Just back from Viking Grand European

Amsterdam to Budapest on the Viking Vili with a pre-cruise extension in Amsterdam. I had a fantastic time. I'm convinced the most interesting people are people who enjoy river cruises. I'll post a trip report with photos when I get a little accomplished around the house.

I will say the Vili is a beautiful ship. The staff and crew could not have been better. If you needed something, they tried to get it for you. Concierge Nina was always helping with ideas, reservations, you name it. Program director Sam was everywhere. There were days I thought there had to be two of him, and he seemed to be having as much fun as those of us who were passengers.

I know it will take a long time to finish a review of a trip that lasted two weeks, so if there are questions before I get started with it, I'll be glad to try and answer them.

Looking forward to your review & photos.

Got on the Vili on Friday. Having a good time. Nina is excellent. Our cruise ditector is Tony. Looking forward to reading your comments. Any suggestions?

Got on the Vili on Friday. Having a good time. Nina is excellent. Our cruise ditector is Tony. Looking forward to reading your comments. Any suggestions?

Sam had a two week vacation coming up when we left on Friday. No real suggestions, other than find the wait staff you like and stick with them. We thought the best were Aldrin (aka Buzz) and Edwin who worked as a team. They were always smiling and remembered likes and dislikes. If you see them, tell them one of the Spice Girls (Mary Lou) said hello. There were three of us ladies of a certain age who always had dinner together and always tried for one of Aldrin's and Edwin's tables.

Other than that, just enjoy.

We had a group of women traveling with us who were also called the spice girls. It must be a standard comment to groups of women traveling together. As for your comment about waiters, we tried to stick to Edwin or Michael. He was excellent. Unfortunately, everyone tried to get to his tables. Often when we went to dinner, those tables were full. We designated one person from our group of 6 to miss the daily update and hold onto a good table.

Redtravel, do you know if Aldrin was part of the wait staff? I thought he and Edwin were the best, and I don't remember a Michael except Michael who would cook omelets, pasta, etc. After one night when we didn't get "our" table, I started leaving the daily update when Chef Johnny gave his recommendations to hold a table.

We'll be on the Vili in early December, can't wait to take our first river cruise. Hope our crew is as fun and helpful as your's.

After reading the comments on the Vili staff on August 3 cruise, I was amazed that on the August 19 cruise we had a different captain, different hotel director, different captain, and a different program director. Only concierge Nina and chef Johnny were on both cruises. That is a huge difference in the cruises. Our cruise director, Terry Turnbull, told us that he was a relief for the regular director who was on vacation. He was leaving at the end of our cruise. Nina told us that our cruise was her 4th this season and that she would be on holiday after the September 2nd cruise. It seems that Viking employs a huge number of people who are trained to work on many cruise ships and/or positions. As a response to your future cruise, the Viking Vili is a beautiful ship. You can look forward to a Viking trained staff that will work the ship. Will they all be good? I hope so for your enjoyment.

Not sure switching key people off and on different ships is the best for building a team and a sense of working together but I guess it is working for Viking and I get that the very visible people may need some down time. I do think I recall that when a "ship" swap happens because of hi/low water or lock issues the Cruise Director and maybe concierge swap with the ship for continuity with passengers. I am sure it is helpful that all the longships are basiclly identical.

Viking is huge. It has over 60 ships. It has a standard way of doing everything. It trains staff to be able to do their job on any ship. Often staff changes. The goal is that passengers get the same quality experience on any ship. Does that always happen? When everything goes well, it probably delivers the same experience to guests. The true test is when things don't happen according to the plan. Schedule changes, injured crew or passengers, illness, death, water levels change, disruptions in port excursions, lack of supplies, food delivery problems, power problems, etc. can all impact a cruise.