A Celebrity fan does another river cruise...

We booked the Angkor Wat trip independently. The hotel is highly rated on TripAdvisor and the flight is with Cathay Dragon, the cheaper arm of Cathay Pacific.

 

Regent is outside our price range too. We are not getting any younger and we want to see as much of the world as we can while we can. Maybe one day the ship will be our destination and our view will change.

 

Sheila

We did Angkor Wat independently in connection with a DIY land trip around Vietnam. We found it easy. They have a lot day tours that are reasonable for transportation in both countries. We could hardly believe the advice to just "wait until you get there" to book tours but it turned out to be good advice. We are seniors and we did just fine. The entire area around Angkor Wat is filled with wonderful things to see. You will be glad you have extra days there.

We did a land trip to Vietnam, Thailand and Vietnam this past January. We booked a guide in Siem Reap who was excellent! Probably the best guide we have ever had on our travels. His name is Ratanak Eath.

http://www.theangkorguide.net/

Fogfog, There is a River Cruise forum on Cruise Critic too:)......you can get a ton of information over there...…

I would highly recommend AMA Waterways. Many folks give Uniworld high marks as well.

I'm with Lois. Have done many Celebrity cruises and decided last year to try a river cruise. We, too, chose AMA, Budapest to Amsterdam with a week in Budapest first and then a few days in Amsterdam following the cruise. We chose AMA because their ships have a shallower draught and therefore, are not as vulnerable as others should there be a drought or floods. We had heard the horror stories of 2013 with river cruises turned into bus tours. Where AMA could not sail in 2013, their passengers were amply compensated. Yes, it's expensive which is why we are not doing another this year. We were upgraded from our "swan room" to a balcony room which was amazing. Loved it all and would highly recommend them.

We chose AMA because their ships have a shallower draught and therefore, are not as vulnerable as others should there be a drought or floods. We had heard the horror stories of 2013 with river cruises turned into bus tours. Where AMA could not sail in 2013, their passengers were amply compensated

I had heard about the drought condition issues but didn't stop to think that too much water might be an issue as well! It's the primary reason I have not booked one, yet, based on the stories of the drought conditions several years ago (the ships were moored in one place and people were bused everywhere for watered-down excursions). Good to know that AMA compensated their guests for the changed vacation but as I recall, many companies did not. Maybe booking within a few months of the sailing is a bit safer, but I would be peeved if I was stuck on a bus all day.

Not sure if people are reading this post still, but maybe somebody can answer this question. How early can your flight can come in on the correct arrival day in order to still get a transfer and not pay diversion fees for flights? We have a possibility of arriving just after midnight and would book a room on our own as to have a room at arrival-but I’m curious if Viking would honor that as day of arrival. I was really surprised to hear how difficult they make it come in a day early as to avoid jet lag.

Thanks!

Mimbecky

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We have 40 some ocean cruises under our belts. We wanted to try a river cruise, so we traveled on AVALON last year on the Danube and it sounds like our experience was similar to the OP. Wanted to try again, so this past year, we went on UNIWORLD to the Douro River in Portugal. The cruise line of UNIWORLD was top notch and we world go on another without hesitation. Plus Portugal and the Douro River are fabulous destinations.

" I had heard about the drought condition issues but didn't stop to think that too much water might be an issue as well! It's the primary reason I have not booked one, yet, based on the stories of the drought conditions several years ago (the ships were moored in one place and people were bused everywhere for watered-down excursions). Good to know that AMA compensated their guests for the changed vacation but as I recall, many companies did not. Maybe booking within a few months of the sailing is a bit safer, but I would be peeved if I was stuck on a bus all day."

Several here mentioned drought and sooo

so this past year, we went on UNIWORLD to the Douro River in Portugal. The cruise line of UNIWORLD was top notch and we world go on another without hesitation. Plus Portugal and the Douro River are fabulous destinations.

Was that this summer? Wondering because friends of ours were scheduled for a Viking in Portugal this month. They cancelled it recently because of the drought and fires. I responded to her text asking how that works out and haven't heard back yet.

Was wondering about if trip insurance or anything like that covers the losses of the costs/fees. While the drought and fires can be chalked up to "god" - would insurance cover a pax who cancels because being bussed around was not their preference and sights/venues are inaccessible or miserable to be in due to smoke...?

clear as mud?

Okay...despite all of my gripes, am I happy we did it? Yes...

Are we booking another Viking River Cruise anytime soon? Probably not...If we try another river cruise, we might try a different line next time...In the meanwhile, the next three are back on Celebrity...

Bruin Steve -

First, as many others have stated, a bit THANK YOU for sharing your experience. The level of detail you give to understand many different facets of a river cruise environment and other aspects of your specific cruise on Viking are helpful. It has opened my eyes to many things I wasn't aware of (as well as confirm many others I learned reading on Cruise Critic).

Fogfog: Our Douro River Cruise was this past late April to early May.

We had a great cruise on the Rhone River with AMA in 2012, but their prices have really gone up since then. However, AMA is a quality river cruise line.

 

We have done three cruises/tours with Vantage World Travel and been very happy with them. Also, their prices are very competitive. Avalon and Uniworld are great, but pricey. Viking is good, but I don't like paying for our cruise a year in advance.

 

Gate 1 is a budget line that usually beat all the other in price, but you frequently have to pay for optional tours.

 

My suggestion when shopping for a river cruise is to shop around. Compare several lines on what you get for your money.

 

Another thing, several cruise lines got a black eye for not cancelling cruises a few years ago when central Europe had a lot of rain and the ships could not get under the bridges. They converted the cruises to bus tours. Check your cancellation policies and ask about what happens when the boats can't cruise.

Gate1 is similar to Viking when it comes to excursions. It includes free ones at each port, but also offers a couple of optional excursions for a fee. For example at Vienna it includes a free tour via bus and walking of downtown Vienna, but also offered an evening concert for a fee. Very similar to Viking.

About the only difference between Gate1 and the Viking cruise I went on is I found the food on Gate1 to be higher quality and more local (European) and less American than on Viking. The one downside is while the number of entrees you can select from is similar, everyone on Gate1 gets the same 2 appetizers (you can decline 1 or both if you want, but no other option) . Given the choice and having done both Viking and Gate1, I would choose Gate1. Much better value.