Vote: Which is your favorite river cruise line?

[WarEagle76]

We've been on four Viking cruises Russia, China, Danube, and most recently Paris/Normandy this past October. To put it simply, based upon our experience, Viking has not given us a reason to try another line. On our most recent cruise, the food was good to excellent, the Internet was vastly improved, and the Program Director and Hotel Manager were phenomenal. We have yet to cruise on one of the new Long Ships but are in the process of booking a Christmas Market cruise for this December on Viking Freya. With Viking, the time in ports has suited us, usually being a local tour with free time to explore on our own, with the occasional optional tour available if desired. So for us, pricing, product, experience and at this point familiarity keeps us going back to Viking and can't see trying another line unless there is an itinerary we decide we want to do and Viking doesn't provide it.

[Trawlerowner]

Hi. Tell us, in our poll, which is your favorite river cruise line (you can vote for more than one). Feel like telling us why? Please share below. Thanks.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

 

Viking is the only River Cruise Line that we have used & we would sail with them again! Hopefully to Russia. We did the Amsterdan to Budapest Cruise in September 2012 & it was awesome! The Rivers were quite low as there was no rain in the mountains & we had to be bussed over one spot on the Danube but we remet the ship & all was well. The food, tours & ship's crew were all wonderful.:)

Edited May 21, 2013 by Trawlerowner
spelling errors!

[Bridge Gal]

Hi. Tell us, in our poll, which is your favorite river cruise line (you can vote for more than one). Feel like telling us why? Please share below. Thanks.

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

 

My husband and I Like the Viking Cruise Lines over the other two 'river' cruise lines we have used. They have treated us welcome friends each cruise with them. All personnel on board are friendly and extremely helpful. Clean ships and good food!

[followyourheart]

Viking is our favorite. We were on the longship Idun last fall and the ship is simply beautiful. The food was very good, tours were great, crew was friendly. Good customer service experience from start to finish. Hope to cruise again and as we were so completely delighted with Viking see no reason to select another cruise line.

[TallDrink]

We were introduced to Viking on a couple of Special Interest full ship Charter Adult Cruises.

 

We were very satisfied with the Enrichment Programs, the Cruise Directors and Staff, the comfortable ships, the food and service, and the good One Man Band Dance Music in the evenings on a decent all be it small Dance Floor.

 

So we stuck with Viking for several more personally booked trips. Unfortunately we got lax expecting the usual perfection. We had a very uncomfortable room on the Clara Schumann. I am 6' 7" and could not lay straight on the built in single bed. It was a rude surprise, we were disappointed that Viking Booking did not warn us about the configuration.

 

The lesson is not to assume, look very closely at the ship layout and ask questions about all your potential deal breaker activities regardless of which Cruise Line you choose to engage. We certainly found out Viking is not perfect.

Edited May 21, 2013 by TallDrink

[dramma1943]

Viking. We love the entire experience.

[sippican]

Judging from the recent posts from new CC members, i wonder if Viking is encouraging their customers to vote in this poll. Considering that Viking corners the market, it is interesting that AMA, the smaller company, was well in the lead prior to the new posts.

Just my observation, but I'm sure that we'll see "bragging rights" down the road. :)

Edited May 21, 2013 by sippican

[cruisingmad]

Judging from the recent posts from new CC members, i wonder if Viking is encouraging their customers to vote in this poll. Considering that Viking corners the market, it is interesting that AMA, the smaller company, was well in the lead prior to the new posts.

Just my observation, but I'm sure that we'll see "bragging rights" down the road. :)

I noticed the same thing, and also the low number of posts associated with the new posters.

 

Sergio

[H2Otstr]

I noticed the same thing, and also the low number of posts associated with the new posters.

 

Sergio

 

I noticed the low number of posts, too. Seems very suspicious 🙀.

[acwmom]

I noticed the low number of posts, too. Seems very suspicious 🙀.

 

I agree. This is a turn off to me. So if Viking is reading, shame on you.I have a hard time trusting the numbers with a bunch of one post wonders.

[H2Otstr]

I agree. This is a turn off to me. So if Viking is reading, shame on you.I have a hard time trusting the numbers with a bunch of one post wonders.

 

I really don't think that Viking is doing this, or even suggesting it. I have been on 4 Viking cruises and have never even heard CC mentioned by anyone from Viking.

[Cruzin Terri]

I really don't think that Viking is doing this, or even suggesting it. I have been on 4 Viking cruises and have never even heard CC mentioned by anyone from Viking.

 

Until CC started a poll! Too many first posts.

Terri

[jibeho52]

It does appear that, something is wrong with the postings. Or is it that the cruisers on the superior cruise lines are keeping quiet to ensure nice selections in the future. Mmmmmm!

[acwmom]

Until CC started a poll! Too many first posts.

Terri

 

And a few with join dates of 5/20/13. And Viking has responded in other threads, so they certainly know about Cruise Critic. They were a distant 3rd or 4th until yesterday.

[aldukenew]

And a few with join dates of 5/20/13. And Viking has responded in other threads, so they certainly know about Cruise Critic. They were a distant 3rd or 4th until yesterday.

There is no doubt in my mind what's happening.

[franski]

I noticed the same thing, and also the low number of posts associated with the new posters.

 

I agree. This is a turn off to me. So if Viking is reading, shame on you.I have a hard time trusting the numbers with a bunch of one post wonders.

 

Actually, I doubt that this has anything to do with Viking....

 

I went back and took a look at all of the "one-post wonders", and the results are as follows: Uniworld = 3, Vantage = 1, AMA = 1, Avalon = 1 and Viking = 4.

 

I did not receive any encouragement to cast a vote for Viking - although I have received e-mails to vote for Uniworld in various capacities. Viking does have more boats on the rivers, so it would make sense that more people have cruised with them.

 

Many people tend to be "brand loyal" in the cruising industry (IMHO) - and given that this is not a rigorous research question, I think that you can trust that the numbers are a fair representation of the people that have river cruised and are on CC.

 

Fran

Edited May 21, 2013 by franski

[cruisingmad]

Actually, I doubt that this has anything to do with Viking....

 

I went back and took a look at all of the "one-post wonders", and the results are as follows: Uniworld = 3, Vantage = 1, AMA = 1, Avalon = 1 and Viking = 4.

 

I did not receive any encouragement to cast a vote for Viking - although I have received e-mails to vote for Uniworld in various capacities. Viking does have more boats on the rivers, so it would make sense that more people have cruised with them.

 

Many people tend to be "brand loyal" in the cruising industry (IMHO) - and given that this is not a rigorous research question, I think that you can trust that the numbers are a fair representation of the people that have river cruised and are on CC.

 

Fran

Hi, Fran,

 

I doubt that Viking itself is responsible for the sudden surge in positive votes for that line, and I understand brand loyalty. This is just an opinion poll that is interesting, but it certainly would not determine which cruise line I choose for my travels.

 

But what seems peculiar is that overnight the results of the poll turned Viking positive in a rather dramatic fashion. And at least the posts that suddenly appeared overnight also praised Viking, most of them written by brand new registrants to Cruise Critic.

 

I don't know how you could tell who voted for whom to make the results so dramatically different in such a short period of time; I certainly couldn't, but I found the bottom line results rather odd.

 

Having said that, Viking is by far the largest river cruise line, and although I haven't sailed with them, I'm sure it's an excellent enterprise. Businesses don't grow and become so successful by being mediocre or cheating on their customers. I'm a passionate defender of laissez-faire capitalism and the free market. If only because of their business volume, I would have always expected Viking to come out "on top".

 

 

Regards,

 

 

Sergio

Edited May 21, 2013 by cruisingmad

[acwmom]

The bottom line is, in a poll where the numbers, IN TOTAL, were increasing by maybe 10 a day, Viking gained 60+ votes overnight. I doubt there are even 60 posts a day to the River Cruising boards.

[Cruzin Terri]

I think this poll was flawed from the very beginning. There are some companies with fewer ships than others, thus, fewer cruisers. The numbers were going to be skewed from the start. With Viking having the corner on the River Cruise market and the most cruisers, they were sure to win. AMA, Avalon and Uniworld have many ships. Tauck, Vantage, Grand Circle, Scenic and others with fewer ships were never going to get the numbers with fewer cruisers because of fewer ships. All things are not equal from the start.

 

When Viking gains 60 votes overnight, something is not on the up and up. I think the poll should just be discontinued as not valid.

Terri

[grand isle joe]

I think the O.P. is just a fun poll not scientific at all. For myself it is informative to hear other cruise experiences and I don't keep a running count. Thanks for the poll IMO.:)

[Ozjohnno]

I too found the vote jump suspicious but it wouldn't matter if Viking were 600 votes in front I never consider them in my spreadsheets for a new cruise because they don't offer me any of the major things I'm looking for in a river cruise.

[djm20]

We've done two Viking Cruises now: Paris to Normandy and Amsterdam to Budapest (with a 3 day extension in Prague). Both were magnificent. Paris was over Christmas which was enchanting; The trip through Germany to Budapest was delightful and Prague is such a grand destination - we hope we can return some day.

 

In terms of dealing with adversity, our last cruise with Viking was this past March and was the 'coldest Spring' in Europe in 50 years. In spite of the cold, the crew did their best to warm our spirits and most of the time were successful. They greeted us several times with hot mulled cider and warm hand towels. How kind!

 

We were also traveling with an older group than we had before and the Program Director reacted by planning regular, leisurely walking tours and private van tours for those with varying levels of mobility challenges. We observed that the passengers really appreciated the kindness of these arrangements as many would not have been able to participate in the shore tours without special accommodation.

 

The brochure for these cruises clearly states that travelers should be prepared for some challenging walking experiences, yet the crew and Program Director accommodated everyone without making anyone feel bad.

 

We love everything about Viking: the ships, the restaurant and lounge, the food, wine, and the staff and crew. The Program Directors on both trips we've taken were exceptional.

 

We will be traveling on Viking next year to Southern France with an extension in Paris. Bon voyage!

[coolerchick]

I'm a newbie and have been lurking for a while now. I'm actually ready to take the leap soon and book a river cruise.

 

I was really surprised by this poll. From what I've gathered from these boards Uniworld and several other smaller ones are far better.

 

In fact when I first found this forum was when Viking was getting slammed for the way they handled the high water situation.

 

Suffice it to say - it's the ONLY company I will not be looking into for our upcoming trip.

[id est]

I was encouraged to vote for AMA about 2 weeks ago. See attached. So my guess is this poll was showing incorrect results during first 10 days with AMA leading. Now it is perfectly valid

Edited May 21, 2013 by id est

[sippican]

The swing in votes is certainly no accident my friends! :rolleyes: I smell a riverboat rat!

I agree that the poll is technically of no value whatsoever, other than an opinion sampling. When I mentioned "bragging rights", I have seen in the past statements made by cruise lines to the tune of " …… as chosen by Cruise Critic members, or as voted by CC members …"

That would be a shameful were it to happen in this case.