Viking May 19th Amsterdam to Basel Reive

[tcdcruiser]

Here’s my review of the May 19th sailing of the Viking Hlin from Amsterdam to Basel. I am an experienced ocean cruiser but this was my first river cruise. I journeyed to Europe on the Royal Princess and returned to NYC on the Queen Mary 2 (Queen’s Grill or QG). I mention QM2 QG since it is an interesting comparison as the Viking voyage and the QM2 first class voyage were the same length and same price.

 

 

Embarkation

Viking’s pre-cruise documentation stated that the ship would be docked not far from the Amsterdam Central train station. Viking provided a map with the 3 possible docking locations. Arrived at each location and was unable to locate the ship or any Viking personnel. Eventually found the ship (using MarineTraffic.com) about 5 miles away in an industrial area. I had to download the app onto my smart phone while in the taxi to find the ship! Overheard a number of other passengers complaining at the service desk on this issue.

 

After embarkation learned that the shuttle only ran once per hour and we had a 50 minute wait before we could return to Amsterdam. The embarkation area is very industrial with no retail and no taxi nearby. Given the remote location the infrequent shuttle was disappointing.

 

 

 

The Stateroom

While small our Veranda Stateroom (Category A - #307) was quite adequate and very well designed. The tiny balcony was a delight as it offered lots of light, fresh air and very nice views. The overall cabin layout is quite cleaver and thoughtful. Lots of electrical outlets for all the battery operated gadgets.

 

 

 

The Food

IMHO the food was very comparable to your typical ocean cruise. Nothing special. Very close to the quality and composition of the meals we ate aboard the Royal Princess the 2 weeks earlier. The Viking food was a distant second to the meals aboard the QM2’s QG Dining room.

 

 

 

Ports of Call

The destination cities and historical structures were stellar. Cologne, Marksburg, the middle Rhine River valley, Strasbourg (etc.) are all wonderful destinations and well worth the visit.

 

 

 

Tour Guides

IMHO (again) Viking needs to make some changes.

 

 

For example, we arrived near the Cologne Cathedral (the signature attraction) and spent the first hour walking the blocks nearby. It seems that large groups (like Viking) are allocated time slots for the Cathedral. Flow control I suppose. So we wandered the nearby blocks for an hour until our moment arrived. Independent visitors can walk into the cathedral at any time.

 

 

Another example. Arrived Strasbourg and spent the first hour on a drive-by of the suburbs. While I appreciate the importance of the Council of Europe versus the European Union, driving by the modern buildings was a waste of time. An extra hour walking the streets of La Petite France or seeing the EU HQ from a moving bus window?

 

 

Another example was the Heidelberg Castle. While a must see destination within the town, the castle is mostly ruins. Our tour group spend 40 minutes standing in the sun on one side of the structure and 40 minutes on the other side standing in the shade. Standing and looking at the structure, with our guide talking, seemed like hours and not minutes.

 

 

A final example. Opted for the extra cost tour of Colmar. Quite a lovely village. After the first 45 minutes of the walking tour we walked pass the church that contained the 1516 Issenheim Altarpiece – the town’s most famous artifact. A visit to the Altarpiece was not included in the walking tour, so we left the group. I’m sure many passengers had no idea what they had missed.

 

 

Maybe Viking thinks that they need to create a very tightly controlled shore excursion experience to offer some level of comfort to the inexperience traveler. I think that If Viking wants to attract the baby boomer generation, a group that is a more active and independent, they have some work to do.

 

 

 

 

Viking Staff

All quite nice and very willing to offer advice and assistance.

 

 

End of cruise tipping is a bit odd. For one, you cannot use OBC for tips. This was really annoying since our TA had given me $500 in OBC. As almost everything is included in the base price you are hard pressed to spend any OBC.

 

 

Also, the suggested tip of 2 euro per person per day for the cruise director is interesting. If you start doing the math for the cruise director (90 cabins, 180 people, and 40 to 50 working weeks per year) you get to some large numbers very fast. When you consider this money is cash, it is even more impressive. I speculate that Viking has basically hired the cruise director just like you’d hire a commissioned sales person.

 

 

Having made this observation about the cruise director's suggested tip, know that I’m very happy to tip. I always auto-tip and always put something extra in the hands of selected crew. The Viking suggestion just seem inequitable.

 

 

 

 

Disembarkation

Excellent. Taxi and luggage on-time and in exactly the right place.

 

 

 

 

Final Word

While it was a great voyage I was disappointed in some aspects. Viking has priced the product at a "first class" price point but the embarkation experience, the food quality and guided tours delivered a "coach or economy" rather than a first class experience.

Edited June 7, 2015 by tcdcruiser

[pacmom]

Dear tcd,

Glad you had a good overall experience on your trip. A word about CDs and tipping. They usually work on a 6 month contract, are independent contractors--not paid by the cruise line. They also get some time off during that contract.. If they work for 24 weeks they earn approximately 8700 dollars. They really are not making as much as many think. On one cruise we had a local guide who had been a program director on another of our trips. Her PD job didn't start for another month. Tipping can be an ugly subject, but when we see how hard these people work, we ante up. Be careful river cruising can be addictive--no. 21 coming up in Oct. Pat;)

[pully8]

thanks for the review. agree about needing to break away from the large groups to see what interests you. we saw lots of large viking groups and sometimes it appeared they were forced to walk very slowly or shuffle to make progress in the small towns/lane ways.

 

time is precious to see what interests you.

[rothbury]

Just curious. If Viking is docking 5 miles outside of Amsterdam now.....Where do the shuttle buses drop you off and pick you up? I am assuming there are shuttle buses to & from Amsterdam, right? If they drop you off at Central Station could you not catch the shuttle to the ship instead of paying for a cab? Be interesting to know how all of this is going to work now. I assume the Viking transfers from the airport take you directly to the boats?

 

Back in December we WERE docked behind Central Station and were able to walk into Amsterdam and see the city. Our transfer bus had passengers from several boats (all docked behind Central Station) on the bus. I guess Viking is making sure people get on the right bus now if they are going to different docking areas?

 

Just some questions I've been thinking about.

[Got2Cruise]

Thank you for the very fair review. Too bad your guide didn't get you engaged in the wonderful town of Cologne. We loved our tour of old town Cologne. Our guide didn't even take us inside. We ended there and she explained the interior and we were free to visit on our own. This was on another line.

[DrivesLikeMario]

...Final Word

While it was a great voyage I was disappointed in some aspects. Viking has priced the product at a "first class" price point but the embarkation experience, the food quality and guided tours delivered a "coach or economy" rather than a first class experience.

 

I hear that same sentiment quite often from others who have experienced them.

 

I appreciate your specific tour experiences. You'd think if Viking was committed to making a terrific product, they would pay attention to those mis-steps and correct them immediately. Your point about Boomers wanting more independent, faster-moving tours is spot on.

 

Thanks for the review.

[tcdcruiser]

Rothbury

 

The shuttle drops off and picks up directly in front of st Nicholas Catholic Church. Amsterdam central train station is several hundred yards away.

 

We did not know the shuttle location until we embarked and returned to the city center.

 

You are correct Viking transfers from ams knew where the ship was docked.

Edited June 11, 2015 by tcdcruiser

[CPT Trips]

I can only address one cruise line (GCT); they include the ship's telephone number with the cruise documents. Sometimes the Program Director sends an e-mail with his/her phone number. The hotel, or taxi driver can call and verify docking location before you head off.

 

Perhaps other lines also provide this information.