viking charges and shore trips

I am considering a Viking river or scenic cruise . Scenic is more expensive but charges nothing extra I would like to know what is extra on Viking

We have been on two Viking cruises.On the first, we had at least one included excursion per day,and a few optional ones. We are currently on the Russian cruise, and there are more optional tours, primarily because we spend three days in St. Petersburg and three in Moscow. In each city,there is one day on which there are optional tours or time to spend on your own. We are happy with Viking, but can only comment on their cruises.

Viking charges for drinks served at other than meal times. They encourage you to tip the staff at the end of the trip. They also charge for optional shore excursions--these are usually booked and paid for when booked on the boat.

There is a silver beverage package--both parties in the cabin must buy it. Most people say it is more expensive than a bar bill. Laundry done on the boat is also extra.

Viking also suggests that you tip the guide and driver provided on the included daily tours. The recommended amount is 2 euro pp for the guide and 1 euro pp for the driver ( if there is one). Our guides have always been excellent, so we've never had an issue with this.

Becki

Thank you for the information it brings up a second question. What is the quality of the included tours or do you need to take the optional tours and what is the average cost of them ?

The included tours usually take place in the morning and give you an overview. If it's a small place, it may be a walking tour or if it's a city it will be a coach tour with photo stops and a bit of free time. We found the quality of the guides to be excellent, some of the best we've had anywhere in the world.

The optional tours usually take place in the afternoon or evening. To give an example of the sort of thing, on our Nuremberg to Budapest cruise this year there were (among others) a tour to a BMW factory (the only one we went on), one to a horse show in Hungary, an evening orchestral concert in Vienna, as well as various scenic tours etc.

A friend went on two river cruises last year; one on Scenic and one on Viking. By the time she had paid for drinks, tours, and tips the Viking trip cost as much or more as the all inclusive Scenic cruise.

When we took our 1st Viking cruise, the 'Tulips & Windmills' , we only took one optional tour, and that was to Delft. My husband, who had spent a great deal of time in Holland on business, had been to Delft on his own, but wanted me to see it. We both found the tour to be very worthwhile and my husband was so pleased he'd gone back with a guide. In general the optional tours cost b/t 35-60. Euros pp.

Becki

Here's a link to the Viking "optional" excursions costs for our recent Amsterdam to Budapest cruise:

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Here's a bit of information on the optional Viking tours, too: http://rivercruisenewbie.wordpress.com/2014/09/07/how-much-are-the-optional-tours/

Thank you all for the interesting info. I can now make a informed choice :)