I booked this cruise after seeing great ratings on cruise critic...We were bused everywhere and the ship was only used as a floating hotel....We only had One day of scenic cruising on Viking....We were told by the company that the problem was due to low water levels,however, senior offices advised that the bus trips have been ongoing since August....We were not given any opportunity to cancel the cruise,however i saw a posting from a travel agent who viking contacted and invited him to get a refund...Wow talk about selective attitude to patrons....The whole cruise was terrible,made worse by constant changes to itineraries and times of departures...The first day we spent 9 hours on a 3 star coach .....The poor staff are sick of making excuses for the companies lack of ethics....We have a long experience with Ocean cruising over 500 days on the water.We can honestly say this is by far our worse experience on the water or BUS... Read Less

A few days prior to our departure we were advised by Viking that the river levels were low and we might have to change ships, transfer from ship to ship by motor coach and might have to spend a night in a hotel. Sure enough this all took place. Our outstanding and very professional your director, Marie, accompanied us every step of the way. Viking did an excellent job under very adverse conditions over which they had no control but we're extremely well prepared for. With there large number of wonderful identical ships, there were no problems. We had the same room number on both ships. Our last night in Budapest was spent in a shout star hotel. Again, Marie was with us and we felt very well cared for. When we had got skip one port, she arranged for a substitute tour. While we were docked in Vienna, along with 30 or so other ships, I had a chance to walk along and look at other ships. I did not see any ship that I thought was as good as it better than the Viking ships. Our ship was bright, fresh, spotless at all times and the entire crew, with no exceptions, was wonderful. The layout of the ship was excellent. We loved the lounge, where we could relax with our rea, coffee or hot chocolate and enjoy the scenery through the full length windows. We could eat at the buffet there or go down to the dining room. The good was outstanding. Every evening before dinner our tour director briefed us for the next day's events and then the chief would brief us on the evening's menus. We always had three complete menus to choose from - the features menu, a menu with foods typical of the area we were in and a standard menu with steaks and more American selections. We could choose whatever we wanted and it was all excellent. Rooms in all river boats are small due to the size restrictions of the ship. We were in the smallest room and were quite comfortable as we spent little time there as, when we weren't sleeping, we were out enjoying the scenery. The included yours were guided by locals and were excellent. We were all given "quiervoxes" which enabled us to hear the guide from a distance. Overall, Viking is THE BEST. In spite of the problems caused by the low river levels, we felt well cared for and got out money's worth. We were already planning our next Viking cruise when we received a letter informing us that we would be given a discount on our next cruise. We booked that cruise the next day. Read Less

Viking Cruise line, in my opinion, is the low end cruise line. The food was served late and at best was just ok. The staff was very nice. The room was clean. After dinner, usually about 9PM there was little to do unless we were in a port where we could get off the ship. That was not often. Do not pay for a Balcony because you probably won't use it. The cruise ships are lined up side by side so you are looking into another boat's stateroom. You will have to keep your drapes closed when in port. I did walk aboard some of the other ships that were lined up with ours and they were the same size but they had gyms and pools, hot tubs and saunas. We paid for flight up grades and insurance. We had to pay 2700 dollars to change our flights due to the hurricane and we could only change through Viking. We paid for upgrade on our flights and then when we go to Frankfurt we did not have the upgrade! The cabins are so small you are constantly stepping on your room mate and just think after dinner if you don't want to sit in the bar, you are stuck in that little room. Ultimately we spent $20,000.00 on this trip and it was not worth it. Do your self a favor and choose a different cruise line. Read Less

I keep meaning to post a review of our Grand European Tour on the Viking Modi and the Viking Skirnir - we had a ship swap - but I've only just gotten around to doing it. Unlike so many reviewers, we had a splendid cruise - simply fabulous - despite the water level issues, bus rides and the ship swap (we only had one). I'd been reading about the drought situation and the water levels since they started around June 2018, so I had an idea of what to expect. Seems like a lot of people don't know that Viking posts updates on their website, since so many were surprised about the situation. I kept checking frequently, so again I knew what to expect. This was our second Viking river cruise, and we knew Viking would do their best - and in our opinion they did,. I was glad that we were able to board the Modi in Budapest. There was some question at the time whether we could sail from that port. We did have to leave that night, instead of the next day, but we were treated to the spectacular nighttime sail with all the lights. We had to bus back to Budapest if you wanted to do the tour. It wasn't a bad ride and the buses are comfortable. Our guide was great. The bonus from this was extra time in Vienna, which was lovely. I got to ride the World's Largest Ferris Wheel - something I might not have had time for. We were able to sail all the way to Passau, then had to do Regensburg by bus. I was going to skip it and just stay with the ship - which was an option, but everyone in the group of people we had become friendly with were going, so we went. In the rain. And had a wonderful day, despite it. We had to pack up that night, but they had let us know this was a distinct possibility when we boarded. Anthony, our Program Director - who is an absolute GEM - also told us that was what likely would happen. I'd brought packing cubes. Only unpacked half our clothes into packing cubes in the drawers. I zipped them up, plopped them in the suitcases and was set to go. The bus ride to Nuremburg was so much more pleasant than I'd anticipated. The Modi crew was able to move the ship in the morning so we could be closer to the buses (it was raining) and a little closer to Nuremberg. On the bus we had water and cookies, crossword and suduku puzzles if you wanted. The guide pointed things of interest out, but didn't talk the whole way so people napped. I was too busy looking out the window. And we were riding on the Autobahn! We stopped once at a rest stop. There was a shop where you could get a snack, a beer, a magazine or a cup of coffee. Before we knew it we were pulling up alongside the Skirnir in time for lunch! The rest of our cruise went as planned and we had a great time. It was cold and windy in the Rhine Gorge, so the crew brought up blankets, hot chocolate and coffee with some warming ingredients like Bailey's and Amaretto! The crew of both ships were fabulous, though we liked the Modi crew a bit better. Oddly enough I spoke with someone who started on the Skirnir and switched to our ship in the same swap. She liked the Skirnir crew better. Anthony our Program Director was simply marvelous! He was funny, going constantly with a smile on his face like the Enegizer Bunny. He's a keeper, Viking! Unlike other recent reviewers, we liked the food a lot. We thought most dishes were quite good and often went with the local specialties. Again the Modi gets a few more points than the Skirnir, but perhaps it's just a comparison thing. The food was just as good and tasty as it was on our Rhine cruise in 2016. We really enjoyed the local talent and the trivia games in the lounge after dinner. We're not big show people, so the local entertainment was just fine, and actually very entertaining. I noticed references to the rafting of ships in port. We had a Veranda room and had no problem with it. When you are in port, you are mostly off the ship anyway. The only docking area that bothered me was the one in Cologne. I don't know where we were, but we rode slowly through some high walled canals to get there and then we had to climb a steep embankment to get to where the buses were. On our Rhine cruise we were out by the Zoo Bridge and this was even further away. I'd hoped to see Cologne lit up at night. We would absolutely do this cruise again, despite the hitches. Travel is an adventure and that's the way we look at it. We really, genuinely had a wonderful, fantastic trip from start to finish. Read Less

Our friends were already booked on it and told us Viking cruises are wonderful. WE looked forward to seeing Europe from the water perspective as well. First cruise for us and overall, our experience was very good. Food was excellent. Service also was top rate. Thought some ports could have used extra time. Excursions were on the whole quite good. Very informative guides. Would have liked more opportunities to bike in some of these ports. Also, would have been nice to have a small gym with weights available. WEights and perhaps an exercise bike and stair stepper. My husband and I are in our early 50's and I realize the average age of your passengers may be older. I do think Viking is starting to attract a younger adult crowd though and making some accomodations to satisfy that age demographic would be nice. Would definitely travel with Viking again though. Overall, we enjoyed it. Read Less

I chose Viking for the Grand European River Tour (14 day Amsterdam to Budapest) because I thought it was top of the line as per their ads on TV. It was to be the trip of a life time. As a retiree on a limited budget and with limited mobility ( I use a walker) I knew this was to be my last hoorah, it was now or never. I dreamed of this trip for several years. It was expensive but I was sure it would be well worth it. However! due to the extreme heat & drought, the water levels were extremely low & we were unable to travel on the water for the whole trip. The staff was constantly ducking, bobbing & weaving as to what the next step would be though I am sure it was all well planned out ahead of time. They knew early on that the low water levels were going to make sailing difficult. We were put on hot uncomfortable motor coaches for 3 hour jaunts to several different cities. At some points, the original port of call was bypassed entirely and excursions cancelled. When we were actually in the water on the Rhine, we went through at least 68 locks, bumping & banging our way through. The top deck was not accessible for half of the trip. We were moored in inaccessible & not very picturesque sites to the city . . . not at all as advertised & seen in the ads! . . . & had to be bussed, yet again, to the city center. We had to change boats 3 different times (the packing & unpacking added to the other inconveniences). This was NOT at all what we had paid for & expected. It was NOT the leisurely relaxing trip we wanted. It was exhausting & frustrating. The trip should have been cancelled from the get go. The food quality was mediocre with not too many options. The boat staff was excellent nevertheless. Overall not a "referrable moment" & I wouldn't recommend them to anyone, especially since their only response to our feedback thus far has been to offer a discount on a future cruise. This is useless to me as I do not plan to ever travel like that again. DO NOT choose VIKING! Read Less

We are writing this review to express our dissatisfaction with our recent Grand European Tour “river cruise". On July 30, three days prior to beginning our journey, we received notification that we would embark on the Viking Skirnir in Amsterdam, rather than Modi due to low river levels. On Aug. 3, at 9:20 p.m., we received notification that our cruise would not sail as described when we booked it, and the Skirnir was not able to make it to Amsterdam. We were not given the choice to cancel, and frankly, it would have been too late, as we had already left for Amsterdam to begin our 3 day extension. While understanding that Viking has no control over the weather, we cannot be convinced that the company knew nothing of the drought affecting the rivers we were to sail months in advance of our trip. We were told by locals in every city on the cruise that there had been no significant rainfall since May. This fact should have been communicated to the travelers who paid well in advance for a river cruise that was almost certain not to happen as advertised! We should have been given the option to: 1. accept the situation and continue our trip 2. apply the amount to a future cruise when the conditions were favorable for actually cruising the rivers as advertised, or 3. receive a full refund. We believe Viking was deceptive by not fully disclosing this information long prior to the day we already began our travels! The information we received once at the hotel (Hyatt Regency, Amsterdam) was remarkably inconsistent and the Viking representatives were ill-informed. We were told to attend a meeting on Aug. 5 at 6:30 for a briefing about the changes, only to find halfway through the meeting it was for a different ship with the same itinerary. We were not the only Modi people there, so we know the information was miscommunicated to others, as well. We were told our meeting was the following day. When we asked the Viking representatives the following morning about the time of the meeting, we were told it had been canceled. Later that night, we received correspondence in our room detailing the next day’s events, luggage pickup, etc. No mention of our Kinderdijk optional excursion, just a group number of the bus we were to board. Next morning we found out there HAD BEEN a meeting, and we missed some important details. The ineffectiveness of the representatives at that hotel was shameful! As it stood, we were bussed 1.5 hours to Kinderdijk, (misinformation caused us to be in the wrong group for the optional barge tour and we missed it), then 3 hours to Cologne, missing the entire river cruise on the Rhine between these cities. We sailed on the Skirnir for a while, but other than in Cologne, didn’t dock in cities where we could disembark and experience the ports as advertised. We purchased a suite with balcony, only to have the incredibly disappointing view of ugly harbors, recycling stations, and industrial holding areas! Not what we paid for! In addition to this, our ship often dropped us off and then left for another port to dock, so we spent a lot of time being bussed from ship to city to new port (generally ugly, sometimes sandwiched between ships so our view was a mirror image of our own balcony). We were told this was necessary because the ship had to make up for time lost in the never-ending series of locks, which took forever to traverse because of the water levels. This unfortunately cut into the amount of time we spent in the cities (which were all wonderful, by the way, and guides were overall very good). We really could have done without the almost unbearably boring restaurants we visited as a group with our lunch vouchers. There were so many other restaurants and cafes we would have enjoyed exploring. Instead, we were coerced into eating predetermined meals of, frankly, unappealing dishes, with no menu options, prepared in huge quantities and served by wait staff who clearly had no use for Viking and their vouchers! Our top deck was inaccessible for the entire time we spent on the Rhine. I expected a bit of this, but the entire river?? After Nuremburg, we were told we would be bussed clear out to Passau, by-passing Regensburg. This meant if anyone wanted to see this city, it would again require a 2-hour each-way bus trip. Honestly, if we had wanted to take a bus tour through the region, we could have saved ourselves a small fortune and just booked one. When we boarded the Viking Modi in Passau, I asked if the rest of the trip would go as planned, and was delighted to hear a definite affirmative from the desk representative! Things were looking up, and the cruise proceeded down the Danube with sundeck open and beautiful weather, stopping in ports with a view (except when we were double and triple tied off other ships, and were unable to use our balconies or open our blinds) and had access to the cities, just as we had expected for the entire cruise. It was quite lovely at this point! But then the rumor mill kicked in, and stories of other cruisers being bussed to and from Budapest filtered through the proverbial grapevine. Still, the crew said nothing, alluded to nothing, admitted nothing - until they had to the day before we were supposed to sail. So our trip would end with another 3.5 hour bus ride into Budapest…but the good news, according to the crew, was we would be docked on the Hermod at the Chain Bridge, at the very foot and center of the city! So great for exploring. Except that didn’t happen – we were docked two bridges up-river, where only taxis could transport the adventurous. There was no advantage to being on the ship, which was stifling inside. We were told that out of NINE ships stuck in Vienna, the Modi passengers were the only ones who would get to go to a ship. Woohoo. We would have preferred being put up in a hotel (5 stars, as we heard from other Viking travelers) at that point. At least we would have been in the city center. In a nutshell, this was not the trip we booked, not the trip that was advertised, and certainly not the trip we paid for. And nearly everyone onboard agreed. I will be sending this letter to those who provided their email addresses, and we will be expecting compensation for what was clearly a misrepresentation of what we could expect. A refund commensurate with our true experience may convince some to book another cruise with Viking…maybe. This episode has left many with a very bad taste in their mouths. We, ourselves acknowledge that if not for the Mediterranean Odyssey ocean cruise we took with Viking in 2017, we would turn our backs and look for another luxury cruise company. There are certainly many to choose from. That said, we hope that Viking will uphold their reputation and do what is right by their guests. They have offered a 50% voucher on the NEXT trip. We are asking for a 50% refund on this trip, not a voucher for the next, since for many there will be no “next”. Read Less

I had never been to Europe and this gave me a variety of countries without hopping different hotels.. The accommodations, the cruise director, the Captain and crew all made it memorable. The sight seeing excursions couldn’t have been better. The food was good, entertainment in the lounge was very enjoyable. Weather was unusually warm but very accommodating for our excursions. Budapest was one of my favorite places. The amazing architecture of all the different places just continued to be totally awe inspiring. To think we could dine in a place that was built in 800 ad was mind boggling. It was probably the absolute best trip for the money. Highly recommend it for any one who is considering a river cruise. I cannot say enough good about the Viking cruise line. They took exceptionally good care of us in the light of the worst conditions they had encountered on these waters. The drought conditions made parts of the Rhine and Danube unpassable and they handled it with professionalism and poise. Thank you Viking! Read Less

We researched cruises for a year and decided on Viking for our foray into cruising,we wanted a smaller ship experience. We started our trip with the pre cruise option of Prague. Viking set up our flight and accommodations and it was flawless! The city tour of Prague was in depth and fun. We were bussed to Budapest and our guide onboard gave us a commentary on the way. We were met on the ship with a pastry and smiles. Our bags were in our room after the welcome reception. Our room was a French balcony, very spacious and efficient for storage. The food onboard was fabulous, the local cuisine was represented in the dinners. We had the silver spirit package and it gave us the opportunity to try the upgraded wine with lunch & dinner. All the included tours were great because the guides were from the local area. The optional tours were well worth the money and gave us a unique look into the culture of the community we were visiting. Even though the rivers were low and we had to change ships Viking made it as easy as possible. We will be going on a Seine cruise summer 20! We would definitely recommend Viking. Read Less

Severe drought in Europe and they made it so perfect... absolutely fabulous crews! The food was spectacular always, all three meals everyday... don’t know how they do it so well. The cruise director Anthony was out of this world, I don’t think he ever slept... his team had everything perfect everyday! The excursions were great, even people in wheelchairs were taken care of. One of my favorite things was the evening cruise around Budapest when all the buildings were lit up... gorgeous! I was able to sit on the top deck and have a cigar in the smoking area which was just fabulous. I usually like having a cigar bar on a cruise ship but having an outdoor area on the top deck of the river was just perfect. Cruising along the Danube river looking at churches and castles they had speakers all around the top deck and they were giving us an audio history lesson, just made it perfect. I would highly recommend this cruise, spend the money to be on the middle or top deck of the three..well worth it! Read Less