I would have expected Viking River Cruise AT THE VERY LEAST to give their guests the option of a refund or take an alternate cruise in the future, NOT some bus trip as is being touted on this board. Please "say it ain't so"! I understand that water levels are beyond their control but honesty, compassion and understanding should not be. If people are disappointed then Viking should go out of their way (and then some!) to insure that no one is left unhappy. It may cost them money now but it will cost them more, in the future, if they don't.

We are back from our tour/cruise: the Amsterdam to Vienna, July 24th-August 5th. Viking did not make a decision regarding when we would finally get on the ship until Sunday or Monday, at least that's what I surmised from the feedback we got. Or I should say, didn't get. About 15% of the passengers went home, or elsewhere, because at that time, we thought it was going to be 8 full days in hotels.

We finally got on the ship Monday night, having missed 4 nights onboard. Prior to that, there was alot of hurrying up in the morning, buses, etc. which didn't make anyone happy. It's a shame that Viking management did such a poor job of informing the passengers what was going on, since once we finally got onboard, it was delightful. The crew and ship were great, and did their utmost to accomodate all passengers.

Thanks Unn for alerting us to water level problems (something we had never thought of despite the fine print in Viking brochures on this). Have been watching 2 message boards for your feedback. We are going Oct 20th.
Question for all: Discuss tipping - amount and how. Brochure says 20 Euros per day (per cabin) which equates to about $23 or $276 for our Amsterdam to Vienna cruise. This is higher than other cruise guidelines. Also did people actually leave money in one envelope for crew to split up as they saw fit?

The brochure states $10. per person per day, to be shared by the crew. You can also tip individual crew members as you see fit. We did both, since we sat at the same table most nights, and ouyr waiter Dusan was really terrific. But basically, it's up to each passenger. It's much more low key than an ocean cruise. Envelopes are left at the front desk, and there are more than enough if you should choose to need many of them.