River Cruises - Europe Cruise Reviews

I would recommend this cruise to others.  We saw so very many beautiful sights!  The food was exceptional each and every day. The service on the ship was outstanding!  The accommodations were cozy, clean and comfortable!

We would have liked to have heard more about the areas we visited.  Having little background about these towns, it would have been good to have heard the history of each place or had it available for daily reading.

Everything was great on this trip except the "room with a view". For 4 out of our 7 nights, there was another ship parked next to ours, allowing for NO VIEW!

Other than that, all else was great. The staff is phenomenal, the excursions were excellent, the people were great! Thanks to the entire crew!

Both I and my 2 friends who came with me on this 12 day journey, with extensions in both Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Lucerne, Switzerland thought Viking outdid themselves consistently, from personalized service on accommodating diet requests to daily fresh fruit and a bottle of champagne in the veranda suite, dancing, excellent dining and bar services, wonderful tour guides in each port, mostly all of the them excellent, and the activities...It was superlative in pretty much every respect. Well worth the cost, and highly recommended. The trip of a lifetime for all 3 of us! 

All of the staff were very friendly and professional with smiling faces all the time. We got the vibe that they really wanted us to have an enjoyable trip and they were very caring and considerate. This was the 2nd cruise on this brand new ship which was very well designed, especially the bathroom. The food was excellent and the wait staff were top notice. Generous pours of complimentary wine with dinner.  Nico our cruise director was the best.   

Excursions to Monet's Gardens and Omaha Beach were all terrific because of the professionalism and knowledge of the local guides. I would recommend this itinerary and this cruise line to others. The cruise ship crew were wonderful.

The ship was beautifully decorated and the cruise manager was exceptional. We enjoyed ship life with the exception of the large group that dominated half the guests. This changed the dynamic -- especially at meals -- where we often felt excluded. Not enough time in Budapest or Vienna. Would have preferred more night sailing with more day time at the various locations. The excursions were well paced. I appreciated there where go active and gentle walking options. Ramona a Elana were standouts in the crew. The Prague hostess was also lovely.  

The tours were excellent. 

 We had an excellent Viking representative Carmo meet us in Munich 

We had a problem with our luggage arriving at the hotel and Carmo worked on the problem until it was completely resolved within hours

 The hotels in Munich in Salzburg we're both beautiful 

The crew are all well prepared  and attuned to the need of there guests.

The tours are well organized  and the guides well vetted and knowledge .

The food is very good and what I expected. 

All in all it was a very good experience 

The Forseti is a new vessel.  Unfortunately it had hit a .log in the river priot to arrival in Bordeaux damaging a propeller and changing the schedule a bit.  However that did not affect the excursions to the wine villages that were well organized and well-led by local residents.  

The crew and staff were very attentive, the staterooms comfortable and nicely appointed and the ride on the river quite smooth.

The food, as on our other Viking voyage, was flavorful as well as bountiful, and the wines and beers were very good, although at times the selections and preparations seemed more aimed at Amereican taste buds and ideas about meals than the fact that the vessel was in France.

These rivers have chateaux set back from the edge and none of the castles typical elsewhere.  This doesn't mean that the views are less enchanting, just different.

Our extension to Paris was delightful, from the TGV from Bordeaux to the hotel in Paris.  Because we've been to Paris many times, we chose not to join the packaged  bus tour and went off to Rouen on our own one day and found one of villages of Paris in a different district for another. 

This was my first time traveling abroad.  My cruise on the Viking Var was absolutely wonderful.  The food, the staff, the tours, my room - excellent.  No complaints.

This trip has been my first Viking disappointment. They cut out the trip to Ghent/Bruges and made it an either or choice. Nothing was offered in Rotterdam.

The rooms' plumbing system wasn't functioning as it should and after being examined by the engineer it continued to emit loud groans upon running the water....It constantly smelled of sewer gas.

On the other hand......All else was outstanding. The dining experience couldn't have been better. Much personal attention was given to my special diet needs.

There were no cultural pre-lectures about the ports we were about to visit.

Although the cruise itself was only 3 days, it was a wonderful experience. Our tour director Adrienne was fantastic. The cleaning staff, wait staff, bartenders and Mitko our piano player were all professional, friendly and a pleasure to be around. I will definatly book another river cruise (longer) in the future. The ports were all very easy to debark from and return back to. I was very impressed with the land and river portion. Breaks up the days. 

See above.............we loved the Normandy tribute and the other things along the way! Great travel with friends. Viking assured us together every day! Memories!

With all the unrest in Europe, we were unsure as to whether or not we should cancel our Danube Trip.  After a month of discussion including talking with Viking representatives who convinced us that their security was top notch we decided to continue with our plans.  What we found was that there is no security on the boat!  Anyone can get on the boat.  At times we were connected to other boats and you had to walk thru the other boat in order to get to shore.  Not the security we were expecting.  With that said, we felt pretty secure at the places we visited.  The Danube is beautiful!  The tour guides were knowledgeable, but sometimes talked way to much.  Most people spoke English and if someone didn't you could always find someone who did.  The food on the boat was okay, but the food on shore was wonderful.  We found several restaurants that were less "tourist spots" that were fantastic!  You will not leave the table hungry and the price is reasonable.  The Danube and Europe was five star!  The Viking river boat was average - rooms were small, but we knew that, the food selection was limited with no room service, but we knew that, drinks were included during meals, but after getting your first drink you never see them again, the excursions were informative, but at times a bit to long, the people were friendly, but at times abrasive, we thought we were going to Salzburg, but they changed the itinerary, there was an odor of sulfur every time we docked - not pleasant.  With all that said, we came back very happy that we went.

the boat was lovely.  rooms generous.  staff very courteous.  ports wonderful with good guides.  food on boat disappointing.  this was our 3rd viking cruise and the poorest food yet.  cuts of meat were inferior and very tough.  soups were good.

I was lucky enough to find a deal where Viking reduced their single supplement to something reasonable. Sadly, the opportunities are few and far between. That said, the cruise provided a very good value. I enjoyed all stops including a full day included tour to Cesky Krumlov (CR). Tours tend to be slow paced though walking subgroups are usually available  Optional tours are better priced that ocean cruises but can often be replaced by DIY. The Viking ships are very nice and the food good though too meaty. Service was excellent. A highlight was a sail in to Budapest at 10pm which provided a spectacular light show.

The ship Eir is brand new built in 2015, our top deck 3 - staterooms and our balconies were the best providing great views day and night. Our room steward was great and she kept it neat as a pin. Chef Klaus kept us all well fed with great international foods and all well presented. They had their own herb garden on the top deck. The Bar tenders Martin and Medread kept our glasses filled with exactly what we wanted greeting you each day by your first name with anything we wanted to drink all day and evening long. I highly recommend the unlimited luxury drink package for $300.00 per stateroom. The standard tours included in the cruise package were great and all we needed to enjoy lots of history, pictures and humor as the tour guides were outstanding. You could actually touch the concrete walls on the locks as the ship would be lowered some 30 feet several times a day and night. Great in room entertainment movies and music on a large flat screen TV. The dinning room service on white linens was outstanding with our waiter Darnko providing everything we would ask for as we liked to taste all of the appetizers and several of the main courses. Renee our Cruise Director had a briefing every evening before dinner going over what was scheduled for the next day and the evening entertainment. GiGi the piano player was great as well. I would recommend this cruise to anyone wanting to have a great time on a northern cruise from Basil to Amsterdam as its the only way to go. Did I mention the sunny weather was perfect.................

Chef Jeff

Review dropdown menu did not offer Rhine Getaway, but we sailed Ve on that one.  Overall excellent experience, first class service and quality people, equipment, and events.  Some details worth knowing:  Stateroom time is very limited, so buying bigger and higher is probably a waste of money.  You won't get river or shore side consistently, and half the nights we were docked inches from another cruise ship.  Try to pick a sail date that does not have two ships on same schedule, as excursions are crowded! Private balcony was not so private.  Excursions were fast and time limited, especially black forest/cuckoo stop.  One hour at site, not enough time to watch clock demo, see forest (not even a little), glass blowing, cake making, and shop for anything.  Brochure leads you to believe you get to do it all.  Pick one, and that's about it.  A couple of stops were a bit tourist-trap style, but you can avoid those shops and get off the path.  Yes, I would do it all again even at the high price tag.  Enjoy!

The services by the Crew were outstanding.  The Ship is very well laid out, easy to get around and the stateroom is compact but comfortable. The food was good and plentiful.

The docking facility at Amsterdam was awful. It is located in an industrial area with cargo ships with no view of the City. Also in more than one instance no view was possible because other ships were joined together along side at the dock. The river(s) we traveled were along industrial corrirdors and because of the flat topographic nature of the land and lack of a narrative we never knew where we were or what if any landmarks we should have been made aware of. One of our optional tours was entitled 'Tulips and Windmills' and a promotional photo showed the historical Windmill and Tulips. It turned out to be a tour of a tulip bulb producing farm with no flowers and the windmill was a modern wind turbine.  This itinerary was not up to the 2 previous scenic Viking cruises on the Danube or Rhine.  

The best part of this cruise was the ship's staff and, in particular, the Program Director. He, Joey, could have been a successful stand-up comedian, but was also a very effective organizer and overall coordinator of activities -- even when unexpected problems (weather, ground transportation) threatened.

The food and drinks were very good despite lacking the variety (or quantity) of an ocean cruise. The staterooms (ours was a balcony stateroom on the upper deck) were rather cozy, but very clean; the room stewards very attentive.

One concern was what appeared to be a somewhat lax approach to security when the ship was docked at very accessible dock locations.

Bottom line - beautiful historic cities visited, magnificent scenery and sites along the Rhine River, and a terrific, friendly, ship's staff made this a memorable, enjoyable experience.