We've done many Viking cruises; this was one we hadn't yet done so Post-COVID, we were ready to get back to cruising. We had the misfortune to have our cruise start at the same time as the imminent arrival of Pope Francis in Lisbon for World Youth Day celebration. Viking notified us only a couple weeks before the cruise, but they had to have known this months in advance. The panoramic city bus ...
This was our 10th Viking cruise. We have done both river and ocean cruises. On this trip, Viking did its usual excellent job. The ship was beautiful. The crew/service was first class. The food was great. The reason I could not give this five stars, unlike every Viking cruise we have done before, is that Portugal paled in comparison to pretty much all the other places we have been, with Viking and ...
The crew and the service were excellent. The food was above expectations.
Ship was very well maintained for its age etc.
Significant number of bus trips to reach excursions. Expected more in the excursions albeit the guides were very good.
Open seating does not mean you can go to eat during the hours of operations. They want you to arrive when dining starts.
Expected more variety of ...
We went on a Douro river cruise with Viking in early April with another couple. The service was amazing, the program manager and guides were fabulous. It was nice being able to cruise during daytime hours. You will get to go through several locks. Once you go through one, you will understand why Viking built these particular vessels the way they did.
We went mostly on the included excursions ...
Our on-ship Torgil experience was up to Viking's usual excellent standard: the crew was professional, capable, incredibly courteous and simply fun. The food was superb. We thoroughly enjoyed these folks. The Torgil is a bit older and smaller than the long ships, which means less common area. This would not necessarily be a problem, but for the rain that precluded full use of the top level. ...
We traveled with another couple. Our second river cruise ever. The Douro River cruise is very different from other Viking River cruises. The Douro is very quiet. Ships can only sail at night. And there are no castles to view along the way. All your excursions take you up and away from the River. So your included and optional trips can be longer than most. And you’re not able to just get off the ...
Being loyal Viking cruisers, we decided a Douro River cruise was in order. There were four in our party and this is our collective review of our cruise.
We booked the pre-cruise extension but came in a day early and booked the room for the extra night ourselves. The Hotel Tivoli is nothing short of amazing and we were so glad we booked an extra night – we could have stayed there ...
We took this cruise because we had taken previous cruises on the Rhine and the Rhone. While we enjoyed this cruise, we found the other two cruises to be much more scenic. This cruise was much shorter in length and there were very few memorable sites to see. However, we all had a good time. I would strongly recommend the other two cruises before this one.
Most notable on this cruise were the ...
My friends and I booked this cruise before the pandemic so the trip was postponed for a couple of years. Having previously sailed on several Viking River Cruises, we were so looking forward to traveling again. While the cruise was very interesting, the daily bus trips to sites became a bit tiring. The Helgrim's staff was exceptional as was the food. All of our tour guides were very ...
We chose this cruise because we were wanting to see Portugal and had planned a trip on both ends of the cruise. we have only been on mostly ocean cruises, but have been to China and Vietnam on their river cruises and land tours. Those ships are totally different from a normal river cruise ship. This was one of the smallest ships due to the size of the river and small locks. It was a bare ...