About a year ago in June 2024, Roy and Gwyn kindly asked us to join them on the Cities of Light Viking River Cruise from Prague to Paris. Yes, please! This cruise goes in either direction and we opted to begin in Prague at the furthest location at the start of the trip. We’ve been excited for months about visiting new countries and experiencing a Viking River Cruise. For years Michele has wanted to go on one, seeing the ads on PBS that look so inviting and luxurious. Ours is a combination of land and the cruise ship tours. We opted for the city extensions at either end to enjoy more of Prague and Paris. The river cruise portion is in Germany.
About eight months ahead of the departure we chose our excursions. Viking offers a free excursion on every day we stop at a port, plus several add-on tours those days, and excursions in Prague and Paris. Should one wish it they could take three tours in a day! We spent a week choosing what we’d like to do, such as historical tours, scenic walking tours and educational tours. Michele is especially looking forward to finally seeing Versailles in France.
At the end of April we got all of our documentation sorted out and added an international option to our phone plan so we can have connectivity in Europe. Luckily the new European visa requirement for US citizens is delayed until 2026, so we do not have to worry about applying for it on this trip.
We plan on exchanging US dollars for Euros and Czech Korunas at the airport (most likely during our layover on Brussels). We also started loading our tablets with entertainment options for the nearly 10 hours of flight time on the way over to Prague and the 7 hours of flight time back from Paris.
Michele decided that she needed a few things for the trip and spent an unnecessary amount of time on Amazon looking for a travel wallet. Through three separate transactions she got one that was too big, one too small, and finally one that was just right. She also took two tries to find the perfect small crossbody purse. Then she wanted noise cancelling headphones for the flights. She tried out Roy's over-the-ear headphones and Rob's Airpod Pros to see which she might like better. She decided to go with a set of Airpod Pros and bought them at Target just two days before we left. She also ordered a travel fan and sleep mask that delivered the day before.
All of our trips for the past 8 years have been within the United States and via motorcycle or car. This trip will be very different as it will take place overseas on a river boat and we'll be chauffeured everywhere. This of course requires us to pack very differently. Rob has downsized his camera gear to his smaller backpack so it will more easily fit on the plane. And while we typically pack for 10-14 days of travel and do laundry, this trip will not have any opportunity to do laundry so we'll need to pack clothes for 16 days. This trip also requires Rob to pack some nice looking clothes for our on-ship dining. He may even have to pack a second pair of shoes! (Michele’s note: when Rob says nice looking that means a collared shirt. He is still wearing jeans.)
No laundry days meant Michele had to bust out the “big daddy” suitcase, as she calls it. Thinking she had a 50lb. limit on her bag, she fussed for a few days on what to pack. Weather forecasts indicated daily highs ranging from upper 50s to the 70s, so we’d need a bit of everything. A day before Rob read that United allowed one 70lb. checked bag per person for Premium Plus customers. Whew! Later, Roy told Michele he did the same thing; he packed for 40lb to be safe only to discover he could go up to 70lb.
The week before Rob also mowed the lawn a few times to get it shorter so it wouldn’t be too tall upon our return. The lawn looks amazing this time of year, like green velvet. We got to see some of our spring flowers bloom before we left.
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