Our experience on the Viking Long Boat - Idun

[Atlanta World Cruiser]

Shown below is an overview of our trip on the Viking Longboat Idun. If you don't mind people having access to your stateroom while you are asleep, so be it. For us, we will chose other boats for river cruises.

 

 

 

 

Overall Opinion:

Considering all the points below, we will stay away from Viking and use other means to see Europe. For the prices they charge for their cruises, you can travel in first class on Canard’s or other luxury cruise lines for the same or lower costs.

 

 

Value ($)

The cost of our 15 day river cruise was just under $17k. This is equal or more per day to the top tier luxury cruise lines. You can use other options to see major Cities and still enjoy the river cruise experience.

 

Security:

Basically there are no security procedures on the Viking boats. Anyone can board and walk thru the boats.

 

In our stateroom, our door was opened during the night by unknown person(s). When we woke up the next morning the stateroom door was open. When we brought this to the attention of the Front Desk the staff advised us that it was our fault. After asking for the Captain, we were greeted by the Hotel Manager, Gerald Hauswirth. Gerald accompanied us to our stateroom to check the door lock system. After several attempts that confirmed the defect, he apologized for the behavior of his staff. He was able to reset the door lock. The key to remember there are no means of locking your stateroom door if someone has a key card or the lock system fails.

 

Accommodations:

We selected the AA Veranda Suite ( 324 ). The room was very nice for a river boat. However in the hallway the Viking boat has electrical panels in-between the Suites on the starboard side. During the day and night, we would hear a loud buzzer sound in the stateroom. Three or four times each night we work up to the buzzing noise. The response from the Viking staff was “that is one of the issues on the long boats!

 

Dinning:

On the Viking, there are no seat assignments. Thus the quality of the service was a function of the waiter. It went from excellent to very poor. The concept of enjoying your meal and talking to your fellow guests . The waiters are focused on serving you the food as fast as possible. The require you give them the full order ( appetizers, entre, desert). There are no substitutions. Thus, you are pressured to finish the meal and leave.

 

Lounge:

Unfortunately, the lounge is the only place to sit down and talk to fellow guest. The upper deck is closed for most of the trip. This is caused by the 80 locks you go thru.

 

Drink Package offer:

Viking has a “Drink Package” that you can buy before your trip or on board. We did this only to

to realize the service staff avoids asking you for drinks. My recommendation is not to buy it

 

Overall Service

There are 2 to 3 waiters that are assigned to the Lounge. Most of the time, they are behind the

Bar talking to each other. So to get drinks you have to go to the bar and order. Bottom line

their service level is “Poor”

 

 

Excursions:

At each port ( one per day), they have free excursions. Most involve “walking tours” with contract tour guides. If you like seeing every Castle, Church and Statue, then this is a great feature. We decided to go to the City Center and do it ourselves.

[Orlandocruiser]

A note to all who are reading the above post. This is a copy and paste of the OP's original post of August 2012. To "Atlanta World Cruiser" - we understand you have an axe to grind but it is bad form to repost something like this and to not indicate that is a repeat of and old post. If river cruising is not for you, so be it but it is really unfair to try to poison other peoples opinions.

[eatsallinsects]

A note to all who are reading the above post. This is a copy and paste of the OP's original post of August 2012. To "Atlanta World Cruiser" - we understand you have an axe to grind but it is bad form to repost something like this and to not indicate that is a repeat of and old post. If river cruising is not for you, so be it but it is really unfair to try to poison other peoples opinions.

***************************

Thank you for that clarification! I thought that was the situation but went back to Post #1 to be sure.

Do believe that axe has been ground?

[travelfirst]

All the points shared on this thread are good. The nature of river cruises (boats being tied to boats) has its logistic concerns as it relates to safety. But the Boat that is docked closest to the Dock should have the ID security. This would stop non-passengers access to rooms and facilities.

 

As to Viking, their rooms have no inside latches that can be used to block Viking Staff and others from entering their room. In our case, we had a defective lock; someone opened our cabin door while we were asleep. Thank God that nothings was taken nor harm to us. For a cost of less than $50.00 per stateroom, this security exposure would be eliminated

 

There are locks on the doors of the Viking Odin..

[jiminyC_fan]

Seriously???? You felt the need to dig up your old thread and repost it months later? Sheez.

[franski]

I opened this thread to hopefully learn more about cruising on the Viking Longboats. Did not happen. Roger

 

Hi Roger -

 

DH and I just did the "Passage to Eastern Europe" on the Viking Aegir... This was our 6th river cruise, but our 1st with Viking.

 

I started a thread - "Passage to Eastern Europe - We've arrived" - and part way through I did post on the ship itself.

 

If you have questions, you could ask on that thread - or e-mail me off line -

franski@rogers.com.

 

I have to say that I was quite impressed with the boat, and the crew. We did notice the increase in number of passengers, but 1st time river cruisers would probably just enjoy the more intimate experience that river cruises have over big ship cruises (if they have done a big ship cruise in the past).

 

Fran

[Atlanta World Cruiser]

Been away on business... just some comments to threads above. If you plan to take a river cruise on a Viking ship, great. But keep in mind the issue I stated above "Security:

Basically there are no security procedures on the Viking boats. Anyone can board and walk thru the boats.

 

In our stateroom, our door was opened during the night by unknown person(s). When we woke up the next morning the stateroom door was open. When we brought this to the attention of the Front Desk the staff advised us that it was our fault. After asking for the Captain, we were greeted by the Hotel Manager, Gerald Hauswirth. Gerald accompanied us to our stateroom to check the door lock system. After several attempts that confirmed the defect, he apologized for the behavior of his staff. He was able to reset the door lock. The key to remember there are no means of locking your stateroom door if someone has a key card or the lock system fails."

 

The issues with the Viking river cruises are not the boat but the management culture of the company. Bottom line..they display rudeness and lack concern towards passenger safety. This culture starts at the top and is seen in its crew. They can get away with it on the river cruises; limited state rooms and high demand. But not the ocean cruises. The cruise lines that cater to the Cunard, Silversea, and Seabourn cliental understand the importance.

 

We have not nor are we interested in any credits from Viking. We made the decision to take the river cruise; not Viking. We are also making the decision not to use Viking again regardless of their product (Longboats or cruise liners) How many day do you have SFO-F/A Cool Cruiser !!

 

This was our 14th cruise but the first river cruise. We are taking the 2014 World Cruise on Cunard’s QE. We went ½ of the World Cruise on Cunard’s QV a few years back. Buy this time next year, I will have sailed 518 days.

 

Best wishes to all

[Host Jazzbeau]

I think you've repeated your message enough times now (here and on other forums). You made your case in August 2012 right after the cruise -- all well and proper. You then reposted essentially the same text in this same thread on May 24 2013, and you also posted it (as if it were based on recent events) on the Cunard forum on May 25 2013.

 

Several posters pointed out that most of the complaints you raised are common to all river boats (low bridges and double docking), and there is a report from a later cruiser that the door lock problem has been fixed. Your sailing was almost a year ago. You don't have any new information, so it's time to let it drop.

 

Happy sailing on Cunard. It's good that you have found a line that you like.

[1SGCruiser]

I think you've repeated your message enough times now (here and on other forums). You made your case in August 2012 right after the cruise -- all well and proper. You then reposted essentially the same text in this same thread on May 24 2013, and you also posted it (as if it were based on recent events) on the Cunard forum on May 25 2013.

 

Several posters pointed out that most of the complaints you raised are common to all river boats (low bridges and double docking), and there is a report from a later cruiser that the door lock problem has been fixed. Your sailing was almost a year ago. You don't have any new information, so it's time to let it drop.

 

Happy sailing on Cunard. It's good that you have found a line that you like.

 

Well said.

[lahlah57]

Atlanta.....I agree with many-stick to the oceanliners. We went on Viking twice and enjoyed every moment. Yes it is not a large cruise ship but my husband was sick of all those people and liked the intimacy of a river cruiser.

Give your complaint and move on....don't keep it alive by posting several places. We get it. You do not like river cruising!:confused:

[lahlah57]

PS...our door was opened during the night too but it was because "I" didn't shut it securely enough. There was no thefts on our ship or pirates boarding to have there way with us:rolleyes:

[notmyccname]

We just came back from a 15 day river cruise on one of the Viking Long Boats. Shown below is our review:

 

Overall Opinion:

Considering all the points below, we will stay away from Viking and use other means to see Europe. For the prices they charge for their cruises, you can travel in first class on Canard’s or other luxury cruise lines for the same or lower costs.

 

 

Value ($)

The cost of our 15 day river cruise was just under $17k. This is equal or more per day to the top tier luxury cruise lines. You can use other options to see major Cities and still enjoy the river cruise experience.

 

Security:

Basically there are no security procedures on the Viking boats. Anyone can board and walk thru the boats.

 

In our stateroom, our door was opened during the night by unknown person(s). When we woke up the next morning the stateroom door was open. When we brought this to the attention of the Front Desk the staff advised us that it was our fault. After asking for the Captain, we were greeted by the Hotel Manager, Gerald Hauswirth. Gerald accompanied us to our stateroom to check the door lock system. After several attempts that confirmed the defect, he apologized for the behavior of his staff. He was able to reset the door lock. The key to remember there are no means of locking your stateroom door if someone has a key card or the lock system fails.

 

Accommodations:

We selected the AA Veranda Suite ( 324 ). The room was very nice for a river boat. However in the hallway the Viking boat has electrical panels in-between the Suites on the starboard side. During the day and night, we would hear a loud buzzer sound in the stateroom. Three or four times each night we work up to the buzzing noise. The response from the Viking staff was “that is one of the issues on the long boats!

 

Dinning:

On the Viking, there are no seat assignments. Thus the quality of the service was a function of the waiter. It went from excellent to very poor. The concept of enjoying your meal and talking to your fellow guests . The waiters are focused on serving you the food as fast as possible. The require you give them the full order ( appetizers, entre, desert). There are no substitutions. Thus, you are pressured to finish the meal and leave.

 

Lounge:

Unfortunately, the lounge is the only place to sit down and talk to fellow guest. The upper deck is closed for most of the trip. This is caused by the 80 locks you go thru.

 

Drink Package offer:

Viking has a “Drink Package” that you can buy before your trip or on board. We did this only to

to realize the service staff avoids asking you for drinks. My recommendation is not to buy it

 

Overall Service

There are 2 to 3 waiters that are assigned to the Lounge. Most of the time, they are behind the

Bar talking to each other. So to get drinks you have to go to the bar and order. Bottom line

their service level is “Poor”

 

 

Excursions:

At each port ( one per day), they have free excursions. Most involve “walking tours” with contract tour guides. If you like seeing every Castle, Church and Statue, then this is a great feature. We decided to go to the City Center and do it ourselves.

 

Get ready.

 

Because you don't have a high CC post count, many will discount your experience immediately.

 

And because of your low post count, people will wonder why you decided to start with a complaint & ask: where have you been? No matter that many CC members just read along & the majority of cruisers never even heard of CC.

 

Then you will be told by other Viking customers how they NEVER experienced anything you mentioned.

 

Cheerleaders for each & every cruise line are here on CC, & they will defend their favorite line till the end of time.

 

My favorite posts are the inevitable: Welcome to Cruise Critic. Of course it's not a welcome at all, but made to point out your low post count.

 

Personally I admire people who seem to go on trouble free perfect vacations. I haven't experienced a perfect vacation on land or sea yet.

 

We sailed Viking once. We never would again as our experience was not good. We've found other cruise lines we like much better.

 

I thank you for posting your experience.

[Mark_T]

So in summary, we have:

 

Faulty door locks, reported as fixed

 

and ...

 

River cruises are not the same as ocean cruises :)

 

Glad the first one was reported and fixed, surprised the second one was not determined before booking.

 

I'm very happy that the degree of security theater that you go through on the ocean cruises is not duplicated on the floating hotels we use for river cruises.

 

Glad the OP enjoys Cunard, it proves that not everyone is going to enjoy every cruise line equally. We'd never book anything on Cunard due to the radically outdated class system on board along with the over-emphasis on formal evenings, Regent is much more our style, but happy it suits the OP.

[jibeho52]

Well said Mark and it is time to put a fork in this discussion, "it's done"

[Nippy Sweetie]

Its very easy to find fault and its human to especially notice things that have gone wrong- and I do! However, credit where its due, a recent email to Viking about a minor but frustrating issue led to an instant response and resolution to my concern. I`m not a cheerleader for Viking. I was critical about aspects of our last Viking cruise and , no doubt , will be again after our next one but I hope I`ll also remember to point out the good aspects too. So Viking, guardedly, so far so good......................

[davidsdesire]

Atlanta world cruisers, I'm surprised that you have only 2 posts on CC, considering you are "World Cruisers"?????:confused:

awww, c'mon, everybody starts with one cruise...maybe they just found out about the forums. I know I did...altho, I haven't been on any cruises yet. Until I found out about river cruising, I never felt the desire. :)

[davidsdesire]

PS...our door was opened during the night too but it was because "I" didn't shut it securely enough. There was no thefts on our ship or pirates boarding to have there way with us:rolleyes:

 

well, crap...why am I going the?? :p

[Osnab]

Received a call from Viking. We covered the issues and all she could say was sorry which is sorry. The key items we discussed were Safety which there is non on the Viking river boats.

 

I have to jump in here. How can you say there is NONE on "the Viking river boats" like you've experienced this on more than one Viking river boat? When I took Viking to China, I accidentally left my ID in the cabin and there was a lot of hubbub about getting me back on. I hardly look dangerous, but I sure did appreciate (and feel bad about causing them so much trouble) their attention to security.

 

As a single female traveling alone, I can assure you, safety is at the top of my list when I travel, as I feel I can be targeted more than the average couple. I never felt unsafe on Viking, and am going on another Viking ship in the future.

 

It also irritated me that you complained about the tours. No one forced you to take these tours.

 

As for dinner, how could it have been so bad to order dessert at the beginning of the meal? I mean, if that's even true, what's the big deal?

 

When I travel, I go to experience different cultures and I expect differences and I always go w/ the flow. I would never leave my house if I got that upset about having to order dessert first. My gosh.

 

Felicia

[Osnab]

Atlanta...I for one appreciate you posting your honest opinion here on CC. That is what this forum is all about. We can read reviews...good and bad and be a bit prepared for what might come. We sailed on the Njord in May and I was prepared for the extremely small cabin due to a review I read...also, prepared for the very noisy dining room.

 

Wanted to agree with you whole heartedly about security. On a couple of occasions we witnessed some "interesting characters" enter the boat and mingle amongst the passengers. Thankfully, the crew spotted them and discretely escorted them off. It was not unusual for towns people to walk up the gang plank and stand on the entrance balcony to stare in the windows. One evening I woke up in the middle of the night and our cabin door was open. I had definitely closed it tight (and dead bolted it) before retiring. After that we jammed a coat hanger in it so as to prevent it happening again. Needless to say the door issue made us very uncomfortable.

 

We had a very nice time and very much like river cruising but due to some other issues we will probably try another line next time.

 

Firefall, I have 2 questions. I'm serious about them, not being ugly, but if you bolted the door, how could it have been opened? What do you think happened? Second, how do you jam a coat hanger in the bolt to prevent it from opening? I would like to know so I can do the same thing. I just can't picture how you do it.

 

I always feel quite safe when the bolt is secured, but now I'm questioning the safety.

Thanks.

Felicia

[Osnab]

All the points shared on this thread are good. The nature of river cruises (boats being tied to boats) has its logistic concerns as it relates to safety. But the Boat that is docked closest to the Dock should have the ID security. This would stop non-passengers access to rooms and facilities.

As to Viking, their rooms have no inside latches that can be used to block Viking Staff and others from entering their room. In our case, we had a defective lock; someone opened our cabin door while we were asleep. Thank God that nothings was taken nor harm to us. For a cost of less than $50.00 per stateroom, this security exposure would be eliminated

 

They make these good door stops that you can have alarmed or not. $7.95 Maybe I'll get one. They aren't large or heavy.

[Osnab]

PS...our door was opened during the night too but it was because "I" didn't shut it securely enough. There was no thefts on our ship or pirates boarding to have there way with us:rolleyes:

 

ROFL That's really funny!!! :D

[travelfirst]

I have to jump in here. How can you say there is NONE on "the Viking river boats" like you've experienced this on more than one Viking river boat? When I took Viking to China, I accidentally left my ID in the cabin and there was a lot of hubbub about getting me back on. I hardly look dangerous, but I sure did appreciate (and feel bad about causing them so much trouble) their attention to security.

 

As a single female traveling alone, I can assure you, safety is at the top of my list when I travel, as I feel I can be targeted more than the average couple. I never felt unsafe on Viking, and am going on another Viking ship in the future.

 

It also irritated me that you complained about the tours. No one forced you to take these tours.

 

As for dinner, how could it have been so bad to order dessert at the beginning of the meal? I mean, if that's even true, what's the big deal?

 

When I travel, I go to experience different cultures and I expect differences and I always go w/ the flow. I would never leave my house if I got that upset about having to order dessert first. My gosh.

 

Felicia

 

Don't worry about the doors not locking. I was on a Viking ship two months ago and twice I went out of the room I couldn't get back in as my friend had the door locked... This was my 3rd cruise with Viking and I am going on another one with them in November. I keep my doors locked at home but I don't worry when I am on a Viking ship...

The person that complained must have had something wrong with the lock on their door.