Curious…has anyone here ever taken a Viking River Cruise? We care considering one to Russia in the next year or so. I know Russia looks a bit shaky right now, but I am curious about the cruise line itself.
Thanks in advance.
Cheers!
Marshall ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Funny, I was looking into those too. I wanted to do one for our 20th Ann. next year but Gina would rather wait until our 25th.
1 Like
So she wants to make sure the marriage will work out before planning a big trip?
Yeah, she likes to take things slow.
Marshall,
My wife and I took a Viking Cruise in Sept. 2010. Went with one other couple. We took the Paris to Normandy cruise. I have not been a cruise fan, have only taken 2 two short cruises stopping in Bahamas etc., so wasn’t expecting much but the stops looked interesting. Bought 2 cases of wine in Paris to take on the trip so we had some notoriety when we got on board. Must say we were very impressed. Only about 150 people on board so you don’t have that feeling like being at the mall like on a big ship. Food was much better than expected and even though we had lots, the free wine at dinner was very good. Cruising on a river is so interesting. We were passing by cool homes and cities, medieval castles, Rommels chateau during WWII, so there wasn’t a dull moment. The stops and tours were fascinating and well conducted. So impressed we are going this fall on the Southern France tour through the Provence, the Rhone and Burgundy. Then staying 4 nights in Burgundy and 2 in Paris at the end. Can only speak about the one cruise we have taken but it was excellent. Accomodations weren’t luxurious but clean and larger than on my other cruises, food above average and staff went out of their way to make the week extraordinary.
Hope this helps you some.
Cheers
Tim
Marshall,
Two other river cruise lines to look into - Avalon Waterways and Uniworld River Cruises. Both are newer cruise lines/ships with updated state rooms compared to Viking River Cruises. Uniworld, however, is the only one of the two that has a Russian cruise and was Conde Nast’s #1 river cruise line.
Tim and Tom; Thank you both, very helpful information. We have been on only two ocean cruises…both on Regent. We were on a ship that only had 490 passengers and it was amazing. The river cruises also seem interesting because we would never go on a “mega” floating city ship.
I will look into Uniworld as well.
Thanks again!
Cheers!
Marshall
We are looking at a Viking Great Lakes cruise. Anyone have experiences with these or other lines for the Great Lakes ?
Many years ago (2007) we took a Viking River cruise tour to China. China is problematic now because of visa issues. But we had a great time. The last two weeks of December we are taking a Christmas markets cruise “Grand European” from Budapest to Amsterdam on Viking. There are substantial and frequent problems with low water levels in Europe now so cruisers are having to swap ships at times. But from the reports in the Cruise Critic Roll Calls and the Viking Cruises Fans Facebook page, Viking is doing an admirable job managing the swaps. Viking has the advantage of owning and operating their ships. That is not true of all river cruise lines. Viking is the largest river cruise company in the world. They also have a Switzerland-based nautical team and a robust network of local partners and authorities that are focused on monitoring and adapting to current water levels to ensure the best experience possible with the least possible disruption. For river cruises, we choose Viking. Ocean is a different matter.
We really like AmaWaterways-we’ve been on 4 or 5 river cruises with them, including a land/river cruise in Cambodia and Vietnam several years ago.
There’s a big selection of youtube videos reviewing cruises and which give you a good feel for the boat and the experience. I have zero desire to do a regular cruise but the Viking ones look wonderful – try any youtube by Emma Cruises (https://youtu.be/Dz7qfdHb_Mo?si=8E8mUaG6khINiWxe) or Cruising with Ben and David (https://youtu.be/Zdv_xrtfSCQ?si=SsNld-LrjowQK330 or see their videos about their Viking Sea cruise to Norway https://youtu.be/xTQdyZjG8hw?si=iWwoAX_qkXkBXAy8 which I really find appealling)
We are finishing the cruise I posted about on 30 October. Because of high water conditions caused by rain and snow melt, we are on our third ship on our 15 day cruise. In recent years, the Danube, Main, and to a lesser extent the Rhine rivers have suffered from either low water or high water caused many ship swaps in many months.
My wife and I did the Viking Rhône cruise in early April, just as the labor strikes were starting in France. Things weren’t’ ‘shut down’ but were inconvenient, closing services at different times, forcing some tours to be offered only once off the ship. Biggest thing was they closed only one of the river locks, but it was the transition from the South to the North, so the barge couldn’t sail beyond CNDP. Had to miss Hermitage walking tour entirely (had scheduled the walk to the top) and took a bus up to Lyon. To their credit Viking did put us up in the hotel in ‘The Pencil’, so we had an amazing view of the city, and they offered all guests a substantial discount on their next trip.
1 Like
We were told that we would be hearring from Viking central office regarding our three ship experience. We will be interested in what they have to offer. Was the discount in the form of vouchers? If so, were they transferrable? Sometimes the use deadline they put on vouchers is too restrictive. We leave on the 13 January for a 180 day cruise returning to the U.S. on 12 July. Half the year will be gone before we return.
1 Like
I think it’s a year from the end of our trip, but it can be for a reservation as far in advance as we may want it to be. The trip was a gift from my parents who have done about a dozen of the river cruises, since the Rhone is the most wine-centric of the ones they have taken. Iirc it’s a 30% discount off the stated price for a couple on any Viking excursions, but my parents usually waited for deals to drop regardless so I don’t think we can stack the discount on top of other offers. We felt like we were a little too young still (51 and 47) for the Viking crowd, didn’t allow enough free time and exploration, so we may not do another one for a while. They absolutely bend over backwards for you, all about convenience and comfort. Food I thought was very good for 150 at a time, and they made the effort to tailor the food to where the ship was going that day. Also had a $0 corkage for beverages bought locally on the trip, so we ABUSED that privilege.
1 Like
Matthew,
We shall see what they offer. If it is good enough, we may book something else but never again on the Danube, Main, and Rhine rivers. Too many high water or low seasonal water problems. Ship changes have become common and that often causes you to miss a port and the drive to and from the excursion can be long. You were a bit young for the Viking crowd. About 15% of our passengers were in your age group or younger. Many in their late 50s, early 60s and still working. The rest of us were retired. Like you, we carry wine on every cruise. Viking and Regent don’t charge corkage and Oceania charges a $25 corkage fee. We took 8 bottles on our just completed cruise.
We had only one other Viking River cruise and it was a cruise tour in 2007, that included Hong Kong, Guilin, Shanghai, a 9-night cruise on the Yangtze, then an overnight at Xian followed by 3 days in Beijing. We took our daughter who was 15 at the time. She stood out for being young. There were two other couples in their 20s and the rest of us probably 50 years old and older. Our daughter had a great time and remembers the trip as one of the best she has ever had. All in, we spent about 3 ½ weeks in China. It was an eye opener for us. All of our previous travels had been in the western world.
We will return to mostly ocean cruising. We like to cruise because schlepping luggage from hotel to hotel is no longer something we choose to do. We like having a floating hotel take us from place to place. It helps too, that on the ocean ships there is a spa and a small gym so we can get some exercise while at sea.
Michael
We got the offer from Viking yesterday. A future cruise credit of $500 per person. We haven’t seen the actual vouchers yet. If they are transferrable, we will give them to a friend who cruises on Viking. If they aren’t, then they will probably be lost depending on how soon we have to book and sail.
1 Like