on the Viking Christmas Market river cruise. Little disappointing to hear the food was bland on the cruise. Thank you for sharing your experience.

[@shannonackeret8260]

So fun to watch, especially because we were on the Atla the week before you! Following our cruise, we hired a driver to take us to Bratislava, Slovakia and then onto Prague for 3 days. Highly recommend adding more time, if possible. I would have loved more time in Munich before our cruise began.

[@Obsessionchick]

Amazing!! Hope you had a fantastic trip. The crew was fantastic.

[@TropicLuv]

What a lovely cruise for the Christmas season! I did the Rhine Viking adventure last March, and they were worried about the water being high enough - now it’s the opposite way! Thank you for sharing your wonderful adventure. It was beautiful! ❤

[@Obsessionchick]

I would love to go on the Rhine adventure next time! Thank you so much for your comment!

[@guidebooktraveller]

Really nice video. Love the look around festive Danube sights. Thanks for sharing this from a new subscriber 👍❤️🙏

[@Obsessionchick]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@kenlawdavis1742]

Thanks for this review. We are booked on Viking to travel Nov 21 for 14 days from Budapest to Amsterdam and hoping for Christmas markets to be open. Our only other Viking river cruise was in China in 2006 and they took wonderful care of us.

[@Obsessionchick]

Enjoy your cruise! You might catch the markets at the tail end of your cruise

[@bugswife_8x8]

Great video! Currently in the process of narrowing down to which Viking cruise route to take for the Christmas Markets.

[@christinapeil]

Great video! What a fun trip! Those Christmas mugs are too cute omg

[@Obsessionchick]

Thank you! We took a few mugs home as collectors items.

[@youjiang6779]

Looks good trip, thank you for sharing your vacation

[@Obsessionchick]

Thank you for your comment!

[@kevintang12]

Great video!

[@Obsessionchick]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@PanBread]

Looks like fun! Would love to go someday

[@Obsessionchick]

Thanks for your comment!

[@jf6395]

keep posting, new viewer.....good luck

[@Obsessionchick]

Thanks for being here!

[@wcgolfpro]

I was on the Atla in July loved it!!

[@Obsessionchick]

The crew were great!

[@barbaralazier8352]

We just did this cruise November-December. We had a fabulous time

[@Obsessionchick]

It was, the perfect time to get in the festive spirit!

[@michellnav]

Great video! I want to plan a river cruise for our 20 year anniversary. It looks like it would be more enjoyable if you have a family/friend group to go with you. Thanks for all the information! - Michell

[@Obsessionchick]

Thanks Michell! It’s definitely a very social boat so you don’t need a group with you! The dining tables are for larger groups so you will most likely share with other groups if you are just a party of 2.

[@YoyoJiang1]

Very informative! Looked so fun. What was your favorite city or Christmas market?

[@Obsessionchick]

Thanks Yoyo! We enjoyed the smaller cities like Passau and Regensburg because they were cuter and more intimate.

[@josaczyn]

Interesting about the food. How disappointing. Friends just returned from a Viking cruise for the Christmas Markets from Amsterdam to Lucerne. They said they ran out of a lot of food items. I would try your destination.

[@Obsessionchick]

It was a great route! Thanks for watching

[@melissajonardi640]

Thank you for your video! We are going this winter! Which cities would you recommend doing the included tours and which would you recommend that we explore on our own?

[@Obsessionchick]

Hi Melissa - I recommend doing the included tours for all the cities. Most of the time the big cities really only have "half" a day worth of a tour, leaving the remainder of the time for free. If you're interested in spending more time shopping at Christmas markets - then I think you could skip the tour in Passau. Regensberg was also a big city where I wish we had more time to shop - so if that's a priority, I think you can skip the tour there.

[@eprohoda]

Greetings. that is superb !catch ya later, Obsessionchick! ;)

[@Obsessionchick]

Thank you!

[@suesims6538]

Great vlog, so informative especially when you gave prices for some of the food you ate. Can I ask dates you did this cruise?

[@Obsessionchick]

Hi Sue! We went the week before Christmas, and it happened to be the last Viking trip before they also close for the winter.

[@joanneburg4159]

Well done. We have already watched this video 4 times. We will be going on the same cruise in late November. The Christmas Markets will be open when we go. Love watching your family together. Quick question. What camera or phone did you do your filming with. It did a great job. Keep the adventures going. D and J

[@Obsessionchick]

Hi Joanne! I was just using the IPhone 14! Thank you so much for your comment

[@valjones9943]

How much cash would you recommend (just for snacks and a few small souvenirs)? Do they take credit cards at the larger markets?

[@connieure4983]

thank you for sharing your video. It was interesting because this was on my bucket list. There is a however by showing the food on the Viking cruise I don’t think I would be very happy. I’m a chef and I have to be honest and I hope this falls within guidelines. The food on the actual cruise looks incredibly an appetizing, and that unfortunately would stop me from taking a Viking or any type of boat of that sort as dining is a big part of my holidays

[@Obsessionchick]

Thanks for your note Connie! I would say the food was enjoyable, but not comparable to larger ocean liners. The beauty of being so close to the cities is that you can also eat on land for the local cuisine!

[@heidibeechuk9203]

Great vlog. What dates did you goon this river cruise? 😊 Thanks!

[@Obsessionchick]

We embarked on 12/17 and disembarked 12/24! I believe it is the last cruise of the season, and the last days of Christmas markets.

[@Divroyalty]

Thank you for sharing your experience! My family is going on a similar cruise this year and we're from Singapore so very excited about winter.. Could you share a bit more on what happened between passau and regensburg as you moved by bus?

[@Obsessionchick]

Hi there! River cruises tend to be more sensitive to the changing water levels of the rivier. Since it had been raining so much, the water levels got too high for our boat to safely cross under the bridges between Passau and Regensburg. So they docked back in a small town in Austria and drove us to Regensburg.

[@Divroyalty]

@Obsessionchick oh I see. Did you have to take your bags with you? Sorry for all the questions, we understand that plans may change due to weather but since we're not familiar just want to be prepared .

[@Obsessionchick]

@@Divroyaltyno, Viking took care of everything. If plans do change, Viking will make sure everything is accommodated for. This is why I think it’s a good idea to book your travel with Viking since they will handle it for you.

[@oopik0059]

We went on a Christmas Market Viking River Cruise in December as well. We had to deal with high water levels on the Rhine, which I didn’t expect in the Winter.

[@heatheriviney4091]

Did it ruin your Rhine your trip? I'm thinking of booking a cruise on the Rhine in December

[@oopik0059]

@@heatheriviney4091 it didn’t, but be prepared for unexpected changes. We did get to Strasbourg, but not long enough to shop at the Christmas Markets, which was disappointing. I would have traded Strasbourg for Cologne, if I had the choice (for the Christmas Markets). We were not up for massive hikes, so Strasbourg would have been better for us. At least it wasn’t very cold while we were there. If you get to Basel, spend a couple of days to see their markets. It was one of the high points of our trip.

[@tomrinehart3022]

Beautiful area…thinking about a river cruise for a while now. Could you use VISA in most places?

[@Obsessionchick]

Yes, VISA was the preferred credit card but for some of the smaller stores / markets cash was still king!

[@CinJoeJacobs]

Did you have to have a double bed or could you have chosen two twins?

[@brianwicker2038]

We went in June and if I remember correctly the bed could be split on request, just let the front desk know

[@annm.7176]

The German food was probably really good but that's how it is in Europe everything's more bland than in America.😊

[@susanclubb7175]

Didn’t you do a Viking Alaska video? I thought I saw one, but can’t find it now.

[@Obsessionchick]

No, I haven't done one in Alaska! Maybe soon though!

[@susanclubb7175]

My husband and I are doing Viking Alaska in May - we are super excited. BYW - you have a beautiful family. I love your enthusiasm for food!🤣

[@earnestcarter8958]

How much cash (in Euros) would you recommend taking for two people?

[@Obsessionchick]

Hi Earnest - I think if most of your purchases are on your card, I think $100-$150 is more than enough for two people of just casual spending!

[@suemijones4317]

Hi, I'm planning a Christmas market cruise for December 2024 and would like to ask how you booked your cruise. Any suggestions/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. 😊

[@Obsessionchick]

Hi Sue, I believe it’s about the price point you are willing to pay and the route you want to go on. I don’t suggest picking cities due to Christmas markets (they are available at all the European cities and are fairly similar between cities). Instead, I would prioritize by price point and route preference of where you want to go (typically between Danube and Rhine for Christmas markets). Viking was fantastic service, but pricier compared to some of the other companies in the ports, like Viva. Other ships we saw were Tauck and Ama. Good luck!

[@suemijones4317]

@@Obsessionchick thank you for your reply. 😊

[@annm.7176]

We took a Christmas cruise once and there was a 128 children on board running the halls

[@1997nick]

Well it is a holiday after all. Viking doesn't permit children so there's that

[@aimeemorales9608]

"Piles of dirt"??? It's winter...they are replanting. You're putting them down for preparing for the Spring. Flowers don't grow year round. And then you say, "...what should be the picturesque Wachau Valley...", so because it's winter it can't be picturesque. I thought it looked amazing. Good job on the rest? lol

[@Obsessionchick]

The Viking crew magic can only go so far to keep winter away! Thanks for enjoying the video.