Viking River Cruise Disappoints
 

We took the Viking "Grand European Cruise", 14 days from Amsterdam to Budapest. We were on the Viking Danube.
We were disappointed and angry at some key parts of the cruise.
Transfers were handled badly. For example, in Amsterdam, we had to push our luggage on city streets for 500 feet in the rain, only to have to wait ten minutes for the van to show up. The worst of it was the uncaring and dismissive attitude shown by the Viking personnel. In Budapest, we were told to get off the bus 500 feet from our terminal. I asked where to get a cart or porter for our baggage, the Viking rep said there were none. (There were carts inside). Again, the Viking rep was not the least bit helpful, in fact her deportment suggested she "could have cared less."
They claim WiFi. Don't believe it. Yes, it's there, but so slow its useless (about half of dial-up)
In many of the ports the ships dock so far from town your only option is to join the provided tour. This means you are committed to a 2 to 3 hour outing and a lot of walking. Some alternative should be available (for this high priced cruise), ie: shuttles.
At least one of their "lectures" was so bad that a grade 8 student would have gotten a "D". On the whole, we can only give is a three star rating.

Gee that is really too bad . I was wondering what Viking was like.

Hopefully this was and exception and not the rule.

I was in Europe for the month of June and did a 15 day cruise on Uniworld from Bucharest to Vienna.

Uniworld was terrific..I do not have a single complaint.

In Budapest we docked right in front of the Buda Castle and a block from the Chain Bridge.

I do not think I would have liked to push my luggage 500 feet.

I love revenge reviews. I'd take it all with a grain of salt, Percy. I note the OP joined Fodor's specially to tell the world about their so-called crap trip. I'd assume they won't be back.

They may have been the passengers from hell.

Dogster, you may be right as this is the OP's only post.
Internet is slow at the best of time anyway, regardless of what ship you are on, as the internet conenction is shared by all the passenegers and crew. On the night before disembarking the ship, the internet is usually non-existence as the ship is using up all the bandwidth to put through all the credit card charges.

dogster and Eschew:

You guys( Ladies!!) may be right.

A few weeks ago ,we had the same thing posted about Uniworld on every Uniworld thread .

This poster was also a first time poster and I have not heard from the poster since.

I am trying to picture someone pushing their luggage 500 feet on cobble stoned street!

That is almost two football fields !

I was giving UncleRennie the benefit of the doubt!

Here is only one of the thread where this poster blasted Uniworld on every thread.

http://www.fodors.com/community/crui...m#last-comment

This person posted this at the end of September and became a member on Fodors at the end of September !!!~ hmmm

There seems to be a tendency to discount complaints on this site. Is there some other interests involved? Like some many posts that sound like ads.

"we had to push our luggage on city streets for 500 feet in the rain, only to have to wait ten minutes for the van to show up"

I haven't been on a river cruise, only on sea cruises, and this can be true for every port: don't recall any shuttle buses allowed into the port area, we always had to walk with luggage.

Reading the above, I thought you are lucky it was only a 10-minute wait!

In many ports the ship docks away from a city. What's new about it? Did't the OP do the homework to check the locations?

I think overall this review is very positive if you think the OP had not complained about food and the cabin - so we can safely assume the food was good, and the bed was comfortable.

I find when folks are happy they don't post as often. However, when things go wrong in their opinion, they shout loud and clear. I think it's just a basic trait in most people.
I think a good guide, etc. is often the luck of the draw.You get some good, some bad and some "don't care" ones. Most of the folks you talk to while booking have never been where you are going and really can't answer specific questions such as where and how far is the docking spot.
What bothers some don't bother others. Can't please everyone.

That should be "doesn't bother others."

Dear UncleRennie,


We are sorry to hear that you were disappointed with some particular aspects of your Grand European Tour and would very much like to discuss the details with you. Please contact us directly at [email protected]. We hope to hear from you soon.


Best,


Viking River Cruises

Well UncleRennie, keep us posted as to how Viking resolved this problem for you.

I know with Uniworld that I never had to carry or push my luggage.
I just stepped on the small bus and the luggage was handled for me.

Viking Cruise Lines since you are on this thread now ,could you please outline your luggage policy , for your clients, for us.

Thank You

So many times you see a person post a problem or complaint that often sounds like a rant and then you never see them again. It makes it hard to judge really as this sounds like someone has an ax to grind. I hope UR comes back with info as to resolving this as the offer has been made which is a positive gesture. In any case for me one negative review doesn't mean much unless it points to a trend. Cruise critic is valuable in that you can get scores of passenger reviews for a more comprehensive picture.
Dayenu I luv your POV. :D

Oh and Blaine why do all your posts have the same link? Is this your agency? Self advertising is not allowed chico. :S-

so sorry you had a bad experience with Viking. We were on the Viking China trip last October and loved everything. We couldn't have been treated better except for one incident.....at the airport our guide kind of left us as we stepped into the ladies room and we had to run around the airport to find them as he had our boarding passes!

I would use Viking again as it was first class all the way and we met some wonderful people.

I too agree with Shar, we also did China with Viking this past May and couldn't say enough positive things about them, in fact we have booked a European river cruise with them for December and very much look forward to it. We have done several river cruises with different companies in Europe and have enjoyed each one. Sure there are some minor kinks sometimes but nothing that will ruin your trip, unless you let it.

Just as an FYI, we returned less than a month ago from a big ship cruise in Alaska, we've found that we do not enjoy these large ship cruises but don't feel the need to bad mouth them.

I hope UncleRennie did at least enjoy some of his vacation.

Only my opinion,
Susan

Good for Viking for chiming in and trying to help. Like the attitude!

It would be nice to hear an update from UncleRennie

Don't hold your breath, Percy.

Okay I am going ot exhale now :)