Saturday morning (April 26th), we packed up and headed to Hbf to catch our train to Zurich, Switzerland. We had our tickets, which of course were entirely in German, so I had already done the translations to figure out what track, car, and seats we needed to occupy!
We boarded and were on our way for our three-hour ride to Zurich. Almost immediately, we were captivated by breathtaking views of the Alps and the German countryside…what a treat! Love traveling by train! From Germany, we passed briefly through Austria, and then into Switzerland.
About an hour outside of Zurich, they announced that the train was delayed and would be arriving late into Zurich. We had a connection there that would take us to Basel, but figured we’d just catch one of several later trains. Then, a few minutes later, they announced that our train was canceled because it was so late. Seemed a little odd that they were canceling a train we were currently on…ummm, what now? They said we all needed to get off at the next stop and catch a train from there to Zurich. We were very grateful that all of the announcements were in both German and English…otherwise, we would have had no idea what was happening and might still be sitting on that train today!
We arrived in Zurich and were absolutely starving, so our first priority was to find food. With full bellies, we could tackle trying to get ourselves to Basel. We found a train that was leaving shortly, but the code on the train was different than on our ticket, so I wasn’t sure if the ticket would be valid. Finally found a ticket counter where the guy stamped/validated our ticket; we hopped on the train with about 30 seconds to spare! Momentary panic when I realized the door out of our train car into the next one was broken, and that was the way to the restroom which I desperately needed to use. An English-speaking passenger sensed my panic and said I could go upstairs to pass through to the car with the restroom. Phew! Crisis averted!
We arrived in Basel about an hour later than expected, and it was a short taxi ride to the dock where our Viking River Cruise longship, the Alruna, was waiting. Our timing was actually perfect…we walked through the doors of the ship about 3:05 pm, and 3pm was the designated time for us to access our cabin…so we checked in and went straight there. Our luggage was delivered a few minutes later, so we could unpack and get settled in for our seven nights on board.
This river cruise is the perfect example of “third time’s a charm”. We first booked this cruise in the summer of 2019, for April 2020. Our plan was to visit Connor during his semester abroad in Luxembourg, spend his Spring Break together in Italy, and then he’d return to school and we’d cruise the Rhine. We all remember what happened in the Spring of 2020…cruise canceled, Viking issued vouchers for a future cruise. Our 2nd attempt was for June 2022; we planned to go to Europe shortly after Connor’s college graduation so he could pick up where he left off in 2020, and we’d cruise the Rhine. Then the war in Ukraine started, and COVID cases picked up again, and we decided a vacation in the US would be a better idea. Canceled again, vouchers issued again. So, last July, we rebooked…and finally, on April 26th, we arrived and I was in a bit of shock that we were FINALLY going to make this dream a reality!
If you’re not familiar with River Cruise longships, they are MUCH smaller than any ocean cruise ship, with about 190 passengers. There’s no casino, and kids under 18 are not allowed. You can always see land, and there’s really no risk of seasickness since the river is very calm. There’s just one seating for dinner, and there are no ‘formal’ dinners. Meals are served at specific times; there aren’t round-the-clock buffets like there usually are on ocean cruises. Our “French balcony” cabin is on the 2nd level and has a full sliding-glass door, with a railing…no actual balcony to sit on, but that’s just fine. We weren’t in the cabin much anyway, and the door let in a lot of light and allowed us to see the sights.
The cabins are really well designed…lots of storage in a small space, and heck, after spending so much time in an RV, the cabin actually felt quite spacious, as did the bathroom.
After unpacking, we headed ashore to see some of Basel. One of the main benefits of a river cruise is that the ship docks VERY close to town (and Viking has prime dock space in most towns)…so you can easily leave and return on your own schedule (as long as you’re back before the ship departs for the next port!). It’s a beautiful city in northwest Switzerland, where France, Germany, and Switzerland meet…and of course, located on the Rhine River. We walked along the River toward Old Town, where we saw Marktplatz and the Town Hall. It was a warm Saturday afternoon and there were crowds of people everywhere. We quickly learned that it’s tough to be a pedestrian in Basel – there are trams running every which way and you really have to keep your eyes peeled for a safe time/place to cross the road!
Back to the ship for our welcome briefing and mandatory safety session, and our first dinner on board. Dinner is at 7pm every night…that’s MUCH later than we are used to! After dinner, we chatted with Connor in London but the phone connection was horrible and we couldn’t figure out why. Realized the next morning that we were in a lock during our call…I guess being inside a big concrete hole can affect cell reception…who knew?
For those of you who like a visual representation, here’s a map of our cruise route; we chose to go from Basel to Amsterdam because that’s the direction the river flows so you generally arrive at each port more quickly and have more time to spend in each port. There are sailings leaving both Amsterdam and Basel pretty much every day during the busy months.
