Viking Njord Review
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With great anticipation and after considerable research we booked a suite on the Viking Njord in May of 2012 for the Romantic Danube River cruise in August of 2013. We have cruised on ocean liners many times but this was to be our first river cruise and we were influenced by the excellent marketing campaigns and reputation of Viking River Cruises.
Prior to our cruise we were sent notification that we would not be boarding the Viking Njord in Nuremberg as originally planned but instead would board the Viking Bragi for an undetermined amount of the trip and would (at some time) be transferred to the Viking Njord “during the journey”. The reason given for the required ship transfer was “roving dock strikes” We later learned that there were no “roving dock strikes” to be found and were even more stunned to see the Viking Bragi travelling the same itinerary with us as we continued on the 2103 Romantic Danube cruise. Several times during the cruise we asked the cruise director and staff about the reason for the inconvenience of the transfer and we were given either vague statements or blank stares and a shrug. It was very frustrating and confusing.
When we arrived in Nuremberg we transferred by cab to the Viking Bragi as indicated. The staff and crew welcomed us aboard with smiles and pleasant greetings. Based on the pre trip itinerary we went back into Nuremberg to explore the city, have lunch in a local restaurant and come back to the ship sometime in the evening because the itinerary indicated that the Viking Bragi would overnight in Nuremberg. Fortunately, we decided to return to the ship in the late PM and, much to our surprise the Viking Bragi left Nuremberg around 7:00PM in the evening and cruised through the night to a dock somewhere several miles outside Nuremberg. There was no notification that the ship was going to leave the night before and we felt fortunate to make it back prior to the ship sailing. This was just the first of several communications errors/omissions during the cruise and certainly not what we expected from a cruise line with the reputation and experience of Viking.