Viking River Cruise Reviews

This was a really wonderful cruise with Viking from Budapest to Amsterdam. We went in December to see the Christmas Markets, which we saw in every town or city we visited. They were absolutely magical! It also snowed a few times, which made it even more special.

The shore tours that we did were great and the local guides very knowledgeable. We couldn’t f ...read moreault anything on the cruise. The food at breakfast, lunch and dinner was always delicious, with plenty of choice. All of the staff on board were very friendly and always ready to help. Our room was very comfortable, with plenty of wardrobe and drawer space, which is very important.

Thank you Tracey, from Global Journeys, for your help with our booking. Global Journeys have always been great to deal with and will definitely book with them again in the future. We loved absolutely everything about our cruise and can highly recommend Viking (which we have already done) to anyone wanting to do a river cruise.

Absolutely fantastic from start to finish. The couple of years delay we had due to Covid was well worth the wait. We have nothing but praise for Viking and their staff and also Georgie from Global Journeys who we booked through. Everyone was so friendly, courteous and helpful. Nothing was too much trouble. We booked our flights with Viking Air which ...read more included pickup at the airport and transport to the ship.

Our cabin with a French Balcony was a good choice as it was quieter and the weather in November was mostly overcast with single digit temperatures which was not conducive to utilising an outside balcony. While the weather was cool we were comfortable wearing appropriate clothing on the tours. Dining was top class with plenty of choices. We were very impressed with everything and are already planning our next Viking River Cruise which we will book with Georgie through Global Journeys.

Viking provided a very professional magical experience and we enjoyed every moment. David Wander, our program leaders expertise in organising and generally caring for each and every guest aboard was beyond outstanding. The majority of travellers were from America which we at times felt excluded by non Viking excursion leaders who directed all there ...read more commentary to and about Americans. We had to change ships half way as the river level was low, this was handled in the least disruptive way by all the wonderful Viking crew aboard the Bragi and Skadi.

Georgie handled our reservations at Global Journeys and was easy to communicate with. Our Viking travel tags did not arrive in time which caused a delay in our boarding the ship and an error on our flight arrival time receipt back into Melbourne meant we had the extra cost of a nights accommodation, this we did not realise until checking in to fly home. Our arrangements had been made and could not be changed but if we had known the correct flight time we could have travelled the next part of our journey home with ease.

Our Viking river cruise met all our expectations and above. Unfortunately we missed the first five days because of COVID but Viking rang us every day to check we were ok and we were able to join the cruise on day 5. On arrival they upgraded us to a French verandah which was unexpected but greatly appreciated. The staff were so friendly and helpful ...read more and we could not fault the food, good variety and quality. The shore tours were excellent and the tour guides very knowledgeable. When we returned and contacted Viking about our missed days on the cruise, they were also very prompt in issuing credit vouchers to put towards another Viking cruise. We would highly recommend Viking.

Fantastic trip - Viking have obviously spent years perfecting their on-board service and features, as well as daily excursions and experiences. Staff were all very polite, expert at their role, and always willing to help. Food and drink was high quality, and in abundance. Recommend taking the drinks package - left us with zero to pay at end of cruise. ...read more No need to travel with friends - the boat provides ample opportunity to meet new people.

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.

Firstly, we have travelled with Viking by their river ships and we have driven to the same areas that were on our itinerary. Travelling by river eliminates the parking hazards and the grind in getting to and finding your bearings.
The France’s Finest river cruise actually combines two different river experiences and we did meet two couples who were ...read more only doing one week. Vikings product is excellent in both the ship accommodation and service levels. This package includes your transfer from Paris to Lyon (or vice versa ) if you combine the two trips and was seamless. The travellers comprised of about 80 per cent from the US.

The included walking tours had excellent guides in general though one issue which could be common to many such cruise trips is there are a number of individuals whose mobility is restricted and it can be tedious walking in such groups. There was an attempt at one port walk to have a fast group but unfortunately the tour guide was the hold up. We didn’t bother to do the guided walk but chose to explore ourselves in a few destinations. We would advise arriving at least 2 days earlier if flying from Australia whether you start this tour in Paris or Lyon. We found a wonderful boutique Paris hotel which was close to the Eiffel Tower and a short walk to the Viking dock.

We found it easy also to use the airport train and metro to arrive at our hotel. COVID restrictions in general had been removed at the time of sailing. Viking staff all were required to wear masks. The only real COVID issue we faced was 3 weeks prior when our airline changed our flight schedule. We are thankful that we had booked our flights via Viking and together with Hannah from Global Journeys as we were able to resolve this significant problem. We were lucky that we had considerable flexibility to depart early as we are a retired couple. We have used the services of Global Journeys on previous bookings and would recommend the company. They were always ready to respond quickly to your queries.

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.

We travelled with Viking Cruises for the first time. We have travelled with other Cruise Lines/touring companies and found Viking is definitely superior. They had your wellbeing as their utmost priority. The ship staff welcomed us aboard and were so happy to see Australians cruising again.

Egypt did not disappoint, my expectations were high and ...read more on numerous occasions this was exceeded, so many jaw dropping moments. The cuisine on the ship was the best I have ever tasted. We were spoilt for choice and amazing flavours by Jakub. I am really missing the freshness and quality that we were provided whilst cruising. Even the cookies at the coffee station were absolutely amazing.

Enrico the ships manager knew everyone by name within a very short time. He literally goes out of his way to make sure you have the best experience ever. We always had personal service.

We travelled at a time when their is 80% less tourists so we did not have any issues with crowds etc. We were always advised of any tips that we needed to know beforehand.

The only thing I would do differently is get my insurance with Viking. I got insurance with a newspaper article recommendation as it had the best insurance for Covid. I paid a hefty premium and paid extra for cruising. I have since found out that Covid cover is not available for cruising with this insurance, Viking however will look after you from start to finish.

This trip was supposed to be taken during Covid lockdowns and had been cancelled. Viking and Global Journeys always communicated our options clearly. It was simple and straight forward. There was never any stress or concern. We simply could have had our money back. I really can’t recommend these companies (Global Journey and Viking) highly enough. I will be travelling with them again in the very near future.

We have completed many coach tours and independent travel in Europe and the United States. Viking's Waterways of the Tsars was our first River Cruise - so it was a new country as well as a new travel style! There were 192 passengers on our trip, the majority from US and many seasoned cruisers! We had selected the "cheaper" window style cabin rather ...read more that a verandah cabin - it was quite spacious, provided plenty of storage and accommodated adequate river views when underway. We spent most of our on board time in scenic common areas. There were often 3-5 boats berthed alongside each other at river ports and it was often necessary to traverse several of these to access our boat, Akun.

September was "cool to cold" with beautiful Autumn coloured leaves in gardens and forests; skies were a little grey and the tourist season was drawing to a close... I would hate to be a visitor at its peak! We enjoyed having the same comfortable bed and the superb quality meals (small buffet or table service for Breakfast and Lunch; a la carte for dinner with choices from Local Specialties (this was a great way to sample traditional Russian foods) or Classic menu items. We immersed ourselves in the varied programs provided by Viking - there are no casinos or "stage shows" on board... and we did not miss them! The organisation was very efficient and professional; the staff were warm, friendly and helpful.

We travelled in the Moscow to St Petersburg direction and in retrospect I think this was the preferable direction - we had booked two extra nights, through Viking, in hotels both in Moscow and St Petersburg. It was great to have those extra nights especially in St Petersburg where the accommodation was very central and allowed lots of opportunities to explore independently. We weren't as confident and adventurous at the start of the trip! I hadn't expected the Viking river berths in both cities (3 nights at each) to be situated in such outer locations. Fortunately, the company offers many Included Tours in the program. We also selected several Optional tours. On a "free day" we travelled independently from the Moscow river berth to view Victory Park (the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 Museum). We would recommend this if you have an interest in these tragic years of Russian History - the Viking program, as the name of the tour would indicate tends to focus more on the Tsarist history. We have visited many European cities and St Petersburg would now have to be our favourite city.

Be warned that the application for a Russian Visa is a time consuming exercise and can be costly. After obtaining the required "Invitation Letter" from Viking we were able to complete and submit our Visa application to the Russian Consulate online. Our passports were returned to us 20 days later. Our Viking booking included flights with Emirates as well as transfers to and from the airport, a stress free exercise.

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...

The booking procedure was seamless from selecting our holiday to the receipt of our travel documents. The airfares were organised by Viking Cruises as part of the package we chose. The major problem being the inability to pick our own seats on the plane.

The Waterways to the Tsars tour was well thought out and provided an extensive look into the ...read more past and present life of the Russian people. The local guides provided well thought out information, although we became a little tired of the Romanovs by the end of the cruise.

The on board staff were exemplary going about their tasks with a smile on their faces and were always helpful. A tremendous little touch was the gift of chocolates and a personal note from our cabin steward on the last day. The meals were OK and the ability to eat local food was a good touch. The only downside as far as the cruise was concerned was, free soft drink and alcohol was limited to meal times only and the local red wine was almost undrinkable. I was too tight to buy wine from the wine list.

The major downside happened on our way home. The plane from Moscow was an hour late leaving and we missed our connecting flight from Frankfurt to Singapore even though the plane was still in the terminal and the ground staff knew we were coming. This lead to extremely basic accommodation and meals and resulted in us having to halve our stay in Singapore and was a significant reason for our jetlag when we came home. All in all it was a good experience that could have been great if the air component had been better. I have grave doubts if I would ever fly with Lufthansa again.

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.

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!