My sister selected this 10-day river cruise for us because of the size of the ship (about 170 passengers) and the destinations and excursions (Amsterdam, Hoorn, Arnhem, Kinderdijk, Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Brussels, Keukenhof, Haarlem, and back to Amsterdam). We have family connections to the Netherlands and were very excited to see so many cities and enjoy so many activities (biking, walking, eating [eating!], sight seeing, beer tasting, meeting new people, etc.). We were able to do all these things on this cruise. The excursions were interesting and the local guides were very knowledgable and skilled. The busy touring and dining schedules were maintained by the crew's use of printed daily guides, a daily announcements session before dinner, and overhead PA announcements. The ship's sailing, hotel and dining crews were efficient, friendly, helpful, and put the passengers' safety and pleasure first. The staff were particularly helpful to passengers on this cruise who had mobility or sight limitations or dietary concerns. We had first-hand experience with the crew's and Viking's ability to maintain safety and manage logistics because of an accident we experienced on the river. Shortly after midnight on the seventh day of our cruise our ship and a tanker collided. Thankfully, a very few passengers and crew sustained minor injuries only. On the other hand, the ship was did not come out as well. The bow and kitchen were heavily damaged and there was lots of broken glassware, dishes and serving dishes, and glass tables and some shower doors were also shattered. The crew in all departments handled this emergency quickly, efficiently and professionally. We were kept informed of events and crew members checked on passenger safety several times in the minutes and few hours after the collision. We were towed to a nearby port (Terneuzen). The crew and land-side Viking staff worked overnight to arrange for us to be bussed to a hotel for a lovely breakfast and then on to Bruges for the scheduled walking tour. That evening we stayed on board and the crew again worked all day and night so that the passengers could enjoy breakfast together in the ship's dining room. I have no idea how they did it. After breakfast we continued with scheduled events: a tour of the Delta Works and stops at Veere and the Watersnood Museum. At the end of the day we were delivered to a fabulous hotel in Amsterdam because the ship had to be put in dry dock for repairs. Our excursions from Amsterdam (where we would have been in the ship if the accident hadn't occurred) were held as scheduled. Despite the collision, the only excursion that was cancelled was the Flanders Field visit; everything else was accomplished as originally planned. The Viking Idun crew and Viking corporate staff were available to passengers throughout the rest of our time together. All of them remained calm and kind throughout what must have been a very stressful time for them. Viking extended very generous compensation to passengers. Almost all the passengers completed the tour rather than fly back home early. I have to mention several crew by name because they truly extended themselves pre-, and especially, post-collision: Guest Services Sandra Slankandenac who, with her peers, always remembered our room number, greeted us kindly and answered all our questions. Bartenders Gilbert, George and Yvanna. They were gracious and made a great lemontini! Hospitality Manager Stefka Koleva supported her staff who kept our staterooms lovely. Housekeeper Lillya was always ready with a happy greeting and kept us supplied with everything we needed. Executive Chef Ronald Waarsdrop. I did not really appreciate the quality of his food preparation and presentation, and the skill of his kitchen staff and servers, until we had a typical hotel breakfast on Day 7 of the cruise. Hotel Manager Harry Berislavic and Maitre D' Nenad Dukanovik. Both men have such a great sense of humor and were always in action. Servers Istvan, Daniel, Tihomer, Kin were attentive, friendly, helpful and always wanted us to be happy. Program Director "Joey" Schuijt. I do not know where to begin to list all that Joey did for the passengers and our experience on the Viking Idun. Before the collision he was efficient, funny, professional. After the collision he was those things as well as sensitive, responsive and deeply concerned that our experience be as positive as possible. Captain Zoran Lukic. My sister and I enjoyed a conversation with the Captain one afternoon and found him to be kind and considerate. We learned about his family and his many years of experience as a Captain. We could plainly see his commitment to his profession and, most of all, to our safety. After the collision Captain Zoran, and Joey Schujit, worked without sleep to take care of us, our needs and the ship. Overall, despite the accident, I had a wonderful experience on the Viking Idun and will take another cruise with Viking. Maybe Russia! I wish the Captain and the crew well and hope they are together again on the Idun soon. Read Less

March 31, 2019 on Viking Magni River Cruise Budapest to Passau. First suggestion, do your homework. We booked a French “Balcony” (sliding door) on 3rd Fl. Very small. Just enough room for a double bed. No chairs so reading or TV is lying on bed. Small bathroom. Very efficient but claustrophobic. Room has fridge but only useful for bringing in shore beverages or food. Hint. Don’t upgrade the liquor package. Buy duty free or in town and save $$ as you can bring this on board and no corkage. Fridge is useless otherwise as no room service and cannot bring any bottles from bar into room (even with their best upgraded liquor package!). WiFi is free as it should be because it was terrible. With modern service I’m sure this could be improved if they wanted to but would increase expenses. Service was impeccable from everyone. As were the excursions, even those included. That is the expectation and the standard for this caliber of cruise. The entrees we had were all good but not exceptional. Superb buffet is always in addition to table menu service. Best meal was grilled sea bass served on last day. Meals are mostly served in main dining room with tables of 6-8+. Great opportunity to build friendships and share conversations with fellow travelers. Still good value and a we hope to go again but equipped with new knowledge to fine tune our experience. Read Less

Have done three Globus Bus Vacations and wanted to try something new and different. Our troubles started at Logan Airport when we could not check in. Viking had booked us on KLM and it should have been Delta. We lost our oringinal seats and finally got booked in. Loved Delta! Got to Amsterdam Airport and walked to the farthest luggage pick up area and could not find a Viking Rep. Finally a man felt sorry for us and said Viking usually met at the "meeting place". Off we go and walked half way across airport to the "meeting place". Again no Viking Rep. After twenty minutes I called the ship's phone number. Having never called a European phone number +49 did not work for me. It should have started with 0049. Sinking feeling in strange airport waiting for 45 minutes. Started walking around and finally found three Viking Reps walking together looking for us. They said we should have been at gate 19 where we first started. Back on track...bus ride to ship. Crew was great and we went to our stateroom. Small but doable...lower level. Window is eye level with the water and my wife could not look out at all without standing on the bed. That night when we left port at midnight the engine noise and water noise kept me awake most of the night. I thought seriously about canceling our trip. After that everything went fine until we got to Wurzburg. High water levels stopped the boat in it's tracks for a number of days. We were then bussed everyday to our venues for four days til the boat caught up to us. Half hour ride, then one hour ride next, then two hour ride the following day and finally a three hour ride to and from the next town. Some tours were canceled or rescheduled. Did not get much cruising and relaxing time on the boat. Felt like I was back on a Globus bus tour for a lot more money. Viking offered us a $1599 credit towards a future trip but it has to be used in the next year before 3/20/2020. No thanks...do not want two trips one one year. No more river cruises and have booked our next trip with Globus to Portugal and Spain in the fall. Read Less

After having a great experience with Viking in Russia, my wife and I again chose Viking for our tour of Egypt. We were met at Cairo airport at the arrival gate (before immigration) by Viking's airport representative, Amr, who guided us effortlessly through all required formalities and delivered us to our transport. From Cairo airport we were delivered to the Nile Ritz Carlton hotel (fabulous), in which we stayed for three nights while we toured the sights with Viking (pyramids, Citadel, museum and markets). On the fourth day we were flown to the Viking Ra in Luxor. This is a great little ship with all suite cabins, a great lounge and two exterior sun decks. The staff which consisted of both international and local personnel, were fantastic. The restaurant was very comfortable and the food very good. The cruise down the Nile was fantastic and all excursions were well organised and very engaging thanks to our program directors, Amr and Ahmed. We highly recommend the optional excursion to Abu Simbel and also the optional balloon ride over Luxor. Disembarking and returning to Cairo was also very well organised. And the accommodation and food at the Intercontinental CityStars was first rate. Transport back to Cairo airport also went smoothly. The only minor irritation was that some of our luggage was left at Luxor and we had to wait until just before we flew out of Cairo before we recovered it. Overall, a fantastic holiday with a great company. Read Less

XMAS CRUISE 2018 PORTO TO PORTO , DOURO RIVER PORTUGAL. itinerary changed so many times even the staff could not tell me where or what we were doing have the time. Spent 10% on the ship ( sleeping , eating ) 90% on buses this is a bus trip not a river cruise. I feel we were deceived as the excursions were changed / canceled repeatedly. if xmas is not a good time for attractions to be open , then do not offer this cruise. All other cruise lines not operating douro river at this time ( wonder why ) we were dropped off at mateus palace for a 30 min tour/ then 2.5 hrs free time to do absolutlety nothing !, whole day wasted for this ! as bus ride took up the rest of the day. Meals were not very good compared to our other cruises (ama was better ) restaurant had a hole in front entrance floor ( not appealing to look at ) same wine served every night , which was not the greatest they ran out of lots of things after 3 days of cruise( lemons , milk , ketchup, jam , coke to name a few.) We were not impressed with this cruise at all ! ( the douro valley is very beautiful to see ) Read Less

We were in cabin 105 so only a window. All cabins are 2 room suites and lovely. Full size shower. Ship smaller in size so max of 50 people. The chef was a genius and some of the best food on a cruise. We had prime rib roast, lobster, giant prawns, lamb.....and my favorite was an Egyptian night with many delights. The tours were wonderful and the guides/egyptologists did a great job of navigating you through The Valley of the vendors. The balloon ride over The Valley of the kings was amazing as was the trip to AbuSimbel. On our return to Cairo some folks set up private tour to inside the Sphinx. We opted to go to the Coptic quarter which was very interesting and the prettiest Coptic Church we have seen. We also did Pretrip Jerusalem which is where I clocked 15000 steps. In Egypt i never made it past 10,000 while touring. You will be walking on stone and uneven terrain so those with bad knees/hips may find things difficult. At first we could not understand why this trip was more expensive than some of the Europe ones but you have a minimum of 2 in country flights. This is the fastest way to get around. We had private security with us daily and large comfortable Viking coaches with extra space between seats for comfort and USB ports and WiFi on the bus....better than the ship Read Less

Xmas on the douro river portugal, dec 21 2018. Itinerary changed , completely different than what we paid for. No river cruise here, just a bus tour, had i known this i would not have booked this so called river cruise. Dining was poor , menu did not reflect what was actually being served. Meals were poor! Was served ice cold eggs benny with a mouldy english muffin, no apology from the kitchen. Same cheap wine every night with dinner ( 3 euros per bottle as we seen it in the market) no real cappucino machine on board , but cappucinos made with powered mixes from a machine. SHIP RAN OUT OF SEVERAL THINGS EARLY ON IN CRUISE, Lemon tea, lemons, milk/cream, coke , stawberry jams, ketchup , oatmeal , poor selection of fresh fruit to name a few. I expressed my cruise experience with viking & agent begged to differ on a few things , argued that i was there , you were not ! Viking offered me a future cruise credit of $ 400.00 . Obviously they could care less if we cruised with them again. As i will not! ( THIS CRUISE COST OVER $ 18,000.00 FOR MY FAMILY OF 4 ) PLEASE BE ADVISED , I HAVE EXPERIENCED MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE RIVER CRUISES WITH OTHER OPERATORS ( AMMA BEING ONE ) Read Less

I wanted something special as a graduation gift for my son! The cruise was even nicer than I ever dreamed. The service was superb, as each crew member was so kind and responsive. The cruise director was amazing, always finding solutions to any challenges that presented themselves. The chef and his staff were very talented in creating delicious and beautiful meals. The scenery and towns visited were like a dream! The guides did a great job of introducing us to the cities we visited each day. The concierge was extremely organized, keeping track of the location of each guest, to ensure no one stayed behind. Local guides were authentic and knowledgeable, adding a local insight to what we were seeing, and giving us tips on where to buy the best souvenirs and the best prices. We would love to return someday, or take other cruises in the U.S. Thanks Viking! Read Less

We visited a wide variety of venues/countries. We were able to explore all cities/towns in which we docked and had a pleasant pre-trip extension in Munich and Salzburg. The ship was of a comfortable size (188 passengers). The service provided by the staff was excellent and the ship and cabin were very clean. (One example: After having some wine accidently spilled on me during dinner, the staff had my clothing cleaned gratis.) The meals were excellent and reflected the cuisine of each of the towns we visited. The shore excursions were interesting although we probably over-booked them; some additional relaxation time on the top deck was needed. Our relaxation time came when cruising the Danube with the French balcony door open. The guides for the shore excursions were well-informed and answered all questions put to them. The entertainment was great; I even got to sing with the piano player during one evening!! Both embarkation and disembarkation were well organized and went smoothly. We enjoyed the cruise so much that we booked another cruise (for 2020) onboard the ship. Read Less

This cruise covered the traditional Christmas markets in Europe. This was not only a fantastic way to spend the holidays with family, but was a great introduction to a region of Europe I had not been to. We were afforded the opportunity to visit more sites and cities than I previously thought. The crew were outstanding. If you seek the ultimate in comfort and luxury, Viking is the cruise line to employ. Their staff are amazing! I have to say, that a flight was delayed from Heathrow airport for my sister and her husband, they subsequent missed the shuttle from Munich to the ship's docking point in Passau. John the night manager from Viking made it so my sister and her husband were able to get to the ship! He was ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING !!! I would book another cruise with Viking just to work with John again. The attention to detail on every aspect of this ship and the crew were beyond words. Everyone was so helpful and friendly. The ship had a variety of activities. I did wish there was a small gym on the ship as the food was so amazing that I gained several pounds, but there is a walking path on the top deck and I was able to keep track of the distance I walked, and with the surrounding view, the top deck walking was incredible. This was the first cruise I have ever taken and I will continue to be a Viking customer as I continue to travel through Europe. Read Less