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Viking or Grand Circle??


ILoveScotland

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We are going on GCT in March also - first river cruise - but the prices seemed pretty reasonable to me - much less than Viking. But we are not using their air and haven't decided yet on which optionals we will do - so that is extra $$.

 

H20 - which cruise are you on. We are doing Great Rivers of Europe - March 13th.

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We're taking our third Viking cruise this spring. Obviously enjoyed the first two. No experience with any othe river cruise line.

 

Don

For what it's worth, two years ago we were on a Viking cruise with a woman who had been on both. She preferred the Viking experience but was not loathe to return to GCT.

 

One difference is that GCT essentially works within the USA market and Viking has cruisers from Canada, UK, etc.

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We are going on GCT in March also - first river cruise - but the prices seemed pretty reasonable to me - much less than Viking. But we are not using their air and haven't decided yet on which optionals we will do - so that is extra $$.

 

H20 - which cruise are you on. We are doing Great Rivers of Europe - March 13th.

 

We're booked for Great Rivers of Europe in July. Please post a review when you get back. I'm really interested in whatever tips you might pick up.

 

That being said (sorry to hijack the thread), we haven't done anything with Viking so our only real comparison is by looking at brochures. We went with Grand Circle to China--mostly because the the itinerary for that trip. It was really wonderful.

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Have to agree with Joybug - we've been on three Vantage trips and taking our 4th this coming August. Check out what's included in all companies mentioned and then check Vantage. Some of the other companies have a lot of optional tours and charge extra. Willard

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My experience shows that even with adding all the optional tours in GCT still has the best price with included airfare when comparing to other companies with similar itineraries. Their ships may not be as new as AMA or Avalon but thier condition is topnotch. I've traveled with both GCT and AMA and will not return to AMA unles they give me a smoking deal.

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My first "river" cruise was this year. We did the Danube Christmas markets with GCT,great cruise and we even thought about going on the identical cruise again this year,one problem though ! It was perfect this year and anything less would be a disappointment,it was around 32F-34F each day with huge snowflakes as we wandered thru the markets. Postcard perfect!!!

Anyway our boat the River Adagio was spotless,food to die for.

If the menu wasn't appealing you could always get Salmon or Chicken breast

Berthing might not be everyones "cup of tea",actually quite comfortable

Captain and crew were always highly visible and most of the time when you left the boat as a group the captain was there to "meet and greet"

After day 2 you were on a first name basis with your program director

I would not book a balcony on a winter cruise

Pretty much all river cruises stop in the same cities,tie up in same areas,and offer the same excursions(in Vienna at the concert we sat with people from 3 other cruise lines)

 

If you compare the money we saved going with GCT vs. some of the other lines it almost pays for another trip. Unlike ocean cruising to me the river cruises are about the "ports" and not the "journey".

JMHO

Allan

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Thanks to everyone. Still not sure what I'll decide as I'm looking at several options for next fall. I did look at the Vantage web site, but it was a bit pricier than the others.

 

RET P3 FE, I particularly enjoyed your comments. When you you on your cruise so that you had all that snow? In the 1990s DH and I went on two Caribbean cruises aboard the now defunct Windjammer Barefoot Cruises' ships. I loved the informality and being on first name basis with all the captain and crew and all the passengers.

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Thanks to everyone. Still not sure what I'll decide as I'm looking at several options for next fall. I did look at the Vantage web site, but it was a bit pricier than the others.

 

RET P3 FE, I particularly enjoyed your comments. When you you on your cruise so that you had all that snow? In the 1990s DH and I went on two Caribbean cruises aboard the now defunct Windjammer Barefoot Cruises' ships. I loved the informality and being on first name basis with all the captain and crew and all the passengers.

Oh now those were a riot!! We sailed three times with Windjammer. No experience comparable IMO. What a shame we don't have the chance anymore.

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Oh now those were a riot!! We sailed three times with Windjammer. No experience comparable IMO. What a shame we don't have the chance anymore.

 

Amen to that! Two years ago I was on HAL's Westerdam in Aruba, and there was the Polynesia looking all forlorn. We sailed on the Flying Cloud and the Fantome (in February 1998 before she went down in October 1998), but seeing the Polynesia looking as she did just made me very sad. Those cruises weren't for everyone, but I loved them.

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Amen to that! Two years ago I was on HAL's Westerdam in Aruba, and there was the Polynesia looking all forlorn. We sailed on the Flying Cloud and the Fantome (in February 1998 before she went down in October 1998), but seeing the Polynesia looking as she did just made me very sad. Those cruises weren't for everyone, but I loved them.

Our travel agent still can't believe we sailed them three times. I can't make her understand what a unique experience it was. We sailed the Polynesia, Flying Cloud and Yankee Clipper. We were watching the news while vacationing in Key West when the Fantome went missing. So sad. I think that was the beginning of the end for the company. :(

 

And back on topic, we are currently researching river cruise companies in Europe too. Hoping to sail this Fall.

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Thanks to everyone. Still not sure what I'll decide as I'm looking at several options for next fall. I did look at the Vantage web site, but it was a bit pricier than the others.

 

RET P3 FE, I particularly enjoyed your comments. When you you on your cruise so that you had all that snow? In the 1990s DH and I went on two Caribbean cruises aboard the now defunct Windjammer Barefoot Cruises' ships. I loved the informality and being on first name basis with all the captain and crew and all the passengers.

 

 

Dec 10-19

It snowed on day 2 as we were entering the Christmas market in Nurnberg(huge market).Day 3 at night it snowed in Regensberg,,snow on the ground in Melk.From Linz to Salzburg it snowed the whole bus trip(1.5 hrs) and there was snow on the ground in Vienna

 

Hindsight !! I'd do a post trip extension in Vienna

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Well...... Hi there Beth,

 

I haven't been on CC in ages but on my first venture back who do I encounter but that gal with her heart in Scotland. We were on the TA together on Brilliance. We are having the same problem (such a problem!) picking our next cruise. We're thinking of a river cruise in the south of France. We were on GCT's Rhine and Mosel River cruise and it was wonderful but we are also looking into Viking. I would highly recommend GCT they really do a good job but would like to try something different. Good luck in your future travels. mems

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Poolechick and ILoveScotland:

 

We did 4 Mandalay cruises and were really hoping to do a 5th. Unfortunately,that didn't happen. I don't think people can appreciate how special a Windjammer cruise was unless they experienced one. Because WJ was no more, our last cruise was on the Star Clipper from Athens to Venice. We had a good time but she wasn't the Mandalay. Missed hearing Amazing Grace everytime the sails were raised, and the totally casual atmosphere. But we have a lot of fond memories and pictures from our WJ days.

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