Viking Longship Reviews

Viking gave great service, especially the food - it was amazing. We went in early September and it was a little cool-would have liked it to be warmer but you can't control the weather. Another great life time experience. Thank you to Global Journeys and Georgie - once again.

We thoroughly enjoyed our first river cruise. Low water levels thankfully didn't disrupt our trip. Great service from all the staff.

From the three day pre extension in Nice to the three day post extension in Paris our Provence to Lyon river cruise with Viking was by far the best holiday we have had so far. Everything was perfect the weather, the high standard of the Viking staff, the food on board the ship and the tours at each port were well above our expectations. Nothing was read more too much trouble for all the people who work on the Viking ships I would highly recommend this company to anyone wanting to see France or any other country where they sail. Global Journeys looked after all our bookings and did a wonderful job of making sure everything went to plan, well done!

The Viking boat (Magni) was well maintained. The cabins were all well-appointed and kept spotlessly clean. The saloon had a small outside dining and seating area. The overall dining experience was excellent with good food and impeccable service. Breakfast and lunch could be enjoyed in the saloon’s outside dining area, although there were limited tables read more available.

We originally booked a standard cabin on the lowest deck, which had a narrow water level window. We felt this might be a bit oppressive for the next 2 weeks, so we took the opportunity to upgrade to a French balcony cabin on the middle deck and were very pleased we did.

The after dinner entertainment in the Saloon was quite meager with only a piano player to entertain us.
We would have liked to spend more time on the top deck during the day and after dinner, but for a period of about a week, access to the top deck was denied due to safety concerns with the low bridges. We believe this to be a specific issue with Viking. For us, this was the major disappointment with this cruise.

Given our experience with ocean cruising, we felt this cruise lacked a “wow” factor. With reduced access to the sun deck, limited shore time and limited activities on the boat, it was a long 2 weeks. Would we recommend Viking? Yes, we would consider one of their ocean cruises. We like their “no children and no gambling” policy.

This trip was the perfect reintroduction to Europe after the pandemic, 14 nights in the same extremely comfortable room but plenty of new places to explore outside every day. The highlights included the friendly and efficient staff and the huge choice of very tasty meals at breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would highly recommend Viking and have several read more times since my return. My 2 hints to family and friends are to consider the time of travel to reduce issues with low water levels in the river system and think about whether they actually need to spend the additional money for a balcony, as you actually rarely get to use it.

We absolutely loved our Viking river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. The tours offered met our needs, the staff were lovely and the food delicious. I would not hesitate to recommend this cruise.

Viking never disappoints! This was a really interesting journey with excellent included excursions. It was a nice mix of people on the ship from different parts of the world. The food of course was of very high quality and the staff were lovely. Would highly recommend this river cruise.

I will be contacting Viking directly to voice my concerns as this trip did not meet expectations. The ship repair for change of generator at the start of our journey in Lyon was a concern which dampened our enthusiasm. The quality of wine offered in the the Silver Spirit package was considerably below expectations and some of the better champagnes were read more out of stock mid trip. The included excursions were padded out and not to the standard experienced on our previous cruise. Very disappointing. Please feel free to forward this to Viking - it would be appreciated.

Many thanks to Juliet (who has since left!) and Jodie for organising our holiday. All dealings with Global Journeys were excellent and I have recommended your services to many others. Whilst we enjoyed our river cruise with Viking, and it was reasonably priced, it wasn’t quite what we expected. Firstly, it wasn’t as relaxing as we thought it would be, read more as the included tours left around 8.30am most mornings, which meant getting ready and having breakfast quite early in order to board the coach on time.

Secondly, the walking tours were painfully slow so quite frustrating for those of us who are quite fit, even though they broke the groups into “classic” and “leisurely”. The city stays at both ends of the cruise were okay, but it did mean long days travelling in the coach to get to the destinations i.e. from Paris to the ship via Luxembourg then from the ship to Prague. The included tours were pleasant (apart from the snail pace!) but the optionals were rather overpriced in my opinion so we didn’t do any.

The ship itself was quite nice. Not luxurious, but tastefully decorated and our water level cabin was adequate for our needs. We had envisaged we wouldn’t be spending much time in there and we didn’t. We were travelling with my brother and his wife and we were the only Australians on board with predominantly Americans which we found a bit loud and demanding! One man actually apologised to us for his “fellow countrymen’s behaviour”.

The tour director was lovely with a wonderful sense of humour and the service onboard was excellent. The meals and included drinks were great although the portion sizes were way too big. We did write on our review sheet that perhaps they should offer a smaller sizing for those of us who don’t usually eat that much as it seemed a waste not to eat it so we did at the start, but towards the end just couldn’t as our waistlines were expanding too much! If we were to do another river cruise we would probably look at going with a company with more Australians, New Zealanders & Brits as the clientele...

Our first river cruise ever and it didn't disappoint! We had a French balcony room which gave us a lovely view of the river and the ship was lovely as were all the staff. The trips into the ports along the way were well organised and very enjoyable with lots to see. Food on board was very nice and the silver drinks package was well worth the cost as read more we got to try lots of different wines and cocktails we wouldn't normally have ordered. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable cruise. Thank you Global Journeys for making it possible!

We very much enjoyed our first river cruise. The included excursions were excellent though started quite early in the morning (8 - 10am) so you had to be up quite early. The lower floor cabins were fine though probably not as well laid out as some of the ocean cruises we have been on. Some of the food was lovely other meals ok. The only thing which read more may put me off river cruising in future is that it was near impossible to spend time away from other travellers unless you were in your room. There were no little hideaways where you could be by yourself. This surprised me but of course the boats are not that big.

We had a fabulous river cruise and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The food was excellent and varied depending on which country you were in. Our Entertainment Manager was absolutely fabulous and he had a great variety of hilarious games. Thank you.

Very well organised cruise with exceptional crew. We made many friends from Canada, Greece, South Africa and the U.S. Included excursions on the cruise were great. We didn’t sign up for any of the optional excursions as we wanted to enjoy the relaxation on the ship. The weather was hot so it was nice to come back to the air conditioning on the ship read more after a morning excursion. Meals on the ship were first class.

We have booked with Yvonne from Global Journeys for two European river cruises on Viking, very well organised, a wonderful experience, thank you for fantastic work Yvonne organising our flights etc.

Like any trip there are a lot of positives and an occasional grouch. Our last trip with Viking fell into that category. The trip was well organised, delivered excellent weather which made all the activities pleasant to complete and had a group of people with us of similar age and outlook.

Viking manage these trips very well and have a skilled team read more to ensure your outcome is as pleasant as possible. They employee local guides with good knowledge and generally coherent English language skills which is really important for those of us with hearing difficulties.

The only downside to the trip was food choices particularly at dinner were too much of the same and in some cases quality was not up to a previous high standard.

What was so enjoyable about the cruise was the relaxed pace and plenty of opportunities to get to know our friendly fellow passengers. All the staff were also very friendly and took a personal interest in us. We were the only two non US residents out of 180 passengers and it seemed as if they were out to make us feel at home- which we felt very much read more indeed. There was a lot of laughter and friendly teasing.

The excursions from the ship were exceptionally chosen for their cultural and educational value. We were very impressed with our tour to the world's largest agriport and learned about their green house technology. Holland is indeed a wonderful country to explore with so much variety and diversity to offer e.g. history from the Operation Market Garden, the ingenuity of the people in their water management, and of course the beautiful tulips in Keukenhof.

One complaint is the fact that nobody told us that we could book the optional tours months before beginning the cruise - as a result of which, even though we had booked 1 year ago, we missed out on the bicycle tour. Also, if making your own transfers, one can be dismayed by the uncertainty of the ship's docking positions. We ended up cancelling our private arrangements and opted for the more expensive option of using Viking's transfers. But all in all, it was a very enjoyable experience.

We had a wonderful time and were lucky to have excellent weather. The ship was so luxurious, and we were impressed by the fantastic staff and service. Everyone was welcoming and kind. The food was delicious. Shore excursions were well organised and informative - all the locations were beautiful. Would definitely go again!

We chose Viking for a higher end river cruise but value for money, including flights, and weren't disappointed! From the moment we booked with Global Journeys our travel plans and organisation was hassle free - all necessary documentation and arrangements were taken care of and anything we were required to do was well communicated and easy to complete. read more

Our Viking cruise was outstanding; quality food and drinks in abundance, wonderful sights and highly enjoyable included tours as well as additional ones to choose from. The crew on board were all amazing from the ship's captain to the room stewards, they function as a team and interact with all guests with a highly professional and friendly manner regardless of their position and role. This, along with the relaxed and casual atmosphere aboard, made for a quality cruise without any formalities.

Although we are in our early 50s and many of the passengers were retired, we did not feel out of place. Definitely not a party scene like larger cruise ships but plenty of opportunities for fun and relaxing. We had a lower deck cabin without a balcony or French window and it was fine as we enjoyed the views from both sides of the ship from the lounge or upper deck. The other options can be pretty one-sided and most cruising is done at night when not too much to see.

Four years ago we sailed with Viking on the Budapest to Amsterdam cruise and loved it so it was a no brainer for us to choose Viking again for this special cruise, France's Finest, to celebrate our Anniversary. It didn't disappoint! Viking thinks of everything and their guests are looked after from beginning to end. All the tour guides are amazingly read more knowledgeable and provide a wonderful commentary on the various stops along the way whether they are little hamlets or big cities, as well as including interesting little snippets of information about personalities and such..

We chose 7 optional tours in addition to the included ones because we didn't want to miss out on anything. This did make for a full on itinerary and we've returned home quite tired but that was our choice and we don't regret it at all.

We also decided to include the 3-day Loire Valley extension which was wonderful but again, very full on. The accommodation was absolutely beautiful and once again our guide was superb.

A slight disappointment for us was the cabin we chose. On our last cruise we chose a French Balcony stateroom. This time and in order to save a bit of money, we chose a room on the lowest level which didn't have an opening window. We wish we had paid the extra as we felt a bit claustrophobic. We know other people who have had no problem at all with this so this is just a personal thing.

Also impressive is the way Viking looks after everything regarding the transfer to the airport at the end of the holiday with a guide accompanying us literally to the check in counter at the airport!

Unfortunately one of us was unwell during our holiday which put a bit of a dampener on things and when the Maitre d' at the restaurant on the ship was told he was so accommodating, providing warm and comforting soup. Nothing was too much trouble.

Juliet, from Global Journeys was a gem! Attention to detail and customer service was absolutely top notch. Whenever we had a query it would be answered almost immediately and definitely the same day. We have recommended Global Journeys to our friends as being a company which really takes an interest in their customers. We wouldn't book with anyone else now that we have experienced the professionalism and friendliness that was shown to us.

Thanks so much for a great holiday.

Loved cruising the Rhine with Viking. They are very good at what they do and looked after us extremely well. Because of our busy pre-cruise coach tour through Europe we chose only to do the included options. This gave us time to enjoy the Rhine and the scenery that went with it while sipping on a glass of wine or beer from our balcony, lounge or top read more deck. Everyone from the captain to the room attendant were very friendly and nothing was too much trouble. The food was amazing and it was great to have the choice of formal and casual dining.
Once again Georgie from Global Journeys found this cruise for us which slotted into our time frame and also liaised between Viking and ourselves for our flights.