Have heard negative things about Viking

[travelingman]

5 hours ago, Renmar said:

@travelingman, Any chance of having a link to that article?

 

Theo

 

Had to search for it but this is the comparison I was talking about.

https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com%2Fcomparisons%2F

 

Stan

[Coral]

57 minutes ago, travelingman said:

 

Had to search for it but this is the comparison I was talking about.

https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com%2Fcomparisons%2F

 

Stan

This link doesn't work for me. Is this what you mean: https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/comparisons/ 

 

I like this website.

[travelingman]

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

This link doesn't work for me. Is this what you mean: https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/comparisons/ 

 

I like this website.

 

Sorry.  You are correct it should be https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/comparisons/

My Norton Lifelock added the other characters and I did not notice it.

 

Stan

[sjde]

Very helpful! Though it's too bad GCT was not on there.

[gnome12]

Remember that any price comparison is specific to the date it was done, because promotions change all the time.

[SM77]

We did our first Viking River cruise back in 2016 - started at a hotel in Munich for two nights , then two nights in Salzburg, then the actual river portion was from Passau to Budapest.  I don't think they offer this trip anymore - you can choose to do a pre-extension before boarding Passau.  We absolutely loved sailing w/ Viking on the Danube.  If you fly w/ them, Viking includes the transfers to & from the airport.  The following year we did the France's Finest cruise which is two cruises, one on the Seine from Paris to Normandy, back to Paris, then Lyon to Marseille on the Rhone.  It was a fabulous cruise, again Viking handled the airport transfers if you book your air through them.  Viking arranged for us to travel via the high speed train from Paris to Lyon - only carrying our personal items, our luggage was sent via truck to Lyon from where we disembarked in Le Pecq, absolutely seamless.  We enjoyed both river cruises so much we made the leap to their ocean cruises & have done three major ocean cruises with them, loving each one.  I wouldn't slot Viking w/ Carnival - I have traveled once on Royal Caribbean & Viking is much better than that cruise line.  I have traveled on Oceania & Crystal - I would consider Viking similar to Oceania, thought Crystal was excellent but found it too formal and didn't care for the 'ugly American' behavior of passengers.  Have never encountered passengers like that on Viking or Oceania.  We were so disappointed when our Elbe & City of Lights river cruises were canceled this past April but Viking has been wonderful to work with on cancelations.  We had to cancel a Southeast Asia ocean cruise for this year and  based on the recent travel requirements & CDC guidelines for cruises, it looks like we will be canceling an Ukraine river cruise for Sep/Oct 2021

[Renmar]

 

On 1/19/2021 at 6:57 PM, Coral said:

This link doesn't work for me. Is this what you mean: https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com/comparisons/ 

 

I like this website.

 

On 1/19/2021 at 5:58 PM, travelingman said:

 

Had to search for it but this is the comparison I was talking about.

https://www.rivercruiseadvisor.com%2Fcomparisons%2F

 

Stan

Thank you both for the info, very helpfull.

 

Theo

[cruiselvr04]

We took the Grand European with Viking in 2019.  We are experienced ocean cruisers but this was our first river cruise.   We thought they were great, taking care of every detail.  

The only quibble I'd have is that for 2 weeks the cabin didn't have enough storage but then we brought more then we needed.  

The crew worked so hard to please everyone!  Shore excursions were well planned and the cruise director was on top of everything. We felt extras like optional shore excursions and cocktails were very reasonable without the big profit mark up as you see with ocean cruises.

We had an aquarium room which was very small but you are busy all day, every day so you don't need alot of room. 

Food was very good, we had no complaints. 

We wouldn't hesitate to book with them again and would like to try the Mississippi.

 

Compared to Carnival?  Please!  I wouldn't step foot on

a Carnival ship ever.  Tried it once years ago.  No comparison whatsoever.  Look at what you want in a river cruise and compare those items.  We don't need a butler for sure. We want value and quality.  That's what Viking will give you.

Edited January 24, 2021 by cruiselvr04

[QueenofEverything]

We have taken 3 river cruises, one Tulip Time with Avalon, one Christmas on the Danube with Viking and one Christmas on the Danube with Avalon.  They were all wonderful.  We like to save money when we can (more for the next cruise), so we weigh a lot of things when we choose who to book with.  While it is true that Viking has 25 or so more passengers than Avalon (perhaps others), it was not noticeable to me.  I think their design really does make a difference.  The cabins are slightly smaller, although certainly big enough for our needs.  Very nice bathrooms as well.  I did notice a difference in the dining room.  Avalon has their buffet at the far end of the room which lends itself to a lot of congestion at breakfast.  On Viking, their buffet was in the middle of the room and it could be accessed on all sides.  So even though there were more people, it seemed less crowded.  The service was amazing and since you never know about water levels, having lots of ships is a big plus.  The only negative for me is the early payment, but it's not a deal breaker.  We have another Christmas cruise with Viking scheduled for this December, this time on the Rhine. 

[jsn55]

On 1/18/2021 at 11:40 AM, sjde said:

A travel agent friend called Viking "the Carnival of river cruises" but we are thinking of taking one anyway, though we've avoided them in the past , partly because of her comment. We were going to do a Christmas Market cruise on Grand Circle or Gate 1 but they are almost all booked. Yes, Viking costs about 25% more (though still a lot less than many others) but has SO many ships so lots of availability.  Any comments pro or con?

We've done river and small ship cruises with Grand Circle and Avalon over the years and been delighted with every one of them.  Only one Viking trip ever ... China in November 2019.  We were happy to pay a premium because we wanted "the best" for this trip of a lifetime.  Of course there were lots of good parts.  But we thought that Viking did an absolutely horrendous job on so many fronts ... things that could be easily remedied.  Some examples:  Our tour guide was barely competent and totally unorganized.  Communication was the worst I've ever experienced, when there was communication at all.  Boarding the ship was downright dangerous, and apparently had been that way for quite some time.  Itinerary was not well thought out.  We spent 3 days in Beijing and never saw or learned about anything other than ancient monuments.  If you're on a bus for an hour, it would be lovely to learn about the people who live in the neighborhoods you're transiting.  Several "prisoner lunches" trapped in big stores to shop for 90 minutes after a mediocre meal which must have been "free" to Viking.  I wrote a long review on the Viking Emerald.  It was so bad that when Viking offered us a 25% credit toward a future cruise, we didn't even want it. 

 

I am researching a Nile cruise right now.  The other day I used Viking's website to request a quote on a 2022 trip.  I asked for 3 bits of information.  The guy didn't address even one of them correctly.  My first thought was "Well, what did you expect from Viking?".  I'd like to keep an open mind for the Egypt trip, but I'm afraid Viking would be about last on my list of potential cruise lines, even if they had similar prices ... which they don't. Someone has to pay for all that advertising, right?

[CILCIANRQTS]

Not a very professional comment from your travel agent!

I agree with others that such a comment is often driven by commissions, a sales contest by another line, or a quota imposed by the agents firm favoring another line.

We’ve sailed on Viking numerous times, and they are upscale, professional, great on service, and used by sophisticated and experienced travelers who are a pleasure to cruise with.

[sjde]

It was a relative who is a travel agent  and I know it wasn't related to a commission.

 

[sharkster77]

I don't believe Viking has as much control on the entire cruise "process" in China and Russia as they do in Europe, where they own the ships (as opposed to leasing them).  China and Russia I have heard exert much more control on what the cruise companies can and cannot do.

[Coral]

8 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

I don't believe Viking has as much control on the entire cruise "process" in China and Russia as they do in Europe, where they own the ships (as opposed to leasing them).  China and Russia I have heard exert much more control on what the cruise companies can and cannot do.

I believe Viking owns their ships in Russia. I think they are the only major line to own them. I have no clue about China.

Edited January 29, 2021 by Coral

[sjde]

I don’t understand what kind of differences you see when a company leases their ships instead? I believe Teeming leases all of theirs. 

[Roz]

3 hours ago, Coral said:

I believe Viking owns their ships in Russia. I think they are the only major line to own them. I have no clue about China.

 

I wonder how they do that?  My understanding was it was the Russian gov't. that requires Russian ships and Russian crews.

[Coral]

16 minutes ago, Roz said:

 

I wonder how they do that?  My understanding was it was the Russian gov't. that requires Russian ships and Russian crews.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/about-us/history.html   

 

I think they are the only ones who own their ships but I could be wrong. 

[Roz]

You are correct.  The others that operate in Russia such as Uniworld and Scenic prefer not to deal with Russia's maze of rules and regulations and just lease their ships.  

[Coral]

8 minutes ago, Roz said:

You are correct.  The others that operate in Russia such as Uniworld and Scenic prefer not to deal with Russia's maze of rules and regulations and just lease their ships.  

I think Viking worked out a good deal before anyone else entered the arena. Then things changed.

[jsn55]

20 hours ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

Not a very professional comment from your travel agent!

I agree with others that such a comment is often driven by commissions, a sales contest by another line, or a quota imposed by the agents firm favoring another line.

We’ve sailed on Viking numerous times, and they are upscale, professional, great on service, and used by sophisticated and experienced travelers who are a pleasure to cruise with.

It's always possible that a TA would steer a client based on personal gain; I don't think it would be difficult to figure this out.  I would expect my travel agent (excuse me, now they're called advisors) to give me her opinions of various things.  If she didn't, I'd find another TA.  Viking has multitudes of fans; we were not impressed with the China trip. 

[sjde]

Like I said , this was a relative and it was said when we weren't even using her to book anything for us. 

[Daisi]

On 1/20/2021 at 6:15 AM, gnome12 said:

Remember that any price comparison is specific to the date it was done, because promotions change all the time.

 

Also, most lines, Viking included, have changed in the past 7-10 years with quality of ships, what they provide etc.  Those who sailed 10 years ago on Viking, or other lines may not recognise them today.  Some have improved....some have not.  I have seen comments here about lines that were "the best", that people are no longer happy with because they are no longer offering all the extras included....and some of the "cheaper" lines have gradually increased costs and services provided.  

[sjde]

I think the issue of ships being leased vs owned should go on another thread of its own. 

[Daisi]

7 minutes ago, sjde said:

I think the issue of ships being leased vs owned should go on another thread of its own. 

Leased or owned really doesn't matter as to how good the line is... it's the crew that makes the difference.  Most lines hire their crew (not sure about the Captain) from agencies.  If you get a good crew, you have a great cruise, if you get a so-so crew you don't.  

 

[sjde]

Is it a case of the better the line pays , the better their leased  crew will be? And those costs figure in to the price a traveler will pay.