Always dreamed about being able to experience a Viking Cruise and it did not disappoint! We did a 2 day extension in Budapest prior to boarding the ship. One of the best things we did was hire a private guide to show us the city from a locals perspective and it was well worth it! The embarkation process could not have been more smooth and even though we arrived 2 hours early, our room was ready within 5 minutes! We were fortunate enough to have one of the two Explorer state rooms, and it was well worth the extra money. To have a living room space as well as the wrap around balcony was a huge advantage, especially on such a long trip. Most importantly...the staff! I have been on many cruises in the past and I can say with absolute confidence...they were the best I have ever seen! By the second day, they knew everyone's name, cabin # and even what you preferred to drink. Every person we encountered was exceptional. The Program Director had more energy and personality than you could ever hope for and the Hotel Manager was truly amazing. He went above and beyond in every way. We did most of the included tours and each one was a great introduction to the city and it's highlights.We have already started looking at which cruise we want to do next! Read Less

My husband and I had been planning a wonderful birthday celebration for him, so we decided on Viking. We had heard from many friends on how superb and excellent it was to travel with Viking. This was not our first cruise as we have done several cruises at least 1 every 2 years, fortunately enough with other very high-end lines - Oceania and Regent Seven Seas. We are lucky enough that we can afford high-end cruise liners so we thought Viking would be in the same category as our past cruise experiences! We booked the Eastern European cruise from Bucharest to Budapest from Aug 21-28, 2019. Boy were we SO wrong!!! I am currently sitting in my hotel room on August 25, in Sofia, Bulgaria writing this review, we have been here since August 23. The reason I am writing this today and posting to all different websites instead of communicated directly with Viking is because we have already tried that. We had an extremely unsatisfying phone conversation with Viking customer service when we arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria after disembarking. The lady on the phone was quite rude and dismissive of our issues. She was unwilling to admit any fault with Viking Cruises or their services and told us that we “chose to leave” therefore, there was no compensation for our dissatisfaction and that we should of purchase travel insurance. Really? Based on how we have been treated so far, we would not consider another Viking Cruise. We are on the younger side of their demographic, are active on social media, and have a wide circle of friends. If this is how we are treated, I cannot imagine how they dealt with the very elder members of the cruise. This is how are travel story began: We literately got on the ship on August 21 and disembarked and left on August 23 (being my husband's birthday)- two days into our cruise! The last thing you want to do is pack again when you have only spent 1 night on a ship. But it was such an awful and uncomfortable experience and my husband was so unhappy, we made the decision to leave the ship and told the ship's hotel director that we were disembarking on the next port of call (Vidin, which by the way, the ship did not stop there, but instead we made it to Lum as the ship had some issues getting to Vidin! - not surprise, as we were late the day before arriving to the first port of call Russe, Bulgaria to pick up the majority of the passengers who got off for their tours in a different location). Just think to have to decide to either deal with this awful experience for another 5 nights or cut your losses and leave ship, we chose the latter. We had to at least close the day of his 60th birthday in a place we would be more comfortable at. To start, we arrived on Saturday, August 17 in Bucharest from the US as we wanted to spend a couple of days on our own touring the city. We are not big on group tours and prefer doing our own thing (this is another big problem if you travel with Viking but will fill you in on that part of the story later). We were told to speak to our local Viking contact at the Sheraton Bucharest hotel - where we were staying as part of their 1 day pre-cruise land offer (and at least it is a very nice hotel, and since I hold Platinum status with them, we were upgraded to a lovely suite). Pre-cruise meeting August 20th in the evening – Sheraton Hotel: The Viking person there told us to have our luggage out by 7:30 am on August 21 and to meet in the lobby by 9 am. She indicated that there would be a scenic tour through the city on our way to a location for lunch and then a bus ride to the ship. What we were not told or even offered, especially for those guests that had already been in the city for days prior to cruising, was given an option to go straight to the ship from the hotel. August 21, ship boarding day, what really happened: Stop 1 - they bused us around the city again and took us to Old town (our 5th time there, remember, we arrived on August 17th!), then wanted to give us a walking tour of Old town, why??? We told them we had already been there 5 other times, so instead my husband and I sat around some bank building steps for almost 2 hours while the rest of the guest did their so called "tour" what a waste! At this time of day (9 am) all of Old Town restaurants are closed and only some coffee shops were open, we just had breakfast at the hotel as instructed! We sat around from 9 to 11:30 am! I asked Diani (or Dina) our very confused tour guide on bus 14, if there was a better option for us that we could meet them at the restaurant, she actually threatened and said that if we did not arrive at the restaurant, we would have to take a private car to the ship and that was about 1 hour and 45 minutes ride, so my husband and I decided to tag along. Old town tour is done thankfully, and now they tell us we are going to the Parliament building for a 10-minute picture stop and finishing up at the Museum of the Villages before lunch. Stop 2 - We crossed through town again, and saw the same scenery, the arch, the revolution square, heard the same stories and finally arrived at the Parliament location again and after 10 minutes those that got off for “picture moments” got back on the bus, where the tour guide and her very valuable assistant proceeded to do a head count and appeared that they were short 1 person as she stated that we were originally 37 on our bus (#14) and now we were 36. She then told us that we could not leave until such person was found and asked us if we knew this person? How could we know such person as we just all boarded 2 hours ago, none of us have even met, let alone know all the passengers on board? She didn't even know if we were looking for a man or woman. After an almost 45-minute wait in the parking lot, they finally gave up and we headed to the Museum of the villages tour. Stop 3 – Museum of Villages - What a dump, The is and old, mosquito infested open air museum that has the different house structures of Romania within its compound, we were forced to be there for 2 hours, so again we tried to find a decent place to sit while we waited for our 2 pm departure. We sat in an un air-conditioning hut where they Come to find out, that during this tour, the tour guide's quiet head sets and microphone were not working so no one could hear her talking about this 'wonderful museum'. Again, my husband and I do not like group tours, and we made this clear to the agent when we booked our cruise directly with Viking, he told us we could also do our own thing, really? Stop 4 – LUNCH - So now we are down to lunch, oh boy, it was at Pescarus by a local lake (why not Hard Rock cafe next door, at least the building is nicer, and they have real a/c and great food). The tour guide made it sound that this was an exceptional high-end restaurant with wonderful local food. This restaurant reminded us of an old 70 diner in Vegas, the food was some type of composition of lots of onions with some 3 pieces of meat, potatoes and bread, with some side salad. Wine, water and if you only asked beer, as they didn't voluntarily offered beer or told us it was included in our meal. My husband had already gone to the bar and paid for his as we didn't know it was also included. This was lunch – nursing home cafeteria!!! Oh, and some local folkloric dancing was provided for entertainment. Guys this is what you call luxury travel and superb top of the line service, read your advertisement, it is a SCAM, total SCAM!!! Then finally we are off to the ship, almost 2 hours into the drive, the tour guide's information about Romania is focused on that people have their own gardens, grow their own vegetables and fruits, and have cows, chicken, and pigs in their lands, and indicates "to the left you will see some cows, to the right you will see how gypsies live. Coming to the right again are more cows and some chickens"? Really... ok so we finally arrive the ship.... Finally, on board - Room was quite small, but appeared comfortable at least, we had room 323 on the highest level with a Veranda (never got to use it). The ship has NO WOW factor, it is small, clean, but small. Our room had a mini bar but of course empty why would they want to even fill it up with sodas, juice and beer for you, like most "LUXURY" cruises do when you pay such a high-price, of course not, we are just cattle and their job is to hurry you up to the next port of call get you off the ship and put you on another awesome tour for the day, give you some petty lunch and bring you back for dinner. We could see this coming. We had a decent dinner and some drinks at the bar and called it a night, we could not get much sleep as people were walking above our room, since we were on the top floor above us was the walking track! There is a taped paper sign by the railing asking guest that as a "curtesy not to walk between the hours of 10 pm to 7 am" did they see, read or listen, no! So between toilet flushes (oh yes, they have some type of vacuum system that is so loud, you can hear everyone’s flushes all night long - remember, the majority of passengers on this ship were over 70, I think we were the youngest, so they go to the restroom a LOT! And the guest walking above our room, we probably got 4 hours of sleep, but we thought when they all get off the boat tomorrow, we can relax and enjoy the ship and sleep in -- not! We were told that for those that were not going on tours in Russe, Bulgaria the next morning, they could lower their room speaker’s volume so you would not be disturbed! Right!!! 7:45 am a loud speaker wakes us up, literately we both jumped out of bed, as they had to announce the departing time for tours!!! We tried to reduce the speaker volume, and were unsuccessful as it was broken, so we knew now that sleeping in would not be an option for the next days. We decided to try and go to bed once again after everyone got off the boat and this is where the real meal plan begins. You see they offer breakfast from 7-9, because they don't expect any one to remain on the ship, why would they bother to extend breakfast time to maybe 10:30 for those that do want to stay onboard. All luxury ships provide some type of meal service throughout and 24 hours. This ship does not offer ROOM SERVICE, so you are screwed. You must eat at hours told, if not, you will end up like us with no breakfast or lunch for our first full day on board. By the time I got up on the first day of cruising (Aug 22), we both missed out on breakfast, tough luck! They had some breads and cold cuts, but forget some nice eggs or omelet, bowl of cereal or warm toast. We decided to stay on board to see how the experience would be as we had decided not to join any of the "free tours" based on our pre-cruise tour experience we could see the quality and decided to just get off where we could at each port of call and do our own thing (of course we didn't get to do that as we permanently got off the next day!). 1st full and last day on board - here it goes, we have no real breakfast, for lunch we both napped again and by the time we woke up we had missed the light lunch they sat out for the maybe 12 passengers that stayed on board. So, we ate what was left before they picked up by 2 pm. My husband likes to smoke his cigars, and proceeded after lunch to go to the upper deck to have one and enjoy the river view, to his amazement, they had removed all shading in the designated "smoking" area at the back of the ship, he literately sat in the withering sun at 90 degrees F trying to enjoy his cigar, he could not and just got up and we ended up spending the remaining of the day in the a/c lounge area. There is absolutely no wait service in the upper deck. If you want to get a drink, you must go down to the bar and order one. You are on your own. By this time my husband was so fed up with how the services are on board and the limited staff that is available we were so disenchanted that I only wanted to be off this ship! So, this is how the meals program works, breakfast is 7-9 am, lunch 12-2 pm, however, the restaurant is not open for those days where everyone or the majority of passengers our off on tours. So, the only day that lunch would even be available in the restaurant is the 24th as it was the only "Sailing day" to "enjoy the luxuries of this ship" a joke. Dinner starts at 7 pm as per their program sent to us. Not true, on the ship we were told that if you did not make it past 7:20 pm in the restaurant, most likely you would miss out on your appetizer, and if you got there by 7:45 pm you would might not get your main course, so of course everyone like cattle, herd over to the restaurant right at 7 pm! What a joke, where is the luxury in this, the comfort, why work on your time vs. ours! We are paying for this service it is not a nursing home, but we sure felt like it! We were so disgusted with this that we didn't even put in our dinner order we went back to our room and discussed our options, we decided to cut this trip short and leave! Didn't care where, just leave! I spoke with the Hotel director on board and explained that we were so disenchanted with this whole experience we just wanted off the boat. We left August 23 at 9 am to never, ever turn back. We ended up having to pay for a driver to take us to Sofia, Bulgaria $200 Euros. Booked a room at the Hilton in Sofia for 5 nights and booked two one-way plane tickets $1500 K to take us from Sofia to Budapest on the 28th as we already have the 2 post days in Budapest booked with Viking. We don't head home until the 1st of Sept so it would of cost us a lot of money to change our first-class seats back to the US for an earlier departure, plus Budapest has been on our bucket list for a long time. So, to summarize our experience, if you are looking for true luxurious travel, with all the comforts of high-end cruising VIKING IS NOT, again NOT FOR YOU! Our advice, please do your research, I failed to do this, and we relied on what people we knew that travel like us had shared! I didn't bother to read reviews, or investigate further, since their pricing and advertising is similar to those true luxury lines, we didn't think twice on booking. However, lessons learned, from now on it does not matter how experience travelers we are, we will always check. I am so upset about this, this cost us over $15,000 K, we could have done a beautiful resort in Hawaii or a luxury pent-house cruise in the Caribbean for this price, but no, we chose Viking due to their misleading, false advertising. As I initially stated, I called their customer service number once we arrived at Sofia, Bulgaria to ensure that they would NOT cancel our hotel in Budapest as it was part of the package and to also request a partial refund for such an awful experience. They lady on the phone proceeded to tell me that we didn't buy trip insurance and therefore, we were not owned anything back! As we chose to leave, no lady, you gave us plenty of reasons to leave that is the big difference!! We didn't buy trip insurance, why would we, we are both healthy and had every intention to make this trip, it is my husband’s 60th. She told me that if we would have purchased it, there would have been a partial refund. NOT TRUE, their trip insurance does not refund you for dissatisfied services only for the following as per their brochures: CANCEL FOR ANY REASON WAIVER DETAILS What We Will Do: Under the “Cancel For Any Reason” Waiver, we will waive our cancellation penalties and reimburse you in cash or travel vouchers (depending on the reason for cancellation) for the nonrefundable portion of your Viking trip cost, provided that you cancel before your scheduled departure. We will also waive any additional fees you would otherwise incur for a change in your per person occupancy rate if a person booked to travel with you cancels his or her trip and you do not cancel your trip. How You Are Reimbursed: If you cancel for one of the “Specified Reasons” listed in the Protection Plan document, we will reimburse you in cash. If you cancel for any other reason, we will reimburse you with a travel voucher that can be used for future voyages with us. The maximum amount covered under this “Cancel For Any Reason” Waiver is the cost of the travel arrangements provided by Viking Cruises. TRIP INTERRUPTION AND DELAYED ARRIVAL - Provides You with a reimbursement for the unused prepaid, non-refundable Payments or Deposits for Your land or water Travel Arrangements for Your Trip, plus the additional airfare cost to return home, if Your Trip is interrupted for a covered reason. MISSED CONNECTION - Provides You with a reimbursement for the unused portions of Your land or water Travel Arrangements, plus the additional costs to join Your trip, if Your arrival at the Trip destination is delayed for 3 hours or more for a covered reason. TRAVEL DELAY - Assists with additional travel expenses incurred when You are delayed at least 12 hours due to a covered reason. In the event of a covered delay, You will be reimbursed for additional expenses for hotels, meals, and transportation. AIR FLIGHT ONLY ACCIDENTAL DEATH & DISMEMBERMENT - Provides coverage up to the maximum benefit payable for loss of life, limb or sight resulting from an Accidental Injury. MEDICAL EXPENSE/EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE - Provides Medical Expense benefits for a covered Sickness or Injury incurred while on Your Trip. When required, We will evacuate You to the nearest qualified hospital and will then return You home when You are safe to travel. POLITICAL OR SECURITY EVACUATION - Provides coverage for all reasonable evacuation expenses incurred for Your transportation to the nearest safe haven, if You must leave Your Trip for a covered Political or Security Event. Evacuation must occur within 10 days of any Political or Security Event. BAGGAGE & PERSONAL EFFECTS - Provides reimbursement when Your baggage or personal belongings are damaged, lost or stolen during Your Trip. Personal belongings include such things as loss of luggage, jewelry, passports or travel visas. Ms. Viking Customer service or better yet, Mr. Hagen (CEO and President of Viking) tell me where you would reimburse me if we were unsatisfied with your services if we would have even opted to buy your so called “travel Insurance” oh but yes, another scam. Things to know, the main drive of Viking is to sell you tours, to get you off their ships like cattle herding as they now don't have to entertain you with drinks and meals on board. They put you on buses and bus you around and give you nice bottles of “warm” water and some type of lunch meal, then bus you back to their ship and feed you again to put you back to sleep in your corral and do this all over the next day. I call Viking a low-class glamping service, that really is what they are. There is absolutely no way to reach out to those higher up in the Viking organization, but one wonders if they are possibly well aware of these selling methods and activities. It is all about driving profit. I feel that as a consumer is my right to advocate for us travelers, and if publishing my review throughout all travel sites will have my voice heard, I will do until I have someone in the Viking organization try and appease this situation with us and reimburse us partially for such a disappointing and disastrous experience. I will also be disputing this with my credit card company. Also, anyone would be so kind, please share this review. Again, thank you for taking the time to read my review and feel free in reaching out to us, united we have a bigger voice. August 25, 2019 Read Less

Our original ship, the Lif was diverted just two days before our 3-week trip, to replace a Viking ship that hit and sunk a sightseeing boat in Budapest (28 lives lost). Our replacement, the Embla had a very excellent staff, but struck an anchored barge our first night out, and subsequently lost one of its generators (which power the electric motors) and 1/3 of its required speed. This cut short or eliminated our time to explore, and caused us to be bused ahead while the ship caught up. Viking management kept dodging responsibility, talking about how last year the water was too low and passengers had to be bused. They offered no simple apology (which is all we needed from them). They made no supportive gesture to us (would an open bar once a day have been too much?), and they kept blaming every late arrival on the locks. Thankfully, our time on the Embla was cut short when another Viking Longship disabled a lock at Nuremberg, shutting down all river traffic for nearly three weeks. (The captain of that ship had caused another accident just three months previously, raising questions in the press about Viking’s standards.) We were again bused past the broken lock and transferred to another ship, the Viking Aegir. While most of the staff was very good, we and several of our new friends had very bad experiences with some of the restaurant staff, the lounge staff, and the "Hotel Manager" who basically told us "this is my ship and I run it how I like." Our bathroom door had to remain shut to trap the raw sewage gases that came up through the shower drain (this was widely, if not universally experienced). Our shore experiences were terrific. The food onboard was above average. Overall we enjoyed our trip, making new friends aboard ship, seeing beautiful landscapes and Bavarian towns, and experiencing local cultures. Perhaps Viking has grown too fast and lost quality control. There are better cruise lines at about at the same price point—Avalon, Tauck, AmaWaterways. We will be returning to Crystal Cruises in the future—the somewhat higher price is more than made up for in accommodations, food quality, amenities, and top-rated service. Read Less

We had never been on a River Cruise, but had a great experience on a Viking Ocean Cruise last year, and did the Amsterdam To Budapest Cruise with two extra days in Amsterdam—booked on our own. The crew was wonderful: very attentive and helpful. Our veranda stateroom was okay, but without anywhere to sit, other than the bed or on the single chair provided, it was simply not a good place for us to “hang out.” We wound up spending a lot of our down time in the Lounge, because our veranda was basically off limits almost 2/3 of the cruise due to rain, or, more annoyingly, being tied up next to another ship that obscured our view. After all, who wants to sit on a veranda where your view is into a stateroom of the ship next to you. The food was very good, but again didn’t compare well to the myriad offerings on the Ocean Cruise. The biggest disappointment was the unavailability of any place to exercise, other than the Sky Deck, which was closed for five days while we transited locks and bridges. Fortunately, the wonderful cities on the itinerary showed themselves well. We loved Cologne, Vienna, Bambërg, and Budapest. Our excursion to Salzburg was glorious. All in all a fine trip, but I’m not sure we are cut out for River Cruising. Perhaps a shorter trip would have been better for us, as we are still very fit and active travelers. Read Less

We chose this cruise (Bucharest to Amsterdam) for its length and itinerary. Just before leaving for Bucharest, we got an email from Viking saying that there might be a problem between Passau and Regensburg so we were prepared for a minor disruption in our journey. What happened though was it took us 4 boats and countless endless bus rides to complete our trip. Obviously Viking cannot be responsible for the water depth on the rivers; however, had we known how bad the situation was, we would have reconsidered taking this trip at this time. Several crew members on two of our ships told us that Viking had been unable to complete this trip since May, some 5 months before we arrived. Instead, Viking chose to minimize the impact of the low water and by the time we found out just how bad the situation was we were 7 days into our journey. Because long bus rides were required to take most of the included tours, we skipped them and just stayed on board. On one offering for Regensburg, passengers were given the opportunity to visit the city. My husband decided to go even though the trip started at 8:30 in the morning and didn't end until early evening. So a large group of people left for Regensburg and when they arrived discovered that it was a holiday and everything was closed! While they were able to have lunch (on their own) they had no choice but to mill about for 3-4 hours waiting for the bus to take them back to the ship. Viking did not think it was important to let everyone know that it was a holiday before they got on the bus! This was the longest and most expensive trip we have ever taken and we had high hopes that it would be one of the best. Instead we got a miserable cruise that did not provide much of what was promised. While Viking cannot be held responsible for the low water, they could have honestly told us what to expect and offer alternatives to taking this trip at this time. While we were given a 25% credit towards another Viking cruise, the base to which it applied was the base price of the cabin itself. We paid Viking $22,000 for this trip (cruise, flights, taxes and fees, and insurance) and got credits worth less than $4000; not enough to entice us to go with Viking again! Read Less

Low water on the Danube reduced the 10-day cruise to a week, with the remainder of the time in hotels in Budapest and Bucharest. "Included excursions" were often long bus rides from the Danube. Transfer from Budapest to Mohac, and from Nikopol to Bucharest were long, exhausting, and the major consequence of low water. Viking "system" greets passengers from airport arrival to departure. This aspect of the journey can be very stressful, but the Viking way makes it easy. The hotels were fine (Hilton West End in Budapest and Sheraton in Bucharest), if not necessarily located in prime tourist neighborhoods. Dining was an issue for us due to diet limitations (we can't eat lactose, and don't eat pork or shellfish); the maitre de (Gabor) did an excellent job assisting us. Only issue is the inflexibility of the dinner: 7:00 PM. There is no alternative. Program Director Stefan was superb. An important educational objective for us was to gain a better understanding of life before and after the collapse of the Iron Curtain as well as understanding the wars following the breakup of Yugoslavia. From formal briefings on board to the home visit in Croatia, we learned so much, honestly presented and with the vital historical context included. Overall, disappointing river cruise except for the educational component. Read Less

Awful waste of money and a ruined trip of a life time, appears Viking ships can't cruise where APT can. Was warned day before embarkation of technical issues due to low water levels. Taken from Budapest airport to Slovakia direct in non descript mooringand boarded the EMBLA, must say the staff were great and freindly with excellent service, then a coach 90mins each way back again to Budapesr for a day tour the next day. After 2 nights we eventually cruised to Vienna via Brataslava at early hours. Moored at Vienna over night. Then onto Melk, so far so good. At Passau we moored up in city mooring for tour, then coached again to another town and a dreadful industrial mooring, again for 2 nights. This is where we coached to Regensburg, 90 mins each way for a day tour then back to our silo and unique views! Then the ship was staying we had to disembark and transfer to Nuremburg 3 hours plus on a coach then as the new ship the Lif, which wasn't ready and still wasn't ready for passengers, we dumped our hand luggage as cases went separately. The Nuremburg tour straight after this tiring trip was too much so I led on the top deck mostly roped off as railings not up and dozed on a sun bed, again out of town mooring, not like the adverts!. The ship then cruised via various German picturesque city's and towns and after Koblenz we moored in Cologne and stayed there. After a day tour of the city got back, stayed an extra night, AGAIN! As they stated we couldn't sail any further due to water levels a ^ hour transfer to Amsterdam, with a comfort stop at a drive through MacDonalds and a 2 hour tour of Kinderdyke on way. Saw the EIR another Viking ship go under a bridge on way which didn't help, put up at an airport hotel out side city at Schipol before flight home next morning. Would never trust or cruise with over priced and non caring outfit again, Wish I had taken full refund, but a pultry compensation is insulting!! They have never expailed how APT cruised the same route the same dates and no Coach Transfers, despicable! Read Less

It was my third cruise with Viking River Cruises and I was extremely excited to return on board. Cruising the Passage to Eastern Europe with Viking was something I had been looking forward to this year as it had four countries I’ve never had the chance to visit and I was eager to explore. This time the ship was Viking Aegir but is good to know that the longship boats of Viking are essentially set up the same, the dining is good, and the staterooms are exactly what you need for the journey. The crew on board was what you normally expect from Viking: attention to details, manners, professionalism and always a special care for all passengers on board. Our waiter in the restaurant, a very pleasant young man from Argentina was mixing perfectly a family like atmosphere with very high standards and the manager in charge of housekeeping, Mirijana from Serbia, found always time to answer and solve all our request. The German hotel manager was a little bit abrupt and too much in to selling vouchers for next cruises (I bet he get a big commission with that) forgetting sometimes that he supposed to be a host and not a door-to-door salesman (especially during the Frequent Travellers cocktail when he invited everybody on board, talking for a very long 50 minutes and after that walking around forcing you to book your next cruise) On a negative side: the captain was very rude and unsociable and made everybody to feel uncomfortable during his evening lecture, despite the efforts of the Program Director to create a pleasant Q&A evening. Most shore excursions were very good, with interesting and knowledgeable local guides. However, many required very lengthy bus trips to the excursion sites. I will say that after doing three different itineraries with Viking River Cruises, this one was the most educational and enlightening. And all the praise goes to the Program Director Leonard for his huge knowledge of history, traditions, culture of the spaces we visited. He was working non-stop, almost 24 hours a day bringing his positive energy, his amazing personality, great sense of humour, elegant manners and enchanting conversations in a journey that gives you an opportunity to step into the Balkan’s turbulent past and experience the energy of a new generation moving forward. On each and every of his evening briefings, lecture, commentaries on the open deck or 1:1 conversation with all on board Viking Aegir, Leonard knew how to enlighten and open your perspective — the very core of travel for us. And for every moment of our trip he had a different approach: mixing historical facts with legends in his Dracula evening, genuine and heart-breaking talking about his early year in Ceausescu’s Romania, knowledgeable and incredible organised when coordinating in-depth tours at each stop and itineraries that touch on the highlights that make a memorable trip and fun and charming when he was leading the parties and entertainment on board Viking Aegir. What an asset for Viking! Bottom line: Viking River Cruises & Leonard – OUTSTANDING! Read Less

This was our very first River Boat Cruise. We have done many Ocean cruises and this is much slower, much more relaxing and much more intimate. The crew gets to know you by name and so do a lot of the other passengers. Service is excellent and personal and the prices are much lower than on the ocean cruises. We have a free walking type of excursion each and every day to explore the new location and this was great! Entertainment is limited as there is only room for the same performers for most of the trip. There is some stops where locals are brought on board and that was nice for a change. It is quick and easy to embark and disembark - this was a nice feature. No big lineups. The cruise director was excellent and even helped us set up our own customized side trip. We ended up changing ships due to the water level being too high at part of the River, and the Viking group made it simple and as easy as possible. I found that once I let myself slow down to relax the slower pace of this cruise that I did really enjoy the trip. And it was so nice to explore Countries and Ports that I have never been to. So yes, I would definitely go again. Read Less

I Truly enjoyed myself very much. The weather for two and half weeks was so glorious. I am so thankful for that. It was definitely Great scenery and So breathtakingly view. There are tons and tons of Stunning amazing history facts and so on. I also enjoyed being with small group and mingle with others. It was Really very nice. I had One big disappointment that you won’t provide interpreting services at all. If they have that, for sure I ll tell other Deaf people to go on Viking cruises. Hearing people and I ( Deaf person) paid the same price. Yet, they had greatly accessibility to listen to port talk announcement and so on. I can’t hear at all. All the crews were great. They deserve to be recognized. Please feel free to contact me and I d be happy to explain more. I hope to cruise with you again and I will appreciate huge discount. Thank you! Read Less

We chose this trip for location itinerary price timing Great places visited Great education, daily classes with Stefan which prepared us for following excursion. Super cruise director. Stefan A little disappointment due to water level, forcing ship change. True disappointment, no medical on ship. Wow, hard to believe with the age oft he clientele We really enjoyed the local guides on every excursion. The glass blowing exhibit was great, although we have not received our purchases as of August 30, 5 weeks post disembarkment. The vocal and instrumental entertainment was not very good. We did enjoy the games we played in the evening. Our servers in the dining room tried very hard to learn some signing because we had 5 Deaf people in our group. Great job. We were extremely disappointed that Viking made no effort to supply interpreters for our Deaf companions. In the USA, due to the ADA act, interpreters are supplied when needed. Since no interpreters were supplied my wife, I and our other hearing companion were forced to interpret constantly missing many items throughout the trip. Read Less

We chose this cruise from Budapest to Bucharest because we wanted to visit European countries that we had not visited before. It was FANTASTIC--a MUST DO! We are world travelers and could not have asked for better. We started with the pre-extension which was Prague and we were glad we arrived 2 days before the start date. There was so much to see and do, and it was easy to get around on our own. So we took advantage of seeing things that would not be included in the Viking package. But once we started the package, we were extremely pleased with what we got to see and do. The Palace, lunch, and private chamber concert were so much better than anything we saw that was offered through other tour agencies. And we were very pleased with the World War II tour. The guides for both were outstanding. We were then bussed to Budapest, Hungary traveling through Slovakia. After late afternoon and morning tours, we boarded our ship, the Viking Aegir. Embarkation was smooth and easy. The ship felt like home after watching the videos that Viking had provided; our cabin was perfect. The staff, room steward, waiters, chefs, entertainers, Hotel Manager, Nautical Officer, and Captain were very accommodating and personable, seeing to our every need. But special accolades go to the Program Director, Stefan. He made the cruise special, sharing his life experiences growing up in Croatia and what life was like in the countries we visited. And we would see him each day as he made himself available on the various shore excursions, and we enjoyed his "talks" each night about what we would see the next day. We loved the shore excursions, seeing life as it is today and learning the hardships the people lived through during and after the War as we visited Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania. We saw and visited large and small towns, not just the "tourist" places. We saw ancient ruins and modern buildings, we watched Hungarian horsemen and tasted a wide-variety of paprika, we enjoyed a beautiful day on the Danube going through the Iron Gates, and completed our trip in Bucharest. The staff made it so easy each day to leave the ship for shore excursions; giving us port information, water and umbrellas if needed, etc. And each day we returned we were met with warm towels and often a welcoming drink. We learned quickly to take the port information with us when one day a couple went off on their own and "missed the boat." The information allowed them to contact the ship and the couple took a taxi to a location on the river where the boat was able to pick them up. The food was amazing with something for everyone. And, as usual, we ate more than we should have and enjoyed every bite. We celebrated our 48th Wedding Anniversary onboard. We selected "friends" we had met onboard to sit with us, and the staff helped us celebrate with a wonderful meal, and singing to us as they presented us with a fabulous dessert. There were always activities on board; but sometimes we just enjoyed quiet time in our cabin taking a nap. And the top deck--sun-deck--was a wonderful quiet place in the afternoon and evening and especially the day cruising through the Iron Gates. Disembarkation was very easy and efficient. The hotels on both ends of the cruise were top-rated and were close to things to see and do. Would we do it again! Yes, we would love to spend more time on different shore excursions -- but this was our second Viking Cruise, the first being China. Viking has so many interesting cruises, we would more than likely do a different cruise before we would take this one again. **A special hint: We joined the Viking trip after completing a previous tour of 10 days in Russia. So, we had our laundry done at the hotel in Prague. We found out that it would have been half the price if we had waited to have it doneon the ship. Read Less

We had been looking forward to the Grand European Tour from Amsterdam to Budapest on Viking. The itinerary was perfect for our interest. It was a miserable experience. We arrived early morning in Amsterdam and were not given a room until 5:00 pm. Viking should have had some activities planned upon arrival along with an introduction to Amsterdam (location of ATM, bank, transportation logistics). I got sick after 10 days because of no hygiene procedures on ship. The only hand sanitizer was by the main dining room. NO sanitizer upon entry, other dining room, into lounge or any other care for guests. Viking did not show any concern for over half of the ship being ill. They were non apologetic for my concerns on my return home and very arrogant in customer relations. I was very surprised at the total lack of customer concern and will never cruise with them again and not recommend Viking line. We were also expected to pay gratuities for a $9000+ Per person cruise. Yes I expect to pay gratuities for a lower price cruise but not for one in this price category. Also had to pay for laundry as no laundry facilities in board. Read Less

From May 25 – Jun 8, 2018, my wife and I went on a Viking River Cruise: The Grand European Tour on the ship Viking Aegir. It started out in The Netherlands, and traversed through Germany, Austria, and Hungary. I have deliberately waited about two weeks before summarizing the trip for anyone who might be thinking of taking a similar cruise. Rather than write in prose, I decided to put forth the cons and pros of the trip. If you do not care to read this listing of cons and pros, let me simply summarize by noting that the Viking River Cruise advertisements and brochures naturally only paint the brightest of pictures; and, in all likelihood, deliberately hide much of the reality. Cons - I believe the ship was responsible for getting people sick, especially when fresh air was denied to guests during the “lock” downs of the upper deck. We were sick for one-half of the trip, with sore throats, non-stop coughing, and nasal congestion. - There was no recognition or acknowledgment from the ship’s staff, especially the program director who spoke to all the passengers each day, of the rampant viral infection circulating among the guests. Approximately one-half of the boat was sick with this infection. A simple acknowledgment would have gone a long way, as well as a reminder for people to sanitize their hands often. - There was never any mention before the trip that the ship would be going through 69 different locks (canals) on the rivers. Due to low bridge clearance at these locks, the upper outdoor deck was closed for 5 straight days. This limited the amount of fresh air for the guests and very likely contributed to the viral infection that plagued half of the ship’s guests and crew! We were “sardined” in the lounge area instead of enjoying the fresh air of the outdoors. We did notice that other Viking ships had their upper decks available. These were exactly the same ships. - The Viking commercials show you a beautiful ship docked next to a magnificent castle or church…beautiful sights and scenery. As a result, we booked a “veranda suite” room with an outdoor balcony/veranda. What they failed to mention is that your boat is but only 1 of 4 other Viking boats visiting the same ports at the same time!! We would wake up, open the curtain to our veranda and be, literally, a few inches away from another Viking ship. What a rip-off! These other ships offered the same excursions at the same time as our ship, making it that much more crowded everywhere we went. Again, it is not what was in their advertising. - There was not enough free time for many of the shore excursions to explore a city on your own. This was especially true in Salzburg. We had about 1.25 hours between the end of the guided tour and lunch….and then only 20 minutes after lunch. It would have been much better if the free time was all clumped together. - The lunch banquet in Salzburg was extremely rushed and very crowded! There was no salad or appetizer course and no coffee after lunch was served. The waiters were practically running to get the food on and off the tables. - Before we arrived in Vienna, Austria, we were informed the night before by the ship’s program director of the many wonderful Austrian coffee houses that we could visit; however, there was no time available to enjoy a coffee house, due to the precious little time available to explore Vienna on your own. - When the upper deck was opened, there were no umbrellas put up for shade. We had to use the rain umbrellas provided by the ship. Yet, other Viking ships that we saw had their crew put up umbrellas on the upper deck. - In the Aquavit Terrace, one of the canopies (the middle one) that would provide shade could not open and was never fixed for the entirety of our 14-day trip. - The advertisements and brochures claim that you could enjoy dinner on the Aquavit Terrace; however, what they do not tell you is that, there are only 6 tables set for dinner and that you need to secure those tables by 5:30p for a 7:15p dinner serving. In short, it was first-come, first-serve only. We never got the chance to eat dinner on this terrace. - Not a big deal, but the wi-fi on the ship was much to be desired. Not a Pro or a Con, but just a fact. - The average age of the people on our Viking River Cruise (Grand European Tour) was about 75+: We are in our late 50’s. - When we went out to the local pharmacy to buy drugs for our sickness, we met the ship’s hotel manager, who was buying drugs for the sick crew-members. Pros - The cities, sites, and scenery are beautiful and magnificent. We visited many cities that we would not have ever thought to visit on a vacation. It was truly breathtaking. - The staff provided very good service and were always willing to help. - The “veranda suite” room that we had was terrific. It had a separate living room/lounge and a balcony/veranda. The latter offered stunning views, when not docked a few inches from another Viking ship, which, unfortunately, was too often. - Early in the trip, our shower overflowed into the bedroom. The staff was excellent in drying out the rug and made extra certain that all was okay. They even left us a bottle of champagne and chocolates for our troubles. Again, excellent customer service. - The musical program during the banquet lunch in Salzburg was very entertaining. - The tour guides for both the included and “extra” excursions were very good. They knew so much of the history of the cities, sites, etc. We learned a lot. - The breakfast and lunch on board the ship was excellent. The dinner was good, although we expected better. The chef cooked local cuisine, depending on the city we had recently visited. We enjoyed tasting foods from different countries. - The cleaning staff did a wonderful job cleaning our room and doing the laundry. They were very thorough and did an excellent job. - The transfers to/from the airport and ship were extremely smooth. The drivers were waiting for you as you located your luggage. Plus, we had a private car to ourselves upon arriving from the U.S. to take us to the ship. - We met some of the nicest people on board the ship. Everyone was extremely friendly. Read Less

Great service, great food. Very enjoyable two weeks. The shore excursions were well done. Would have given it a 4 1/2 ratting if that had been available, We would recommended it to friends and family. Now the down side. Viking is a victim of its own success. There are too many Viking boats on the river. Several times we could not dock at the stated destination but had to be bussed to and from the boat. This was particularly bad on our visit to Kinderdijk. We docked at Rotterdam and spent at least 45 minutes each way on a bus to Kinderdijk. At Kinderdijk we had to rush through the planned excursion which was hard on some of the older passengers on the tour. While we rushed and wasted time there was another Viking boat docked right at Kinderdijk. We are sure they had a much more pleasant Viking experience. Too many boats - not enough dock space. We opted for the two day extension in Amsterdam. Very nice hotel but away from city center. We had to take a 3 Euro tram ride to get there. We were told there was no room near there at the time, but we did hear from guests from another Viking boat that were able to get a hotel near the city center in their extension. One last complaint deals with the touted "free WiFi" on Viking. It was free but for the most part useless. Could not connect with outside websites, outgoing emails sometimes took a day or too to go out. Can understand poor service while the boat is underway but not when it docked. Tour director blamed it on the satellite connection. Read Less

Have never visited this part of Europe before, so had no idea what to expect. The cruise covered 5 countries, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia and Hungary. The ship was excellent as with all of the Viking cruises I have traveled on. Dining room food was very well done and the service was great. The excursions and ports were good choices and I learned a lot on this cruise about an area I had no idea was like. The in-home experience in Croatia was great and our host provided a wealth of information we probably never would have gotten anywhere else. The trip ending in Budapest was the right way to go as it was like a culmination of returning to Europe with a grand city for touring and dining. I would definitely recommend this cruise to anyone who has never traveled in this region. The Danube is a really interesting river. Read Less

After more than 10 ocean cruises my husband and I decided to take river cruise instead this spring. We chose the Danube cruise from Passau Germany to Budapest on Viking Cruise Line. First the positives: the boat was very clean, the crew friendly, most ship port of call tours were great, and it was a smooth ride all the way. Now for a few significant negatives: on this 8-day cruise, four of the days we were docked all day with our balcony looking on to the balcony of the Viking boat parked literally touching our boat. By far the weakest part of the trip was the dining experience though. The food quality and preparation was VERY inconsistent. I have never had a dish that so dried out and cold that I could not eat it until this cruise and yet other dishes were outstanding. More than once someone at our table had to send a dish back because it was not cooked completely. Never once did anyone offer to refill our glasses or ask if we needed anything else once the food was served.. After several attempts to catch the attention of a passing waiter, one lady at another table finally just stood up and waited until one of the staff eventually came to see what she needed. Viking definitely did not have enough dining room staff on this cruise!! We have no other river cruise experience to compare with this one; but we do have many, many ocean cruise experiences and none were as disappointing as this cruise. Read Less

Aeiger was always spotless. Dining was great and never had a repeat of meals. Of course, you could always order a steak or chicken but no reason to because the food was great just off the menu. Food service was nice and relaxed and plenty of refills on wine, beer, tea, coffee, etc. Good choices of excursions. Easy on and off unlike on a large cruise ship. Each trip includes a wireless device that connects to a microphone that each local guide has. This allows very easy group travel. You no longer have to strain to hear your guide because the guide is in your ear leaving you free to photograph and linger for a couple minutes as the guide moves forward. Evening entertainment was nice, not a big production like on a large cruise ship but certainly intimate. The entertainers will know you by the end of the cruise. Good introduction nightly to your next day's destination. Viking seems to be able to bypass the crowds on the day and evening trips. Private concert in Vienna opera house for Viking guests. VIP entry in castles, museums, vineyards. Price fairly for what you get in return. Exceeded my expectations. I have already booked another cruise with Viking. Read Less

We were disappointed with our late April, 2018, Danube cruise and would not recommend Viking to others. First "problem": we paid more for a Veranda room with an outside deck and found that Viking has SO MANY boats traveling the Danube, at the same time, that it STACKS its boats when it docks, side by side, leaving us with "a view" of ANOTHER Viking boat's outside deck one foot away from OUR outside deck, at EVERY docking. Secondly, our boat "cruised" in daylight hours, where one can see the sights, only ONE DAY, along the Wachau Valley. It was "in port", docked, during other daylight times. Thirdly, all of Viking's "docking locations" are a LONG walk, along a narrow passageway, to GET TO a street and access where one can catch a cab or other transportation in order to "independently see/tour a town" on one's own time, for which Viking provide sufficient time. Finally, our "Tour Director", and a few other staff members, noticeably and continuously outwardly displayed a "very overpowering/aggressive/obtrusive so-called friendliness" in their attitudes, talks, and personalities. Informally, I think of that as their "coming on" WAY too strong, to the point of making the trip "uncomfortable". Also, Viking's excursion leaders were, generally, not very good. These negatives far outweighed the ship's cleanliness and good food/meals provided, and made it a trip I wish I had NOT paid for, and made. I would NOT make the mistake of making a Viking river boat trip in the future. We have travelled with two OTHER river boat companies in other areas of the world, and BOTH those trips were MUCH more enjoyable. Read Less

I was invited to go with a group of friends on this my first Viking cruise and was very pleased that I went along. It was a wonderful experience from start to finish. Viking takes care of their guests from embarkation through disembarkation; a Viking representative was there to meet us as we deplaned and then transferred us to the boat. The same was true after the cruise. It was a very relaxing cruise and the all inclusive tours are very educational. I also enjoyed the casualness of the entire cruise. No formal nights to plan for. The food on board was very delicious. I enjoyed the daily food selections of the areas that we visited. It added to the overall experience. It was an adult only cruise which my group appreciated and enjoyed. The entertainment in the evening and the additional presentations on board were very good. I would very definitely take another Viking cruise and look forward to the opportunity! Read Less

This was our second Viking river cruise and it was as amazing as the first. We were impressed with the coordination and orchestration of events starting with being met promptly at the airport. The program director was in full control and activities were just what we expected and came off as planned. Just before he introduced dinner for the evening he would describe the next day's tours and activities. He was very outgoing and funny and you could tell he really loved his job. The boat was great! Our cabin was convenient, clean and quiet. Really enjoyed sitting on the veranda. Staff and crew were friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. Our waiter in the dining room was very personable, efficient and accommodating. Every meal was served promptly and was varied and delicious -- we always looked forward to our next meal. We booked every shore excursion that we could -- we learned this from our first cruise. The tour guides were very excited to share their knowledge and experience with us and it really added to the enjoyment of the town or city we were in. We have already booked and are looking forward to our next Viking river cruise! Read Less

The Good- Staff- Viking should branch out and open a school to teach outstanding customer service to every other company in the world. I hold an Executive MBA and have studied good customer service. THEY NAILED IT! I have never experienced anything of the like. I will say, I am not a high maintenance customer. ( I am 47, female, active single.) With that said, everyone from the housekeeper to the captain was amazing. I swear, our housekeeper was a ghost. I never saw her, but every single time I would leave our cabin for something quick and I would throw my hoodie on the bed, I would come back to it folded nicely on my bed. The waiters, bartenders, and the chef would greet me by name every time I would see them and they would always ask about where my mother was by her name. Catarina, Kris, Chris, and Marvin were our favorites. The food was fantastic with a lovely array of choices. Wine and beer flowed ever so freely. Ship- It was everything you would think it would be. The presentation was outstanding. Constantly clean and quite spacious. The sun deck was so inviting, it made you want to spend all of your onboard time there. The embarkation and disembarkation was completely smooth and fast. The Not Great- With Viking's reputation of being perfect, I was surprised at how little you saw on your shore excursions. Both my mother and myself decided the included shore excursions and even most of the paid excursions were planed so Viking could spend little money as possible. For instance in Budapest, neither my mother or I saw the interior of any building on the excursions. They drove us around the city pointing out things and then let us off at Fisherman's Bastion to see the view. They also took us to a castle and we weren't able to go inside, only walk up to see the view overlooking the city. This happended so often, we were actually surprised when we finally went INSIDE a couple of places during our 8 days. We paid extra for an excursion every day and I would say you would be better planning your own excursions. We have taken many bus tour trips including Globus, Trafalgar, Insight, etc. and ANY of those would beat Viking in what you got to see. In fact, I feel like I need to go back to Budapest to actually say I've been there. I saw little more of Budapest than if I'd had a flight connection in Budapest. The fact that Viking notes they give you one free tour in any port of call is true, although it is a bit liking showing you a beautiful cake, but not letting you have a bite. I would travel with Viking again, but I would not waste my money or time on their included or paid for excursions. Keep in mind, you spend much more time on the ship than I thought you would. So, find out how long you have in each port if you are going to make your own plans. I would say this- Viking may be scaling the trip to their biggest customer base of people who enjoy eating, drinking, and spending time on the ship more than actually spending time exploring everything the city has to offer. Even my 81 year old mother thought the excursions were pretty lame. Read Less

If you have not gone on a river cruise yet, you don't know what you are missing! This is simply espetacular! This was our second cruise and after the first one we became addicted! We love the ship atmosphere and the food could not be better! Dining offers several options, from a comfortable American menu for those that are not adventurous, to local dishes based on the country you are visiting, which we love! The bar offers the best selections in terms of wine and champagne, top shelf liquors. To buy the beverage package is the way to go! The cabin is very comfortable and quiet, it is cleaned and replenished everyday. The excursions were led by knowledgeable and local tour guides which certainly enriched our experiences! Every evening we were given the program for the next day and an idea of local forecast. The onboard entertainment was also pretty good. A Viking river cruise is a must have experience in a lifetime! Read Less

This was our third and best cruise with Viking. We traveled with another couple whom we met on our Grand European tour. We made our own arrangements for a pre trip in Bucharest in order to visit Transylvania and the Black Sea. The Viking pre-package was never available to us. For some reason, we were not allowed to utilize the Viking Explorer Society discount on the purchase of our cruise tickets. We did, however, enjoy the post-package in Budapest after the trip. The included and optional excursions were the best yet as was the onboard entertainment. The only difficulty was with the Silver Spirits Package. This being the final cruise of the year, provided a lack of attention in stocking the bar. Favorite brands were depleted and not repurchased. The waiters, bar and housekeeping staff were superb. I would like to offer a special thank you to the chef of preparing watermelon helments to my Canadian friends in honor of the Roughriders game we were able to stream in the Aquavit terrace. Overall, the cruise was beautiful and educational. We look forward to our next Viking experience. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the destinations and the length of the journey. We wanted a cruise that would take us to places we might not otherwise visit. We enjoyed all of the locations very much, but would have liked to spend more time in most of them! Perhaps we will return, but this was a fantastic introduction to Hungary, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands. We especially enjoyed Budapest, Vienna, and Nuremberg, and Wurzburg. We would have liked to have at least a day in Amsterdam, but we really saw nothing of it because we arrived after dark and left for the airport before sunrise. My husband had never been to Europe, and it was a perfect trip for him because we got to do lots of sight-seeing and he didn't have to worry about not knowing any other languages. Everywhere we went, people spoke excellent English quite willingly. We would love to go on another Viking tour! Read Less