Congrats to Viking! 2013 Best River Cruise Company!

[janmcn]

Congratulations to Viking River Cruise Line for being named the Top River Cruise Line for 2013!

 

Our experience showed that they certainly did a great job on our cruise. We would not hesitate in booking them again.

[Ozjohnno]

I have to ask - according to who? From my reading it appears that it is very easy to be "somebody's" Best River Cruise line. As an example from the Tauck pages ..............

 

We are very proud to be named one of Travel + Lesiure Magazine's Best Holiday Cruises.

http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/best-holiday-cruise-vacations/6

 

I'm not sure they can all be the best.

[janmcn]

Cruise Critic named them that…sorry…I agree I should have put in the source...

[pully8]

many will be amazed. how is top defined? is it based on quality or size of the market?

[Host Jazzbeau]

many will be amazed. how is top defined? is it based on quality or size of the market?

 

It must be based on the number of Negative threads on CruiseCritic!

[WarEagle76]

It must be based on the number of Negative threads on CruiseCritic!

 

Speaking of negative. :eek: Have you been on Viking River? We are very much looking forward to our fifth cruise on Viking River in December. Have yet to be disappointed and will be looking forward to trying Viking's Ocean product in the future.

[Cary Cruiser]

Congratulations to Viking River Cruise Line for being named the Top River Cruise Line for 2013!

 

Our experience showed that they certainly did a great job on our cruise. We would not hesitate in booking them again.

 

As soon as I read your post I knew that it would be like chum in a shark tank.

 

I'm leaving on my first RC in about a week, and I chose Viking. I will let everyone know if I made the right choice.

 

The water on the Danube does not seem to be too high, it does not seem to be too low. The weather looks like it should be fairly good...does not seem to be any lock workers strikes going on, nor broken locks.

 

I think I'm looking forward to this. Cabin 224 on the Idun. Viking here we come!

Edited October 24, 2013 by Cary Cruiser

[rogerdawhip]

I wonder if Viking being a large advertiser on CC factored into the decision.

[alexandra cruiser]

but based on reader poll.Since its the largest company,seems likely more people take them and thus hi numbers?

Have taken 2 and while I d rate them above average, not my favorite.But every ship,country,date,itinerary can make SUCH a big difference.

Fun to try a few different ones and compare.

Remember everyone is different,and like some things more than others.;)

[dcruisers]

We chose Viiking for our first RC this Sept....And can understand why they were chosen by CC.

Their new ships are lovely, food wonderful and the service was fantastic! The entire staff had a great attitude and were alwys willing to go the extra mile. Everyone we talked with on our crruise thought they were great and said , as we did, they would cruise with Viking again.

Of course, this was our experience. And apparrently many others share our opinion.

[jc foster]

We are leaving for our first river cruise on the Uniworld S.S. Antoinette in six days. It sounds like I made a mistake and could have saved a few bucks.

[alexandra cruiser]

We are leaving for our first river cruise on the Uniworld S.S. Antoinette in six days. It sounds like I made a mistake and could have saved a few bucks.

 

think you ll love it.On my 2 Uniworld cruises I thought the total package,cabin,food,shore excursions,staff,etc....was superior to Viking,But,as I stated above,it varies for many reasons.

 

If pressed, I would rate AMA the best of 10 river cruises..SO FAR.Have Scenic booked for next yr.So may change.Now basing cruises on new itineraries and ship(LOVE the 2 balcony ones).May go on Viking again for new French cruise for 2014.

 

As said before,fun to at least TRY different companies.You just never know,the NEXT may be the BEST.haha

[boater3]

Just back from 15 day Grand European cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam on the Viking Var and loved it! We had a French balcony on the 2nd floor. No complaints about the food at all. Wine/beer flowed freely at lunch and dinner. We ate our breakfast pretty well in the Aquavit Lounge most days as not big early morning eaters and there was plenty to satisfy us there. Not too many people were there in the morning. Wait staff were excellent and very friendly. Excursions were good. We would definitely take another trip with Viking. We took an 8 day cruise with Avalon in France last year and find both companies to be on par with each other. If anything, preferred the new Viking longship as it seemed brighter and roomier overall. We would take either cruise line in the future.

[2onboardagain]

but based on reader poll.Since its the largest company,seems likely more people take them and thus hi numbers?

Have taken 2 and while I d rate them above average, not my favorite.But every ship,country,date,itinerary can make SUCH a big difference.

Fun to try a few different ones and compare.

Remember everyone is different,and like some things more than others.;)

 

Viking was listed 3rd in the Conde Nast poll (just narrowly behind Tauck. Grand Circle was listed first) Seems like pretty good company to me!

[Ozjohnno]

Not sure what criteria was used but check out where Viking rated in this Fox travel piece ........ be sure you're sitting down.........

 

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2013/10/29/top-10-cruise-lines/?intcmp=HPBucket

[pacmom]

ozjohnno, have been on 5 of the named lines nd definitely would not put Viking in the same category. Actually went to the originating site and could find no criteria except for their members. Although we have not been on Tauck or Scenic--would agree that they are more in line with the other named ocean lines. Pat

[Bill'sBride]

I have only done one RC, and it was on Viking last month. I did not have one single complaint. They made special arrangements for airport transfer when I had a late flight home - instead of arranging a car they could have bused me with the rest, but they didn't. The ship and crew were great. I have read all the negative threads about Viking from the concerns about not enough use of hand sanitizers by guests, the fact you pay early all the way down to a piece of chipped china. I did not see one thing on my trip that backed up any of the negatives. And I was critical and looking! I am sure that not all cruises are great for every passenger, but I plan to be a repeat customer. Like most other things we will all have our loyalties. But as long as they have itineraries that interest me, or until something terrible happens on a cruise (that is/was within their control) I think I will choose Viking. :)

[huntersyaya]

I feel the exact same way. Friends chose Viking as the first river cruise company we would use and 8 of us did the Danube together two years ago. I read too much information on Cruise Critic and was dreading our trip. I thought Viking must have been the most horrible choice we could have made! We went on a new longboat, the Odin, and it could not have been ANY better.....so much so that we went back and did the Rhine this year and we are already booked on the new ocean liner for 2015. We have found that the staff and the fellow passengers on both our river cruises have been outstanding. I don't doubt that most of the other lines AMA, Uniworld, Avalon....and the list goes on are all furnishing similar experiences and for whatever reasons, some people prefer one line over another. I just know that Viking has done a very good job on our two river cruises . So Bill's bride....hopefully we will bump into you and Bill on some river one day!