sloscheider Loc: Minnesota

Though I enjoyed the daily excursions, my inner geek loved the night sailing just as much. If you're willing to loose some sleep time there are some really neat events to witness. Going upstream I don't think you'll encounter any locks until the 3rd night and then there are a bunch. The geek in me loved going through the locks. Spend a little time to get to know the pilot up top, he/she can tell you when some of the neat night time scenes will come around. There's several bridges that are spectacularly lit and I was the only passenger to see them. The Viking Ships themselves are pretty amazing. They are huge jet boats with 360 degree rotatable water jets for propulsion. The wheelhouse up top will drop down into the middle of the ship to get under some of the low bridges but again, you'll only get shots of this if you're up at night. Near the end of your trip is where you'll go under the lowest bridge, depending on the water levels they may have to fold down the rails of the top deck, break down the tables and chairs and the wheel house will only extend about 1 foot above the top of the ship! The pilot can open a hatch in the roof to watch what's going on.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

Thanks, sloscheider. Went through locks on the Danube. Fascinating, but not for the fellow just stepping out of his shower. Forgot to close his curtains. The night bridge shoot sounds interesting.

DJphoto Loc: SF Bay Area

We took our first cruise of any type last July on Viking Ocean "Into the Midnight Sun." It was the best vacation we've ever had and we ran out of superlatives early in the cruise. We booked a Viking cruise from Venice to Barcelona in 2020 while on our cruise.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

Thanks for commenting, DJ. Just got back from the Rhine. Great cruise. Viking does a very good job, although there were some things I liked better about Avalon (Danube Cruise experience). Glad that you enjoyed your ocean cruise. We are trying to come up with a Baltic cruise that has the stops we want. Meanwhile, we will be cruising from Lisbon to Barcelona this fall.