Viking River Cruise

[Danmar]

Yes I think that is exactly it. The European cruises are a sampler for which places to return for a few days. That is how we use cruises.

Agree. This is why we stopped doing cruises for a while. We had so many places we wanted to visit but wanted to spend more time at. Also, we found cruises were a little restrictive. Ie too many rules. When you ate, where you ate, what you ate, when the shows were, etc. I like to be in control and cruising took a little control away. Clearly a personal view.

Took the QM 2 to France last month and it was quite good. Obviously ports of call not an issue. Still a lot of rules and interactions with people in authority. On the other hand, the canal barge was fabulous. Our party the only passengers. 6 crew. I felt like I was the captain.

 

[AltaRed]

I have to wonder, if you noticed a bus difference because you are comparing different rivers and Countries ?

Agreed the buses were wonderful coaches and we had no real objection on a 30 minute bus ride, but no, it was not just the different rivers and countries. In France, as an example, when we went to Arles, our Viking ship actually docked at Avignon and we were bused to Arles. And yet in Arles, there were river cruise ships docked at Arles....and those passengers could just walk straight into Arles.

 

[jonat]

When I have done river cruises with Uniworld, the Viking ships were docked very close by. I agree that the Viking tour groups tend to be larger, from what I saw (and their ships hold more passengers). I have not cruised with Viking so I can't speak from first-hand experience, but I have friends who have done both Viking and Uniworld and every one of them prefers Uniworld.

 

[Aerides]

My parents just rebooked a Viking Euro River. They took their first this summer going from Switzerland thru germany, ending in Amsterdam. Next year they are going the danube route, starting in budapest.

They noted that at each dock, it seemed like Viking had more "red carpet" type treatment. They were thrilled with the service, food, boat condition, everything, and this was their first real cruise.

I'm happy they've found something new they like, Dad is getting to where he's just not comfortable driving rentals around unfamiliar places, but Mom likes to take long trips with multiple side-journeys, so this is perfect for them.

 

[Sunset]

One thing about Viking river cruise that I didn't like, was the overpriced option to extend your stay 2 or 3 nights at the beginning or end of a cruise.
Example Amsterdam 2 extra nights (in a hotel) $549 pp - so we are talking ~$1,100 per couple and it includes breakfast and some walk around tour. But really the hotel probably includes breakfast for any guest.
That hotel is available for 221 Euros per night with breakfast so the real cost for the hotel would be $508 per couple, add a $100 for a tour (or two) and it's still saving $500.

And if you wanted to stay a week arranging your own stay somewhere, then they are fine with that, but want to charge you an extra $100 for NOT taking you to the airport

 

[jonat]

Cruise extensions are often absurdly priced - it isn't just Viking.

 

[Souschef]

Cruise extensions are often absurdly priced - it isn't just Viking.

+1
Those extensions are for people who prefer a "seamless" experience. We spent a few days post cruise in Amsterdam, strictly DIY, and did it for 1/3 of what the cruise line wanted.AltaRed commented about where Viking docked near Arles. On our cruise we docked in Arles and could walk across a square to a market.
IMO, the worse Viking cruise in the Russian River cruise. During the days in Moscow and St. Petersburg, you are bused from the ship to town through the horrendous traffic. In our cruise, we were put up at hotels in both cities. Big difference.

 

[Ologist]

We did the Viking Rhine river cruise from Amsterdam to Basel May 2017. It was our first river boat cruise and throughly enjoyed it. Have done plenty of ocean cruises with the mega lines.....this was completely different. Spent three days in Amsterdam pre cruise and three days in Switzerland post cruise on a DIY basis. Wonderful time looking forward to the next adventure maybe Imperial China on Viking.

 

[braumeister]

That's exactly the one we did beginning of September.
Loved Amsterdam and Lucerne. Probably won't be doing another formal guided trip any time soon because we found so many places we want to explore on our own. Viking does an excellent overview.

 

[nwsteve]

Just finished a Amsterdam to Budapest trip on Avalon. Saw a lot of Vikings on the 3 rivers. They pretty much have a boat visiting any city on a navigable river.
We did an eight day trip with Viking last Oct on the Elbe in much small vessel than what they use on the big rivers--only a 100 passengers capacity.
Based on our Avalon trip we would probably do a river cruise again more likely with Avalon than Viking. Pluses to Avalon for slightly larger cabins, beds oriented to water, much better wines and better local guides. Avalon has a more "relaxed" approach with how you choose to use your shore time than Viking. Because we had previously visited a couple of the cities, we pretty much did our own thing when our vessel stopped. No issue-just check out and be back before the ship leaves were the only limitations.
One of the things we learned in dealing with both companies is not to get "seduced" by their airfare offers to get you to book. We heard too many horror stories from fellow passenger about routings from Hell. Both companies play games with airport transfers--basically saying you have to pay a big premium if you do not book air with them. For example, arrive a few days early in a departure city will cost you over $100 extra for the privilege of them meeting you at the airport and transporting to vessel. Our cab fares never even came close and we made it fit our schedule.
On the just completed Avalon trip, we had a 7:30 am flight for our flight from Budapest and were told to be at airport at 5:30. Cab cost us 30 E. We get there and see several folks from the trip. The "group departure" left the vessel at 3:30 am--apparently some of them had earlier flights, but anyone close got combined into one trip to save bucks for Avalon versus scheduling two trips--coaches are expensive if you don't fill them up.
We enjoyed the trip especially only unpacking once in 2 weeks.

 

[Sunset]

..... No issue-just check out and be back before the ship leaves were the only limitations.
One of the things we learned in dealing with both companies is not to get "seduced" by their airfare offers to get you to book..... . Both companies play games with airport transfers--basically saying you have to pay a big premium if you do not book air with them. For example, arrive a few days early in a departure city will cost you over $100 extra for the privilege of them meeting you at the airport and transporting to vessel. Our cab fares never even came close and we made it fit our schedule.
.....

We never had any issues with leaving a Viking river ship and doing our own thing, just let them know and go.

As for the airfare, I have to agree, we got seduced by the free airfare, and never thought to ask how much for the trip without airfare, which would have given us much more flexibility. Our flights were perfect but we were lucky compared to other folks we talked to.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I was going to mention Avalon and AMA, since part of this thread seemed to be turning into a Viking vs. Uniword comparison. Our first river cruise was with AMA about 15 years ago. The boat was quite a bit smaller than the newer vessels, so it's hard to compare the experience with river cruising today. Shore excursions were excellent in part because the tour groups were small, but the boat had fewer "luxury" features.

There are other smaller cruise lines operating around Europe as well. I'm intrigued by CroisiEurope, which offers smaller barge cruises on off-the-mainstream routes as well as the more conventional options on the Danube, Rhine, etc.

Reading up a little, I learned that an inspiration for the growth of European river cruising was the opening of Germany's Main-Danube Canal in 1992. We cruised the Main (and the canal) a few years ago and were impressed by the canal's engineering innovations. Parts of the canal are elevated with overpasses to allow highway traffic to pass beneath it!

My ideal European river cruise experience is to take an 8-day cruise and spend another week or more in the area on our own. In France, for instance, we rented a car after the cruise and toured the Camargue and the Verdon Gorge, among other places.

 

[Sittinginthesun]

Would you folks recommend one of these for a family with two kids under 12? Did you see any families on board? Thx.

 

[braumeister]

I'm pretty sure Viking has a minimum age limit of 12.

 

[Sittinginthesun]

I'm pretty sure Viking has a minimum age limit of 12.

Thanks, time to call the grandparents and book a week visit with the kids next fall lol.

 

[Meadbh]

Would you folks recommend one of these for a family with two kids under 12? Did you see any families on board? Thx.

Definitely not. On my one river cruise (Avalon on the Danube, 5 stars) there were no children. I think there were one or two young people (18-20) with their parents. River cruise ships do not have room for play structures and playrooms, and there is no crew member assigned specifically to children. I think the lower age limit of 12 is common.

 

[Sunset]

Would you folks recommend one of these for a family with two kids under 12? Did you see any families on board? Thx.

No.
We saw 1 girl aged 17 with her grandmother, and the grandmother said they got permission for the 17 yr old to be on the ship. There were no other children.
The 17 yr old was very mature according to other old passengers.

There is a big lack of things for children to do or see on the ship, so it would be boring for most kids.

From Viking site: https://www.vikingcruises.com/terms-conditions/index.html

"Children/Minors Due to the nature of our cruise and travel itineraries, the Carrier does not maintain facilities or services for children aboard cruise vessels or otherwise during the trip. On all cruises and cruise journeys, minors under the age of 18 must be accompanied and share a stateroom with a parent, legal guardian or other responsible adult over the age of 21. We reserve the right to limit the number of minors under the age of 18 years on board and on land excursions booked through us."