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Shooting Tips for Viking River Cruise to Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, and France
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Mar 8, 2018 10:26:22   #
47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range
 
Three years ago, I was asking the same question. I elected in the end to take my Canon 6d and 24-105 plus a Canon SX60 to catch scenes along the river. I can’t agree more with those suggesting you might be taking too much glass. Even one extra lens can get heavy by the end of the day. The next year for another river trip, I bought a Sony a6000 with 18-55mm and 55-250. I used the long lens only a handful of times. Last year, I finally settled on the combination that worked best for me, the a6000 w/Sony 24-105 and 10-18, and the SX60. The Canon stayed on the boat.

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Mar 8, 2018 11:14:46   #
Jim Bob
 
NikonD750Mike wrote:
I’ll be going on a Viking River Cruise in September. We’ll be visiting Geneva, Zurich, Zermatt, Basel, Strasbourg, Speyer, Mainz, Koblenz, Cochem, Bernkastel, Treir, and Paris. I plan on taking a Nikon D750, and the following lenses: Nikon 20mm F/1.8G, Tamron 24-70 F/2.8 G2, and a Tamron 70-200 F/2.8. I have a Nikon 200-500 F/5.6 but I won’t be taking it along.

Outside of the ‘normal’ things to shoot does anyone have any suggestions of ‘must see’ places and things to photograph?

I realize there are quite a few cities listed above. I’m hoping someone may have previously made the same trip or had visited some of the same places. I went on a Viking River Cruise in April 2017 to the Netherlands. It was absolutely wonderful.

Thanks.
I’ll be going on a Viking River Cruise in Septembe... (show quote)

You will probably not use the 70-200 much.

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Mar 8, 2018 12:21:33   #
Mike1017
 
24-70 and 70-200 many great shots on the river along the Rine done this trip twice a tripod light weight would help along the river and leave the VR off Great Trip many photo Opps Mike

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Mar 8, 2018 12:37:58   #
Bill Emmett Loc: Bow, New Hampshire
 
About Viking. If you are going to allow Viking to provide you airline to Europe, be sure not to use the Viking trip insurance. Use Travel Guard, much better insurance, and responsive. The airline lost our baggage when the wife and I took the Rhine cruise. The Viking insurance would not forward our bags from Frankfort to the ship. I got my bag when we arrived in Amsterdam. I wasted many of the stops along the Rhine, shopping and buying clothes. The people on the ship did help out by doing laundry during the night to keep my few garments clean. We'll be taking another Viking Cruise in April to Southern France.

B

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Mar 8, 2018 12:41:51   #
Mike1017
 
Yes you will going down the river many great Castles Mike

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Mar 8, 2018 15:28:20   #
dnathan
 
All of the replies above have merit. The only sure way to get great images is to take me with you (all expenses paid so I could concentrate on you).

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Mar 8, 2018 15:33:36   #
NikonZSeriesMike Loc: Naples, FL
 
How thoughtful of you dnathan. Not many people would be willing to make such a sacrifice!

I’ve gotten some great feedback from quite a few people so far.

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Mar 8, 2018 15:41:44   #
47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range
 
Bill Emmett wrote:
About Viking. If you are going to allow Viking to provide you airline to Europe, be sure not to use the Viking trip insurance. Use Travel Guard, much better insurance, and responsive. The airline lost our baggage when the wife and I took the Rhine cruise. The Viking insurance would not forward our bags from Frankfort to the ship. I got my bag when we arrived in Amsterdam. I wasted many of the stops along the Rhine, shopping and buying clothes. The people on the ship did help out by doing laundry during the night to keep my few garments clean. We'll be taking another Viking Cruise in April to Southern France.
B
About Viking. If you are going to allow Viking to... (show quote)

Even better (insurance) decision, go to insuremytrip.com. On the occasions, we bought Viking insurance, the cost came to about 13%-14% of the total trip cost including airfare. Almost exact insurance through Roamright (thru insuremytrip) was about 10% of total trip cost for practically the same level of insurance.

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Mar 8, 2018 16:32:59   #
NikonZSeriesMike Loc: Naples, FL
 
Thanks for insurance tips. That’s something we’ve never considered.

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Mar 8, 2018 18:47:18   #
sloscheider Loc: Minnesota
 
I found the nighttime views interesting. It's worth investigating what bridges and locks you'll be traveling through on any given night. The crew are an invaluable resource. Get to know the night pilot and deck hands and they'll let you know if something interesting is coming up and about what time you'll be getting there.

Being a bit of a geek (okay, a big geek) I found some of the shots of the ship and crew were interesting. Like the pilot house that can descend down into the ship with barely 1 foot above deck or the pilot guiding the ship into locks. The Viking river ships are directional water jet propelled powered by diesel electric generators.

What stories do you want to tell about your adventure? Picking a theme based upon the shared history of the places you'll be visiting can help guide shot selections.

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Mar 8, 2018 19:13:46   #
NikonZSeriesMike Loc: Naples, FL
 
Thanks. I will talk to the crew about landmarks. That’s something I didn’t think about on my last trip. From my experience the crew is friendly and accessible. I couldn’t have been treated better.

I appreciate the information regarding themes. Thank you!

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Mar 8, 2018 19:37:35   #
DaveyDitzer Loc: Western PA
 
NikonD750Mike wrote:
I’ll be going on a Viking River Cruise in September. We’ll be visiting Geneva, Zurich, Zermatt, Basel, Strasbourg, Speyer, Mainz, Koblenz, Cochem, Bernkastel, Treir, and Paris. I plan on taking a Nikon D750, and the following lenses: Nikon 20mm F/1.8G, Tamron 24-70 F/2.8 G2, and a Tamron 70-200 F/2.8. I have a Nikon 200-500 F/5.6 but I won’t be taking it along.

Outside of the ‘normal’ things to shoot does anyone have any suggestions of ‘must see’ places and things to photograph?

I realize there are quite a few cities listed above. I’m hoping someone may have previously made the same trip or had visited some of the same places. I went on a Viking River Cruise in April 2017 to the Netherlands. It was absolutely wonderful.

Thanks.
I’ll be going on a Viking River Cruise in Septembe... (show quote)


Speyer has a great old Roman style cathedral and more of a small town feel. Strasbourg is known for the storks and "fachwerk" houses. Koblenz is the end point of the Mosel river and very hospitable. Bernkastel is beautiful, very "German" and the local white wines are without peer. Ditto Trier. In many places I hope you have time to walk around and you might consider skipping a tour or two just to walk around the city centers and pedestrian zones (Fussgaenger Zonen").

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Mar 8, 2018 21:40:04   #
NikonZSeriesMike Loc: Naples, FL
 
Thanks. During our previous trip to the Netherlands we usually had tours in the morning and afternoons to roam about. We did quite a bit of exploring and it was absolutely fantastic. It really gave us a feel for the cities, towns, and people. From our itinerary it appears this year’s trip will have the same structure.

Thanks for the advice!

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Apr 4, 2018 13:52:58   #
cascoly Loc: seattle
 
i used my sony a77ii with one lens -- 16-300 Tamron zoom - on a Viking river cruise; it saves a lot of time rather than having to switch lenses, since there are so many times where you'll want both wide angle & tele and the ship is constantly changing your perspective. you can quickly get panoramas, then detailed castle shots. i probably shoot mostly in the 70-100 range

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/cascoly?searchterm=rhine

https://www.shutterstock.com/g/cascoly?searchterm=danube

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Apr 4, 2018 14:32:59   #
NikonZSeriesMike Loc: Naples, FL
 
Thanks for your reply. Excellent pictures. I don’t have an all-in-one zoom. After buying the Tamron 24-70 and 70-200, I’m short on cash! I’ll be using my 70-200 as we travel on the river and the 24-70 around the towns and cities. Our itinerary has us on the Rhine and the Moselle rivers. Hope you enjoyed your cruise. Last year we went on the Viking River Cruise to The Netherlands. Kinderdijk was great. Quite frankly, everything was excellent. Thanks again!

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