Viking River Cruise Reviews

This was our sixth European River Cruise and whilst it met expectations in most areas it fell short in some areas and those were ones which we are important to us. In terms of the cabin, the catering, the friendliness of the crew, the on-board facilities and the routine on board, we found that Viking were on par with the other major operators we have ...read more cruised with.

The areas we were disappointed with were the on-board entertainment and the excursions. The on-board entertainment did not include a German folklore/music evening (the cruise was totally within Germany)until the last night of the cruise and many guests did not show up, presumably as they were preparing for departure the following day. There was also a glass blowing demonstration one evening which more of a souvenir/sales event than a cultural event.

The excursions contained too many hours of coach travel (particularly as it had extensions either end in Prague and Paris with several hours by road between ship and hotel). There was also no folklore night offered in advance by Viking in Prague and we booked our own only to find that on the day of our arrival in Prague a folklore evening was being offered by Viking. Also in Rudesheim the main attraction (for us) was the Musical Instrument Museum but not included in any tour offered by Viking, so we and several other passengers had to do our thing. On the other hand the tour to Heidelberg included a local lunch with a foreign student from the university (our student was from Sudan) which we found to be a pleasant change.

This was one of our best holidays. Viking did a fantastic job from the time we were picked up at the airport until we were transported for our flights home. The staff were professional and very friendly. The ship was great (too much food!) Tours were well organised and guides very knowledgeable. Would certainly recommend to anyone that wants to ...read more get away and relax for a week or two and we are now looking at a cruise on another river.

Not international clientele, almost all American, land excursion guides are very stupid. Ship is modern and very comfortable, extremely good. Food is excellent. River smelt awful. Housekeeping is excellent. Some staff were not kind.

Beautiful scenery, great ship with excellent staff and great food. Good choice of shore excursions with very good guides. We really enjoyed meeting our fellow travellers, even though by nature we are not very outgoing. Most were Americans, with the rest British and Canadian, Surprisingly, we were the only Australians. We were expecting a lot of old ...read more people but most were about our age -- 60-something! It cost a lot, but it's worth doing at least once.

Just a superb trip, we could not fault the attention to detail, the care of the crew, or the easy relaxed nature of the river cruise itself. The trip highlights were too numerous to mention, every shore excursion was well planned, the finale of arriving at Budapest at night was truly spectacular. Global Journeys were kind, efficient and helpful with ...read more the planning of the trip.

Budapest beautiful city. Would recommend staying here for 1-2 nights before starting cruise. Book hotel close to Christmas markets and shopping street if travelling in December. Heaps of designer shopping than elsewhere in Europe. Extremely cold, sometimes below freezing so bring suitable clothing or buy great bear when you arrive. Wondrous city, Christmas ...read more lights and markets and excellent range of goods and Hungarian food in stalls. Danube rather drab at this time of year food, crew and entertainment onboard was excellent. No complaints about ship but would have liked more attention paid to the Christmas markets and shuttle buses provided to these venues. I would not do this cruise in winter if I wasn't interested in seeing the Christmas markets and decorations. Vienna, Linz and Passau lovely, interesting cities, would give Melk Abbey a miss if I went on this tour again and also possibly Bratislava. Not a lot to offer and too cold at Christmas.

Viking cruises very comparable with other providers. Service, food & excursions all very good. Staterooms in some catergories far too small though.

Global Journeys competitive prices made it possible for us to take yet another Viking River Cruise holiday, this time to China. As a person with a special diet I would have struggled to eat without the excellent help of Viking and our tour guide Eric. We started in Shanghai, had a 6 day river cruise on the Viking Emerald and ended up in Beijing. ...read more The total trip taking 13 days. This trip is full on and you get to see all the major sights. There is a lot of walking involved so you need good shoes. We had had enough of planes by the end as there were a lot of internal flights and sitting around at airports but it is the only way to cover the distances in such a short period of time. The boat portion was much more relaxing and sailing through the Gorge was spectacular. We would highly recommend this trip and any Viking Cruise. They are so well organised, everything is included, and nothing is too much trouble. Many thanks Yvonne for all your help with booking.

We have had a few holidays on cruise ships, but never again. The Viking river cruises are the best way to travel and see the world. Everything was thought out brilliantly. The tours were amazing with tour guides informative and thoughtful of everyone's needs. The cruise staff were so helpful and nothing was overlooked when it came to our needs and wants. ...read more I haven't stopped talking about how wonderful everything was. After travelling for a few weeks, to have down time on the boat was perfect. Thank you to Viking for a memorable holiday.

The river cruise aspect of this package cannot be faulted. The food and wine was excellent. The accommodation was very good, and we were at water line. The staff were amazing on board.

Viking handled everything with true professionalism. Our tour director and staff were all fantastic. Great holiday and would recommend Viking to all our friends. Yvonne from Global Journeys did a great job organizing everything.

Great time of year to go cruising, the temperatures were perfect, not too hot or cold. Company on the cruise was good and really enjoyed the excursions too. Nuremberg, Vienna and Budapest were the highlights of the cruise. Would certainly recommend Viking everything was really well organised and the free drinks package was a bonus!

We thoroughly enjoyed the trip along the Danube, Main and Rhine. It was unfortunate that following heavy rain in Europe the rivers were very full and we needed to change ships after four days aboard. While this was an inconvenience to us, we needed to repack and then unpack again once on the new ship, the organisation for the changeover was well thought ...read more out by the Programme Director and other crew and caused as little bother to us as possible. Indeed, we enjoyed the chance to travel along roads and see the countryside from another perspective. Nothing was too much trouble for the crew on board and they were so friendly and welcoming. From start to finish the holiday went very smoothly.
We chose to travel with Viking as my English cousin had holidayed with them and was going to take another trip. It also meant that the majority of passengers were from other countries than Australia and gave us the chance to meet other nationalities. Regards booking through Global Journeys, Michelle looked after us all the way. Tickets and information arrived in plenty of time before we traveled and Michelle answered all our questions quickly and courteously. We would be happy to book another trip through Global Journeys. My husband enjoyed the relaxing time on the Vili so much that we are ging to sail along the Murray River in South Australia in 2017.

Emily, thank you for organising our river cruise. It was done efficiently and was very professional. We enjoyed our river cruise very much and the sites were exciting and interesting. Our only fault was that there were a lot of coach trips to and from, some were up to 2 hours travelling to get to a destination and a lot of free time to shop. Some of ...read more the smaller towns this time was too much. We did not realise this at the time. Towards the end it became tiring. After saying that though, the staff and food were wonderful. The length of the cruise was perfect and we could have opted out of some of the excursions but we really didn't want to miss a moment. Thank you once again, and we certainly would go through your agency for future travel.

The only hitch was because of low river water we had to travel by coach from Nuremberg to Passau where we had to change to a similar but older ship which was still in excellent condition. Had the cruise company had less available ships we might have ended travelling the second half of the cruise by coach. Viking made good of a tricky situation and ...read more handled everything in an efficient manner without too many hassles.

This was our second River Cruise in Europe and lived up to our expectations. Viking ran everything like clockwork and I would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a well organized holiday. It was pretty full on but then if you weren't able to keep up with the pace there were options. We had folk in wheel chairs who still took part in most excursions ...read more and another very elderly couple who chose just to remain on board and view the scenery as we sailed although most days were spent in port so not a lot for them to do then but staff were outstanding especially on the Viking Gefjon. We were in one of the lower deck cabins and so only had a very high up window that you could only see out if standing. We did not spend much time in our cabin but if able to afford it I would recommend a cabin on a higher deck with a full window.

The river cruise was excellent. Amazing scenery and places to see. Food excellent. Silver service package let u relax and not worry about drinks bill! Staff went out of way to assist. Very Professional operation. 1 lock was broken so schedule was rearranged so we did not miss any excursions. We missed the last day and farewell dinner as my husband was ...read more sent to hospital. Viking sent a crew member with us. He stayed with us all day to help translate and advise re hospital administration. Peter is still in hospital. So we will be in Portugal until he is fit to travel to UK. We were lucky to nearly have completed the cruise. Information re chargers: each room has quiet boxes charging for the guided tours. These also have USB slots so you can charge phones in room. We missed the Lisbon tour as our flight was delayed and taxi took us to wrong hotel, ( there are / hotels same name a block a part) but we enjoyed the day trip to Porto. Main negative was lack of local walking tours. Each day was a bus trip this was not really explained in the brochure. There was a small endless swimming spa so tell people to take their swimming costumes.

First river cruise and enjoyed very much, lovely cabin, first rate bathroom. Food on average very good, but would have liked more choice with buffet lunch i.e. Cheese and ham served at breakfast but not at lunch. All shore excursions were done well and on time and the service of guides very good. Staff on ship worked very hard although at times pushed ...read more to serve meals and drinks as required. Also there should be more training of staff as regard passengers who have the drinks Silver package on the cruise. We would not hesitate to recommend Viking cruises or to sail with them again.

Had a great cruise, we're from Australia and others on the cruise were mainly from USA. Had a great time and we are still in touch with some fellow passengers. Found the ship and cabin very good, loved the under floor heating in the bathroom. Shore excursions and shore guides all of a high standard.

Booking through Global Journeys as part of our ...read more trip we received a full onboard drinks package (well used). Food was OK and service very good by the friendly staff on board. A plus for Viking cruises - we had trouble getting to the ship at the start of the cruise (owing to German road works) and upon getting to the ship, the cruise director refunded our Taxi fare in full!!! Well done Viking.

Great holiday, all sorted by Jemma at Global Journeys.

We really enjoyed the experience. The lower end of the Danube is not the most scenic part but it was all of interest. Obviously some countries are still emerging from decades of neglect and poverty and the differences between countries was very obvious. Tourism is potentially a major industry but most are still struggling to provide the experiences ...read more and services that tourists expect. We had the premium drinks package and it could have been made much clearer to us how this worked as it took a couple of days to realise the benefits. The pre-paid gratuities voucher was a very good idea - however as only Australian and NZ travellers had such vouchers it made it a little difficult on shore excursions when other travellers were handing out tips to guides and drivers. However, we appreciated not having to negotiate this tipping practice. Viking is clearly a very well organised operation and all excursions and transfers went very smoothly. Our information from Global Journeys was always clear and helpful.