Viking Portugal - size of groups?

[Sparky333]

To those that have already taken this cruise --

Can you please tell me how many people they have in each group for excursions?

 

I was on the Viking Passage to Eastern Europe last fall and they divided us into 5 buses of approx 40 people and then each group stayed together on arrival at the different excursion stops. I thought it was too many people to have in a group - made for very slow going and crowding when trying to see certain sites. So I'd very much like to know if that is the same amount in each group on the Portugal itinerary.

 

When I spoke to Viking about that after my return she said the # should not have been that high and also there should've been options for slower and faster paced groups -- which we didn't have. Can you let me know what your experience was? Thanks.

[TravelBugM]

On our Viking Duoro cruise last June, we were divided onto 3 buses. None of the buses were full to capacity. Our bus had quite a few empty seats. The bus groups stayed together during each excursion. We didn't feel the tours were a challenge in any way (size, pace, etc.).

 

I believe there were pace options where possible. We always stuck with the main group.

 

We participated in all excursions and thoroughly enjoyed all of them.

[Sparky333]

Thanks for the reply, TravelBugM! I read your review of your Douro cruise and it really made me want to go :)

 

I just felt overwhelmed by how big the groups were on our last Viking trip. It seemed we spent an awful lot of time waiting for people to use the restroom. :o After being bused to a somewhat distant location I can see that would be a required pit stop but when there are so many folks and very limited restrooms that makes for a lot of waiting around.

 

It doesn't sound like you had a similar experience.

[molymoo]

Thanks for the reply, TravelBugM! I read your review of your Douro cruise and it really made me want to go :)

 

I just felt overwhelmed by how big the groups were on our last Viking trip. It seemed we spent an awful lot of time waiting for people to use the restroom. :o After being bused to a somewhat distant location I can see that would be a required pit stop but when there are so many folks and very limited restrooms that makes for a lot of waiting around.

 

It doesn't sound like you had a similar experience.

 

We just returned from the Viking Rivers of Gold trip and we had three busses as well. I would guess that as there were about 120 people on the trip there were likely about 40 on each bus ... much like your Eastern Europe trip. I did not, however, feel that the size of the group was unweildly. We moved at a good pace at every venue and the bathrooms were always pointed out but it was more of a "there they are, we'll meet you up ahead" or they were pointed our at the start of the "free time" that was at least a small part of every excursion. We didn't spend any time waiting for anyone to use the facilities. :)

 

How was your Eastern Europe trip? That might be our summer adventure this year! And we are booked on the 7/11/15 Viking Homelands trip too!

Edited January 8, 2014 by molymoo
Addition

[Sparky333]

molymoo - that sure sounds like a better way to handle the bathroom situation! We had one stop when we got to Bucharest after our final debarkation from the ship (granted it was a bit of a distance, maybe an hour's bus ride so I guess it was a necessary stop for many!) which wasted soooo much time. Basically all 190 passengers were queued up at restrooms which could handle maybe 4 people at a time. Took eons. In the future I would definitely just ask the guide what time to be back at the bus and walk around on our own.

 

That happened on a couple of our stops on that itinerary with different local guides. So I was frustrated by the amount we were able to see a few times. BUT, other than that I loved the trip.

 

Regarding the Eastern Europe itinerary:

It sounds similar to the Portugal cruise where most of the stops involve buses and you can't do much walking around right where the ship is docked. Since I've not done any other river cruises (just China but that's a whole different ball of wax) that didn't seem like a bad thing to me. I enjoyed the bus rides -- seeing small villages we went through and the open plains, etc. was interesting. But maybe for people used to just getting off the ship and exploring that might be a negative.

 

Some of the places we stopped and visited were a little, hmm, less fascinating than others. Like one stop we went basically to some guy's house who had a yard sale set up and a video on tourism in the area we watched and then had some cookies and homemade liqueur and then could buy some of it to take home. I guess there just is not a ton to show tourists in some areas so they (Viking) do their best to come up with something to do.

 

So I think if you go into it understanding it's a little different than other river cruises it's interesting and a good way to see a little bit of regions it would be hard to logistically get to see on a land based trip. We really enjoyed the time on the post-extension in Transylvania.

 

It looks like you guys are true Viking fans from how many trips you've done with them! I'm not sure what the Homeland itinerary includes, I'll have to take a peek at their website and look at that.

 

Thanks for the info on the Portugal tours - really good to hear that the # didn't feel too large to you.

[molymoo]

molymoo - that sure sounds like a better way to handle the bathroom situation! We had one stop when we got to Bucharest after our final debarkation from the ship (granted it was a bit of a distance, maybe an hour's bus ride so I guess it was a necessary stop for many!) which wasted soooo much time. Basically all 190 passengers were queued up at restrooms which could handle maybe 4 people at a time. Took eons. In the future I would definitely just ask the guide what time to be back at the bus and walk around on our own.

 

That happened on a couple of our stops on that itinerary with different local guides. So I was frustrated by the amount we were able to see a few times. BUT, other than that I loved the trip.

 

Regarding the Eastern Europe itinerary:

It sounds similar to the Portugal cruise where most of the stops involve buses and you can't do much walking around right where the ship is docked. Since I've not done any other river cruises (just China but that's a whole different ball of wax) that didn't seem like a bad thing to me. I enjoyed the bus rides -- seeing small villages we went through and the open plains, etc. was interesting. But maybe for people used to just getting off the ship and exploring that might be a negative.

 

Some of the places we stopped and visited were a little, hmm, less fascinating than others. Like one stop we went basically to some guy's house who had a yard sale set up and a video on tourism in the area we watched and then had some cookies and homemade liqueur and then could buy some of it to take home. I guess there just is not a ton to show tourists in some areas so they (Viking) do their best to come up with something to do.

 

So I think if you go into it understanding it's a little different than other river cruises it's interesting and a good way to see a little bit of regions it would be hard to logistically get to see on a land based trip. We really enjoyed the time on the post-extension in Transylvania.

 

It looks like you guys are true Viking fans from how many trips you've done with them! I'm not sure what the Homeland itinerary includes, I'll have to take a peek at their website and look at that.

 

Thanks for the info on the Portugal tours - really good to hear that the # didn't feel too large to you.

 

Thanks for the info ... it is looking more and more like that will be our itinerary for the summer (I travel with my daughter and we are both educators so must stick with the school year schedules). We have taken several trips with Viking and have always enjoyed the bus trips ... as you said it is always fun to see the villages and towns and of course the scenery is always a pleasure. We did a lot on busses in Portugal and the only thing that is worth noting is the fact that unlike some of our other trips there were some real white knuclkle "thrill rides" on this one! The busses (as you know) are large and luxurious but the roads throughout much of the trip are narrow, winding, and the region is mountainous ... they referred to them as "hills" but we are from the flatlands of Illinois and as far as we were concerned they were mountains! That said the drivers were fabulous and the scenery was breathtaking (just don't look down!). ;)

[Sparky333]

I'm a flat-lander too, from Delaware, and I'll have to close my eyes on those twisty mountain roads!

 

Did you by any chance do the Santiago extension at the end?

[molymoo]

Yes, we did and we were so glad we did! Santiago is a lovely little city and we loved our dinners in the old town area! Tapas ... lots of seafood and if course that great Spanish wine!

[Sparky333]

Wonderful! Thank you for letting me know :)

[hoou]

To those that have already taken this cruise --

Can you please tell me how many people they have in each group for excursions?

 

I was on the Viking Passage to Eastern Europe last fall and they divided us into 5 buses of approx 40 people and then each group stayed together on arrival at the different excursion stops. I thought it was too many people to have in a group - made for very slow going and crowding when trying to see certain sites. So I'd very much like to know if that is the same amount in each group on the Portugal itinerary.

 

When I spoke to Viking about that after my return she said the # should not have been that high and also there should've been options for slower and faster paced groups -- which we didn't have. Can you let me know what your experience was? Thanks.

 

30-40 people per bus, 3 buses, when we went in December 2013. You stay with the same group from Lisbon. Your bus is pre-assigned. Comfortable buses, one toilet on the bus but it seems to be locked/ non -functional most times. Plenty of time with your toilet stops so don't worry.

Bit of a pot-luck with the guide that stays with your bus, you might have a good one but we didn't. They use local guides too so all is not lost.

they also try to tell us to alternate seats so people don't hog the front seats all the time but this doesn't always work.

[Sparky333]

hoou - thanks for the info. haha, i'm not worried about not enough toilet stops i'm worried about too many! On our Eastern Europe itinerary I thought we wasted a lot of time waiting for the large groups to queue up for restrooms.

 

Really tempted to book this - and just got an email from Viking about further travel credit for their Viking Explorer Society members. $600 more off for the two of us so I'm giving that a lot of thought.

[TravelBugM]

Sparky333 - Book it! You will not regret it. The scenery alone is worth it. And I assure you, not too many toilet breaks!

[Sparky333]

TravelBugM -

just got off the phone with Viking :)

 

I'll be re-reading your review sometime before June 2015! Hopefully other people will be writing about their Douro cruises this summer. That itinerary doesn't have a whole lot of feedback to check out.

[Nippy Sweetie]

Re Read my review too!

[Sparky333]

Hi Nippy Sweetie -

I did read your review and I was sorry that you had such a disappointing time. Since that was one negative out of several glowing reviews I am hoping your experience was an anomoly!

 

I've traveled with Viking before so I know basically what to expect and have been pleased in the past with almost all aspects of their product. And, for example, I've really enjoyed the food which I think was a big issue on your cruise. I'm counting on it being a rogue chef you had on that ship!

 

Thank you for the warning though - if I had a bad cruise I would want to warn others also and then they would have to weigh that in with all the other reviews out there.