Incomer Yorkshire Lad

Steve. I can't comment on your pre-excursion experience because we have not done any. I would, however, say that your dining and level of service experiences do not accord with our experience. We have never eaten from the "American Classics" side of the menu (but we are English!). The difficulty we had was to decide which of the main menu items to choose (there were always more than one which sounded delicious and we were never disappointed). We found the level of service to be very good and by the second day the waiters and waitresses knew which drinks people liked, even when not having served them before. The staff have always been excellent. There has only ever been a buffet on one evening. It is a speciality buffet relating to the area sailing through and gives one the opportunity to see inside the kitchen area, where additional items are available. You comment about not being able to sit out on a French balcony - French balconies, by definition, do not have room to sit.

As a way of introduction, I have done over 50 cruises--on 8 different cruise lines. My favorite is Celebrity...but we often cruise other lines due to itinerary, timing and other factors. Over the past few weeks, we have done an Alaska cruise on Millennium (our third Alaska with Celebrity), followed, 7 days later, by a river cruise on the Danube from Prague to Bucharest, with Viking. This was our second experience with a Viking River cruise, the first being a few years ago in China.

 

When one takes such different cruises that close in time, one can't help but to compare. Of course, both experiences are far different. Any river cruise is going to have certain limitations since the ships are small. But, my wife gets a little tired of repeating the same itineraries, so, the river cruise gave us some opportunity to visit some places new to us.

 

Also, let me acknowledge that there are a lot of river cruise aficionados out there who think that nothing beats a river cruise. Of course, we all have different standards and criteria...and so, we all might come to different conclusions. This post is really based just on what I look for in a cruise vacation. Also, note that these opinions are based on cruising with Viking. I have never tried AMA, Uniworld, Scenic, Avalon or any of the other many river cruise providers out there...so, though the experience may be similar, certain aspects may differ line to line.

 

First thing to notice is that, if you are just looking for value, Celebrity is a FAR greater value. Trying to economize a bit on this one, we opted for the lowest cost window cabin...and our price for a 13 night package--3 nights in Prague in a hotel followed by two in Budapest, then 7 nights on a river ship and one last night in a hotel in Bucharest--ran well over $10,000 including airfare from LAX...Adding in gratuities and a few "optional" excursions, the bill for the 13 nights came out to around $1,000 per day. The Celebrity Alaska cruise we took just before that, we paid around $1,800 for a Concierge class cabin for a 7 night cruise--FOR TWO. Total...including port taxes. Airfare cost us less than $350 pp round trip (yeah, a little shorter flight than flying to Eastern Europe). Throw in our port tours and gratuities and we spent about $3500 total--so, overall, about half the price per person per day. Of course, yes, apples and oranges. But, last summer, we did 14 nights on RCCL back-to-backs in the Med--in a "hump" balcony--for only $4000 for two...and paid $745 pp for round trip air LAX to Rome...Add in gratuities and port tours and we were still several thousand less than we paid for Viking.. So, it IS a bit pricey in comparison. PLUS, believe it or not, Viking requires you to pay for the entire cruise IN ADVANCE...So, they had OUR money for over a year!

 

Of course, if you want to see Prague, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, et al, your choices are either a "land trip" or a river cruise...so, do what you must.

 

One good thing about booking with Viking is, basically, they do virtually everything for you. They took care of the flights, the ground transportation, the hotels, most of the shore excursions (and the others are handled by them as well--just at an additional charge). About the only things we had to worry about were meals in Prague, Budapest and Bucharest.

 

So, when we arrived at Prague Airport, a Viking rep was standing right by the exit from baggage claim waiting for us. He led us to a van--and off to the hotel. The Prague hotel --the "Art Nouveau Palace Hotel" was not great...nowhere near the caliber of hotel Viking put us in when we did their China trip. I guess I would call it "okay"...small room, decent but not impressive breakfast, small lobby. But this is the worst part: Our flight arrived at 11:30 am...so we were at the hotel shortly after noon. And we were informed that "check-in" wasn't until 3:00 pm. But were told to check back at 2:00--that some rooms may be ready. But, we were exhausted after a couple of long flights and weren't going anywhere. So, we waited with many others in the small crowded lobby. At 2:00 pm, we were told that, no, our room was not yet available. I went back to try checking in again at 2:30, 2:45 and again at 3:00...had to wait in a long line each time...and, each time, sorry, not ready. we finally got our keys to the room shortly before 4:00 pm. Infuriating. Killed an entire afternoon in Prague waiting for a room.

 

The next two mornings we had, first, a bus tour of Prague, and, second, an "optional" walking tour of the Jewish Quarter...and, at night, an "optional" (read "overpriced") "Folklore Dinner"--bad food with local "entertainment"...

 

Third morning, it was an eight hour bus ride to Budapest. Yup, 8 hour bus ride. When we did China with Viking, they flew us from city to city. Here they put you in a bus--which stops once for a bathroom break at a gas station...and later for "lunch"--at yet another gas station (on our own dime, of course sandwiches or soup that's been sitting under the heat lamps all day.

 

At least, the hotel in Budapest was very good--the Hilton Castle District. The following day was an included bus tour of Budapest. No real stops--just trying to take photos from the wrong side of the moving bus. Next morning, we checked out EARLY and did the optional Dohany Street Synagogue tour...which then dropped us at the ship.

 

When you are accustomed to Celebrity ships, these ships seem tiny in comparison. Hallways are VERY narrow. Rooms are very small. There are only three real "common area" rooms--a dining room, a lounge with bar and an open upper deck. No swimming pool, no jacuzzi, no exercise room. There actually IS an elevator...BUT it only goes between decks 2 and 3. To get to our cabin on deck 1, you use the stairs. To get to the open upper deck, you need to use the stairs. The elevator, therefore, is pretty much worthless. I never saw anyone actually use it.

 

Our cabin was TINY. Allegedly 150 square feet. But from years in the real estate bis, I know there are several different standards for the measurement of floor area. And I don't think they used any of them. The bed pretty much took up the entire room. One person at a time could sidle around the bed. If two of you wanted to get dressed at the same time, one of you may have to go dress in the hallway. Some loyal river cruiser told me "Oh, you should have gotten a balcony cabin, they are much bigger". Really? Ummm...one step allegedly up from ours was the "French Balcony" cabin. Those, however, are actually SMALLER--advertised as a mere 135 square feet. And "French Balcony"?" Not really a balcony at all--merely a window that opens. Two steps up are the "Veranda" cabins--allegedly 205 square feet. But don't mistake that for being larger than the 190 square feet we had on Millennium. They are clearly including the balcony in the measurement...and, again, probably using some bad standard of measurement and miscalculating that. The veranda rooms themselves had about the same layout as our window cabin--with maybe about two more feet towards the sliding door--in which they've places a small chair.

 

The bathroom had, at least, glass shower doors...which leaked badly, leaving a major puddle on the floor after each shower. Best thing about the cabin is that we didn't spend much time in it.

 

Entertainment on the ship was virtually nonexistent. They had a small musical combo made up of a guitarist and a pianist. One night they actually performed (badly) mostly country music. Another evening, while docked in a town, they brought on some local teenagers to dance. Other nights, the cruise director (or whatever they call him), Stefan, gave slide presentations on "Growing up in Eastern Europe" and on "Dracula"...actually, those two were at least fairly entertaining. Other than that, no real activities on the schedule.

 

Pretty much, five days out of six were fairly identical: Wake up early, breakfast at 7:00 am, pick up your shore excursion assignments (which bus you are assigned to--they mixed it up each day) and be out to the bus by 8:15. Most excursions were 40 people on a bus and a lot of driving. In one port, they took us to a horse ranch to watch a very mediocre "show" of guys riding around on horses...followed by some horse cart rides around the ranch and a walk through the stables...then a trip to the local church where the 82 year old organist played a few pieces for us.

 

I am accustomed to arranging my own small group private tours, so, for me, most of these tours were a bit underwhelming--loading and unloading 40 people on and off a bus, driving past a lot of places I might have wanted to stop to take a photo or two. One day was "scenic" cruising through the "Iron Gate"...at least we could relax a little and not spend the day on a crowded bus. Instead, we all crowded up onto the top deck.

 

The Food and Dining Room: All dinners were at a set time--7:00 pm. And the mob descended on the dining room quickly. We tended to walk down leisurely...maybe arriving at 7:01...So, each night when we got there, all of the seats at the oval tables along the windows on either side were gone (I think we managed to get to one of those tables for two meals the entire week)...So, we were typically relegated to the long tables toward the interior on either side of the buffet. The menu each night was a bit sparse--nowhere near the selection one gets on Celebrity. Every night there was a section describing what was available on the buffet--usually a local specialty, a local appetizer and some salad items and a soup. The "menu" items were VERY limited--maybe two unique entrees each night plus an "always available" steak and salmon. I tried the steak one night...and it was absolutely AWFUL...mostly fat and gristle, largely inedible...I ate about a third of it, never ordered it again. So few choices that one night I actually ordered the sea bass. My wife of 37 years will tell you that she has NEVER seen me order fish before--anywhere... but the options were so limited, I felt I had no choice. Surprisingly, it was quite good--one of the better dinners I had onboard. Another night, I ordered the Scallops...It arrived as 3 small scallops on a plate with some sauce over it...no rice, no potatoes. They tasted good, but I was so unsatisfied that I had the waiter bring me an order of french fries just to fill me up (the french fries WERE good).

 

But, I think the most surprising thing to me about dinner was the service. I expected, with a small ship and high prices, that the service would be exceptional. FAR from it. Remember, I just got off a Celebrity cruise, so comparisons were easy--Celebrity service is, typically, excellent. On this one:

1) The waiter usually failed to notice you when you sat down and were very slow to bring you a menu--almost hoping you'd just get up and eat from the buffet.

2) When they did bring food, they'd often bring multiple courses at once.

3) Silverware was not replaced after each course. waiters were not consistent as to from which side they served and cleared.

 

4) They would often neglect to bring something you'd ordered. Once, upon first contact with the waiter, I asked for a beer (beer and wine are included with meals). When the food came, I reminded him that I never got my beer., Still nothing. I later saw another waiter and asked him. Finally my waiter came with my beer, said "I'm sorry" and mumbled something about it being a long walk from the kitchen! One morning, I ordered French Toast...and never got it...

5) The "buffet" section was badly laid out. It was a square of tables in the middle of the dining room. In the mornings, a long line formed for omelets. In the dinner hour, the line was for whatever the local specialty was--which was being carved or doled out right next to the soup. One time, I got up to just get a bowl of soup--but had to stand in line behind about 15 people waiting to be served some main course. When I finally got close to the soup (on the side of the square rather than the front of it...and was still about the 8th person in line--with all 7 in front of me waiting for the main course), I said to the soup guy "Could I just get a bowl of soup?" ...thinking, since he was just standing there doing nothing, he could easily have just ladled out a cup of soup and handed it to me as I was at his side. But, no, he said, I would have to wait until I got to the front of the line! NO ONE in front of me was waiting for soup...I was the only person in line for soup...

6) With less than 200 passengers and the same few waiters seeing us every day, every meal, you'd think they might remember something about you. On Celebrity (or Royal Caribbean...or Princess, etc,), by the second or third day--even in "select" or "anytime" dining, the waiters seem to remember a whole lot--like they bring me iced tea without my asking...or know I always want constant refills...or that I require sugar-free ice cream--but don't like strawberry or nuts...OIn my Celebrity Alaska cruise, my waiters brought me sugar-free chocolate ice cream every night--even when not on the menu (of course, on Viking, with the limited menu, the only sugar fee ice cream they had--every night--was Neapolitan--which I don't eat). The waiters here never caught on that I wanted a draft beer with every dinner...or that I needed sugar fee syrup with my french toast. I'd sit at the same tables 80% of the time, so same couple of waiters...and every meal was a complete mystery to them.

 

Also, the waiters seemed short-staffed and the dining room seemed crowded and disorganized. It was more like a modified buffet than an elegant sit-down restaurant.

 

Okay, all that out of the way, there was, of course some good:

We met and shared time with a lot of great fellow cruisers. The ship seemed to be about 50% Americans, 50% from the UK and virtually no one from anywhere else (though I think I remember one woman saying she was from Brazil). We were surprised a bit that there were as many people with ages under 80 (someone had told us beforehand to be prepared to be the youngest people on the ship). There was one 13 year-old onboard (traveling with his grandmother, uncle and aunt) and there were a few younger adults-perhaps in their 20s/early 30s often traveling with parents...and, for us, we were very pleased that there were a number of couples in the 50-65 age range...far more than I expected...Not that there's anything wrong with older folks--we are arriving there pretty quickly ourselves after all...

 

About half the ship were repeat Viking cruisers. They had a reception one evening--but, there being only one lounge and no one checking invites, hard to tell who all showed up to that...but, they did send us, as repeats, a gift of free Viking Aquavit shot glasses to the cabin ...I only wished they would have sent a packing box with them--we had to pack them carefully to get them home without breaking.

 

Of course, one of the best things about this cruise was the opportunity to visit parts of the world we'd never get to on an ocean cruise--Prague, Budapest, the interior part of Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania...heck, the bus ride from Prague to Budapest actually had us pass through Slovakia as well--though we never really got a chance to see anything but the highway...The towns and the history are intriguing. We learned all about the era of Soviet domination and about the Yugoslav wars as the country split apart--with far different versions of who the good guys and bad guys were from our guides in Croatia and Serbia, respectively.

 

Some other notes, as I think about them:

Don't even bother shopping for a decent souvenir T-shirt in these countries. I don't think the locals think it appropriate dress for an adult. In Bucharest, for example, just about every T-Shirt sold was some sort of cartoon version of Dracula.

 

The towns visited in Croatia and Serbia still have all of the scars from the civil war 20 years ago. I guess it's a badge of honor to show everyone all of the holes in buildings caused by artillery shelling, bombs and land mines.

 

The major cities' skylines are dominated by some of the ugliest communist era cement tilt-up apartment blocks you've ever seen.

 

McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Subway and Pizza Hut have invaded almost everywhere...

 

Budapest is incredibly beautiful lit up at night...great vies from near the Hilton...and from the ship as you pull away and down the river...

 

Okay...despite all of my gripes, am I happy we did it? Yes...

Are we booking another Viking River Cruise anytime soon? Probably not...If we try another river cruise, we might try a different line next time...In the meanwhile, the next three are back on Celebrity...

Try ringing or emailing Viking. When we had a query about our holiday I emailed them. In a matter of 5 working hours they had emailed back, then phoned me to clarify/confirm what the position was and resolved the matter. The person then followed it up the following day to check that her colleague had completed the necessary admin. I would stress that I am in the UK and it was the London office I contacted.

We are sailing in June (Rome to Barcelona). We booked the holiday in October and knew the cabin at the time of booking (we were advised which cabins were available and chose the one we preferred). The cabin is shown on the invoice and also on MVJ. When we went on a river cruise we similarly knew our cabin number at the date of booking (over 13 months before the departure date).