Review of Viking River Cruise July 2014 Amsterdam to Budapest

My wife and I just finished a nice cruise on the Viking Alsvin from Amsterdam to Budapest.

Already our friends are asking would we recommend it. I answer them with a question.

Do you like cruises? If the answer is yes, then I tell that this could well be the best cruise they have ever been on since it is smaller, newer and the guests and staff as so super friendly.

However, if they don't like cruises, or, if they are like my wife and me, and have done lots of international travel but no cruises, I would recommend it as ONLY as a one time experience. Cruising is something we will not be doing again. We had a great time but we prefer to set our own pace and spend less time eating and on buses and more time seeing things.

The breakfasts and most of the lunches were great. The dinners were hit and miss with about half of the dishes being failed experiments.

We spent about 6 hours of every day eating and talking, which was fun, but would rather have been able to set our own pace and spend more time sightseeing. Also, about 2/3 of the time, we had to take a bus into the city so we spent a fair amount of time on or waiting for buses.

Still, we made great friendships on board and the staff was amazing.

But, as we look back on the cruise, all of the time on shore was way too hectic so we came back pretty exhausted. Also, except for Amsterdam (which we did completely on our own for 4 days), Vienna and the phenomenal evening lights when coming into Budapest, neither of us can remember much of anything about the other cites we saw. They are now just a blur.

Finally we got so tired of having to get up in time to make the many 8:15am bus calls. This was supposed to be a vacation and not a forced march.

Thanks for your summary--interesting insights, indeed.

I'm wondering, from others who've "done" river cruising, about what percentage of folks bypass a significant number of the daily "included" tours? Do some people bypass them all, in your experience?

And, if you opted out of the tour, do many ports offer opportunities for catching a ride "into town" that's not with the Viking tour bus (metro, bus, taxi)?

I'd rather thought that, in many ports, there was "enough" to see and do just walking off the ship--but perhaps I'm really wrong....If I am, about how many of the Amsterdam to Budapest (and reverse) ports are "self-sufficient" such that a Viking passenger can enjoy it without joining in a Viking tour?

Thanks for your summary--interesting insights, indeed.

 

I'm wondering, from others who've "done" river cruising, about what percentage of folks bypass a significant number of the daily "included" tours? Do some people bypass them all, in your experience?

 

And, if you opted out of the tour, do many ports offer opportunities for catching a ride "into town" that's not with the Viking tour bus (metro, bus, taxi)?

 

I'd rather thought that, in many ports, there was "enough" to see and do just walking off the ship--but perhaps I'm really wrong....If I am, about how many of the Amsterdam to Budapest (and reverse) ports are "self-sufficient" such that a Viking passenger can enjoy it without joining in a Viking tour?

On our ship, the oldest folks (close to 90), of which there weren't many, skipped the tours and stayed on the ship. Other than that group, 95% went on the tours I would guess. You could have Viking arrange a taxi to do your own thing, and a couple of people did that.

It would be easy to skip the tours and tour on your own. We never felt the need on our Grand European Tour nor did we "wait" for any busses. They were always very prompt and waiting for us. We like the guided tours. I think we would have missed a few points of interest if we did some of the ports on our own. I did extensive research and after the guided tours we would venture out on our own. We did however do Amsterdam on our own with a private guide. That was a wonderful experience.

Thank you for sharing your perspective. We love cruising, so I feel fairly confident we will enjoy our experience on our Viking cruise in December. As this is our first time on the Continent we need our hand held just a bit, so I like the included tours. However, in Nuremburg I have no desire to see the **** parade ground, so we will venture out on our own to see the train museum which I understand is pretty good.

Thank you for sharing your perspective. We love cruising, so I feel fairly confident we will enjoy our experience on our Viking cruise in December. As this is our first time on the Continent we need our hand held just a bit, so I like the included tours. However, in Nuremburg I have no desire to see the **** parade ground, so we will venture out on our own to see the train museum which I understand is pretty good.

We went to the train museum in our free time and loved it

Thank you for sharing your perspective. We love cruising, so I feel fairly confident we will enjoy our experience on our Viking cruise in December. As this is our first time on the Continent we need our hand held just a bit, so I like the included tours. However, in Nuremburg I have no desire to see the **** parade ground, so we will venture out on our own to see the train museum which I understand is pretty good.

Most of our friends are big cruise goers like you. We are the odd man out among them. We've been to Europe 22 times on our own , which is how we like traveling. We wanted to try cruising and we had a good time and are glad we did but have no plans to do it again.

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for your review.

Keith

Thank you for sharing your perspective. We are a bit anxious about our upcoming first river cruise, but we like cruising. And this river cruise is 2 weeks out of 8 weeks on an extended European trip; some time we will be on our own and some on other types of ships so it will be a complex adventure. Just hoping the river carries us and we don't wind up with a bus tour... for the price (which we feel is quite high) Viking had better take very good care of us. m--

We took the Viking Kvasir from Amsterdam to Budapest in July, 2014. My husband has Parkinson's Disease and although we normally keep up with most walking tours, we found the pace of some of the tours too fast even when we asked the tour guide to slow down a bit. Neither of us were used to walking on cobblestone streets and many times the very large group was strung out for two blocks because we had to walk on narrow sidewalks. We were even yelled at to catch up when it was almost impossible to do so.

There were very few stops where we could just walk into town so took the tours. When possible or when shuttles were provided, we went out on our own. The cruise director was kind enough to help out when he was with our group.

Food was good but we found that groups formed and since we didn't go to the socializing after dinner, we felt that we were being ignored by many on the ship. Viking encourages passengers to switch tables but one night at dinner we asked 5 different groups if we could join them, the answer was no.

This was our first and last river cruise. We have been on almost 50 cruises and prefer to go with Holland America, Royal Caribbean or any ocean liner before we will ever do another river cruise regardless of cruise line. Although the crew was fantastic, it takes more than a great ship crew to make an enjoyable cruise.

We took the Viking Kvasir from Amsterdam to Budapest in July, 2014. My husband has Parkinson's Disease and although we normally keep up with most walking tours, we found the pace of some of the tours too fast even when we asked the tour guide to slow down a bit. Neither of us were used to walking on cobblestone streets and many times the very large group was strung out for two blocks because we had to walk on narrow sidewalks. We were even yelled at to catch up when it was almost impossible to do so.

 

There were very few stops where we could just walk into town so took the tours. When possible or when shuttles were provided, we went out on our own. The cruise director was kind enough to help out when he was with our group.

 

Food was good but we found that groups formed and since we didn't go to the socializing after dinner, we felt that we were being ignored by many on the ship. Viking encourages passengers to switch tables but one night at dinner we asked 5 different groups if we could join them, the answer was no.

 

This was our first and last river cruise. We have been on almost 50 cruises and prefer to go with Holland America, Royal Caribbean or any ocean liner before we will ever do another river cruise regardless of cruise line. Although the crew was fantastic, it takes more than a great ship crew to make an enjoyable cruise.

So sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience. It sounds like these are things that could have happened to you on any river cruise (line, ship or itinerary). River cruising is a unique style of travel and for various reasons it just doesn't work for everyone. I hope you have great cruises wherever the oceans take you!

I, too, am sorry it didn't meet your expectations. I'm currently on the Viking Atla, Amsterdam to Budapest, day 5 (I think--doesn't time do funny things to you when you're on vacation?).

Our CD always offers a "more leisurely" tour group for each tour; they spend more time and walk slower, I imagine, absorbing the sights of that location. Frankly, I'm a bit frustrated in the "other" direction as I wished there was a more "vigorous" walking group. I like to get where I'm going quickly and then do my exploring. I asked about a "faster" group and there wasn't one. But I get it: we're with a large group of people and things need to be geared for the "middle" group.

I'm not one of the after-dinner lounge people, either (but my mom is!); I've found that it's a little unnerving to walk into a large dining room and find a place where we want to eat the meal. People *do* begin forming friends, but we've found if we get to the dining room earlier, rather than later, we can sit at an empty table and then other "non-grouped" folks join us. But we have to *smile* so we look welcoming!

To the OP I agree that river cruising is not for everyone. You tried it and discovered it is not a good match. The two issues you had I can imagine happens frequently.

The small towns in Europe are difficult to navigate if you have mobility issues. The advertisements never mention this. Also if you are a shy and quiet type the dining arrangement is not ideal. The issue is that folks make friends and they enjoy eating together it's not that they reject you it is that they are waiting for their friends to arrive. On both of our river cruises my husband and I were fortunate to meet others on the first day that we enjoyed their company on the remainder of the cruise. I also stated several times during both that you really need to be in good health mentally and physically to enjoy a river cruise.

I must say that neither my husband or I am shy. We did sit at empty tables often and others did join us because they too didn't have a group. But, this makes it hard to make new friends if others sit together for every meal. We warmly greeted everyone we saw in the dining room or in the halls.

The after dinner bar scene was not for us. The lounge was very crowded and noisy. We kept wine in our refrigerator and enjoyed the night scenery from our veranda. My husband's mobility is not a problem. It was the speed of the guides wanting to cover everything in the limited amount of time they had. Like another poster said, everything started to blur together. It would have been great to have smaller groups but each bus was filled with approximately 50 people. In small streets, churches, and buildings, that is entirely too large a group. Like I mentioned earlier sometimes the group was strung out for two blocks and the guide had already turned the corner and was talking about something we would not see until we caught up and by then he had moved on to some other subject.

We have cruised many times on all kinds of ships, river boats, barges and yachts. Most of these cruises have been wonderful experiences. I was sharing because all we hear are the wonderful reports and not often the not so positive. We planned this cruise for over a year so maybe our expectations were too high and they were not met. My husband lived in Germany for 15 years while in the Air Force and it was to be a homecoming for him. Unfortunately, due to the rushed tours we were unable to fully experience the Germany he loves.

Lastly, we took the two day Budapest stay at the end of our cruise. The first day I slipped on one of the ancient steps and fractured my left wrist. That was not a pleasant end to our journey.

If you decide to try another river cruise, try a different cruise line. On AMA, while the buses (when necessary to take us to a city) were filled, the walking tours were divided into smaller groups -- and there was always a slower pace group and usually a faster paced group in addition to the "middle of the road" type.

As to the dining room issue, I guess we were part of the problem (even though on a different cruise) -- we bonded with another couple and two sisters at the muster briefing and ate all our dinners together with them. The sisters took the slow paced groups, and we and the other couple were usually placed in different groups so when we got together at dinner we could compare our experiences (same basic tour but the guides each add their personal spin on things). It made the cruise very special for us. But that was one table for 6 that was always claimed early on, and I suspect that a lot of other people did the same. Remember that most ocean cruisers are used to fixed seating where they dine at the same time, same table, same waiter and same table mates -- so people on a river cruise may tend to just fall into that habit.

If you decide to try another river cruise, try a different cruise line. On AMA, while the buses (when necessary to take us to a city) were filled, the walking tours were divided into smaller groups -- and there was always a slower pace group and usually a faster paced group in addition to the "middle of the road" type.

 

As to the dining room issue, I guess we were part of the problem (even though on a different cruise) -- we bonded with another couple and two sisters at the muster briefing and ate all our dinners together with them. The sisters took the slow paced groups, and we and the other couple were usually placed in different groups so when we got together at dinner we could compare our experiences (same basic tour but the guides each add their personal spin on things). It made the cruise very special for us. But that was one table for 6 that was always claimed early on, and I suspect that a lot of other people did the same. Remember that most ocean cruisers are used to fixed seating where they dine at the same time, same table, same waiter and same table mates -- so people on a river cruise may tend to just fall into that habit.

Most cruise lines today have "open seating" for meals and alternative restaurant options. On a small ship like the river cruises, this option is limited. Once in awhile we ate outside in the upstairs lounge but the menu was the same every night and we were unable to order what was being served in the dining room. If we wanted desert, we had to wait until it was served in the dining room unless we ordered ice cream. Many times lunch was better than the dinner menu so we ate lunch and a light dinner. Several nights I only ordered soup and an appetizer. They fed us well and we always had some fruit from breakfast that we took to our cabin. A couple of times when we found ourselves alone at a table, we took our dinner plates to our cabin and ate on our veranda. We found our own "alternative" dining options.

As seasoned travelers we try to make the best of any situation and this includes meals, tours and fellow travelers who feel that we are holding them back. Many walked so fast that the guides rushed to keep up with them thus leaving many of us far behind instead of slowing the fast walkers down to the group's pace. We never could figure why someone would not want to slow down and enjoy what they travelled so far and paid so much money to see. We are photographers and wanted to take pictures of the historical sites because we will probably never visit this area of the world again. Many were snapping pictures with their phones and rushing to the next spot not even thinking about what they just took a picture of. We take pride in our photographs and try to take the time to carefully set the scene without slowing the entire group. We publish a book for each trip we take and include some historical information about each shot. Taking quality photos is not possible when 50 people are being rushed through the streets of a historical town like a herd of sheep. Private guides in each town or location would have been cost prohibitive. We did have a private guide/driver for our two days in Budapest and we moved at a more reasonable pace.

Having read the OP's experience, makes me appreciate even more my recent cruise from Bucharest to Amsterdam with Tauck who, in conjunction with Scylla, kept ahead of potential disruption caused by high river levels.

Small groups lead by guides who walked at a pace that allowed the keen photographer time to take photographs, and, where required, shuttle busses provided for those who wished to remain in the town/city centre rather than return by coach to the ship at the end of the guided tour.

However, most town centres were walkable from the ship.

As for evening meals, some groups did form, and fill a table, in the MDR, but invariably one had no problem finding company for dinner.

We always had a guide that told us the way back to the ship or to where to meet the bus if anyone wished to leave the tour. I agree fifty is much too large for a walking tour.

We always had free time after our Viking tours to explore on our own. Free times ranged from 2 - 12 hours, depending on the port. We could leave the tour ahead of time if we wanted (only did that once) and they had no problem saying where we should go to find the bus or how to get back to the ship if not obvious. Several ports also had late shuttle buses for those wanting to stay a bit longer. In Vienna we were able to purchase a subway ticket on our ship along with detailed instructions on how to come back whenever we wanted to. Of course, there was always the option of not taking the tours at all and just doing your own thing.

Good information! We'll be on Viking on our first river cruise in Novemeber. Trying to envision it all! Glad to read that there is some flexibility. m--

WOW, 50 people on the same tour??? YIKES!! So happy that Viking didn't have numbers that high. Crazy.

WOW, 50 people on the same tour??? YIKES!! So happy that Viking didn't have numbers that high. Crazy.

The poster who complained about 50 people on a walking tour said they were on Viking Kvasir (post #11).

WOW, 50 people on the same tour??? YIKES!! So happy that Viking didn't have numbers that high. Crazy.

My recollection is we didn't have 50 people on our walking tours, either. Sure didn't seem like that many to us.

Thanks for pointing it out Jazzbeau. I missed it but it still shocks me. We didn't encounter that at all and sounds like followyourheart didn't either. Very manageable numbers for us.