Have heard negative things about Viking

[rcaruso]

1 hour ago, sjde said:

RCaruso- Did the cruise line refund those who cancelled  and left? I would think so. And in this case , it would’ve paid to have gotten air through them. 

I don't know.  We got the e-mail saying we could cancel, but we went ahead.  Actually to our benefit as less people and we were given a voucher at end as promised in the e-mail.  Was very interesting with the swaps, we had same cabin and they kept the same housekeeping which is not normal but much appreciated at the time.  Since we have travelled so much in the areas it wasn't too much of trouble, but as yet still haven't made it to Rudesheim (2 cruises couldn't make it).  Also on the 2015 we had the slowest tour boat in the Rhine Gorge.  5 hours and a big piece of lemon cake and all the beer and wine you could drink---that was kind of nightmarish. Otherwise all good.

[Roz]

8 hours ago, Coral said:

My agent has been on several (Viking, Amawaterways and Scenic) - maybe more. I am guessing they were discounted as lines want to attract agents and experience their product. I think Viking PR/Sales stresses to agents that they can move people from ship to ship during low water trips and that is a plus. Friends who have done this don't consider this a plus. My agent does recommend Viking due to this.

 

Having done river cruises, I wouldn't consider this a plus either. 😉  It would never be a consideration of mine when booking a cruise.  

 

One of my office mates and her husband did a Viking river cruise, and from what I can tell, Viking does a good job of convincing its passengers that they are the only line that picks people up at the airport, includes tours in the fare, includes beer and wine, etc.  She was surprised when I told her about Uniworld's inclusions.  

 

[Coral]

2 minutes ago, Roz said:

One of my office mates and her husband did a Viking river cruise, and from what I can tell, Viking does a good job of convincing its passengers that they are the only line that picks people up at the airport, includes tours in the fare, includes beer and wine, etc.  She was surprised when I told her about Uniworld's inclusions.  

 

Exactly. I haven't experienced Viking but can say they have a great Marketing department.

[Host Jazzbeau]

When the water level gets so low that no ships can said, Viking's multitude of ships making swaps possible is a benefit.  But when the water level is low but still passable, Viking's ships are the first to stop sailing – then the other lines have the advantage.  Unfortunately, when you book a cruise you can't know what level of water you will encounter.  The one sure thing you can do is avoid Danube cruises that go upstream (west) of Vilshofen (i.e. avoid sailing to/from Regensburg and the Amsterdam-to-Budapest route).

[jsn55]

4 hours ago, sjde said:

RCaruso- Did the cruise line refund those who cancelled  and left? I would think so. And in this case , it would’ve paid to have gotten air through them. 

I generally have Plan B in the back of my head before a river cruise ... if the cruise is cancelled, I sure am not just going home!  So I lay out some ideas and do a little research early on just in case.  In Budapest, for instance we could easily spend a week there plus some day trips, then move on to Vienna or Paris or something.

[katz]

We have done two Christmas Market cruises.  Both on AMA.  One on the Rhine, Basel to Amsterdam. There other on the Danube, Vienna to Germany ( I can't remember the city).  Both cruises were great, but I preferred the Rhine.  Maybe because it was my first one and everything was new.  

 

I prefer Viking.  I think their food is better, but i liked AMA's itinerary better.  Be prepared to buy an extra suitcase to bring all of your treasures home.  

[cruisestitch]

I am coming to this late so I apologize if I repeat anything but I am very negative toward Viking after my one river cruise with them and here are three reasons.

 

first the food was decidedly sub-par.  I was served steak that was so chewy as to be inedible, undercooked hamburger patties with ice crystals in the center, “Mexican burritos” made with sweet crepes rather than tortillas,  the list went on and on.  Finally I begged for peanut butter one night to make myself a sandwich.  
 

second, their tipping policy was a bit underhanded.  It was a 14 night cruise and they tried to charge me for 15 days worth of tips.  I pointed out that the next passengers would also be tipping for their first day (my disembarkation day) so in essence they were receiving double tips for that day.  It seemed wrong to set up their tips that way.  When I protested, the woman at the front desk smiled and said , “that’s the Viking Way”. It’s the only time I ever adjusted tips on a cruise ship.

 

my third issue was this.  One day toward the end of the cruise I picked up one of the tourism magazines that had been sitting on the desk.  Out fluttered a card that said “your travel agent sent you a gift of OBC”.  I hadn’t seen it before.  When I went to the Front desk, I asked, “ what would have happened to that if I hadn’t seen it, would you return the OBC to the travel agent?”  They said, “no, we just keep it”.  Now  here’s the kicker.  I was part of a group. When I mentioned this to the group, everyone checked their magazines and sure enough, everyone had a similar card secreted in a similar way, stashed unseen out of sight.  I found that a bit sleazy.  No, a lot sleazy. 
 

i won’t be booking a Viking again!

[cruiselvr04]

I’m sorry about your dining experience with Viking.  That would make me unhappy too.  I’m sure that can depend on the Chef.  I hope you brought the food to someone’s attention.  My husband has a food allergy and he was treated with great care.  Other cruise lines take poor care of him with very limited options.
 

Since we pre paid our tips I had noticed before our trip that this was the “Viking way”.  Since extra excursions and the drink package were so reasonable we didn’t quibble over $30.
 

I would have been upset about about the OBC too.  I asked for a copy of our on board bill about 2 days prior to our departure since it wasn’t available on the TV. ( I always like to see if there are any charges we are unaware off.) I noticed that we had OBC, $75 worth.  Since I knew this wasn’t from our travel agent,  I assumed this was because of some longer bus trips and being unable to return to the boat for some lunches on board as expected due to river conditions. It was too late to use it for anything except some on board merchandise.  We got a hat, a bag and book with it.  We would not have known it was there if I had not checked.  Is this sneaky?  Yes I suppose.  But the big cruise lines do this too when port charges are refunded and they don’t say anything either.  I consider these lessons learned.  You didn’t say how much your OBC was for.
 

We don’t sweat the small stuff. Only you can decide what the small stuff is.  It will never be perfect. Overall we were very happy with our Viking river cruise and can’t wait to go again.  We are even considering an ocean cruise with them. 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2021 by cruiselvr04

[gnome12]

I will comment only on the tips. The staff do a lot of extra work on embarkation/disembarkation day. I don't think that it is unreasonable that they get tips from both outgoing and incoming passengers.

[cruisestitch]

I agree that the staff work super hard on turnaround day but the other cruise lines don’t do it that way and their people work just as hard.  It seemed to be a policy specific to Viking and one I disagree with.

[sjde]

I think all the cruise lines do the tipping that way, the ones I've been on and I wondered about it. So I just don't count both the first and last days when I figure my tip since they are each half days. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

22 minutes ago, sjde said:

I think all the cruise lines do the tipping that way, the ones I've been on and I wondered about it. So I just don't count both the first and last days when I figure my tip since they are each half days. 

 

If the tipping is included, it's not an issue.  If the tipping is voluntary, it's also not an issue because you have control.  It's only when a cruise line automatically charges the tips [even if you can change it] that it becomes an issue.  So Viking is definitely in a minority, once you exclude all the cruise lines in the first two categories.

[sharkster77]

With Viking, you can tip whatever you want.  "Suggested" does not mean "mandatory".  You may change the amount as you see fit.  We thought that the service was very outstanding, so we tipped the suggested amount.  It was voluntary.

Edited February 23, 2021 by sharkster77

[cruisestitch]

Yes it is voluntary.  My issue is the “suggested amount” is calculated in such a way that it becomes double tipping for one day.  If you weren’t paying attention, that is.  I caught it, my traveling companions didn’t, although when we discussed it one lady did say that it seemed too high to her based on how she had estimated it to be when we were planning the trip but she just thought she made a mistake somewhere.  That’s what Viking was counting on... people in a hurry to settle their bill and not catching it.

[sharkster77]

45 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Yes it is voluntary.  My issue is the “suggested amount” is calculated in such a way that it becomes double tipping for one day.  If you weren’t paying attention, that is.  I caught it, my traveling companions didn’t, although when we discussed it one lady did say that it seemed too high to her based on how she had estimated it to be when we were planning the trip but she just thought she made a mistake somewhere.  That’s what Viking was counting on... people in a hurry to settle their bill and not catching it.

But they all calculate tips the same way, unless they are a "tips included" cruise line.  If you don't like Viking, then that's your prerogative, but choose an issue unique to them.  

[jsn55]

The food/dining issue on a cruise is impossible to deal with, too many variables.  I would have discussed this with "someone" and forced some changes so I had something decent to eat.  The tip thing was the same on Cunard when I questioned it, Reception's response made me smile.  Like most, I would never begrudge the crew any double tips ... we tip our stewards and servers in cash along the way as well as the prepaid ... my husband's a New Yorker and direct tipping is in his blood.  It's the way it's handled ... absolutely SNEAKY.   The hidden OBC is literally theft if it's not disclosed.  We've only done one Viking cruise, China in November 2019 (yes, we caught Covid; no big deal, it was like a bad cold) and they were incompetent in a dozen ways.  It would take a free cruise to get us interested in travelling with them again ... and I don't think I'll ever get my husband on another Viking trip.  Viking and American Cruise Lines are the only travel providers we've ever had issues with ... it takes a lot, but both of them did a great job upsetting us.

[Texas Tennis]

My first river cruise was a Viking Christmas Market cruise on the Danube.  It was wonderful and I absolutely recommend it to anyone.  I’ve since done a second Christmas Market Viking cruise on the Rhine.  I’ve also done A-Rosa and Grand Circle.  A-Rosa is more of a budget line and doesn’t really compare to Viking (but definitely worth the money...I booked a second cruise with them that was canceled due to COVID).  

 

The one thing that I liked more about Grand Circle than Viking was the included tours.  They had four cruise directors and you were assigned a touring group with one of the four (so guests were broken into four separate tour groups).  You really learned a lot about the locations you we’re going visiting as they were from those countries (this was an Eastern Europe cruise).  Not just during the tour, but they had talks while cruising as well.  

 

Viking, on the other hands, hires local guides.  So you learn a lot on the tour, but the actual cruise director is basically there in the evening to make announcements and introduce the night’s program (guest musician, etc.).   But both lines were very similar and I would recommend either one of them (and would recommend A-Rosa as well for the budget conscious).

 

 

[jsn55]

14 hours ago, Texas Tennis said:

My first river cruise was a Viking Christmas Market cruise on the Danube.  It was wonderful and I absolutely recommend it to anyone.  I’ve since done a second Christmas Market Viking cruise on the Rhine.  I’ve also done A-Rosa and Grand Circle.  A-Rosa is more of a budget line and doesn’t really compare to Viking (but definitely worth the money...I booked a second cruise with them that was canceled due to COVID).  

 

The one thing that I liked more about Grand Circle than Viking was the included tours.  They had four cruise directors and you were assigned a touring group with one of the four (so guests were broken into four separate tour groups).  You really learned a lot about the locations you we’re going visiting as they were from those countries (this was an Eastern Europe cruise).  Not just during the tour, but they had talks while cruising as well.  

 

Viking, on the other hands, hires local guides.  So you learn a lot on the tour, but the actual cruise director is basically there in the evening to make announcements and introduce the night’s program (guest musician, etc.).   But both lines were very similar and I would recommend either one of them (and would recommend A-Rosa as well for the budget conscious).

I so agree about Grand Circle.  Their cruise/tours are fabulous all the way around.  Their Program Director plan is really wonderful and there are always knowledgeable, entertaining local guides.  I kinda got away from looking at them after a little dust-up with the home office over $50 ... on a $17K trip!  Small-minded of me, but it was irksome. 

 

But their people in the field are very special, every one of them.  We sailed twice on the Corinthian ... 2 years apart.  When we arrived at the port to start the second cruise (the Cruise Director and I had a great time together on the first one), she came trotting down the hall to enthusiastically greet me and tell us how happy she was to be sailing with us again.  ALL the officers knew our names the second morning and would line up outside the DR to wish us a good day.  I've always said that GCT hires the very best people ... and I'm picky.  I will have another look at them if we are ever able to leave home again!

 

 

 

[sjde]

I love Grand Circle too (though wish twin beds weren't the only choice). We have also sailed with Teeming and AMA . For the cost difference,  I'd choose Grand Circle over AMA any time , since there was almost no difference, other than the beds, and maybe the wine was a little better on AMA. 

 

I have wondered why Grand Circle and Teeming are not on the list of cruise lines on the cruisecritic boards. 

[jsn55]

5 hours ago, sjde said:

I love Grand Circle too (though wish twin beds weren't the only choice). We have also sailed with Teeming and AMA . For the cost difference,  I'd choose Grand Circle over AMA any time , since there was almost no difference, other than the beds, and maybe the wine was a little better on AMA. 

 

I have wondered why Grand Circle and Teeming are not on the list of cruise lines on the cruisecritic boards. 

GCT has two twins made up as a full bed, or the twin beds.  I'd not write them off but call to verify the precise boat you'd be on.  They lease them I think, but we've never had trouble getting twins ... necessary for us. 

[sjde]

Our ships didn't have the option of putting the twins together but i think a few of theirs do.

[Canal archive]

On our various cruises we have passed a few Viking vessels that have been involved in the odd contretemps it has always involved a rush to see, much like the slowing down on a ‘motorway’ ‘interstate’ ‘autobahn’ etc. Viking have so many ships they are bound to get into trouble more than other companies. CA