Disappointed With Viking

[loafin]

Disappointed With Viking. 
We just sailed France’s Finest, with the 2nd week being Lyon to Provence. I’ve never complained about Viking before, however, I am now. The water level on the Rhone was very high: I fully understand that this is not within Viking’s control. As an example, the Steam Train Ride departed in the rain when we encountered a rock landslide such that we had to back up to return to the station. No complaints here on that - the situation was explained. 
@My complaint is that the Viking Staff managed and communicated the high water situation poorly. Despite heavy rain early in the cruise there was no forwarning that itinerary changes could be possible. Days 5, 6 & 7 were so severely impacted such that the boat couldn’t cruise. We received little information, and that information often changed. On 3 separate occasions all passengers had to do a mandatory evacuation of the ship onto buses. 2 of these occurred in one day and 2 required all to be off the boat by 7:30 am yet the buses did not start moving until much later. During one evacuation we were told all passengers had to go to a wine tasting yet when we disembarked there was another option available - we were not told this. Plans changed but we were not informed with accurate information in a timely manner. The last evacuation was extended until mid evening. Unsure why. Elderly passengers struggled to keep up. On return of the last evacuation the coach dropped all passengers off in the evening a good 20 minutes away from the ship and everyone had to walk back to the boat! That’s right - we were not dropped off back at the boat. The kicker? The evening before disembarcation there was no word by any staff. No ‘thank you for sailing with us’. No ‘safe travels’. No ‘We apologise for your inconvenience’. Nothing. 
We will be speaking with customer service upon our return home.

[hfahmy]

Viking sucks! They are ages behind ocean cruise lines on so many aspects! I am an experienced cruiser with more than 25 ocean cruises under my belt, took my first Viking river cruise on the Rhine for our honeymoon and couldn’t be more disappointed…

 

Basic 101  house keeping things like knocking at the door before opening the room are not followed, room was opened twice while in there. One time without knocking and another time immediately after without any wait. Very crude…

 

Couldn’t used a balcony because people smoke on them, when complained nothing was done … smoking continued in spite against cruise line rules…

 

If you ever want to have a private dinner with your family,  Viking river cruise is not for u. Not only that you have to have other people at your table, you can’t even order food until all chairs at the table are full…ridiculous!

 

Paid for top tier balcony cabin and above it is the sun deck with maintenance, pressure washing and people stumping all day long, good luck taking a nap…

 

very vague alcohol policy and be prepared for hefty charges if u don’t know exactly when and what you are drinking..

 

One day over dinner, they forced everyone to a stupid small open buffet in the dining room… man oh man,.. it took more than an hour to get some decent food on my plate.:: and they were taking about it as a privilege …

 

Also, meals have limited hours… good luck getting breakfast if you wake up late and go to dinning room after 9;30…

 

Dead/boring ship with absolutely nothing except floating hotel service 

 

if you are accustomed to the luxury of top tier ocean cruise lines, this is not for u!

 

Never again!

[RobInMN]

While my experiences are more limited than others, I am of the frame of mind that limited hours for meals and "nothing to do" is just the nature of river cruising due to the size of the ships. I take this in stride. We love ocean cruising as well as river cruising. We don't do the same Caribbean islands over & over, we try to hit different places, Arctic Circle, Iceland, Panama Canal, Greek Islands, or even new Caribbean islands/ports we haven't been to before. For us, we look at the ship (ocean or river) as a floating hotel, with everything else as a additional on top of it. Yes, an ocean cruise is going to have a lot more entertainment, but river cruises don't typically have "sea days", or if they do, it takes the place of a port, like the Iron Gates on the Danube or the Rhine Gorge. If you take advantage of the excursions, there really isn't typically a lot of down time. At least not enough to feel "bored". Typically, you appreciate the fact that you have some time to sit and relax. And this is from someone that spends on-ship time on an ocean cruise going from trivia/game to trivia/game.

 

That said, I would not give up on river cruising, try a different company. AmaWaterways is our favorite (not that we've really tried others), but there are plenty of options that many people love (note: Viking is not usually among them). Try this thread:

 

Edited June 12 by RobInMN

[hfahmy]

Forgot to mention, stateroom with ceiling rattle like crazy. First time complain was ignored.. second time, they gave us an Aft room on top of the engine with lots of vibration… horrible experience and have video to prove it…

[Rebel54]

Sounds to me like you didn't do much research before booking your cruise. 

[Kristelle]

3 hours ago, hfahmy said:

 

If you ever want to have a private dinner with your family,  Viking river cruise is not for u. Not only that you have to have other people at your table, you can’t even order food until all chairs at the table are full…ridiculous!

 

Also, meals have limited hours… good luck getting breakfast if you wake up late and go to dinning room after 9;30…

 

Dead/boring ship with absolutely nothing except floating hotel service 

 

 

 

 

These things are not Viking issues - they are general characteristics of river cruises - yes of course there will be other people at your table, or at least very closely adjacent and private dinners are not going to happen, everyone has dinner in one sitting in one place (unless you use room service) and meals have limited and defined hours, the dining room isnt open all day

On some ships there is a cafe open all day for light snacks - not sure if Viking is one of them but surely you could have found this out before going

 

and yes entertainment is limited - we enjoyed some fun things like quizzes after dinner - but generally there is no razzamatazz.

If you find that boring, river cruising is perhaps not for you - but it isnt specific to Viking - and again is something you could easily have found out before going.

[Phutch9136]

We have taken 3 Viking cruises and never experienced these items being complained about. Certainly river cruises are not for you, which is okay!  My husband and I have enjoyed eating at a table for 4 nightly with just the 2 of us.  You absolutely can receive breakfast up until 10:30am, we had done this multiple times on our cruise last year. We found the crew so pleasant on all our ships but we do preempt this with being kind and happy to them…

[ljandgb]

The "people stomping on the sun deck/my ceiling" is known issue also.  When the ship is only 2 decks, you don't have a lot of choices.

 

Sorry you didn't do enough research to know what to expect.  River cruising is very different from ocean cruising.  Housekeeping coming in when you're in the room is a legit complaint for sure.

 

Some lines do have smaller tables - 2 and 4 tops.  Avalon is one, and we took advantage of them.

[Canal archive]

In short please don’t tar all the cruise companies with the same brush, research, research and research again or did you or your TA fall for the intensive advertising?

[sharkster77]

As soon as someone starts a complaint about river cruising with "We have taken XXX ocean cruises, and river cruises are terrible!" or similar words, my mind immediately goes to "someone did NOT do their homework!"

 

River and ocean cruising are as different as night and day, and extensive experience doing one of them is no advantage for doing the other.  I have been to a doctor more times than I can count, but that does not make me an expert in the practice of medicine!

 

There are so many things about ocean cruising that turns me off, which has resulted in my love of river cruising.  We will take our first ocean cruise next year, but with Viking, as we like their model.   As has been said often, all they have in common is that the ship floats on water.

[pontac]

I think the nub of the complain is that river cruising is not the same as ocean cruising, and that is true. So I don't think choosing another line to river cruise with will suit better.

 

Ocean ships have theatres with shows, multiple bars, casinos, but European river ships don't, primarily because of space limitations.

 

Viking breakfasts are available from 06:00, with hot dishes available at 06:30 to 09:00, as you'd know from the Viking Daily. I agree that if you get up later than 09:00 your choice of food is  snacks at the coffee stations until lunch service start at 12:00, but it seems you are missing out on the excursions that set off in the morning after breakfast.

 

Buffet lunch? That sounds like the Taste of Germany. I've not experienced the delay you describe, but the waiter will bring food from the buffet is you prefer.

 

Dinner with family members? I'm a bit confused because you said you were on your honeymoon, so was it just dining for two or did you go with members of you family?

 

Drinks policy is clear. If you didn't have the drinks package beer and wine is complimentary with lunch and dinner. Drink outside these times are charged to your  room. The bar list and wine list have prices. They seem reasonable to me, especially compared with ocean cruises, but I bow to your experience of ocean cruises.

 

In short, though the people who frequent this board could probably give you the info to make your next river cruise enjoyable, it feels to me like you'd be happier on an ocean cruise. I'm sorry your honeymoon was spoiled.

[sharkster77]

All this reminds me of the poster a few years ago who went on and on about how terrible river cruises were, and his biggest gripe was not being able to have a shrimp cocktail and T-bone steak with every meal, like he could on ocean cruises.

 

Both posters who opened the thread with gripes have been on CC a while (8 yrs, 10 yrs) but haven't posted much (10 posts, 46 posts).  I would guess that was on ocean cruise threads---we here would have answered any questions for sure.

 

As with any type of vacation (bus tours, expeditions, etc)  you gotta do your homework!!!

Edited June 13 by sharkster77

[Nippy Sweetie]

@sharkster77 you'll enjoy your ocean cruise on a Viking ship. Generally a wonderful experience. Bon voyage 

[sharkster77]

10 hours ago, Nippy Sweetie said:

@sharkster77 you'll enjoy your ocean cruise on a Viking ship. Generally a wonderful experience. Bon voyage 

Thanks @Nippy Sweetie ---anyone who has a "Heeland Coo" as their avatar has an opinion I respect!!  Spent 2 weeks in Scotland in 2023 and cannot wait to go back!

[Canal archive]

I agree.