"Slow walkers" excursions

[wags]

I have heard that Viking used to have a separate excursion guide for "slow walkers". Can anyone tell me if they still offer this service

for the elderly and walking-impaired?

 

[caradara]

On our 4 Viking cruises 3 did and 1 didn't (Bucharest to Budapest).  I "think" that you need to ask the cruise director to arrange for it and then it is voluntary.  For us fast walkers the excursions on the 1 that didn't were often frustrating as we had to keep at the pace of the wheelchair pushers.  If there were steps involved it was an issue.  

 

[dogs4fun]

Our Viking China cruise offered options for slow walkers. As stated above, check with your cruise director - ours was very accommodating. 

[AnhaltER1960]

On the Elbe they do, if there is demand for it (there mostly is...). As Viking run a strict policy across all their operations, I do suspect (without having seen), they offer slow walking on other cruises, too. It might be at the discretion of the PD, if its only two or three pax, but even then usually its easy to find some travel companions who take it leisurely, irrespective of their physical status.

[Got2Cruise]

If you haven’t booked yet consider Amawaterways. They take very good care of their slow walker group. 

[OCruisers]

55 minutes ago, Got2Cruise said:

If you haven’t booked yet consider Amawaterways. They take very good care of their slow walker group. 

 

Thanks, this is good to know!  

[Daisi]

Our Avalon cruise also had a slow walker cruise...I wanted to take it so I could get lots of pics, but we ended up befriending a couple who needed it (he used a wheel chair, although he could do some walking), so my DH pushed him around.  I actually think our slow walker group did better as we ended up seeing stuff that the regular tours didn't as our guides made sure we arrived at places with just the right timing.  The guides we had could both walk & talk...the ones we had when we weren't on the slow walkers would rush us past places to stop in a square and talk for 10 minutes or so, then rush on to the next square.  It was nice in the slower group, as you may have missed some time to shop, but no one had trouble keeping up.  Towards the end of the cruise, our group had grown from about 6 - 8 to about 14, as more people were joining to take pics...we ended up getting 1 person to keep an eye on the guide, another to keep an eye on those of us snapping away!

Edited May 9, 2019 by Daisi

[knoxclone]

Viking has offered a "gentle walkers" group on all three of my cruises ( Rhine,Danube and windmill/tulips).  Very accommodating. 

[wags]

"Gentle walkers" I like that!  Thank you all for your input.

[yoshi]

Another vote for AMA. My husband walks with a cane, we went with the gentle walkers group and it worked out very well. AMA gets a taxi or van to come the ship either to get the group to the tour bus or venue.  The regular group often has to walk several blocks to get to the transportation (great if you have no physical issues but difficult for wheelchairs and limited mobility). There are some sights that can't be visited by the gentle walkers because of stairs, hills etc.