My Prague to Bucharest Danube cruise on the Viking Aegir

[Bruin Steve]

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...

[KathyK13]

Comparing ocean cruising with river cruising is comparing apples and oranges. The only thing they have in common is they are both boats. Many of the things you complained about you could easily have found out ahead of time. Yes, Viking's lower rooms are small. You could have checked other lines like AMA, Uniworld, Tauck, Avalon all who have larger rooms and fewer passengers. Yes, the pre and post excursions are expensive. Some people like to do the cruise line's extensions because it's easier than making their own arrangements. Many people, like myself, prefer to DIY before and after. It was your choice. You complained about the bus ride. Didn't you ask ahead of time how you were getting to Budapest? All cruise lines use busses. And why did you expect to be checked into a hotel at noon? Would you expect that in the US? European hotels are similar to US hotels in that the check out time is late morning and check in time usually around 3. Most people drop off their luggage then explore the city, if only to find a cafe to have lunch and relax. Yes, river cruising can be more expensive than ocean cruising but sounds to me like you understood that before you went on the cruise. Not sure why you came here to complain about cost.

[Silkroad]

The OP gave a balanced review of HIS experience with Viking River Cruises. If his review isn’t useful to you, fine. But for those of us who are considering Viking, his review is useful. Based on his description, neither the dining service or food was good. Granted, his views are subjective, but that is the nature of reviews. Further, did you miss the fact that he was finally able to check in at nearly 4:00, not 3:00? I don’t know anyone who would be pleased about that! The OP wrote a balanced review, for which you promptly flamed him.

[Bruin Steve]

Kathy,

I could go through point by point and debate you on each...but, to keep it simple:

 

Yes, I acknowledged that ocean cruises and river cruises are apples and oranges...and that what’s specific to Viking may not exactly apply to other lines.

 

BUT...OTOH, what does subject them to comparison is that both are competing for my travel dollar.

 

Just one thing about the hotel check-in: Yes, I have OFTEN been able to check in to hotels before their stated time...both in the US and abroad...sometimes as early as 8:00 am after arriving on a redeye. Prior guests check out continuously, starting early in the morning...and the maids clean rooms as they become available...They don’t start cleaning out rooms all at once at 2:00 pm to have them available at 3...But what made this one exceptionally egregious is that they said to return at 2:00, then kept saying to return back in 15 or 20 minutes each time, then didn’t have OUR room ready until around 4:00. In what world do you think that is acceptable?

 

BTW, I began my career as in-house counsel in the hotel industry with a major chain. I know a little about the business. To be fair, the clerk was so embarassed, they gav3 us a voucher for a “free coffee” at the hotel restaurant...which we never used.

[KathyK13]

The OP gave a balanced review of HIS experience with Viking River Cruises. If his review isn’t useful to you, fine. But for those of us who are considering Viking, his review is useful. Based on his description, neither the dining service or food was good. Granted, his views are subjective, but that is the nature of reviews. Further, did you miss the fact that he was finally able to check in at nearly 4:00, not 3:00? I don’t know anyone who would be pleased about that! The OP wrote a balanced review, for which you promptly flamed him.

 

Iwasn't trying to 'flame' him but was mainly pointing out that many of the things he complained are inherent to river cruising about which he could have learned ahead of time by reviewing Viking's travel documents and reading posts on this site. There are MANY Viking reviews here that are mostly positive. I haven't cruised with Viking but have several friends who have and they had nothing but praise. I've done 2 river cruises with another company that I chose because their rooms were larger and the ship had fewer passengers. Yes, having to wait an extra hour to get into a room is annoying but I prefer to let little things go and try to enjoy myself regardless.

[PNFL]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. Ocean cruises and river cruise are just so different again the river cruises are not cheap so to have such a experience is terrible. I prefer river cruises but have never done Viking again just a person preference. I really think you should stick to ocean cruises because from your review I think this is a better fit. Your review will definitely be helpful for people who are first time river cruises

[IowaCruisers]

Steve,

Thank you for your review of your trip. I found it to be very informative, especially about the service and food quality. We will keep this in mind when researching our next river cruise.

[jpalbny]

Steve, thanks for your review. River cruising can be a lot of fun, and it's a way to see areas that you can't get to on regular cruise ships. It's a good way to mix things up.

 

I think that you tried to make it abundantly clear that what you wrote reflected your personal preferences for what you want from a vacation, and you acknowledge that river and ocean cruises are different. With that as a preface, you laid out the things that you didn't like about your river cruise in a matter-of-fact way. I think it's a very helpful review for people who have primarily done ocean cruises and want to get their feet wet with a river cruise.

 

You may like a different line, but higher-end lines can be even more expensive, so maybe not. We have only cruised Uniworld but I can tell you that the dining room staff on all of our cruises absolutely remembered our preferences and quite often would being us things that we'd ordered before without having to ask. There was also not a rush to the dining room exactly at 7:00; we often went later and had no trouble finding a table. And tours were generally smaller. But some of the limitations that you describe, like small staterooms, are almost universal in river cruising. So now you know whether these are make or break issues for you.

 

No fun sitting around until check-in time after an overnight flight, but to wait an extra hour must have been a real downer. I almost always arrange my pre-hotel stays independently, and it's usually with a chain that I have status with so I have a better shot at an early check in. I also contact the hotel ahead of time to let them know I'm arriving early. It works more often than not, and we've had rooms available before noon on multiple occasions. But sometimes you're just stuck with too early an arrival and you can't get in. In that case we store our luggage and go out as soon as we can. Often there's a shower in the spa that the hotel will let us use to freshen (wake) up.

 

Anyway, thanks for posting. Small world - my sister is boarding Millenium today in Vancouver, along with my Dad, his wife, and my niece & nephew. We were also on that ship to Alaska - in 2008. Enjoy your next cruises and hope that if you choose another river cruise, it's a better experience for you.

[G.M.T.]

The only thing they have in common is they are both boats.

 

Not correct, ocean going are called ships and river going are called boats.

 

PS. I enjoyed the review

[RDC1]

I have done Viking River cruises, however, I have found Gate1 to be a better value than Viking. Lower price point, similar experience. Though in the trips I have taken service in the dining room was better than you described. However, my last cruise on Viking was before they implemented the dinner buffet option.

[philw1776]

River cruised on Uniworld and Viking, enjoying both cruise lines very much. Cabins on both are way smaller than on ocean cruises. River cruising is a different world.

Somewhat confused about what I interpreted as dinner buffet on Viking. Never had dinner buffet on Viking except on "German Night", which was a hoot. My Viking cruises had several interesting entre' choices PLUS the forever "American" alternatives of steak and salmon. Always selected one of the 4 or so excellent Viking choices of the evening, only the American steak once. It was OK+; not up to American good steakhouse standards, but I did not expect it to be. Thankfully I avoided any Viking bad food and neglectful service. It does not speak well for Viking service on your ship. I hope you let them know in your on ship review.

The part of the review I enjoyed most is the classic Viking (not Uniworld) geezer stampede to the tables at 7:00:00 PM. Spot on!!! :)

[Viking Cruises]

Dear Bruin Steve,

 

Welcome home, and thank you for providing the cruising community with a comprehensive overview of your time aboard Viking Aegir. While we recognize and regret the disappointment you’ve described in the service, accommodations and tours, we are grateful for this chance to collect your constructive feedback directly. Accordingly, all of your comments have been noted and passed along to management for review.

 

Even though you’ve outlined your post-cruise remarks in detail above, we would be happy to connect you, or any fellow traveler, with a member of our Customer Relations team should you wish to discuss your experience in more detail via TellUs@vikingcruises.com.

 

Thank you for sailing with us, and we hope to remain in your future travel plans.

 

Warm regards,

Viking Cruises

 

 

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...

[Moonlion]

Wow, we did the Viking Danube Waltz in June, and our experience was completely different than yours. No 'geezer stampede' to the dining room. Service was outstanding - we were treated like royalty. Our servers quickly learned our names and preferences, and bent over backwards to take our order as soon as we were seated. Our food was served quickly and the wine and beer flowed freely... sometimes too freely :). We thought that the food was delicious and we never had a bad meal. I ordered the Anytime steak one night and it was delicious, tender and perfectly cooked. I don't think that it was just us. Our various dinner companions each night also commented on the excellent service and delicious food. It sounds like the quality of the food and service can vary across boats.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Not correct, ocean going are called ships and river going are called boats.

 

PS. I enjoyed the review

 

Actually, no. The River vessels covered by this forum are called ships, not boats.

[MacThespian]

Thanks for the detailed review. My wife and I are ocean cruisers, and our favorite line is also Celebrity, so it was easy to see where you were coming from.

Now we’re thinking of a river cruise and I am doing some research. I understand the higher costs of a river cruise as well as the smaller cabins. But a lot depends on how the cabin is laid out. Similarly, the crew of the ship makes an incredible difference in how you deal with the whole experience. It seems you managed to get the dysfunctional crew—and that shouldn’t occur when you’re paying so much to sail with a company that has such a good reputation.

[Cyber Kat]

Steve,

Thank you for your review of your trip. I found it to be very informative, especially about the service and food quality. We will keep this in mind when researching our next river cruise.

 

 

 

Just an FYI food can be very subjective and service can be viewed differently by different people.

 

Our Viking River cruise experience was the polar opposite to the OP’s. We found the food to be very good to fantastic. And we had a wonderful crew that were very attentive. Several servers quickly learned our preferences and anticipated what we would want. They addressed us by name every time we saw them.

 

Members of the crew always met us with a treat, a drink or a cold towel (it was hot!) every time we returned from excursions. We enjoyed the excursions both included and optional.

 

We only had buffet options at breakfast and lunch - not at dinner. All the food was served. The only time there was a buffet was for the special German night.

 

Our cabin was fine. We were in a Veranda and felt there was sufficient space for the 2 of us.

 

So read a lot of reviews and trip reports, before you come to any conclusions. Ask a lot of questions. River cruising is not for everyone. We like both, but I lean towards ocean cruising. Different experience and I like that we have a choice.

 

One last thing. Viking no longer insists on paying in full shortly after the booking. Just tell them you want the final payment 6 months out.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[pully8]

I also enjoyed your review. Agree it will assist others to make a choice when considering river cruises.

Perhaps give another 1 a try with less people on board?

Know what you mean about long flights pre cruise and availability of a hotel room.

We enjoy European river cruising but its a long flight from Australia to do so, like others we tend to organise our own pre cruise accommodation to ensure we can rest when we arrive.

We have found the experience on board can vary depending on cruise director and of course the impacts of water levels, and how the operator deals with the issues.

Next 1 will be on APT/AMA we like their ships and level of service. Thanks again for your review.

[mj_holiday]

Thank you for taking the time to post your experiences. I have a question. I believe I have read that Viking has a casual "café" up by the bar for a light evening meal. did you notice this and di you eat there.

[pacmom]

Steve

We met on Marina a few years back. Your review of your Viking trip was very honest.

We have made 4 Viking trips, the last being China. It is truly the jewel in their crown. Can understand your disappointment.

Since you really like Celebrity, look at AMA or if you want to go all inclusive try Uniworld. There are others out there, but we have not been on them.

Safe travels on river or ocean. Pat

[MareT]

Thanks for your review Bruin Steve. We too are Celebrity cruisers having just done their Ireland/Iceland itinerary but we did book Viking for our second river cruise in 2019. Our first one was with Viking in 2012 when we sailed the Rhine. This time we are doing the Danube . . Budapest to Passau . . with pre and post extensions in Budapest and Prague. We chose Viking again after comparing pricing with other lines. Always loved reading your reviews over the years and your helpful answers to questions we all may have.

[philw1776]

Just an FYI food can be very subjective and service can be viewed differently by different people.

 

Our Viking River cruise experience was the polar opposite to the OP’s. We found the food to be very good to fantastic. And we had a wonderful crew that were very attentive. Several servers quickly learned our preferences and anticipated what we would want. They addressed us by name every time we saw them.

 

Members of the crew always met us with a treat, a drink or a cold towel (it was hot!) every time we returned from excursions. We enjoyed the excursions both included and optional.

 

We only had buffet options at breakfast and lunch - not at dinner. All the food was served. The only time there was a buffet was for the special German night.

 

Our cabin was fine. We were in a Veranda and felt there was sufficient space for the 2 of us.

 

Your experience matches our experiences. Loved the food & service.

[Peregrina651]

Steve, I know you are not a griper so I found your description of dinner service on the Aegir to be surprising/disappointing to say the least. It not the Viking norm, not that Viking can't have bad days or restaurant managers who aren't doing their job. I do hope that you shared your thoughts on the multiple critique sheets that you were given on the ship and that you will also take the time to share your thoughts directly with the folks at tellus@vikingcruises.com. These are the kinds of things that they like to hear about so that they can fix them.

 

Of course, there is nothing Viking can do about McDonald's, KFC, Subway et al. and we will all just have to learn to live with that.:(

[Bruin Steve]

I can say this about Viking: They do read the posts and reviews on this board...and seem genuinely interested in improving in the areas where they fall short. I spoke with a Viking representative earlier this evening and they were very interested in my feedback. Obviously, there some areas where they are limited on what they can do due to the size and layout of the ship, but they did seem to earnestly care about those areas where they can improve. I think they saw my comments as constructive and look forward to seeing what changes they make.

 

To mj holiday: They did have a small buffet of sorts just behind the lounge on deck three--very limited and we did not have any opportunity to use it. They also regularly had cookies and coffee at the entrances to the lounge--which I did avail myself of...

 

To phil and CyberKat: I don't know if it's a recent change ...or just this ship, but the buffet at dinner was EVERY night...and the menu items were limited to the everyday steak and salmon ...and approximately two to three entrees each night ...EXTREMELY limited. Often, the everyday steak was the only real meat choice on the menu. And, it may be the location of the cruise and the quality of steak available locally--which does vary in different parts of Europe--but that "everyday" steak, on this cruise, at least, was near inedible.

 

I really think the existence of the buffet impacted the dining room service. First of all, it is located in the dead center of the dining room and the lines impact the tables nearby--really not enough room. And, with so many people opting for the buffet selections, the menu service becomes disjointed. I don't think the waiters knew who to serve...and seemed fairly understaffed for the task. I think they expected to force as many people as possible to service themselves by opting for buffet items. The mixed concept doesn't foster an elegant dining service experience.

[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...

[Bruin Steve]

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.

 

Yorkshire Lad, you are the third person to write something similar...as if I do not know what I just experienced. Please understand that, though YOU may have been on Viking cruises where there was a buffet only one night, where there’s we’re several choices on the menu and where the service was so excellent, that definitely was NOT the case on THIS cruise. There was a buffet set up in the CENTER OF THE DINING ROOM at EVERY meal...menu choices were very limited...and the level of dining room service was only slightly better than what one would expect at a buffet. Perhaps this is the situation on this route or this ship only...or, perhaps, it is something experimental with Viking...or, perhaps, it is just the Viking future.

 

I understand that there are those of you who love Viking and are here rushing to its defense...but understand that I am NOT just making this up. Whatever the reason, this is how THIS cruise was operated...and it is NOT good. Hopefully, my reporting this...and Viking reading it...will cause Viking to understand that it will lose them customers...and they will restore whatever good operations you experienced.