TripAdvisor has almost as many "Terrible" (416) reviews as it does "Excellent" (528) ones for Viking...

[Daisi]

No, but if we had had some I probably would have. Mind you, we look at what we did as kids and wonder sometimes how we survived. Both my husband & I grew up together, we've know each other all our lives. I joke he's well trained because I started early. 🙂

 

[Canal archive]

Ahhhh there’s something to be said about being friends before lovers or okay even becoming friends because you are lovers.

[Daisi]

A picture from when I was 1 1/2, he would be 3. We say we had an arranged marriage, figure our Mum's would have sat watching us play and planning our future. 🙂 

[Canal archive]

That is so cute and what a wonderful thought. Superb!

[Host Jazzbeau]

5 hours ago, Daisi said:

A picture from when I was 1 1/2, he would be 3. We say we had an arranged marriage, figure our Mum's would have sat watching us play and planning our future. 🙂 

This would make a great Broadway musical.  You could call it "The Fantasticks" !!! 😉

[Yorkshireoldlad]

There are a lot of negative reviews about Viking River cruises on other sites as well - Trustpilot for example. What is very clear is that the average rating on all sites for Viking has fallen significantly since Covid. Some of that is down to the voucher  and vaccination requirement issues, but there are a lot more general poor reviews, often re situations where Viking could have been much more helpful, without really costing themselves any money. 

We went on the Grand European tour last autumn and counted ourselves as very lucky that we got through the Rhine Gorge on the ship - sailings before and a week later couldn’t get through and bussing was necessary. However, we had to do one ship change at Regensburg and that meant we ended on a ship with noticeably poorer service and crew experience than the original. If we had wanted to, we could have added to the poor reviews.
The problem Viking ( and other lines) have is that increasingly water levels are too high or too low to sail the entire route. This means a lot of cruises have an element of bussing. Add that to the crowded nature of the moorings where ships are tied up side by side and so you cannot use a balcony. You can see why passengers get upset. No cruise line wants to deter passengers, but the more this goes on and they don’t point out how often it happens, the more they will have bad press. This will put off those who research the cruises from booking and mean unsatisfied clients from those who do go.

Often they do not know until the cruise is underway whether they will get through. A couple of days rain can change the water level quickly. Once you are on board, however, they could make a much better job of explaining the situation to passengers and telling them what is likely to happen. We knew as we looked at the Rhine water levels on a website that showed forecast base on existing and likely rainfall. 

one other point - on the Grand European Cruise, the ship sails for around 4 to 5 days with the sun deck out of use - the bridges on the canal are so low even the ships bridge has to be on scissors and lowered for each bridge to get under the parapet. We knew that, but a lot of passengers didn’t and were upset about it. It’s a fact of that waterway and really should be made clear on the publicity and schedule for the cruise - but Viking hope people will simply accept it.

[Kristelle]

^^ But all that isnt really a Viking issue - all lines have issues from water levels and low bridges  and could involve bussing alternatives/ship swaps dependant on weather conditions beyond their control

and mooring side by side happens to all of them too.

 

These are simple common issues that I'm  not sure how anyone can claim they were upset about because it wasnt known to them - the slightest bit of research about river cruising reveals this in advance.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, Kristelle said:

^^ But all that isnt really a Viking issue - all lines have issues from water levels and low bridges  and could involve bussing alternatives/ship swaps dependant on weather conditions beyond their control

and mooring side by side happens to all of them too.

 

These are simple common issues that I'm  not sure how anyone can claim they were upset about because it wasnt known to them - the slightest bit of research about river cruising reveals this in advance.

Viking actually does better than most at handling such problems, because with their vast fleet of ships there's always another one nearby for a swap.  But I suspect the reason Viking gets so much flak about that and the other things mentioned is that a large number of their passengers did no research at all.  They saw the ubiquitous TV ads with people lounging on the top deck as beautiful scenery rolls by and assumed that that was what river cruising is like.

[sharkster77]

Those of us who are regulars on these threads are the type who really get into researching our vacations.  It's always obvious when someone posts who has not done their homework, as they discuss river cruises as if they were exactly the same as ocean cruises-----looking for definite sailing times, wondering about booking independent tours to save money, unhappiness with only one or two dining areas with menus not as varied as on the ocean, expecting 'sea days' to sit in a lounge chair and watch the world go by, etc., etc.

 

CC regulars are folks who enjoy researching and planning a vacation almost as much as the vacation itself.  Not everyone has our "affliction".

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, sharkster77 said:

Not everyone has our "affliction".

Guilty.  I like to say that I'm CDO – that's OCD, but I like to keep it in alphabetical order!  🤣

[ural guy]

5 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

Those of us who are regulars on these threads are the type who really get into researching our vacations.  It's always obvious when someone posts who has not done their homework, as they discuss river cruises as if they were exactly the same as ocean cruises-----looking for definite sailing times, wondering about booking independent tours to save money, unhappiness with only one or two dining areas with menus not as varied as on the ocean, expecting 'sea days' to sit in a lounge chair and watch the world go by, etc., etc.

 

CC regulars are folks who enjoy researching and planning a vacation almost as much as the vacation itself.  Not everyone has our "affliction".

 

Correct, merely by us being here, we've put more due diligence into this vacation than many.  People book a river cruise so they don't have to plan much of anything, and they take the commercials at face value.

 

Over on the Vantage Bankruptcy Facebook, there are still stories from nieces/sons/etc, writing in as their granny was supposed to be on a cruise sailing Thursday, and Tuesday when they went in to check in for flights, they get their fist clue that Vantage is no more.  Many find overseas travel daunting, so they go 'set it and forget it' mode.  When it goes south, they take the time to find various web forums to make their first post and the rant begins.

 

For the record, we had lived overseas for a few years, and taken 5-6 independent trips at the time when we booked our first cruise of any type, one month prior to sailing.  I researched out independent trips, not this cruise (AMS-BUD).  Took two 20's daughter.  They really missed that upper deck, lots of pent up energy.  We somehow survived and had a blast.

 

Docking:  Viking does seem to double/triple raft more then other lines, at least from what I noticed.  Vantage not owning their docking spots seemed to help, in our three trips with them we rafted infrequently.  We did late season sailings that might have given us a different experience....

 

Yorkshireoldlad-  good points, and you bringing them up, maybe somebody new notices them.

Edited August 16, 2023 by ural guy
spelling...probably then/than wrong also? Let me know :)

[Canal archive]

Okay not OCD or CDO but come on we’re all PPPs and that’s Perfectly Pedantic People, boom boom!