Home > Compare River Cruise Companies > APT River Cruises vs Viking River Cruises
APT River Cruises vs Viking River Cruises
Compare the travel styles, pricing, destinations and popularity of APT River Cruises and Viking River Cruises.The Low Down
Initially providing coach touring around Australia and NZ to the local market, APT have grown exponentially over the last decade to now offer trips around the world, and are well known for their European river cruises. Over the last few years APT have introduced small ship expeditions that cruise the waters through Asia, Europe, Canada and off the coast of Kimberley. Catering primarily for the retired market, their trips aren't cheap, but in APT's case - you get what you pay for. Look out for their great Fly Free offers, and Earlybird Savings. The team here at Global Journeys have travelled multiple times by coach, cruise & river with APT, and we definitely recommend them as a quality, consistent, reliable Operator, and our past client reviews back that up.
Cruising down the rivers of Europe you are sure to pass a Viking Longship on your travels. Viking boasts the most extensive fleet of river cruises vessels in Europe, and while their core market is the US, there are many clients from Australia that choose to cruise with them each year. In 2017 Viking launched their range of mid-sized ocean cruises - with just 930 guests this gives their ships greater maneuverability, allowing them to dock where the mega-liners cannot. Viking do not offer NZD pricing, so if you're a Kiwi wanting jump onboard then you'll need to pay in AUD or USD.Stats
No. of Trips
74
No. of Departures
1,022
Avg. Trip Length
13 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$581
Fleet Size
10 Ships
Known For
Aussie Specialist
Ship Styles River Cruises
No. of Trips
68
No. of Departures
4,239
Avg. Trip Length
11 Days
Avg. Price Per Day
$481
Fleet Size
75 Ships
Known For
Scandinavian Design
Ship Styles River Cruises
In Their Own Words We asked the travel companies themselves why you should travel with them
Life-enriching, relaxing and unique – an APT river cruise is the ultimate holiday experience. Discover unforgettable destinations as you travel in total comfort and style. From Europe to Africa and the mighty Mekong River, APT has a diverse range of river cruises, and you’ll wake up most mornings in a new location, ready to explore fresh and exciting sights. Timeless luxury, exclusive experiences, life enriching moments and true personalisation. APT offers all-inclusive holidays so everything is taken care of. We invite you to join us; you won’t be disappointed.
A Viking river cruise is the discerning traveller’s dream. Whether you choose to visit Egypt, Asia, Europe or the Mississippi, our itineraries are designed to immerse you in the history and culture of each destination. With us, you could be exploring a local food market with our head chef one day and experiencing an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of a world-famous museum the next.
Our state-of-the-art ships take you right into the heart of each destination, and you won’t find any kids or ‘nickel and diming’ on board. In fact, our fares include everything you need - from meals, beverages and Wi-Fi to a culturally enriching shore excursion at every port of call. This unique combination of features has become affectionately known as ‘the Viking difference’.
Viking has 70 award-winning river ships sailing all over the world, and we can’t wait to welcome you on board to discover the Viking difference for yourself.
Recent Reviews
4.8
Overall the cruise was fabulous. We were a little disappointed with the conclusion of our trip. Engine problems along with a public holiday meant that we were not given sufficient time in Budapest.
So many wonderful things about this cruise. Everything is organised for you. The meals are great and the drinks are free flowing. The staff are so helpful and nothing is too much trouble for them. Some fantastic sights that you stop and see along the way. Highly recommend this to anyone young or old.
We have done this trip previously, although in April. This time we went in November. Although the autumn colours were beautiful it was very cold most days (around 5 degrees during the day). As this was the last trip of the season we found many of the freedom of choice activities were limited and in many cases were only limited to a city walk. We were ...read more really looking forward to riding the e-bikes on a couple of occasions but were told once we boarded that they stop that by the end of October. Very disappointed! We did find we were sitting around a lot on the ship and once we did stop at each port we were time limited. Maybe more day-time activities whilst on board too would have been better. On the whole we enjoyed our time away and couldn't fault the food and staff and their attention to detail.
Paris was very disappointing, the river cruise & Prague were excellent and met all expectations. Very knowledgeable & well organized tour guides. Perhaps this trip isn't geared to solo travelers. Accommodation on the cruise & Prague of high quality but were disappointing in Paris.
Recommendations:- (Paris) Perhaps the APT tour guide could have attended ...read more earlier to ease the tension/frustration/anger felt by the early arrival of clients. It was noticeable, that both Avalon & Viking guides where in attendance. Hotel personnel were quite rude/short/ with clients as they where very busy! Perhaps this could be looked into by Global Journeys. (GJ Team: We'll certainly pass on your comments to APT. Thanks for your feedback.)
Recommendations:- (Paris) Perhaps the APT tour guide could have attended ...read more earlier to ease the tension/frustration/anger felt by the early arrival of clients. It was noticeable, that both Avalon & Viking guides where in attendance. Hotel personnel were quite rude/short/ with clients as they where very busy! Perhaps this could be looked into by Global Journeys. (GJ Team: We'll certainly pass on your comments to APT. Thanks for your feedback.)
On the whole a great trip. The one let-down was the food, which would not pass muster in a Melbourne bistro. Restaurant staff were largely under-trained, which may be a hang-over from COVID.
A very enjoyable trip dispite the low river levels and the need to change ships. The scenery and Signature experiences were wonderful and well organised. Great mix of fellow passengers and everyone looked out for each other. Found the food choices a little disappointing. Presented lovely, but found it largely very bland and not a lot of variety. ...read more Fellow passengers who had done the trip before expressed the view that it was not up to the standard of their original trip and I think there was a general view that standards had slipped. Perhaps that was a result of COVID affecting the staffing levels or general cost cutting. Would like to see a wider range of wines and food selections, but overall we had a great time. Hannah at Global Journeys was as always, helpful, timely and obliging.
4.6
Global Journeys and Jemma handled our booking process well. We loved our Viking France’s Finest cruises. We made some new friends and found the staff excellent. Loved the onshore excursions particularly Monet's Garden, and all the walled medieval villages, especially Viviers night walk. Accommodation was lovely and cruising enjoying the view was perfect. ...read more The crew of the Heimdal were particularly outstanding.
Our first time with Viking. Our thoughts - the ship and crew and meals were excellent. Some communication from Viking was a little scratchy. We weren't sure which dock we were to meet the ship at and couldn't find this information in our My Viking Journey account nor was there a phone number or web site address to get the information. In the end we ...read more got it from a Viking rep who was in the foyer of our hotel the morning before we were to start the cruise. The programme seemed a bit busy. Doing an optional excursion generally meant missing the included excursion. Maybe all 7 night river cruises are like this? Viking optional tours, accommodation, transfers etc are very overpriced. Limited drinks are included with meals. A lot of top end cruise companies include all drinks in the fare. Overall we had a very enjoyable cruise, but we will always check out competitor offers before booking again with Viking.
Thanks to the support we received from Global Journeys and Viking we were able to finally complete our much delayed river cruise due to COVID. The communication from Global Journeys was outstanding and very supportive. Viking are the kings of the river and accomplish everything with professionalism and care.
Jemma at Global Journeys was great as always. Viking river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest was amazing. The staff were very friendly and helpful. The tours great. Really could not fault Viking. Would recommend Viking.
I booked a Viking river cruise through Global Journeys. The booking process was easy and having a dedicated travel consultant (Tracey) was a bonus. Tracey followed up on my queries in a timely manner. I would book online through Global Journeys again.
The river cruise was enjoyable - saw some amazing places. The on board stateroom was small but serviceable. ...read more Food was of a high quality. Due to low river water levels a boat change was necessary, however this was a streamlined process. If you enjoy river cruising would recommend Viking.
The river cruise was enjoyable - saw some amazing places. The on board stateroom was small but serviceable. ...read more Food was of a high quality. Due to low river water levels a boat change was necessary, however this was a streamlined process. If you enjoy river cruising would recommend Viking.
My wife and I decided to travel on a Viking River cruise for the second time because of their well organised shore excursions. The ship caters for everything that you can possibly need. The accommodation was great. The food was five star to go with the overall service from the staff. From the time we walked on to the dock we were welcomed like royalty. ...read more During our cruise we have met so many nice people from all over the world and are still in touch with some and hope to catch up on our next tour. The accommodation was great. We unpacked our cases and felt like we were at home. Thank you to Globus ( and Georgie) for organising this for me. A truly wonderful holiday.
Popular Trips
15 Days Budapest to Amsterdam
Operator: APT
From 6,885
Save 2,355
