Avalon or Viking

[Annie43]

We are planning to do a Rhine River cruise.  Which cruise line is preferable -- Avalon or Viking?

[kentchris]

10 hours ago, Annie43 said:

We are planning to do a Rhine River cruise.  Which cruise line is preferable -- Avalon or Viking?

The answer rather depends on what you want. The 'River CRUISE LINE articles on Cruise Critic' sticky is a useful resource, containing A/B comparisons amongst other stuff: https://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=2384

[dolllover]

I've been on both one time. On Avalon we were on the Luminary and had some issues with the boat and the CD. Also the crew seemed overworked. Busses were ok but not as nice as the Mercedes busses that Viking uses. I would still use Avalon again but on a newer boat. Now with Viking everything was perfect right from the go including the flights. 

Better food as well. We had a French chef so that might have been it lol. Guides were great with both.

I would choose Viking over Avalon. I have two more cruises booked with Viking so hopefully they will be as good as the first. 

[FuelScience]

We've done 3 Viking cruises and 2 with Avalon, and we prefer Avalon. The two lines are comparable, but Avalon's cabins are much better in my opinion. Viking's veranda cabins are nice, but the French balcony cabins are tiny--smaller than the lower deck cabins. Avalon's cabins on the two upper deck are all about 200 sq. ft. with the bed facing the windows which open wider than the French balcony windows on other lines. They've also placed the bathroom wall at an angle which makes for more room in the shower without affecting usable space that much.

 

Avalon also has a better payment policy, and if you like a cocktail before dinner, Avalon has a happy hour with drinks half price. We found the food quality to be similar for both lines. We did Mosel cruises with both lines that began with a couple of nights in Paris. With Viking we had a long bus ride to Luxembourg, whereas Avalon put us on a high speed train which was quicker and much more comfortable.

 

Hope this helps.

[caripoo]

We have done both as well.....I would also check Crystal.....We are doing Rhine in October and found newer ship, all inclusive, WAY better payment policy (as Viking requires payment in full at booking).....And Crystal had the best price for a petite suite...

[Fletch1]

We have two cruises with Viking and could not fault them. Very enjoyable. Unfortunately, we have not cruised with any other river cruise company, so cannot compare. But we would have no hesitation in cruising with Viking again. 

[newcruiser1956]

I just came off of Viking Ocean and if river is half as good as ocean,  it will be excellent.  They really have their act together.

 

BUT that being said, I booked Vietnam with Avalon because of their single supplement.  A savings of over $2000

If I could afford to do it with Viking, I would have.

[KathyK13]

There are many factors to consider when comparing cruise lines; as others have mentioned, reading the stickies can help you decide what is important to you.  There are many posts about both lines in this forum which might also help you decide.  We have done 2 Avalon cruises, none on Viking.  I can't give you a comparison, but I can tell you how we made our choice.

 

When we were looking at river cruise lines prior to our first river cruise we narrowed down our choices to Viking and Avalon. and ended up choosing Avalon for several reasons.   The  French balcony room on the Avalon Luminary was 172 square feet while the Viking rooms were only 135 square feet.  Having never been on any kind of cruise, we were concerned that the Viking room would be too small.  Also, Viking ships carried 190 passengers while Avalon only carried 130.  On one of our cruises, we were in sync with a Viking ship and encountered their tour groups on several excursions.  Their groups were about twice the size of our group.  I also liked our tour guides better. That might not always be the case but it was our experience.  We also got a better price for the Avalon cruise and didn't have to pay so far in advance.  We loved everything about our Avalon cruises and are looking forward to our next cruise in June on the Moselle and Rhine.

 

Of course things that were important to us may not matter to you.  We have several friends who cruised with Viking and had nothing but good things to say.  I wouldn't rule out a Viking cruise if an itinerary was offered that was not available on another line.  The sticking point for me right now is their US policy requiring payment a year in advance.

 

Whichever line you choose,  I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

 

 

 

[sharkster77]

Compare departure dates, inclusiveness (unlimited alcohol may be great for some but a waste of $ for others, for example), and itineraries (not all lines stop at the same ports on the same rivers) and excursions.

 

We've booked Viking for this fall because of recommendations from past cruisers we know, the itinerary, and the fact we only drink beer and wine, and that's free at lunch and dinner.  For others, Viking may not serve their purposes.

 

During the low water issues this fall, Viking earned high marks because their large fleet allowed ship swaps, losing half a day instead of the cruise becoming a bus trip.  Smaller fleets, even the more "luxury" lines did not fare as well.

[Coral]

Maybe price out multiple lines and see how things compare. Viking sometimes is high as they are popular due to name recognition. A friend priced out Viking and AMA and AMA was the same price last fall. 

 

I wouldn't rule out lines that include more. I don't drink but had an amazing trip on Crystal recently. Yes, I paid for alcohol in my fare but I got a great deal and spent nothing on the ship. Everything I wanted was included.

[Fletch1]

20 hours ago, KathyK13 said:

There are many factors to consider when comparing cruise lines; as others have mentioned, reading the stickies can help you decide what is important to you.  There are many posts about both lines in this forum which might also help you decide.  We have done 2 Avalon cruises, none on Viking.  I can't give you a comparison, but I can tell you how we made our choice.

 

When we were looking at river cruise lines prior to our first river cruise we narrowed down our choices to Viking and Avalon. and ended up choosing Avalon for several reasons.   The  French balcony room on the Avalon Luminary was 172 square feet while the Viking rooms were only 135 square feet.  Having never been on any kind of cruise, we were concerned that the Viking room would be too small.  Also, Viking ships carried 190 passengers while Avalon only carried 130.  On one of our cruises, we were in sync with a Viking ship and encountered their tour groups on several excursions.  Their groups were about twice the size of our group.  I also liked our tour guides better. That might not always be the case but it was our experience.  We also got a better price for the Avalon cruise and didn't have to pay so far in advance.  We loved everything about our Avalon cruises and are looking forward to our next cruise in June on the Moselle and Rhine.

 

Of course things that were important to us may not matter to you.  We have several friends who cruised with Viking and had nothing but good things to say.  I wouldn't rule out a Viking cruise if an itinerary was offered that was not available on another line.  The sticking point for me right now is their US policy requiring payment a year in advance.

 

Whichever line you choose,  I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

 

 

 

 

Some very good points there......well said. 

[Valley Girl of VA]

Avalon without question.  When things do go wrong, other cruise lines appear to do a better job.  Viking has also had more river accidents than Avalon

[dolllover]

1 hour ago, Valley Girl of VA said:

Avalon without question.  When things do go wrong, other cruise lines appear to do a better job.  Viking has also had more river accidents than Avalon

 

I don't agree with this. They were good this year with the low water issue and had enough boats to do ship swaps with minimal disruption. In regards to more accidents Viking has a lot more river boats on the rivers so that may increase the odds some what. I've sailed with both Avalon and Viking and Viking was superior. We were  on an older boat called the Luminary so that may have something to do with it. Regardless this particular sailing was understaffed and stressed and regarding food it was obvious they used leftovers for the next meal. I saw in the back of the lounge area where they serve orange juice sitting out with out ice and when it got low the staff just added new juice to the pitcher. We still had a very good time seeing the tulips but if I had to choose I would choose Viking in a heart beat. In fact I booked two other river cruises with them.

[Valley Girl of VA]

On 2/1/2019 at 5:21 AM, Fletch1 said:

 

Some very good points there......well said. 

 

I found the same thing with my cruise in December regarding the size of the Viking tour groups - they were, in some instances, more than twice the size of ours.

 

Regarding my earlier comment about more cruise accidents on Viking, I agree that they have more boats on the river but when I was sailing on AMA a few years ago, the captains bridge was not lowered when they encountered a bridge and the two inside the bridge were killed - that is negligence and not from a fact of having more boats on the river.  Follow this link   Here is another bridge accident coupled with water issues.  Here are some reviews from Vikings own site

 

 

[dolllover]

1 hour ago, Valley Girl of VA said:

 

I found the same thing with my cruise in December regarding the size of the Viking tour groups - they were, in some instances, more than twice the size of ours.

 

Regarding my earlier comment about more cruise accidents on Viking, I agree that they have more boats on the river but when I was sailing on AMA a few years ago, the captains bridge was not lowered when they encountered a bridge and the two inside the bridge were killed - that is negligence and not from a fact of having more boats on the river.  Follow this link   Here is another bridge accident coupled with water issues.  Here are some reviews from Vikings own site

 

 

We can agree to disagree but I've been on a Viking river boat and you haven't. In regards to the size of the tour groups I've had small and large with both Avalon and Viking but with the wireless ear pieces it didn't matter the size because you can hear the tour guides. The quality of the tour guides on Avalon were equal to Vikings. Both were excellent.

I'm sure every boat you've been on has had good and bad reviews. 

If the captain was negligent don't you think he was fired? Do you think Viking goes out of their way to hire negligent people?

 

[franski]

I have been on both (a few times...) and my personal preference is for Avalon.  While we have had great experiences on Viking, we are now in the position where we are repeating rivers, and Avalon has better options for those of us who are visiting the same ports.  We re-sailed the Seine in 2017, and we had opportunities to see different things along the way.  Not every cruise line offers this.  

As mentioned above, Avalon has a true "Happy Hour" - where drinks are half price.  We are not big drinkers, but did enjoy the opportunity to connect with new friends and have a drink before dinner.  I have also found it to be a more relaxed atmosphere from a dress code perspective, which suits us just fine.  If you are someone who is bothered by people going to dinner in casual clothes (no shorts/tank tops - but some in jeans & collared shirts) then Avalon may not be for you.

We always travel lowest category - and the cabins are comparable.  I must say, however, that the new Viking longships have the best stairways to the lowest level. 

Food is subjective - and largely tied to the chef & his kitchen crew.  So, I doubt that you could pick one line over the other using that comparator. 

My suggestion is to look closely at the itineraries and inclusions.  Is there something that is of interest?  Is there more time in a port that you are keen to see? What category cabin are you looking at?  The cabins themselves might offer some help there (see the comment above re: French balcony cabins).  

One BIG difference at this time is the payment policy.  If you are looking to book ahead, Viking requires full payment really early, where Avalon asks for full payment 90 days out. 

 

Enjoy the planning!!

 

Fran

[Valley Girl of VA]

16 hours ago, dolllover said:

We can agree to disagree but I've been on a Viking river boat and you haven't. In regards to the size of the tour groups I've had small and large with both Avalon and Viking but with the wireless ear pieces it didn't matter the size because you can hear the tour guides. The quality of the tour guides on Avalon were equal to Vikings. Both were excellent.

I'm sure every boat you've been on has had good and bad reviews. 

If the captain was negligent don't you think he was fired? Do you think Viking goes out of their way to hire negligent people?

 

I think you are asking silly questions "do I think Viking hires negligent people".  No, obviously I do not but perhaps they are not as experienced.  Whether the captain was fired or not, I have no idea - after all he wasn't on the bridge during the accident where two were killed.  Regardless of whether they are inexperienced, negligent or just made a mistake, there are more accidents by Viking than any other cruise line.  I actually googled accidents with other lines and didn't find any other than a cargo ship hitting an Avalon hip and AMADagio getting caught in a malfunctioning lock.  Tour guides are great, fine and okay on all lines and the CD tried to gauge our reaction to our tour guides when we returned.  

 

With the ear pieces you do not have to hover around your tour guide to hear but it is more awkward being in a large group particularly if you are all trying to see something as well as walking together in the city in a group.  Much easier to travel in a group of 15 than 40, wouldn't you say?  When we went to a truffle farm and even the vineyard, the owners/speakers did not have a microphone so yes, we did have to get closer to listen.

 

Yes, I agree - we need to agree to disagree based on our experiences and the information we have gathered that helps us make the decision of which cruise line to travel on.

[sharkster77]

From what's been mentioned on other threads, it seems that Viking may have backtracked on their "pay in full in 30 days" requirement.

 

I wonder if bookings dropped.  We are booked to travel with Viking this fall, but this policy would prevent me from booking with them a second time.  We are paying 5 months before sailing, which was acceptable--within 30 days, no way!

[cqtiger]

On 2/6/2019 at 9:44 AM, Valley Girl of VA said:

Avalon without question.  When things do go wrong, other cruise lines appear to do a better job.  Viking has also had more river accidents than Avalon

I believe when things go wrong this is where a company shows its true colors especially if it costs them money.

Having said that during the last drought when no cruise line could get through Avalon went above and beyond to make the trip just as good by bus and hotels for the 5 days we could not travel by boat and gave us a refund for the 5 days as well.(win win)

The cabin design is perfect with bed facing window and the angled bathroom. I would easily chose Avalon.

[dolllover]

5 hours ago, cqtiger said:

I believe when things go wrong this is where a company shows its true colors especially if it costs them money.

Having said that during the last drought when no cruise line could get through Avalon went above and beyond to make the trip just as good by bus and hotels for the 5 days we could not travel by boat and gave us a refund for the 5 days as well.(win win)

The cabin design is perfect with bed facing window and the angled bathroom. I would easily chose Avalon.

On the older boats the beds don't face the windows so if that's important to you book a newer one and make sure it does. We sailed with the Luminary and we were not crazy about that boat. Our bed did not face the window. We still had a very nice time.

 

[gnome12]

50 minutes ago, dolllover said:

 

Just a suggestion to dolllover

 

Please don't put your response in the quote box, because it isn't obvious that you have responded. Should you need to respond within the quote (answering individual questions for example) it really helps to put your response in a different color.

 

Note that when I quoted your post above, it shows nothing, because your post was actually completely within the previous post.

[Kenster]

We have done three Avalons in the past four years and will be doing another in October.  We've never done Viking but I can say this:  On two of the three cruises, the Danube water lever was very low.  At every port we ran into Viking cruisers who were having to be bused everywhere because their ships couldn't get through.  Either they were being bused from one ship to another (sometimes THREE different ships) or their entire "cruise" was spent docked in one spot and they were bused out every day to see the sights.   One couple said that on the previous day they had spent four hours, EACH way, to go to Nuremberg, then back to their ship at Passau.  Then, the next day, they had to go all the way back to Nuremberg to fly home.  Very poor logistics!  The CD could have changed things up to avoid two different trips to Nuremberg.   People also said that Viking was not forthcoming with information about the low river, even when asked ahead of time.  One couple said they were told (a couple of days before the tour) "Oh, everything is fine.  No worries."  And the minute they got on the ship they were advised that, due to low water, there would be at least on ship swap.    They were not happy campers.

 

Now, on both of those trips, our Avalon ship sailed right through with no issues.  We were clearly told that there "might" be a problem and that plans had been made "just in case."   But we never had a problem.  We pulled into some port towns with ships lined up along the banks and people were shocked when we sailed in after their boats had been stuck there for several days. 

 

Virtually all Avalon ships are three years old, or less.  They are built with a very shallow draft  allowing them to cruise in much shallower water than the older Viking ships with a deeper hull.   The ships are beautiful, hold 130 passengers max, and have those wonderful "suites" with a full wall of windows/sliding door that face the river.  200 square feet! in the top two decks.  The lower deck has about 189 sf, I believe.

 

The food is great.  Free flowing beer and wine at lunch and dinner (champagne at breakfast.)  The staff has always been amazing- from the cabin steward, to the receptionists, to the dining room wait staff. 

 

I don't think you can go wrong with Avalon.  And I honestly think that if it weren't for people watching Downton Abbey, no one would have ever heard of Viking!  😉