Time 2 Go Travel

Time 2 Go Travel Travel Agency

05/02/2026

Here are my comparisons after doing a Viking River Cruise on the Danube and a Riviera River Cruise on the Rhône River.

Dining - Both lines have a main restaurant where the seating is made so that you can get to know some other travelers. Riviera does have 4 tables for 2 people, where Viking only has larger tables. Both have a small restaurant you can go to, Viking's at the bow and Riviera's at the stern. Viking's restaurant has a small buffet and Riviera's has a set menu, and at least for lunch, it's the same menu every day. My personal preference: Riviera

Food - Viking does a great job of having food from the region you are traveling through, and it's nice to hear from the chef about what the regional specialties are that he will be serving each night. Riviera has a menu that caters to the demographic. They do, however, have some regional specialties in the lounge at times. In my opinion, the taste of the food and the variety of food was better on Viking.

Announcements - Viking does not make announcements over the loud speaker unless it's absolutely necessary. The cruise manager on Riviera makes announcements a few times a day, even into the rooms relatively early in the morning. My personal preference: Viking

Excursions - Each line offers basically one excursion in each port of call. Sometimes you have a choice of which of two you will take. Viking offers some other expensive extra excursions, but Riviera does not offer anything extra. On both lines, you have to register for your excursions ahead of time. My personal preference: Viking. The optional excursions are really overpriced, but at least you have something else you can choose to do with transportation.

Demographics - I would say the average age on the Viking cruise I went on was around 60-65. It was definitely closer to 70 on the Riviera cruise. I'm pretty sure on the Riviera there were only two of us in our 50s, and none younger. Also, the Viking cruise was about 85% American and 15% Canadian, and the Viking cruise was made up of 2 people from the USA, 2 British expats from Canada, and the rest were from the UK. The most common question I was asked was "do you live in the UK?" Riviera definitely caters to that part of the world. My personal preference: Riviera because I really enjoyed being around all the Brits.

Beards - just as an aside... there were quite a few people on the Viking cruise with beards, but only 1 I saw on the whole ship with a beard on the Riviera cruise. Is it because Brits prefer to be clean shaven?

Drinks - On Viking they included sodas and alcohol during lunch and dinner, and were kind enough to give me a Coke Zero at breakfast without charging me for it. On Riviera, all the drinks are included from 10 am onward, so if I wanted a Coke Zero at breakfast, I had to pay for it. However, I could get the Coke Zero from 10 am on through the day. My personal preference: Riviera since all drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, are included after 10 am.

Clothing - the dress code is way nicer on the Riviera than on the Viking. Viking encourages you to dress casually. Traveling for over a month in a carry on and a backpack, I didn't have extra room for dressy clothing, so I was underdressed pretty much the whole time on the Riviera, but I fit right in on the Viking. The passengers on Riviera dressed for dinner every night, and there was even an elegant night where they really dressed up (for the Captain's Gala Dinner). My personal preference: Viking

Rivers - it's hard to compare the Danube to the Rhône. The bridges are taller on the Danube... on the Rhône they have to flatten the sun deck tents, chairs, etc., in order to go under the bridges. The scenery on the Danube is better, in my opinion, but if you like rolling hills, and not too many castles or churches along the way, you might like the Rhône. My personal preference: the Danube.

Gratuities - when you get on board the Viking cruise, they take your credit card and you are required at the end of the cruise to pay €20 per person per night for gratuities, so it was €140 for each of us in the cabin. Viking charged it directly to our credit card. Riviera has a suggestion of €5-7 per person per night, so a total of €35 - €49 total per person. My personal preference: Riviera, because I typically tip some of the staff individually separately anyway.

Staff - the staff on board the Viking was very fun, very personable, very friendly. The staff on board the Riviera was not as fun, personable or friendly. They were fine, always said good morning, but just didn't seem to enjoy their work like the Viking staff did. My personal preference: Viking.

Cabins - this is hard to compare because we had a cabin on the lower deck on Viking and we had a French balcony on Riviera. There is a lot more room, and two closets, in our room on the Riviera. My personal preference: Riviera

Excursion & Port Announcements - On Viking we had the 30 minutes before dinner for the next day's port talk. On Riviera they did it at 9 pm, so after dinner, assuming you were done at 9. My personal preference: Viking

That's all I can think of right now. I have also cruised on Ama Waterways, Avalon Waterways, and Amadeus. Every line is a bit different and each has pros and cons.

If you are interested in booking a river cruise, please feel free to reach out to me... I'd love to help you find the best fit for your holiday!!

04/27/2026

We just got on the Riviera MS Thomas Hardy about 2 hours ago. Here's my first review of what I've experienced so far.

We are in a French balcony cabin, and it's definitely bigger than the cabin we were on with Viking. There are two closets so we don't have to share closets and drawers. There are two chairs and a small table by the window, and the window opens like French doors.

The bathroom is also larger, and has a light under the sink area that we can leave on overnight; oh, and the light switch is inside the bathroom rather than outside, so when we go in at night to use it, we don't have to turn on the light from outside with the door open and wake up the other person in the room.

In order to get on wifi, we had to bring our devices to the guest services desk as there's a code that comes up when you log into the wifi that they have to scan. VPN cannot be used.

We weren't supposed to get onboard until 5 pm unless we reached out early and let them know, so we left our luggage at the hotel during the day and came over around 4:30 to get on the ship. Our rooms were ready and they had a nice tea service with some goodies in the lounge when we arrived, then we went to our room and unpacked.

Riviera doesn't use plastic bottles, but they give you a silver reusable water bottle and there is a refilling station near the coffee area.

At the tea time, it looked like the demographic on this ship is older than it was on the Viking Tor, but I guess we'll see if that's the case as we see more people around and about.

04/23/2026

Last day of Viking Review. We arrived late in Budapest this morning due to traffic on the river and in one of the locks. We just missed about 30 minutes of our panoramic tour, so it was ok. It was worth sailing into Budapest rather than getting on a bus and meeting up with the ship later. The tour was good and our guide had a great sense of humor, and she even took us into the Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill near the Fisherman's Bastion, which I enjoyed.

The food has been excellent the whole trip, though I'm not a foodie. I did still think it was excellent.

One odd thing... twice the housekeeping lady opened the door without knocking while I was inside. Today she did it while I was in the bathroom, but thankfully the door to the bathroom was shut. I thought it was strange that she didn't knock and give me the chance to ask her to come back later. I guess in future I'll lock the bottom lock on the door while I'm inside, and not just at night.

Overall it's been a very good cruise. Personally I would've preferred to stop in Bratislava rather than have 2 full days in Vienna, especially since the city center is a long way from the river in Vienna. I suppose a lot of people like having the extra time in that beautiful city.

All of the staff have been extremely accommodating and friendly. They may have been a little short-staffed tonight because they weren't refilling water often enough. It would be nice to have a water pitcher on the table.

They use a lot of paper. They gave us a 2-sided paper every day ("The Viking Daily") telling us timing and tidbits about the area. When they did our final bill, they gave us two sheets of paper, even though there was only one charge on it, and the second paper had one credit on it. I think they should condense all of this and put it into an app. They also use plastic water bottles, which I know a lot of cruise lines are doing away with and instead giving reusable water bottles with water filling stations. That would be better.

If I think of other things in the coming days, I'll add more in, but..... one thing I will say....... if you are interested in taking a Viking cruise (or any river or ocean cruise for that matter), please book through a travel advisor rather than direct with the company. It doesn't have to be me, though I would LOVE to have your business, but help a small business owner by using a travel agency! The cost isn't different, but when you book direct the commission that a travel advisor would make stays in the pockets of the cruise line.

And, with that being said... stay tuned. Because I'm going to be taking another river cruise in a few days' time. And I'll review that one as well!!!

04/22/2026

Today's Viking Review. The good news is that after we arrived in Vienna, they did something and the bad smell in the bathroom area went away, and we haven't had any trouble since then. We are thankful for that. I wonder if they had to clean out the septic or something.

We've been in Vienna for two full days. Yesterday morning we did one of the included excursions (there are two to choose from, but the only included ones went yesterday morning), which was a Panoramic Tour of Vienna. We had a bus tour first, then a walking tour. It was scheduled for 3 hours, but took about half that because after we did the short walking tour, we had free time, and if you were going back to the bus to go back to the ship, there was a time to meet after over an hour of free time. Because I had been to Vienna before, I knew we could stay in the city.

So, we wandered around for a bit, checked out the bling in Swarovski, and then bought 24-hour subway tickets so we could make our way to Schönbrunn Palace. I bought us a tour in Schönbrunn before we left, and I'm glad I did. Viking offered a tour, for well over double what we paid for it. We saw two different Viking groups from our ship come through. They each had about 30 people on their tour, and we had only 8, which dwindled to 6 once we got inside. We also had a tour of the gardens, whereas I think the Viking group just had free time to explore the gardens. We stayed a little bit longer, then made our way back to the subway station and went into the old city to meet my Bosnian friend for dinner.

I also booked us tickets to see a classical concert in St. Anne's Church. We went there on our own and enjoyed the concert, rather than trying to book one of Viking's more expensive concerts.

Today we had the full day free. Viking offered an excursion to see the Lippezzaner Stallions at the Spanish Riding School. It was not a performance, but the practice session. We chose instead to go out to a stable on the outskirts of the city and learn all about the fiakers (horse and carriage companies), meet the horses, watch the grooms set up the carriages and hook up the horses, then we took a nice hour-long ride into the city. It wasn't a tour around the city, but we got to ride in a 100+-year-old carriage that may have belonged to the Hapsburgs during their reign. Amazing.

The carriage dropped us off in the city center and we walked to the house where Mozart lived for several years while he was in Vienna. We got the audio guide and toured around inside, then went to the interactive Haus der Musik (House of Music), and enjoyed wandering around there and learning about music, hearing, composing, and famous composers from Austria. We had no trouble making our way back to the ship via public transportation.

I know that's mostly not a review for Viking, but I say all of this to let you know that there are not a lot of included excursions with Viking. You basically get one walking tour in each city. If you want to do anything else, you sign up and pay for it with Viking, or you can plan your days out on your own (or get the help of a travel advisor). I'm sure the Viking optional excursions are great... we just chose not to spend the extra money.

04/20/2026

Today's Viking River Cruise Review:

Our walking tours (included) on Viking have been very good yesterday and today. Yesterday we went on a tour of Passau. Today we went up to Göttweig Abbey. The Abbey was really nice. They bused us up there and we spent about 2.5 hours all together, most of which was on a tour with a college student, who did an excellent job.

Don't get a cabin on the first floor. There is a window, but it's high up and you can't see anything out of it without standing on your tiptoes. Also, the room itself is under the water line, so they rarely clean the windows, and the window leading out of our cabin is very dirty. Even if you think you won't stay in the room much, so it's ok, don't do it. Sometimes you just want to look out the window and see where you are going.

Also, after 3 days, our bathroom is very smelly. It's either mildew or backed up sewage from being on the bottom level of the ship. We mentioned it to our room steward, and she basically just closed the bathroom door. Tomorrow we will have to let guest services know. I'm not sure if this is because we are under the water line, or if there is another problem. We also can't keep water from leaving the shower, even though we close the shower doors as tight as we can.

Our tour manager on this trip is fantastic. He is funny and does a great job keeping everything together. He's very communicative and helpful. All of the staff have been fabulous.

Most of the people I've met are on their first Viking cruise (and first river cruise). I ask every one of them why they chose Viking. They all say the same thing... they had a relative, a friend, or a neighbor, that had been on Viking and loved it, so they chose to try it themselves. They are all very happy with the cruise so far. Oh, one couple said they chose it because they needed a cruise that started near Munich on a Friday, so this was the one. They were willing to go with any option that fit that criteria.

One thing that is not nice, but is likely the same on most lines... the bathroom light is on the outside of the bathroom door. In order to go into the bathroom at night, you have to turn on the light from the outside, which lights up the entire rest of the room. It's painful when your roommate turns on the light in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and wakes you up. Might be a good idea in the future to bring a small nightlight to keep on in the bathroom to avoid this.

Viking cruise day 2: we spent the night in Regensburg and most of today as well. The bed is very comfortable. Breakfast ...
04/18/2026

Viking cruise day 2: we spent the night in Regensburg and most of today as well. The bed is very comfortable. Breakfast was good, I had an omelet made as I requested it.

The tour today was good. We did a city tour with a focus on Jewish History. The tour was good and the guide was great.

Got back on the ship for lunch and sat outside like yesterday. We ordered from the menu today. The food was delicious.

Spent some time on the sun deck this afternoon and got some work done. The chairs were comfortable. There was no bar so if you wanted something to drink you had to get it from the lounge and bring it up.

We had a short meet and greet with the main captain and the upper level staff members and then heard about all of the options excursions for the trip. Viking incudes one excursion per day. Sometimes you have a choice, like today we could’ve done the regular city tour or the longer Jewish focused tour. Any other excursions you want to do you have to pay for. We didn’t sign up for any non-included excursions.

Dinner again was great, and after dinner they had a live show of opera and some more modern songs, with a bit of humor thrown in. It was really nice.

The Tour Manager, Paul, is really good. He gave us an update about how busy the river is and about how we may have to start our excursions a little later in the morning because of having to wait to go through the locks. He also has a great sense of humor.

All of the staff members we’ve encountered have been very nice and accommodating and seem to love the jobs.

I’m on my first Viking River cruise and I thought I’d give a daily review of the ship, the excursions, and the food. Let...
04/17/2026

I’m on my first Viking River cruise and I thought I’d give a daily review of the ship, the excursions, and the food. Let’s see how it goes.

We arrived today with no issues. Got to the ship at 2:30 and our room was ready. We are in a room below the water line on the first floor. First impression of the room is it is tiny. We had to ask to have our beds separated but either way there is no room for people to walk past each other at the foot of the beds.

The bathroom, too, is very small. I appreciate how there is a sliding door to get in and out so the the door doesn’t open up into the bathroom or into the room. The shower is very small, but the water pressure and shower head are divine. The water would go pretty cold briefly and then very hot briefly, and did so the whole time I was in the shower.

There are two 110 v (American style) plugs and one 220v (European style) in the room, which is nice.

We had a buffet lunch on the back deck and it was tasty. Dinner in the dining room was very good. I had two of the regional specialties. I enjoyed the meal.

Oh, and they had a short city walking tour for us in the afternoon, which was nice. The guide basically took us to the center of the town and told us how to get back to the ship so we wandered a bit on our own before heading back.

The safety briefing and information about tomorrow lasted a full hour, which was a little bit long.

Posting a few pics today and will post more tomorrow.

05/24/2025

I'm putting together a trip to Italy for next Spring... a bit off the beaten path. We will fly into and out of Milan and visit Alba, Cuneo, Turin, Recco, Lerici, Cinque Terre, Lucca, San Miniato, and Bologna. I have 15 spots left on the tour.

Dates are April 29-May 10. You can see details on my website: t2gt.com

Hope you can join me and see a bit of the "hidden spots" in Tuscany!!

Made it to Lisbon. In the line for passport control. Was making progress until the Asian man in front of me let 14 of hi...
10/12/2024

Made it to Lisbon. In the line for passport control. Was making progress until the Asian man in front of me let 14 of his friends in front of him.

Address

127-A N Salem Street
Apex, NC
27502

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Time 2 Go Travel posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Time 2 Go Travel:

Shortcuts

Share

Category