Avalon or Viking??????

My sister and I are planning a river cruise in France this August. Our choices are the 2001 older ships of Viking or a 2009 ship on Avalon. I hear differing information about which ship(s) and companies offer a more high quality cruising experience. Some of the reviews of the Viking ships on cruise critic are not very positive. Can someone offer us some advice?????

I have not cruised on Viking but did my first river cruise earlier this year on Avalon. I cannot say enough positive things about Avalon. Every minor detail was handled and taken care of. I too have read plenty of negative comments / reviews about Viking. In their defense, they do have more ships and therefore more people on the river.

One thing I would really check out is the size of the cabins. I was on the Felicity, which was built in 2010. it is the sister ship of the Affinity, built in 2009. The cabin size was 172 sq ft, with a French balcony. I for one, would not want to cruise in any smaller of a cabin. I know that on some of the older ships, the cabins are as small as 128 sq ft. This just seems tooooooo small to me. Granted you are not in the cabin much, but even for 2 people maneuvering around the room, I can't imagine that 128 sq ft leaves much, if any, room around the bed.

Another comment about Avalon vs Viking - last year and earlier this year, there were issues with low water and some itineraries were changed to bus trips because the river ships couldn't navigate parts of the rivers. It seemed that Viking had more complaints about how they handled these changes than the other cruise lines. Obviously the companies have no control over the weather, but they do have control over how the change is communicated to passengers.

Good luck with your choice.

I would suggest going to the member reviews area on Cruise Critic...

Check out Uniworld, Viking, AMA and Avalon (there are other also that are favorites on this board). Just like on Ocean cruising each line is very different.

From basic to more upscale.

I have been docked next to several of the older Viking ships and know that they would not be a cruise I would enjoy. The basic cabins (we looked directly into several from our French balcony over the course of a few cruises) would not work for me. Very small and cramped and no hotel bedding. The smallest cabins on Avalon are 172 sq ft so quite spacious.

My impressions of walking through their lobbies was IKEA. Very serviceable but not much warmth or attention to details.

I agree that they seem to get more negative reviews than most lines and this was especially evident during the low water levels. We saw several of their boats empty and parked last November and we were able to continue on with no issues - we were on AMA for that cruise.

Our first Avalon cruise was on Affinity, launched in 2009 and it was our best Avalon experience. I would not hesitate to choose Avalon over Viking personally.

I have never sailed with Avalon but will be going on my 4th Viking cruise next month. I have not had any problems with them and would travel anywhere with them in the future.

Listening to the Fodors Travel Show, they always rave about Viking, indicating that they are at the high end of the river boats. Perhaps that may be true of their newer ships, but the responses above confirm my thoughts - that Avalon is preferable. I traveled on the Avalon Tapestry in 2007 and enjoyed it. I am thinking about the newer Avalon Creativity, launched in 2009. I did note that the cabins are 172 sq. feet, which is more spacious than most. Any thoughts about how Avalon compares to Uniworld?????

I've been on 2 river cruises, one with AMA and the other with Avalon. I did not pick Viking because they used to not include wine with dinner. :) I wouldn't hesitate to use either AMA or Avalon, but I wouldn't use Viking.

When we docked next to Viking ships, they seemed older and a little shabby. Also, some cruisers have said that the long boats have to dock farther from the city centers. Just my 2 cents....

We were on the Avalon Panorama in August, I wouldnt hesitate to recommend them, the staff, ship, food etc were excellent.

We had quite substantial river level problems, but I believe the CD and Captain handled them very professionally and did everything within their power to keep everyone happy and to try and keep to the advertised itinerary.

We too were docked beside a few of the Viking ships and we walked through their lobbies or could see into their cabins, I felt they looked older and not as modern looking as the Avalon ships. Plus I believe they carry more passengers in the same size ships as the Avalon ones, so the cabins must be smaller or the common areas, lounges etc must be.

Just my opinion of course :)

We too wanted to cruise in France for our 8th river boat trip. We decided to evaluate various lines by envisioning ourselves on the itinerary, not just reading the glossy marketing stuff they all put out. Originally we wanted to try either Tauck or Uniworld but felt we should include Viking as we have been on 4 of their trips.

Some surprising things we learned: Of the 3 companies Viking had the largest cabins in France with 170 square feet (Uniworld had 128 and Tauck had 150). But size wasn't a huge factor except maybe with Uniworld. We don't really care that much about decor either. However, when looking at the itinerary I started to count up the number of times we would need to pack up our suitcases. Viking takes one from the airport directly to the boat and at the end of the trip takes one directly to the airport (assuming you are using Viking for your transfers). With Tauck they have hotel stays at the beginning and end, but Uniworld only at the beginning. Plus with all of the companies one must pack up in the middle as you can't sail from Paris to the south of France on one boat (no river I guess in between). We prefer keeping things easy and simple and Tauck with its packing up 4 times in 14 days seemed excessive.

We also found that the prices between the 3 were very comparable if you add in all the things you will spend money on (transfers, tips, optional excursions). Tauck was more but not significantly to us.

One thing we prefer is choosing an itinerary whereby everyone takes and completes the same trip, i.e., no separate groups taking only the river boat trip and not the "land excursion" as some call it. That way you all stick together and the group has a real sense of companionship. Only mention it because we have been on 2 of AMA's trips, both of which had 4 different groups with 4 different itineraries so we really only came in contact with either 14 or 22 people. It wasn't the same experience.

By the way, we were on a Viking trip in 2003 when the water levels were creating havoc all over Europe for all the companies including the freight ones. Viking handled it perfectly, we actually changed boats after 9 days and continued on to Vienna. We were fully informed multiple times a day as to the situation and what the captain was trying to do to get us through. We had a number of restaurant lunches (on Viking's dime) and several special excursions. And yes we were bussed while the boat struggled to meet us at the next docking. It didnt interfere with the very good time we all had.

I'm sure that whatever company you pick you will have a great time as river crusing is one of the best ways to travel.

One thing we prefer is choosing an itinerary whereby everyone takes and completes the same trip, i.e., no separate groups taking only the river boat trip and not the "land excursion" as some call it. That way you all stick together and the group has a real sense of companionship. Only mention it because we have been on 2 of AMA's trips, both of which had 4 different groups with 4 different itineraries so we really only came in contact with either 14 or 22 people. It wasn't the same experience.

We didn't Experience this at all on our recent Avalon Danube cruise. Quite a few people did the land extensions on their own and joined the cruise for the river component. We very quickly established a sense of companionship. From speaking to people who did the land component with Avalon they did not spend so much time with the other cruisers apart from a tour and meals where there were other hotel patrons present. (meals not tours) they were very happy with their choice to do the land component with Avalon. I think it's great that this is possible as people have a choice. Maybe the AMA cruise was structured differently.

One thing we prefer is choosing an itinerary whereby everyone takes and completes the same trip, i.e., no separate groups taking only the river boat trip and not the "land excursion" as some call it. That way you all stick together and the group has a real sense of companionship. Only mention it because we have been on 2 of AMA's trips, both of which had 4 different groups with 4 different itineraries so we really only came in contact with either 14 or 22 people. It wasn't the same experience.

 

We only once have opted for the land portion with a river cruise and would not choose to do so again. We are DIYers and enjoy our independence so this is really not something we even look at. And we certainly would not want to be required to book a portion of a trip that we had no interest in.

Interesting that this was a key factor to you as it would be entirely irrelevant to us. We do not look for companionship though so perhaps that is the difference. For us, the most comfortable demographic was on AMA where the guests were younger overall and the vibe of the trip reflected that.

As far as pricing and inclusions, we prefer to arrange transfers, guides, etc. on our own and do not want them included. So lines that do not include these extras are our preference.

Each of us has different priorities so I agree that it is very important to do your research and see which line(s) best suit your needs.

One thing we prefer is choosing an itinerary whereby everyone takes and completes the same trip, i.e., no separate groups taking only the river boat trip and not the "land excursion" as some call it. That way you all stick together and the group has a real sense of companionship. Only mention it because we have been on 2 of AMA's trips, both of which had 4 different groups with 4 different itineraries so we really only came in contact with either 14 or 22 people. It wasn't the same experience.

 

We didn't Experience this at all on our recent Avalon Danube cruise. Quite a few people did the land extensions on their own and joined the cruise for the river component. We very quickly established a sense of companionship. From speaking to people who did the land component with Avalon they did not spend so much time with the other cruisers apart from a tour and meals where there were other hotel patrons present. (meals not tours) they were very happy with their choice to do the land component with Avalon. I think it's great that this is possible as people have a choice. Maybe the AMA cruise was structured differently.

I agree with your assessment re: the different groups converging.

We had a similar experience on Uniworld, but it involved only two groups. Nevertheless, it created a real division on the first few days onboard and it was well into the cruise before a more general acceptance emerged.

The experience was unlike any other of our cruises and, if possible, we would avoid it.

I think it is interesting that it would be important to cruisers to remain with the same large group. This would just never occur to me. On our last cruise people did many different things while docked, but to me it was interesting because we could hear about other experiences people had at dinner.

Guess it just shows how different people can be.