Viking versus Avalon.

[Elizabetho55]

We are looking at Viking and Avalon river cruises. We’ve been on Viking and loved it but we are thinking of branching out for a change. For those of you who have done both can you give me pros and cons; comparisons? Should we just stay with Viking knowing that we already love it? Thank you!

 

 

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[laverendrye]

If you loved your Viking cruise(s) and would happily travel with them again, the question is what are you looking for from another cruise line that might be better than Viking? And why Avalon?

 

The answers to these questions will help others to give you useful suggestions.

 

 

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[Elizabetho55]

I’m just looking for people who have been on both and can compare the two.

 

 

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[dolllover]

I’m just looking for people who have been on both and can compare the two.

 

 

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I’ve been on both but prefer Viking . On Avalon it looked like they were short staffed , busses not as good and preferred the food and tour guides on Viking . I still really enjoyed both trips . I would book another Avalon trip but only if it’s an itinerary that I really want to go one that I can’t find on another river cruise.

[kentchris]

I’m just looking for people who have been on both and can compare the two.

Have you read the impartial comparison in the River CRUISE LINE articles on Cruise Critic sticky? It'll help you filter out the more extreme opinions from people who dislike one line or the other without adequately explaining why (unlike dollover's balanced contribution above).

[Elizabetho55]

Have you read the impartial comparison in the River CRUISE LINE articles on Cruise Critic sticky? It'll help you filter out the more extreme opinions from people who dislike one line or the other without adequately explaining why (unlike dollover's balanced contribution above).

 

 

 

Thank you! That is exactly what I was looking for in a review.

 

 

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[FuelScience]

We've done 3 Viking cruises and 2 Avalon cruises (we're currently on the Douro on our second Vantage cruise). We prefer Avalon. The big difference for us is the Avalon stateroom. All of the cabins on the top two levels are 200 sq. ft, and the beds face the windows. They've also done a trick in putting the bathroom wall at an angle that gives a lot more room for the shower, but doesn't have a big effect on the stateroom.

 

I also worry that Viking may have staffing issues with its rapid expansion. The last Viking cruise we did had a CD who was still wet behind the ears, and he did a terrible job of dealing with engine problems that caused the ship to run later and later as the cruise continued. He consistently overpromised and under delivered. We were scheduled to arrive in Nuremberg around breakfast time on the last day of the cruise with a full day to see the city before disembarking the next day, and we didn't arrive in Nuremberg until 5:00 p.m. We were told after breakfast that we would be there at 10:00 a.m.

[YoungDubFan]

I have only traveled with Avalon (twice) & not Viking so can’t compare. I can comment about how both lines handled issues with high water /flooding on my Paris to Normandy Cruise one Avalon in May 2016. Our captain was very proactive & moved the ship before we embarked. We had a slightly bus ride to the ship but we sailed. Many companies’ ships were stuck in Paris & didn’t sail. Some of there’s turned into bus trips. Towards the end of our cruise, flooding was worse & ships were held at Rouen. Avalon bused us to Paris & put us in a 5 Star hotel for 2 nights, gave us per deim money for lunch & a significant refund. Viking elected to use the ship in Rouen as a hotel & bused passengers to Paris for a day trip, over 5 hours on the bus in total. Avalon is part of the company that owns Cosmos, Monograms &Globus so has lots of contracts with hotels to use in case of high or low water. I know on some itineraries Viking can have passengers swap ships to go around low or high water spots but this is not possible on every itinerary.

 

Everyone has different things that are important to them so if you are curious I

Don’t think trying another line is a bad thing. It will either confirm your preference for Viking or will give you another line to look at.