Has Viking gone down in quality?
 

Hello - I'm being caught by the 2-for-1 sale prices on Viking, and considering their Amsterdam to Budapest cruise in 2010. Anyone done this somewhat recently? I was on CruiseCritic.com (my first and only visit there so far), and the last 4 or 5 reviews talked about boring/bland food, surly waitstaff, dirty conditions, other issues. 15 days would be a loooonnnnnngggg time if conditions aren't great! The only cruising I've done so far is with Cruise West, and we love their staff/ships/people/travelers, but I don't care for their Europe itinerary, so I'm looking around.
The ship looks like it would be the Viking Legend, which they say joined their fleet in 2009 - I suppose that would make it a "new" ship, and should be in good shape?
I'd appreciate any help - I see that Mimi was asking for similar help last November, because she was going on this particular cruise June 2009, and would love to hear from her if she did this.
Thanks for any help!

I am bombarded with Viking's 2 for 1 also !

JoAnn: We thoroughly enjoyed this cruise - we were on Viking Spirit, Amsterdam to Budapest (not the new ship the Legend). It was our 3rd with Viking and I'm glad to say that it exceeded our expectations. The food was very good, the staff exceptional and there were some innovations that were new to us: head sets for tours, 4-5 versions of each day's tours (all free -- regular, relaxed, high lights and enhanced), free wifi, and 24/7 free self-serve ice water, iced tea, hot coffee, tea, cappucino, mochacino, cafe au lait and hot cocoa.

Our days were very busy indeed, with tours, enrichment programs and many, many special food/drink tastings. During stretches of sailing down the Rhine, Main, Danube, mostly everyone could be found on the sun deck watching the beautiful scenery. Viking doesn't offer a lot of "exciting" evening entertainment, but since we often lingered at dinner (open seating) till after 9 every night, we usually just continued our dinner conversation on deck or in the lounge before turning in, especially since we usually had early morning starts. Their keyboard artist Jerry was truly wonderful.

Due to the special 2 for 1 offers there were many first timers aboard. As an indication of how well satisfied people were, at the farewell cocktail, they gave the captain and his staff a standing ovation.

Since our last Viking cruise was in 2003, we had forgotten how much we enjoy the intimacy of river boats (140 passengers) and the relaxed atmosphere. To be honest, this trip was on our to-do list for some time, but it was costly. It was the 2 for 1 offer that made all the difference and we're so glad we went!

If you have any specific questions, please ask.

We're interested in this same question, having found similar reviews to those Jo Ann mentioned. We're looking at Rhone river cruise on Viking Neptune in Sept 2010 -- because of the two-for-one deals! We've found that Uniworld does the same itinerary, same dates, on River Royal -- for virtually the same price, though not marked as two-for-one. Any recent comments on either -- or comparison of two lines?
Thanks.
Samcat

samcat: I can't comment on Uniworld as we have only sailed with Viking (Russia, Vienna/Black Sea/Vienna, and Amsterdam to Budapest). We have been extremely happy with Viking. Nothing has "slipped" -- not food, service or value.

I would suggest a careful examination of both trips through their published offers. Check for included vs. optional tours, free time, hours in port and enrichment. Previously we found that there was not enough free time (for exploring on our own and shopping) but on this last cruise we had all the time we needed in the cities due in part to the option of adjusting the time you spend on tours (see my comment about the tours above) and the fact that on many days, we did not sail until late evening or early the following morning, giving us the option of an evening walk in town. And I can't say enough about the staff -- they were wonderful! Viking has also included a staff person who travels with each group and takes lots of photos -- of the sights and of the passengers. At the end of the cruise a photo CD with hundreds of photos was offered at a modest price.

Perhaps you could do a search for reviews of Uniworld?

We just returned from the Budapest to Amsterdam cruise 2 days ago. While the cruise, staff, food etc. was marvelous, we were very discouraged with how viking handles the fares and optional charges. We received a fuel surcharge refund because we booked back in 2009. Fine. But, they applied it as a credit to our cabin. We were not able to use it to buy a beverage package (which we did buy for a total of $950). That beverage package, by the way, was offered to us onboard for a 20% discount. That hurt. And as you know almost all the city tours and activities are included in the fare. So what are we supposed to use this cabin credit for????? Nope, don't even think about using it for gratuities, you can't do that either. So on the last day, we were buying souvenir crap onboard to use it up, cuz nope, they won't refund it either. All in all, even though we enjoyed the cruise itself, other companies I have heard handle credits in a far more civilized fashion. Check out someone else.

We got the fuel surcharge rebate as well as an AARP shipboard credit and one from our travel agent on our Viking Cruise and no, we could not use it to pay our gratuities. But we were expecting that since it was all detailed in our final cruise documents.

So we used it for an optional excursion, purchased from the on-board shop a parka, a fleece jacket, a cap, 4 Pashmina shawls, the photo CD they offered of the trip, daily drinks in the restaurant and lounge and two boxes of Mozart's kugen (a typical souvenier of Vienna that we were planning to buy in town anyway).

Re: the beverage package being offered on board at a discount -- you should have taken it up with the Hotel Manager. We met a British couple who did not automatically get the fuel surcharge rebate as the rest of us did. We encouraged them to pursue the matter with Viking and midway through the cruise they were issued an apology and were told that the credit would appear on their shipboard account.

Mimi & Crista,
Thanks for your comments. We're still investigating!

Thanks Mimi for the kind words. We did try to take our issues up with the hotel manager and he simply said there was nothing he could do about it. I appreciated your comments about the usage of the shipboard credits being well detailed in the final cruise documents .... but we never received "documents" we only received vouchers.... yup, just vouchers and nothing else. go figure....

With the poor economy and all, there are a lot more 2 for 1 on non-peak travel seasons. The Legend is a new ship but I wonder if they have added 110s for us North American's.

In an attempt to address your original question as posted, jo_ann... I don't know, but I'll get back to you on that after completing the Grand European Tour with Viking on the Legend in Sept/Oct ' 09.

My husband and I have sailed with Viking twice previously, China in 2004 and Russia in 2005. In both instances we booked the trips due to customer incentives offered by Viking... $100 pp roundtrip for air to China during their first year sailing on the Yangtze followed up by a 15% fare reduction for taking another trip with them in the next calendar year (Russia). Living on retired teachers' incomes, we tend to seek out travel deals....so yes, we are sailing for half fare this fall on the Legend.

I remember reading somewhere recently that Viking has been bought out and is now part of the larger Carnival corporation, but I can't not remember or locate that source at the moment so I will apologize in advance if that is incorrect! Regardles, there are some great travel deals to be had right now.... Just remember to check your contract details carefully before making those long range travel plans just incase your carrier of choice should go bankrupt!

PS Eschew, the Legend is supposed to have one 110 outlet in every cabin according to a post on Cruise Critic. Not ideal, but workable if you bring along a powerstrip!