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 :)

From where? Sleeping mode? :)

Dayenu... How did you know !!!!!!

I think the saddest thing about the original post is that Uncle Rennie went instead of us! We've been wishing we could take that exact cruise on Viking for sometime. It's quite expensive (even with the lowered 2/1 fares). We've never been to Amsterdam and loved Budapest, so the alpha and omega would be perfect. Lots of interesting ports in between.

We've taken one cruise with Viking, on the Pakhomov, from Moscow to St. Petersburg. We consider it one of our best trips ever. Our cabin was spartan but efficient (the boat has been renovated since our trip), the crew couldn't have been nicer or more helpful, our included tours were excellent and our guides superb. Food was just fine and our servers (three girls in particular) were wonderful.

Sorry Uncle Rennie, you should have called us as we would have been overjoyed to go in your place and enjoy every minute of the trip, except for being tired now and then (we're not 21 anymore).

That is okay Giovanna... if you go on another Viking..I will go too:)

I'm still waiting for our cowardly curmudgeon UncleRennie to reappear...

'Cos it is cowardly, isn't it? No style.

Well you know dogster , we would all like to hear more from

UncleRennie and how he made out with the Viking Represen tative that was nice enough to off him help.

Since he vented and wanted us all to read about his plight,

it is only common courtesy now to give us an update !!

At least Viking wants to make amends for any hardship he endured.

Looks like another one post wonder but we'll see.

Well, it is even worse than that! My wife and I signed up for a cruise on the Rhine with Viking for 15 days. The idea was to travel on the ship, no unpacking, not hotels, no buses and view the beautiful landscapes along the Rhine.....WRONG...our crusis left Antwerp, Belgium on November 13, 2011 on the Viking Sun, supposedly sailing for two wonderful weeks and ending in Basel, Switzerland. Well we did depart from Antwerp and ended in Basel but not on the dream cruise we thought.Day 8 we were informed that the river level was too low to actually sail on the Rhine so they had us pack up, put us on buses and proceeded to bus us across Germany and France. We were put up in nice hotels but the meals were served banquet style and buffets and the normal hotel banquet meal....not what we had paid for! We did end up in Basel and another hotel waiting to catch our flight home. We didn't get to see the Rhine except crossing it on a bus and the destinations we were to see and experience went down the drain as well. Only wished we'd done our homework as we have now found numberous incidents very similar to ours over past year. They knew what they were doing and due to the fine print in the contract you sign, you agree that they can do most anything they like, including putting you on buses and housed in hotels across Germany and Switzerland.

Run, don't walk away from Viking.

Very disappointed to say the least. Hope will help other to research Viking in more detail

We were on the same Rhine cruise beginning Nov. 13 in Antwerp, but it looked a little different to us, especially in hindsight. It's been on the news the past few days that some unexploded WWII bombs were found in the shallow water at Koblenz on Nov. 20, yes, Day 8, Sunday. We stayed on the ship, incuding a sail up the Moselle, as scheduled, until Wednesday, Day 11. We had hotels (2) for the last 4 nights. At that stage of the cruise, the original itinerary included some bus trips, to the Black Forest, for example. Everyone was disappointed about the changes, but what can anyone do about low water in a river? I do think Viking could have informed passengers about the water levels and the possibility of changes before we sailed. There would have been fewer hostile reactions if we'd all been better prepared ahead of time. By the way, Viking's crew on and off the boat were superb. And most passengers made the best of it all, resulting in a very good, not perfect, experience.

I am not defending the river cruise companies here but here is my 2 bits worth ...

Would you have cancelled the trip if they told you ahead that the "cruise" will be changed to "bus & hotel"?

How about if they told you after you get on board on the frist day of the cruise? Would the reaction be less hostile?

They are in a can't win situation. I am not sure what the economics are, but I bet you the cost to bus and hotel is more expensive than using their own boat as they have to pay out money to someone.

Would the passenegrs be more happy if they offer a refund or a partial refund? A future crediy maybe? But knowing that it might actually cost them more moeny to do the same itenary to begin with ...

What else do you think they can do?

I note that, many weeks later, UncleRennie has not reappeared.

We are scheduled for a Viking Cruise commencing on the 27th of December. We have been reading and hearing about the issues with the low river levels and as we purchased the insurance we do have the option of cancelling without penalty. We, however, are really looking forward to the trip (we enjoyed a fabulous cruise with Viking in April!) so we are going to go ahead and prepare to "roll with the punches". Weather and other natural phenomena are always an issue when travelling ... heck, we could have a blizzard on the 27th and never make it out of Chicago! That is part of the "adventure" of travel!
Our previous experience with Viking was positive so we will go ahead and assume that they will do whatever they can to make the trip enjoyable for us. We will still get to see some wonderful cities (Budapest, Vienna, Neuremburg, Prague ...)

I agree dogster. Another one hit wonder? :S-

<<Run, don't walk away from Viking>>

That would be considered very bad advice by some of us. Other than the line not notifying passengers of possible changes I don't see how they can be blamed for the OP's disappointment and anger. It seems to me Mother Nature is the one to blame and there's not much any of us can do about her decisions.

resyki and ejkonz have the right idea about traveling. Good points from Eschew. Some people are travelers; others are tourists. And what in the world happened to UncleRennie?

Dear Viking Guests,

First, we want you to know that we are listening and we appreciate your input, feedback and understanding. The magnitude of this late-season drought was not immediately apparent, but we have made adjustments each day in an effort to continually provide you with our very best. We know you have questions and we know some of you have complaints. For each of the Danube and Rhine sailings that are effected in December, we are providing shipboard credit, complimentary optional excursions, and credit to use on a future cruise.

We understand that if you have a trip coming up, you’ll want answers about how your itinerary may need to be altered. We will continue to update our future guests via email with additional information as it becomes available. We have also made all of these communications available on our website here: http://www.vikingrivercruises.com/about/vikingnews.aspx. This information on our website will continue to be updated as well.

For those who joined us in November — Billthree and resykl, in particular — we are working hard to address your concerns regarding how your itineraries were altered by low river levels. Our intent is that all passengers effected by the low water levels will hear from us within the next two weeks. In the meantime, if you would like to contact us directly, we are always happy to hear from you directly at [email protected].

Regards,
Viking River Cruises

The whole point being is that they knew the water level was too low before we took the cruise and they didn't give us an option to cancel or postpone....which we would have certainly done. Yes the crew did the best they could and kept everything going very well. They also knew the next group on the return from Basel to Antwerp would not be able to cruise weeks before and did not notify them until day before and most had alread started the travel.

And I suppose that Billthree didn't decide to take out the offered trip insurance, either.

We have been on 5 Grand Circle river cruises and have never had to handle our bags from clearing customs to our cabin, or our cabin to airport check in, except to identify them.

realize this is an old post but we have nothing but praise for our Viking river Cruise in China. Everything was so professional and our guide Raqui was great. Sorry others have not had a good experience.....

Just back from Vikings "Footsteps of the Cossacks" in the Ukraine. Nothing could have been better, except maybe a couple of days longer. The Dnieper River doesn't seem to have the water level problems of the Rhine/Danube.