Viking River Cruise. If you have LIMITED MOBILITY please read this!

My husband and I took the Rhine River Christmas market cruise from Basel Switzerland to Amsterdam in December 2016. My husband has limited mobility - in his case, he can walk unassisted but needs moments to stop and rest (hip replacement one year ago).

 

The cruise itself was as expected from how Viking sells itself (high end luxury type cruise). We were assured that there were off-vessel excursions for my husband to participate in that involved very little walking. We found this to be totally untrue. The easy excursions still required a person to walk sometimes distances of half a mile or more to a bus. I wish someone had forewarned us of this prior to making our reservation. While i thoroughly enjoyed the cruise, my poor husband paid $5,000 to essentially sit on the vessel at each port since they don't make any accommodations for those with handicaps or limited mobility.

 

Yes, i read the disclaimer but was assured by the booking agent AND the employees on the vessel that the distances were short enough for even those who couldn't walk far and that they would help us - which was not true. We hired a taxi in one location. The one excursion that my husband did participate in, required him to leave 40 minutes prior to the scheduled time just so he could make it to the bus as the rest of us arrived.

 

The cities that you visit are amazing but you need more time than what is allotted for each stop over to experience the life. This is a great, albeit expensive, way to get a feel for the places you may want to visit in more depth in the future.

 

In summary, the accommodations on the vessel Viking Vidar were wonderful. The food was overabundant and delicious. The employees did what they could and did it well in most cases. The tipping mentality during the daily briefings on the ship was obnoxious. The program director got more and more 'insistent' about tipping as the cruise progressed.

 

If you have any particular questions, please feel free to contact me directly. We had 4 people on our vessel who either walked with a cane, had bad knees or other limited mobility who all wished they had been told the truth about the distances when they inquired with specific questions during their reservation process.

 

I really wanted to focus this review on the mobility issue more than anything else. I wish someone had told me while I was still in the planning stage of our trip. I would have opted for something else before we spent all that money on a trip only I could fully enjoy.

With all due respect to the OP, the walking requirements on river cruises in general (not just Viking) have been discussed ad infinitum on these message boards.

 

It's hard not to get the message about the walking requirements if one spends any time on these boards.

 

Not trying to be mean to the OP at all, it's just that this info is readily available. I wonder how much the OP paid attention to CC while planning their trip. Trying to be fair to Viking, who often serves as the whipping boy on these boards.

Edited January 3, 2017 by sharkster77

With all due respect to the OP, the walking requirements on river cruises in general (not just Viking) have been discussed ad infinitum on these message boards.

 

It's hard not to get the message about the walking requirements if one spends any time on these boards.

 

Not trying to be mean to the OP at all, it's just that this info is readily available. I wonder how much the OP paid attention to CC while planning their trip. Trying to be fair to Viking, who often serves as the whipping boy on these boards.

OP felt that she had done due diligence when she discussed the situation with the booking agent and was assured that her husband would be able to participate.

So glad that I cruised with a company that includes ALL tipping was comparable in cost to Viking.

I have limited mobility and for that reason I know that river cruising is not for me.

 

When you have a disability the key to making the most of your holiday and ensuring you will enjoy it, is re search. Last September we rented a house in Brittany. I got the owner of the house to take a photo of the stairs so I could decide whether I could negotiate them.

 

Travel agents are not specialists in travel for people with disabilities, even the ones that claim to be are not very good. At the end of the day they want to earn their commission.

 

I am sure there would have been local tour operators or transport that would have enabled them to do tours. Surely if mobility is a problem it is sensible to take a wheelchair.

 

We travel frequently and never have problems as I do all my research beforehand and ensure everything is suitable. In this day and age it is easy, albeit time consuming as there is so much information available on the internet

 

I'm not being unsympathetic, just realistic. I've had both hips and a knee replacement so understand the constrictions.

It's been posted on numerous occasions that if one is going to use a travel agent, be sure to find one who specializes in, or is at least very knowledgeable about river cruises.

 

As compared to ocean cruises, they are a totally different animal. You don't want a travel agent whose main interest is in making commissions, as opposed to cultivating a satisfied clientele who will become RETURN customers.

 

Like the previous poster, trying not to be unsympathetic, but the information is certainly out there.

Edited January 4, 2017 by sharkster77

Regrettably I think this is mostly a matter of a self-assessment issue and the way the limitation was communicated.

 

If this is what you tell people when you talk to them:

 

My husband has limited mobility - in his case, he can walk unassisted but needs moments to stop and rest (hip replacement one year ago).

 

Then I too would not consider that your husband would have a problem with this:

 

The easy excursions still required a person to walk sometimes distances of half a mile or more to a bus.

 

I certainly would not expect that it would take him this long to manage what is generally a 10 min walk based on the way you described his concern:

 

The one excursion that my husband did participate in, required him to leave 40 minutes prior to the scheduled time just so he could make it to the bus as the rest of us arrived.

 

My Father-in-law has a similar limitation on his walking distance, he too would say he walks unassisted, he walks to his car, he drives himself to go food stopping etc. all unaided, but ...

 

... he is a frequent ocean cruiser and when he talks to a travel agent or the cruise line agents he tells them he will need wheelchair assistance at the airport, at the cruise terminal etc. for boarding.

 

While onboard ship he is happily mobile once more without assistance.

 

If he decides to go ashore, he will once again put himself in the wheelchair category.

 

When deciding on the type of vacation to take, it is not the time to minimize any restrictions or special challenges you or someone in your party might face. It is perhaps better to slightly overstate the issue and assume that more rather than less assistance might be needed.

 

In your case it would seem prudent that if a 10 min walk actually takes 40 mins that a wheelchair would be a better option even if it was only used for the distance to and from the coach...

 

As for Viking providing assistance, I've seen this many times when people needed help with steps or an incline when getting ashore or returning from a trip, but there isn't much they can do if in reality what is normally a 10 min walk is impractical...

I have seen several mentions of wheelchairs on this thread. I don't want anyone new to river boats thinking that a wheelchair will be all that useful on a river boat. It is not unusual that boats are rafted (tied up side by side) and in some cases merely getting to shore requires several climbs up the steep stairs to the sunroof and going across a narrow gangway to the roof of the next ship (most riverboats have elevators, but often not to the lowest deck, and I have never seen a true elevator to a riverboat sun deck [some do have a stairlift on one side only]). The gangway from the boat to shore may be relatively steep and may be narrower than a standard wheelchair. Once off the boat it is common to be on cobblestone streets which are unfriendly to wheelchairs. There is a reason that we are doing mobility challenging trips while we still can; most 13th century buildings are not ADA compliant.

 

Thom

European travel in general is tough if you have mobility issues, where it's a river cruise or land tour. Cobblestones, narrow steps and lots of them, old bldgs. without ramps or elevators, etc. I'm sorry your husband missed out on so much of the trip.

 

Roz

I think every Viking cruise we've been on, we've observed people with wheelchairs or walkers. I'd say I've seen a mix of folks who are fairly nimble and mobile with their walkers--and I've also seen some without assistive devices who look like a stiff wind would knock them over. We've observed people falling off busses, falling over cobblestones, falling off bar stools (oh wait, that might be a different issue...) and on our recent Lyon trip, one gal twisted her ankle so badly she required a hospital visit. Europe isn't ADA compliant--so I am not sure how much Viking is to blame for that.

 

I'm sorry your husband didn't get to enjoy the full travel experience. I'm sure that was disappointing. But I don't think that's really Viking's responsibility. When you think about river levels (up and down) and gangways and access to the river fronts and where roads and parking lots can be located, it just seems like common sense would indicate you don't just walk off the boat and onto a bus without some measure of effort. Even just getting up and down bus steps require some mobility.

 

And FWIW, I work in a CCRC in long term care. I'm extremely familiar with the abilities and agilities of people with mobility issues. I'm always incredibly impressed with Viking's cruise directors and staff who go beyond expectation in making sure the slowest guest is included and not forgotten or left behind. We've seen them holding hands, helping push (2) wheelchairs at once down a ramp, helping people up and down stairs and uneven surfaces...they most definitely put themselves at risk by assisting others. (Their own safety, their own risk of being sued for not assisting someone correctly...)

On our Christmas Markets Heart of Germany tour Viking offered a more leisurely tour which required less walking in almost every port. We had several people using walkers, canes, etc. Cobble streets come with the territory. Sorry your husband couldn't enjoy his trip but Viking can't be held responsible for it. Oh, we were on the Tor and tips were only mentioned once and in a very low key way.

For years I had always wanted to do a Nile cruise. Just before the Arab Spring we decided on a holiday in Egypt. Initially, we were going to book a Nile cruise, so I started to do some research. I soon came to the conclusion that a river cruise was not going to be suitable.

 

We went to Luxor for two consecutive years on a land holiday. It soon became apparent that a Nile cruise would have been very difficult, although we did do a day trip cruise to Dendera.

 

We very much enjoyed Luxor, but some of the places were a challenge with a wheelchair, even though I can walk short distances and some stairs.

 

Anyway, what I am really trying to say is that when you have a disability life isn't as easy as you would like it to be. So, you have to do lots of research or contact people/ places to know what is accessible and what isn't. I think only the person with the disability can judge as they are the one who knows their capability.

 

Fortunately, I have travelled extensively all my life, so have seen many places. The one regret I have is not going to Macchu Pichu when I was able, but you can't win them all.

 

There are laws in EU countries whereby public places have to have disabled access, but in some places this is not possible. It's quite difficult to visit castles. Many places do make an effort and all the information is available on the relevant website.

 

The moral of the story is to do plenty of research before booking the holiday and don't rely on strangers to help you.