Beware of Viking Hotel changes

We are currently in Bucharest and will board Embla today. A few weeks ago we got notice of a hotel change. The email stated the change would not affect the quality of the trip. So Not True. Some tell me it is the second one for this sailing..first since we booked. We were moved from a centrally loacted hotel to one distant from Old Town. So much for the plans I had made. Our Budapest hotel has also been changed. That was an inconvenience as we had booked an extra day there. I am hoping that change is not also a downgrade. Does any know what is going on with these changes long after booking??

Another good reason for doing pre and post extensions OYO. You save money and you control the venue.

Sorry for your difficulty. I understand your frustration.

As far as I know, all the cruise lines that I have looked at say that they may substitute hotels, although they generally say that hotels will be "equivalent". The problem is that the term isn't defined.

I can't answer your question but I have a request of you. Please write a review or some types of comments about this cruise as I've found very little (fromthedeckchair is good) and we're booked for next spring. Thanks and have a wonderful trip.

Dear HokiePoq,

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. While we believe the two hotels to be of comparable quality, we are sorry for any interruption this change has caused to your travel plans. Such changes can happen from time to time, for a variety of reasons. Whenever possible, however, we try to limit the inconvenience to our guests.

Your feedback is important to us, so if you’re willing, we would like to arrange a for a phone call to review your experience with you in detail. Kindly reach us at Tellus@vikingcruises.com with your contact and booking information, and a Viking Representative will contact you upon your return home. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your comments, and wish you an excellent cruise aboard Viking Embla.

Kind Regards,

Viking Cruises

We are currently in Bucharest and will board Embla today. A few weeks ago we got notice of a hotel change. The email stated the change would not affect the quality of the trip. So Not True. Some tell me it is the second one for this sailing..first since we booked. We were moved from a centrally loacted hotel to one distant from Old Town. So much for the plans I had made. Our Budapest hotel has also been changed. That was an inconvenience as we had booked an extra day there. I am hoping that change is not also a downgrade. Does any know what is going on with these changes long after booking??

Dear HokiePoq,

 

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. While we believe the two hotels to be of comparable quality, we are sorry for any interruption this change has caused to your travel plans. Such changes can happen from time to time, for a variety of reasons. Whenever possible, however, we try to limit the inconvenience to our guests.

 

Your feedback is important to us, so if you’re willing, we would like to arrange a for a phone call to review your experience with you in detail. Kindly reach us at Tellus@vikingcruises.com with your contact and booking information, and a Viking Representative will contact you upon your return home. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your comments, and wish you an excellent cruise aboard Viking Embla.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Viking Cruises

Thanks for the reply.

However, the Crowne, a nice airport hotel, is in no way comparable to a hotel near to Old Town. In fact since the first posting, I have learned from early bookers that they were first to be in Radisson Blu right in the heart of historic area. As it turned out, we never saw Old Town which was what I planned to see. One passenger went to the Intercontinental and reported that it was a higher level hotel in addition to superior location. We took the recommended excursion to Spring Palace which turned into a total dusaster. While somewhat interesting, it is in no way ready for large group tours. There was ONE restroom...not one for men and one for women. One toilet period. We were not offered a restroom break. We had a substitute bus driver who went around in circles and had other drivers gesturing to him. We did not arrive at the ship until 7:15. No bathroom break from lunchime until getting to the ship. We missed the Welcome and briefing, the latter l found upsetting as we are first time Viking customers after many ocean cruises. Missing the briefing resulted In problems today.

When I return I will use the address you provided. Thanks again for the reply.

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Will do. After this cruise we have a day in Budapest and then board another Viking g ship from Budapest to Passau.

I can't answer your question but I have a request of you. Please write a review or some types of comments about this cruise as I've found very little (fromthedeckchair is good) and we're booked for next spring. Thanks and have a wonderful trip.

Another good reason for doing pre and post extensions OYO. You save money and you control the venue.

Indeed. We were unable to get the precruise to Transylvania after trying for several months. I booked a private one which wad absolutely fantastic.

Thanks for the reply.

However, the Crowne, a nice airport hotel, is in no way comparable to a hotel near to Old Town. In fact since the first posting, I have learned from early bookers that they were first to be in Radisson Blu right in the heart of historic area. As it turned out, we never saw Old Town which was what I planned to see. One passenger went to the Intercontinental and reported that it was a higher level hotel in addition to superior location. We took the recommended excursion to Spring Palace which turned into a total dusaster. While somewhat interesting, it is in no way ready for large group tours. There was ONE restroom...not one for men and one for women. One toilet period. We were not offered a restroom break. We had a substitute bus driver who went around in circles and had other drivers gesturing to him. We did not arrive at the ship until 7:15. No bathroom break from lunchime until getting to the ship. We missed the Welcome and briefing, the latter l found upsetting as we are first time Viking customers after many ocean cruises. Missing the briefing resulted In problems today.

When I return I will use the address you provided. Thanks again for the reply.

I *have* to have regular bathroom breaks. 2 hours is the max. this is an extremely important issue for me.

I have found that Viking usually makes sure there are regular breaks for the restroom. After all, the average age of their guests are probably near 70. FYI - I have been on 6 Viking trips and I have 4 more booked.

So sorry to hear about your experience.

We are ok this cruise in August and I hate to see this. To the poster who said "make your own arrangements" please note that the Viking cruise from Bucharest to Budapest includes hotel stays on both ends as part of the cruise and tour. They are not optional tours.

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• I *have* to have regular bathroom breaks. 2 hours is the max. this is an extremely important issue for me.
  

  I have found that Viking usually makes sure there are regular breaks for the restroom. After all, the average age of their guests are probably near 70. FYI - I have been on 6 Viking trips and I have 4 more booked.

   

  So sorry to hear about your experience.

  I expected the same. Now that we are on the ship, that is the case.

We are ok this cruise in August and I hate to see this. To the poster who said "make your own arrangements" please note that the Viking cruise from Bucharest to Budapest includes hotel stays on both ends as part of the cruise and tour. They are not optional tours.

 

 

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Thanks for pointing this out. If I had chosen the Old Town walking tour, I would have avoided some problems. However we were advised to take the recommended tour and the shuttle to Old Town. We arrived only minutes before it was to leave. We had not been offered a map and did not think to ask for one. We apparently did not follow verbal directions we got from another guest correctly. We got hopelessly lost and finally were able to hail a cab to take us back to the meeting place. Take the Old Town tour and avoid my midadventures.

I would also add that the Spring Palace is poorly ventilated and I found it hot. It may be worse later on this summer.

We had a good day in Bulgaria yesterday and look forward to another today. Ou guide was fantastic.

Update: Things have settled down. It appears the difficulty is with the Bucharest end of things and the multiple problems that caused.

Also want to add given a recent thread on the food on the Embla, that we have no problem with it. I find it comparable, not better, than the ocean cruise food we've experienced. That is ok. Had an authentic Bulgarian lunch during an all day included excursion the first day. Very enjoyable.

Thanks for the reply.

However, the Crowne, a nice airport hotel, is in no way comparable to a hotel near to Old Town. In fact since the first posting, I have learned from early bookers that they were first to be in Radisson Blu right in the heart of historic area. As it turned out, we never saw Old Town which was what I planned to see. One passenger went to the Intercontinental and reported that it was a higher level hotel in addition to superior location. We took the recommended excursion to Spring Palace which turned into a total dusaster. While somewhat interesting, it is in no way ready for large group tours. There was ONE restroom...not one for men and one for women. One toilet period. We were not offered a restroom break. We had a substitute bus driver who went around in circles and had other drivers gesturing to him. We did not arrive at the ship until 7:15. No bathroom break from lunchime until getting to the ship. We missed the Welcome and briefing, the latter l found upsetting as we are first time Viking customers after many ocean cruises. Missing the briefing resulted In problems today.

When I return I will use the address you provided. Thanks again for the reply.

I'm curious. Where there no bathrooms on the bus you were on? It sounds like there were none, or it was locked. I can understand your frustration with the whole experience.

I'm curious. Where there no bathrooms on the bus you were on? It sounds like there were none, or it was locked. I can understand your frustration with the whole experience.

No bathroom on that bus. There have been bathrooms on some of the included tours but not needed as breaks have been provided on the tours off the ship.

UPDATE:

We are now on Budapest at the Hilton in Pest. Very nice hotel and both Viking staff and hotel staff are very efficent. Very pleased with this as we have a unique itinerary, spending an extra night and getting on another Viking ship to Passau. Do not know if we are in walking distance of sights but train and hop on hop off are nearby. Big improvement over Bucharest.

Update: We had great two cruises and stay in Budapest after a horrific start from Bucharest. However, it does seem like the Embla guests got the short end of the stick. I met folks on the Vilhjalm who had been in a marvelous hotel in Budapest right in the heart of the historic area not too far from the wonderful docking location. Embla guests had a great hotel.....not in any way close to any of the historic area. That is on both ends of the Embla cruise although the Budapest one way better than the airport hotel in Bucharest. The Budapest one was next to a huge modern shopping mall which was very nice. I did see that there are many Viking ships in the city on any one day. Comparable in quality of accomodation is not comparable in location, location, location.

We are on the Viking Bucharest to Budapest in August. How did you like the cruise ports:? What was your opinion of the excursions? Did you do any of the optional ones? Were you able to use Euros at any of the ports or did you try to get the local currency? Any tips would be appreciated. Our Viking information has us at the Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest on the front end of the trip (seems to be a good location) and the Sofitel in Budapest.

We are on the Viking Bucharest to Budapest in August. How did you like the cruise ports:? What was your opinion of the excursions? Did you do any of the optional ones? Were you able to use Euros at any of the ports or did you try to get the local currency? Any tips would be appreciated. Our Viking information has us at the Athenee Palace Hilton Bucharest on the front end of the trip (seems to be a good location) and the Sofitel in Budapest.

Your hotels are far superior to the ones we got. That is a vast understatement. We did several optional excursions in Budapest and would recommend them all: The Synagogue and Jewish Quarter tour was excellent. We enjoyed the visit to the town of (will add name when I find it) from Budapest as well. We took the optional one to the thermal baths, too. For some reason that wasn't offered on the Bucharest to Budapest cruise but was offered in Budapest on the Budapest to Passau cruise. I highly recommend going in early and going to Transylvania. We were unable to get on the Viking precruise as it was sold out. I found a highly rated guide on Trip Advisor and was thrilled with our tour. His car could go places a big bus couldn't and we went to five places the Viking tour didn't go and the Viking bus went to one we didn't make it to. Both went to Brasov (not to be missed), Bran Castle and Peles Caste. I loved the included stops in Bulgaria. We took the optional Croatian Countryside and Wine Tasting tour. The museum was great and we learned a lot...and enjoyed the winery. Well worth it. My big regret was not taking the Old Town tour in Bucharest as our hotel was distant from Old Town and we never got to see it. I don't recommend the Spring Palace tour as it was very hot inside and no toilet break provided as there is only one toilet (literally one toilet, not one for men and one for women, but ONE toilet) for two busloads of people. The outdoor museum tour would probably have been good had it not been pouring rain. Everyone spent the hour and a half of free time there sitting on the bus waiting for the time to pass. Budapest was amazing; Bucharest not so much unless you first go to Transylvania which is awesome. That opinion is colored by the poor location of our hotel which made it difficult for us to see Old Town. A hotel in Old Town might make all the difference. I am very glad I took this itinerary as it is a part of the world I knew little about. It's beautiful and the scenic crusing in the Iron Gate portion of the river is not to be missed. Spectacular!

We got Romanian currency as we had three days in a Brasov hotel (not the Viking one but a boutique hotel right on the square) prior to the cruise and everything is priced in leus. Also got Hungarian forints as we spent most of five days in Budapest (two nights in hotel as part of this itinerary, one on our own, and two on the additional cruise we booked to Passau from Budapest. I was glad we had ordered Romanian and Hungarian currency ahead of time from our bank. We didn't get local currency for Serbia, Croatia, or Bulgaria as they were just day stops. Used euros or didn't buy anything. Credit cards were widely accepted but we didn't use ours as we forgot to bring the pins...never use them in USA. Also our bank card didn't work in the Romanian ATMs. Those called for credit cards and their pins. Fortunately we had US dollars to exchange at a bank. Your dollar, pound, or euro goes a long way in Romania and Hungary.

Enjoy your cruise!

P,S, Sorry for the missing town name tour out of Budapest. You will see it. There were a couple of varying tours offered there. The one the Embla guests were offered was a tour to a ceramic gallery and village tour. Vilhjalm was offered something else in that town. Not what we'd usually book but really wanted to go to that village and loved it. My book for that part of the cruise is in the suitcase that KLM gave an extended stay to in Amsterdam....still waiting for it to show up at my house three days after return home.

Thanks for posting your comments.

Update: Things have settled down. It appears the difficulty is with the Bucharest end of things and the multiple problems that caused.

Also want to add given a recent thread on the food on the Embla, that we have no problem with it. I find it comparable, not better, than the ocean cruise food we've experienced. That is ok. Had an authentic Bulgarian lunch during an all day included excursion the first day. Very enjoyable.

Can you please let us know what regional cuisine is offered each night at dinner and at lunch?

Not all hotel changes are bad. We just had, in my opinion, a good one.

As I've told the story here before, last January my wife and I booked the Romantic Danube cruise on the Viking Egil for July 7 of NEXT year (2018) and invited any high school classmate friends of ours to join us. In less than 2 months, we had sold out the longship and had a waitlist. We were blown away. We expected 2-5 couples would join us.

My group really went for the 3-day Prague pre-extension, which, I'm told usually requires Viking to book 10-15 rooms. Our group needs 56 rooms, so they had to switch hotels from the Hilton to the Art Nouveau Palace Hotel, which is a old hotel with a lot of charm that I much prefer. Now, we just have to wait over a year for the trip. We are all very excited.

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Can you please let us know what regional cuisine is offered each night at dinner and at lunch?

I wish my memory was that good, lol! There were regional dishes offered and one special night where the entire menu was regional.

On the second cruise we took, the regional specialities were especially good....that one was on Danube Waltz.

Not all hotel changes are bad. We just had, in my opinion, a good one.

 

As I've told the story here before, last January my wife and I booked the Romantic Danube cruise on the Viking Egil for July 7 of NEXT year (2018) and invited any high school classmate friends of ours to join us. In less than 2 months, we had sold out the longship and had a waitlist. We were blown away. We expected 2-5 couples would join us.

 

My group really went for the 3-day Prague pre-extension, which, I'm told usually requires Viking to book 10-15 rooms. Our group needs 56 rooms, so they had to switch hotels from the Hilton to the Art Nouveau Palace Hotel, which is a old hotel with a lot of charm that I much prefer. Now, we just have to wait over a year for the trip. We are all very excited.

 

 

 

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We are one of the lucky couples on this cruise with you! Can't wait!

😊