River Cruises - Europe Cruise Reviews

I wasn’t allowed to rate the ports of call…….all were great except for Salzburg. It should be known that we did not get the “Sound of music” tour that was expected. It was disappointing, I can say this because we did this cruise before with Salzburg. Had we known we would have done the tour to the Cesky Krumlov. We brought first timer friends on this cruise and bragged about the tour, embarrassed and disappointed.

This truly was the trip of a lifetime. The included free tours were very worthwhile. They locals they hire are knowledgeable and entertaining. We had several add-ons as well that turned out to be excellent too. We are bitterly disappointed that we only got 5 days on the ship, but we did find the German surgeons and aftercare to be high quality. We will find out how good the trip insurance is...

This was our first experience and far exceeded out expectations. It was wonderful. What we enjoyed the most was that we could set our own pace...and participate in the excursions if we felt up to it, or we could pass and just relax on the ship. Also, the coffee bar was so great! Thank you to all!!

Outstanding staff, great ship, great food, great itinerary

My trip on the Vidar with Viking: My flight was changed three times due to the quarantine change with the Netherlands so I lost my flight on Icelandair. This made it difficult to get a PCR test on time for the flight as times kept changing; I had to reschedule four times! The flight I took had me going to Newark New Jersey one of the least vaccinated places for a long layover over six hours. The Air Canada flight there only had salmon as the meal or vegan quinoa neither I could eat. So I ate two pouches of pretzels and mineral water. United Airlines was not aware I had mobility issues so boarding was very stressful but a stewardess bought me a sandwich, drink and banana. After six hours on the bench I was a mess. The plane had maintenance issues so we deboarded then reboarded. Once I arrived in Amsterdam we waited two hours for the bus stuck in traffic then we were transported to the ship. My mattress was only four inches thick atop a metal platform with no box spring and was very lumpy. It was extremely uncomfortable, with no fitted sheets and just a duvet covering. Very hard to sleep and left me very stiff in the morning. Someone had mashed a lady bug in the bathroom and the smell lingered for the whole trip. There was constant noise of a generator night and day in suite 337 even when on shore power. The ventilation system ingested diesel fumes and cigarette smoke from the upper sun deck smoking area and pumped it into my room. I have breathing issues due to ALS so for me it was a serious issue. This happened whenever a ship docked next to my ship (started and reported sept 24 in Passau continued daily/nightly), also whenever buses idled on the dock. I brought this to the attention of the concierge and nothing was done about it. Apparently housekeeping checked the room and said it was now clear. I spoke to the manager about people constantly coming into my room without knocking when I was undressed. Even if I yelled “wait” or “coming in a second.” They even ignored do not disturb signs. She explained that they needed a covid sample. I had tried to send the sample with housekeeping to the office but they had refused to take it. I called the office after dinner and asked for a bathrobe to be delivered so I could send my sample to reception. I waited over an hour and no one showed up. I rang reception 30 rings and no pickup this was common whenever I called. It was now late and I was jetlagged. I was naked and getting into the shower when someone began opening the door! I shouldered it closed because he ignored me yelling not to. The person said they would return soon. I put clothes on and waited for the returning person. An hour goes by so I hop in the shower. Then I put a do not disturb sign on my door and go to bed with BIPAP machine running. Two hours later I get phone calls. I get up and provided the sample to someone from reception. The issues with people coming into the room continued with people walking in late at night despite the do not disturb sign. I had to write notes to housekeeping to open the glass water bottles provided as I was unable to open them. I also wrote notes asking for the mattress coversheet to be changed. It was changed once in weeks. A sign on the bathroom wall said towels will only be changed if put in the sink for environmental reasons. Despite leaving soiled towels in the sink they were often put back on the rack even if wet or soiled. Leaving signs on doors asking for room cleaning often were not cleaned. Leaving tips did not make a difference. My attendant A**x even left his pass key in my room for a full day so I could rummage through others rooms! Lucky for them I turned it in at reception they did not seem to care. The Russian manager of the hotel part of the ship just kept saying “what can I do for you?” She never fixed the issues reported. Calls to the reception desk often were ignored despite 30 rings. Many of the concierge people had very poor English skills and seemed confused by my requests and concerns. B********a was particularly bad his behaviors were confusing and rarely solved the problem. For example he could not book a restaurant for me and gave me a printout on the Sacher Hotel but not in English. You got different information from different people they mostly did not know what was going on. These problems persisted until I left the Vidar. Food was not consistent; one day it would be good the next day it would be awful. I had to send back burnt food and wrong orders. The maitre- d' did not supervise service and thus there were long wait times and tables ignored. Many dishes were weird combinations cooked sous vide with no seasoning. There was no consistency in service or team approach. Many issues were caused by poor language skills. The bartender who was Filipino was excellent and did far more then the others in the lounge. Dishes I had previously eaten at restaurants were prepared in unusual ways and lacked seasoning. Food in general was bland and not always hot. Service was inconsistent Dennis and Vladimir were excellent servers others fooled around and ignored guests. Language issues constantly resulted in strange orders and delivery of the wrong or no food. Servers constantly referred to guests as Sir or Madam then first name. So I was Sir Scott. This was kind of odd. Some appeared not to have been trained. French service is usually: serve from the right remove from the left. I saw drop down over my head, walk around us to window then drop food with both hands. Even reach in front of me with right arm elbow touching my nose to hand food to lady on my right. The Maitre-d' on the Liff watched and caught missed tables and directed meal pacing a few times. Some food just never showed up and we got it from the buffet ourselves. There was often food on chairs and floors from previous meals. Most of the tours were moderate or extreme for walking. I was very limited in what I could participate in because of this. The onboard glassblowing demonstration was excellent; the taste of Austria dinner was good. The presentation on coffee and Mozart was good. The Miltenburg walking tour met my expectations but I was abandoned on a public bench I could not get off of. It was too low; I was saved by a fellow passenger. The tour guide was good and slowed down after that. The Wurzburg Residence & Walk was boring and the guide did very little, there were no descriptions of the interior we just walked around on our own. Panoramic Vienna was also very boring we just walked from a park to another church. I only enjoyed what I did after I left the group and made my own way around Vienna. Many trips were cancelled without notice. Colognes beer culture and dinner was overpriced and the food was terrible. The guide (P***r) seemed to be running some scam with the bars he took us to, as the group did not drink much but what little they drank was not beer but the bars gave receipts for beers. The guide drank continually. The bars he took us to were empty and like museums. I was not allowed to go to Ehrenbreitstein fortress they said I booked too late. Surviving the war art in Nuremberg was a terrible tour of a dark, damp and smelly cellar. I left the group and had fun outside. I was charged for a soft drink during the complementary champagne meeting on the first night 3.80 euros. I was even charged for a glass of apple juice which was unfair since I do not drink alcohol do to my ALS. I paid €100 to the three servers who did a good job. Despite the issues that were occurring. There was a collision early in the morning while approaching a lock on the fourth day. I happened to be up and went to the reception desk they were running around trying to find out what had happened. There was no water for the sink or shower on the 18th, and the sink would not drain on the 19th. The furniture was low and uncomfortable and hard to get out of in the lounge and lobby. All guests mentioned this even with no mobility issues. The bathroom was far too small and the toilet was much too low. There was poor ventilation and the lock to the veranda was too stiff to use. The best guides I experienced were Moe in Cologne and the guide from Detroit in Miltenburg. The entertainment system had jagged lines, pauses and poor sound. The TV and movies were dated and the Internet was often offline. Laundry was overpriced and often came back unclean. There were spider webs and insects in the cabin for days see photos attached. There was a general lack of information even if you read the daily flyer religiously. They need to hire a special needs consultant for advice; those on the trip with health issues struggled with the setup. A consultant can address mobility issues regarding heights of chairs and toilets. There were no hand rails or lights in the Cologne dock. The stone stairs were a serious falling risk in pitch darkness. Bratislava: guests found out on social media that the lock between Bratislava and Budapest was broken due to a collision with a barge. We knew a week before we got to it but Viking played it down. We found out we would be bussed two hours to Budapest so we packed up got coloured slips put on our luggage based on who was flying out or heading to Bucharest. The bus stopped just after crossing the border three busloads of people lined up for two pay toilets. I used the bus toilet I just could not wait, it was dark and difficult to use. We were bused around Budapest doing rolling sight-seeing. Then we boarded a river boat for a buffet the Americans attacked it from both sides like children cleaning it out. The food was awful and they left it in piles on their plates. I got a slice of bread some cucumber salad, cheese and mineral water as the food was not restocked. The glass dining room was broiling hot without air conditioning and windows were dogged shut. Then back on the bus and back to Castle Hill Fortress in Buda. Four of us were sick of climbing the hill and asked if we could ride back to the Hotel. We were told no by the guide then we asked if we could cab it. Told “No cabs never come up here.” This was a lie there was a cab stand by the castle, also two dozen drove past us while we sat on benches. We would soon find out why they did not want us at the Hilton. When we got to the Hilton we had to walk a confusing route through the converted monastery. Had lots of stairs and corridors to climb while hauling a heavy backpack. Got to lobby hungry and exhausted it was clear the tour I had paid for wasn’t happening. Oops Viking had failed to book rooms for people continuing to Bucharest and a few of those flying out. A near riot occurred with twenty-five people yelling and screaming. I sat and watched and told Wez Westcock the entertainment coordinator I wanted off the ship and would be staying in Budapest it was now close to 7 pm. He said it was too late to get a flight that night and to sleep on it. I decided to have a shower and eat. The buffet had obviously sat out all day it was bad: dried out duck legs etc. There were no servers and not enough seats! They finally opened a third room and I ate with a couple from Kenora who were happy to be going home they were also sick of disappointing food and screw ups. The hotel room was beautiful with a stunning view of Budapest but it had two double beds so my feet stuck out a foot but so comfortable after the lumpy shelf. Complimentary breakfast in the Hilton was excellent and far better than anything Viking had provided. We had to have our luggage in the lobby by 8 am for some reason. We then sat in the lounge until twelve waiting for the Liff to dock or buses to arrive. I told Wes I was not continuing and would stay in Budapest. He convinced me to return to the ship and settle my bill and have lunch. I would get my travel info and find out if a refund was available for the rest of the trip. Sadly I foolishly agreed. We got on the bus went to the Liff and I spoke to D****n R********c the hotel manager about issues and my leaving. He moved my room to 305 to prevent a repeat of exhaust and noise. He offered two mattresses to make the bed comfortable and he provided a cleaner to unpack and put away my stuff. He said they were booking my flight and he was waiting for an email about my refund. They put three cartons of apple juice in my fridge and gave me a plate of strawberries and chocolates. I called reception and told them my phone charger was missing. My European Sim card did not work and the internet was down. They said they would call the Hilton about it. It was getting dark and the ship would soon sail I saw Wez and was told by him and D****n that there were no flights available and I would have to leave tomorrow! I was now stuck on board for the next three days with no internet and they had my passport for customs checks. I spoke to reception about needing to have a usb-c charger they did not have one. I spoke to D****n he said he would go ashore and buy one, he didn’t. I did not get the second mattress either. I did not get my booked trip to Szetendre but was still charged for it. Computers were screwed up and did not show correct location of the boat or my purchase balance on the TV. I tried to go on provided tour which was easy level was told by M*****l S***a (reception) Wez would speak to me because there was no leisure group. He didn’t they did not give me a ticket and left without me. Now only 30 people left on the boat only two or three couples from the Vidar. Food was better but the same meals from other ship. I got an excellent goulash and mushroom ragout the first night but I was starving. Service was more skilled but I was often ignored which was weird with so few people. D****n came to my table and said the flight from Belgrade would be free, I knew this was a lie because I had been told by the girl at reception it would cost $902. I asked him to put it in writing he provided a print off of Viking travel insurance flyer the next day which I was sure would not cover me. Flight was Belgrade to Munich Lufthansa economy, Munich to Toronto Air Canada business class. I had paid for business class round trip already. D****n promised the chef would go ashore and buy me a phone charger, he didn’t. The lies were piling up. I borrowed one from the reception girl who brought the flight details after three days of asking. I started Canfly which required a scan of my passport. They refused to give me my passport! When I explained the girl escorted me to my room gave me three minutes to scan it. I struggled with shaky hands. She knocked on the door, I got her to scan it and she left with my passport. Belgrade: I tried to take care of my bill they wanted my credit card number bad. I got a partial bill from the Vidar they charged 656 euro for trips laundry plus cost of flight 776.96 euro on top of this. When I totaled charges on list I got 347.80 euro. So I went down to complain to the person I had just paid in cash. I suspected I would be charged for the flight again at the airport so I wanted accurate receipts which I was just not getting. M*****l S***a blamed the Vidar and computer issues. I had been lied to so much and not given accurate itemized receipts despite having days to prepare them. I gave him 30 minutes to sort it out or I wanted the police called so I could file a report. He cobbled something together and we went over it. They had slipped 195 euro in gratuities into the bill but not the copy I was given (scan pages 1 and 2), 69 euro for Szentendre tour that never happened and the two drinks, he said he would refund those. He refunded 195 euro only. I had him sign and initial lists with paid in full zero balance. When cab arrived D****n, Chef and Maitre d headed up the gangway with my luggage through customs. I followed; they were half a soccer field away by the time I got up the ramps. They put my stuff in a cab and I was free of them. Viking refunded three trips, and laundry and two days of Amsterdam stuff. I got nothing for the charge for the flight or for the remaining trip to Bucharest. That was all lies. Also got a $500 dollar voucher I will never use since Viking is so slippery. It’s a shame I had planned to take the Barcelona to Istanbul cruise. The average age was 70 on the ship so surprised mobility issues not better addressed. Everything was half assed and rushed. Maybe better before covid. Poor experience for $25,000.

BACKGROUND: We have traveled on Viking River Cruises three times in total. The first trip was in 2014 (Romantic Danube, Veranda). The second was the Elegant Elbe in 2017 (Veranda Suite). This cruise we chose the Explorer Suite with both pre-and-both excursions. Notes on cruise of the Viking Ullur, 1-8 Sept 2021. Arrived 28 Aug 2021. Paperwork sent by Viking, regarding COVID vague and inaccurate. Implied threat that if we didn’t do what they said we would be delayed or denied the trip. Viking “Strongly Recommended” a COVID Test prior to departure. This was not “Mandatory” and if we had decided against it, we would have been denied boarding in Denver by Lufthansa. Romanian Entry Card supplied by Viking Medical Officer was not the correct form (see attachment). Nor was there any mention of COVID Screening at Bucharest Airport. The actual Romanian form is attached. The pre-excursion to Transylvania was not even close to the standards we had come to expect from Viking. The Viking Rep at the Marriott Bucharest was more interested in collecting test tubes, then facilitating guests. The first night we didn’t even receive our Welcome Letter with a plan for the coming days. The trip to Transylvania began with a stop near Ploesti, where we could visit a Romanian Mall (Carrefour), and actually change some money. The visit to the Peles Castle was abbreviated and they charged extra if you wished to film inside. The Brasov Visit was also abbreviated and further delayed by travelers who managed to get on the wrong bus and were thus unaccounted for. The following day at Bran Castle was supposed to last two hours. Instead, we were on site for 42 minutes, as travelers on our bus ran up a mini-bar bill and tried to run out on it. The whole bus paid for the delay while these people paid. Throughout this, our tour guide regaled us with stories of life under communism and how we should think about it when tipping. After Bran Castle came a lovely six-hour crawl by bus back to Bucharest. There we found that the Viking Rep. had told the Marriott to lock our Mini Bars. Very professional. The following day we opted out of a Monastery Tour (still haven’t received a refund) and spent a quiet day in the city. Following a city tour on the 1st of Sept, we bussed from Bucharest to the embarkation point for the boat. Somehow, we managed to arrive two hours late. We were met by the Hotel Manager, Eddy, and he apologized for issues we had in the pre-excursion. We also were introduced to Milana, our cabin steward. She was also the Head of Housekeeping. She was clearly not happy with her task and made it well known to us in a myriad of ways, including leaving cleaning materials in our suite and ensuring that her “cleaning” made the most of interrupting our mornings. My wife made short work of that. On the 2nd we moved from Russe, Bulgaria to our first stop, Veliko Tarnova. After breakfast we began a 2.5-hour trek to the town. This was interspersed with more tip begging by the tour guide. When the subject of currency transfer came up, the bus became animated as none of this had been facilitated. The Program Director, Sonya Bakalova, assured the guests that we would be able to change currency and all the Bulgarian shops accepted Dollars, Euros and Cards. That was the last we heard of changing currency in Bulgaria. The stop in Veliko Tarnova was nice, but it was clear that we were being steered where to shop, by the tour guide. The stop for lunch in Arbanasi proved this. I tried to purchased something at a shop “Not on the approved list” and was chased out by the owner for not using Bulgarian Currency. When I reported this to the tour guide, she actually chastised me for not visiting “her” stores. I later reported this to Program Director Sonya. She did nothing, and never did anything regarding currency issues on the ship. What Sonya did do was attach herself all day on the 2nd to a passenger who was feigning disability. She would go on to attach herself to that person for two more days (Belogradchick Rocks and Street Tour of Budapest). This was all at the expense of the other travelers on the ship. September 3rd was the tour to the Belogradchick Rocks, where the same thing with currency happened. Sonya was right there with the “Excuse of the Day”, but she did say that all of the garbage we saw along the road during the drive to the rocks she was going to address. Later in the day the passengers were called together in Vidin, where Sonya and Eddy (Hotel Manager) decided to tell us we had two positive COVID Cases. That day the two cases and four other passengers were evacuated from the ship. That evening we sailed and passed into Serbian Territory. On 4 Sept we were notified in the morning that Serbia had denied us entry into the country. Sonya decided to soften the blow by stating publicly “The trip takes you. You don’t take the trip”. At 1845 that night we were notified that Croatia had also denied us entry. Sonya and Eddy’s excuse for things was that they didn’t have any “pull” in either of these countries, but that things would be much better in Hungary, where Viking had lots of “pull”. And on we sailed, with no word whatsoever regarding what Viking was going to do to make things “right”. Throughout all of this debacle, I would have assumed some leadership from the captain. That was not to be. He was clearly a member of the NBC Club (Nothing But Crickets). And we sailed on. We reached the Hungarian Border on 5 Sept at 1845, where Eddy went forward to exercise his “pull”. We were told that the process at the border would take a couple of hours, followed perhaps by an Identity Parade (Passport photo to Face). At 2308 we were finally called from our stateroom to attend the “Parade”. Shortly thereafter, we were underway to Kalocsa, or so we thought. Apparently, a decision was made without our notification, that we would pass by Kalocsa (scheduled stop) and head straight for Budapest. We pulled in at Gate 7 in Budapest at around 1400 on the 6th. We were then subjected to a brief by Sonya of an impromptu walking tour of Budapest. Following this, we formed up into our groups and off we went. This was not before we had a great display of Viking’s Professionalism (see attachment). The security afforded by the company in Budapest was pathetic, and this included both day and night shifts. Sonya was with one group on the walk, personally attending to the needs of the gentleman previously mentioned. This was the third day on the trip where he was the sole focus of her attentions (see attachment), to the detriment of any other passenger. As a result of all the fawning attentions of Sonya, the gentleman later in the day had a “miraculous recovery” and was walking around without his cane or wheelchair, a true miracle (see attachment). The following day, 7 Sept, was spent on tours where Viking obligingly provided lunch. As my wife and I have been to Budapest before, we had been on all the tours and struck out alone. Viking couldn’t even get this right. They gave out cards that we could use with taxis, to facilitate getting back to the ship. They were wrong (see attachment)! At this point I was pleased that we hadn’t had a collision with another vessel, which Viking did in Budapest in 2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hable%C3%A1ny_disaster. That evening was the Captain’s Cocktail Party. Sonya pulled me aside and told me that she had made arrangements that we would have an early check in at the Intercontinental Hotel for our post-cruise excursion. When the time came, in true Viking Fashion, the taxi was late and we sat cooling out heals in the hotel lobby for two hours waiting for our room. One interesting fact was that during our time in the lobby, we observed the gentleman who was the focus of Sonya’s attention throughout the cruise. He was back in his wheelchair, obvious relapse, and was immediately escorted to his room. When I inquired of the Viking Rep in the hotel, she said that he and his wife needed to be immediately quarantined, as his wife had popped positive for COVID (4th case on the Ullur). The irony of this was infectious and makes one wonder how Sonya is fairing with her daily COVID Tests. Viking River Cruises has obvious gone through a paradigm change since our last cruise in 2017. It can be attributed to Torstein Hagen’s contentious divorce, or the selling of 23% of his holdings to a hedge fund, or the hiring of a retired USN Vice Admiral to his staff to handle Health Issues. Regardless, Viking’s Customer Service and operations have taken a fall. I personally don’t invest 20k + for an Explorer Suite and pre/post cruise options to receive this kind of treatment. Clearly, Mr. Hagen’s statement of his work ethic being based on Kindness, Honesty and Hard Work is not being practiced by his employees. We won’t be sailing with this company ever again!

Not only was the trip spectacular, but we felt completely safe with the Covid protocol on the ship and in the ports.

Overall I had a great experience. Since this was my first river cruise (used to ocean cruises), it took a little bit of time to unwind and appreciate the slower (not boring) pace. Being able to dock right in the city center was great (and convenient) too. Since we were one of the first cruises since starting back "after" Covid, we only had half capacity so we were able to get to know almost everyone on board, staff included. Made some lifelong friends and can't wait to get on the river again!

Viking really took precautions to protect us against COVID which we really appreciated. The testing was noninvasive and daily. Our program directors were great on both ships as were the ports of call, the shore excursions, and docking locations.

one excursion we took in Belgrade, best of Belgrade, included a wine tasting, while it was interesting, i would have preferred to see more of the city. i can taste wine anywhere. also because we are pescatarians, there was almost noting for us to eat at the tasting. I thought the tour was disappointing for that reason. it sounded better than it actually was.

We loved the cruise overall, but Given the price of the cruise, the activities should have been included - especially for those with the larger veranda suite. It felt as though the cost covered very little beyond food and basic drinks. The staff made the trip. We know that this was a 'first cruise' post-covid, but a little more training of service staff about the "premium alcohol" should have been given.

Great weather, mostly interesting ports, and food and wine were excellent!

The itinerary was very good and the Ardeche excursion well worth the price. There was almost no cruising on the cruise in part because of high water and in part because of the itinerary, ie, 1 day in 7 mostly at night The issue of docking next to other boats was infuriating. There was inadequate segregation of passengers by physical ability so included excursions were at the pace of the poorest conditioned people.

Other than a little fog in Budapest, we had fabulous weather so the trip was perfect. Nuremberg Xmas market was way too crowded. Go early in the morning to avoid the crowds.

Great river boat cruise along the Danube, Canal, Main and Rhine Rivets.

This cruise was our 1st river cruise, and we are planning on doing another river cruise in the next 5 years . We have a 13 day ocean cruise coming up in 48 days . And even if we will have fun. This river cruise has spoiled me.

agent Sandra Delph was excellent to work with on planning cruise. Cruise Director, Gayle Walter was excellent & did a great job of working with you. Cruise needed to spend a day in Marseille. A nice town/

I would not go on this line the rooms were too hot and no comfort for what we were paying , no views with shades closed to try and cool off room , even the dining room was hot ,so hot dinner was uncomfortable and you sat there and sweated ,dinner was very small portions and food average . Buffet lunch was better and beer and wines were good . Enjoyed the ports ,take another line like Viking where you are comfortable in your room !

I was blown away by the service and food on this ship. The entire team was so friendly and helpful. They work well together and never missed a beat.

My husband and I had been planning a wonderful birthday celebration for him, so we decided on Viking. We had heard from many friends on how superb and excellent it was to travel with Viking. This was not our first cruise as we have done several cruises at least 1 every 2 years, fortunately enough with other very high-end lines - Oceania and Regent Seven Seas. We are lucky enough that we can afford high-end cruise liners so we thought Viking would be in the same category as our past cruise experiences! We booked the Eastern European cruise from Bucharest to Budapest from Aug 21-28, 2019. Boy were we SO wrong!!! I am currently sitting in my hotel room on August 25, in Sofia, Bulgaria writing this review, we have been here since August 23. The reason I am writing this today and posting to all different websites instead of communicated directly with Viking is because we have already tried that. We had an extremely unsatisfying phone conversation with Viking customer service when we arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria after disembarking. The lady on the phone was quite rude and dismissive of our issues. She was unwilling to admit any fault with Viking Cruises or their services and told us that we “chose to leave” therefore, there was no compensation for our dissatisfaction and that we should of purchase travel insurance. Really? Based on how we have been treated so far, we would not consider another Viking Cruise. We are on the younger side of their demographic, are active on social media, and have a wide circle of friends. If this is how we are treated, I cannot imagine how they dealt with the very elder members of the cruise. This is how are travel story began: We literately got on the ship on August 21 and disembarked and left on August 23 (being my husband's birthday)- two days into our cruise! The last thing you want to do is pack again when you have only spent 1 night on a ship. But it was such an awful and uncomfortable experience and my husband was so unhappy, we made the decision to leave the ship and told the ship's hotel director that we were disembarking on the next port of call (Vidin, which by the way, the ship did not stop there, but instead we made it to Lum as the ship had some issues getting to Vidin! - not surprise, as we were late the day before arriving to the first port of call Russe, Bulgaria to pick up the majority of the passengers who got off for their tours in a different location). Just think to have to decide to either deal with this awful experience for another 5 nights or cut your losses and leave ship, we chose the latter. We had to at least close the day of his 60th birthday in a place we would be more comfortable at. To start, we arrived on Saturday, August 17 in Bucharest from the US as we wanted to spend a couple of days on our own touring the city. We are not big on group tours and prefer doing our own thing (this is another big problem if you travel with Viking but will fill you in on that part of the story later). We were told to speak to our local Viking contact at the Sheraton Bucharest hotel - where we were staying as part of their 1 day pre-cruise land offer (and at least it is a very nice hotel, and since I hold Platinum status with them, we were upgraded to a lovely suite). Pre-cruise meeting August 20th in the evening – Sheraton Hotel: The Viking person there told us to have our luggage out by 7:30 am on August 21 and to meet in the lobby by 9 am. She indicated that there would be a scenic tour through the city on our way to a location for lunch and then a bus ride to the ship. What we were not told or even offered, especially for those guests that had already been in the city for days prior to cruising, was given an option to go straight to the ship from the hotel. August 21, ship boarding day, what really happened: Stop 1 - they bused us around the city again and took us to Old town (our 5th time there, remember, we arrived on August 17th!), then wanted to give us a walking tour of Old town, why??? We told them we had already been there 5 other times, so instead my husband and I sat around some bank building steps for almost 2 hours while the rest of the guest did their so called "tour" what a waste! At this time of day (9 am) all of Old Town restaurants are closed and only some coffee shops were open, we just had breakfast at the hotel as instructed! We sat around from 9 to 11:30 am! I asked Diani (or Dina) our very confused tour guide on bus 14, if there was a better option for us that we could meet them at the restaurant, she actually threatened and said that if we did not arrive at the restaurant, we would have to take a private car to the ship and that was about 1 hour and 45 minutes ride, so my husband and I decided to tag along. Old town tour is done thankfully, and now they tell us we are going to the Parliament building for a 10-minute picture stop and finishing up at the Museum of the Villages before lunch. Stop 2 - We crossed through town again, and saw the same scenery, the arch, the revolution square, heard the same stories and finally arrived at the Parliament location again and after 10 minutes those that got off for “picture moments” got back on the bus, where the tour guide and her very valuable assistant proceeded to do a head count and appeared that they were short 1 person as she stated that we were originally 37 on our bus (#14) and now we were 36. She then told us that we could not leave until such person was found and asked us if we knew this person? How could we know such person as we just all boarded 2 hours ago, none of us have even met, let alone know all the passengers on board? She didn't even know if we were looking for a man or woman. After an almost 45-minute wait in the parking lot, they finally gave up and we headed to the Museum of the villages tour. Stop 3 – Museum of Villages - What a dump, The is and old, mosquito infested open air museum that has the different house structures of Romania within its compound, we were forced to be there for 2 hours, so again we tried to find a decent place to sit while we waited for our 2 pm departure. We sat in an un air-conditioning hut where they Come to find out, that during this tour, the tour guide's quiet head sets and microphone were not working so no one could hear her talking about this 'wonderful museum'. Again, my husband and I do not like group tours, and we made this clear to the agent when we booked our cruise directly with Viking, he told us we could also do our own thing, really? Stop 4 – LUNCH - So now we are down to lunch, oh boy, it was at Pescarus by a local lake (why not Hard Rock cafe next door, at least the building is nicer, and they have real a/c and great food). The tour guide made it sound that this was an exceptional high-end restaurant with wonderful local food. This restaurant reminded us of an old 70 diner in Vegas, the food was some type of composition of lots of onions with some 3 pieces of meat, potatoes and bread, with some side salad. Wine, water and if you only asked beer, as they didn't voluntarily offered beer or told us it was included in our meal. My husband had already gone to the bar and paid for his as we didn't know it was also included. This was lunch – nursing home cafeteria!!! Oh, and some local folkloric dancing was provided for entertainment. Guys this is what you call luxury travel and superb top of the line service, read your advertisement, it is a SCAM, total SCAM!!! Then finally we are off to the ship, almost 2 hours into the drive, the tour guide's information about Romania is focused on that people have their own gardens, grow their own vegetables and fruits, and have cows, chicken, and pigs in their lands, and indicates "to the left you will see some cows, to the right you will see how gypsies live. Coming to the right again are more cows and some chickens"? Really... ok so we finally arrive the ship.... Finally, on board - Room was quite small, but appeared comfortable at least, we had room 323 on the highest level with a Veranda (never got to use it). The ship has NO WOW factor, it is small, clean, but small. Our room had a mini bar but of course empty why would they want to even fill it up with sodas, juice and beer for you, like most "LUXURY" cruises do when you pay such a high-price, of course not, we are just cattle and their job is to hurry you up to the next port of call get you off the ship and put you on another awesome tour for the day, give you some petty lunch and bring you back for dinner. We could see this coming. We had a decent dinner and some drinks at the bar and called it a night, we could not get much sleep as people were walking above our room, since we were on the top floor above us was the walking track! There is a taped paper sign by the railing asking guest that as a "curtesy not to walk between the hours of 10 pm to 7 am" did they see, read or listen, no! So between toilet flushes (oh yes, they have some type of vacuum system that is so loud, you can hear everyone’s flushes all night long - remember, the majority of passengers on this ship were over 70, I think we were the youngest, so they go to the restroom a LOT! And the guest walking above our room, we probably got 4 hours of sleep, but we thought when they all get off the boat tomorrow, we can relax and enjoy the ship and sleep in -- not! We were told that for those that were not going on tours in Russe, Bulgaria the next morning, they could lower their room speaker’s volume so you would not be disturbed! Right!!! 7:45 am a loud speaker wakes us up, literately we both jumped out of bed, as they had to announce the departing time for tours!!! We tried to reduce the speaker volume, and were unsuccessful as it was broken, so we knew now that sleeping in would not be an option for the next days. We decided to try and go to bed once again after everyone got off the boat and this is where the real meal plan begins. You see they offer breakfast from 7-9, because they don't expect any one to remain on the ship, why would they bother to extend breakfast time to maybe 10:30 for those that do want to stay onboard. All luxury ships provide some type of meal service throughout and 24 hours. This ship does not offer ROOM SERVICE, so you are screwed. You must eat at hours told, if not, you will end up like us with no breakfast or lunch for our first full day on board. By the time I got up on the first day of cruising (Aug 22), we both missed out on breakfast, tough luck! They had some breads and cold cuts, but forget some nice eggs or omelet, bowl of cereal or warm toast. We decided to stay on board to see how the experience would be as we had decided not to join any of the "free tours" based on our pre-cruise tour experience we could see the quality and decided to just get off where we could at each port of call and do our own thing (of course we didn't get to do that as we permanently got off the next day!). 1st full and last day on board - here it goes, we have no real breakfast, for lunch we both napped again and by the time we woke up we had missed the light lunch they sat out for the maybe 12 passengers that stayed on board. So, we ate what was left before they picked up by 2 pm. My husband likes to smoke his cigars, and proceeded after lunch to go to the upper deck to have one and enjoy the river view, to his amazement, they had removed all shading in the designated "smoking" area at the back of the ship, he literately sat in the withering sun at 90 degrees F trying to enjoy his cigar, he could not and just got up and we ended up spending the remaining of the day in the a/c lounge area. There is absolutely no wait service in the upper deck. If you want to get a drink, you must go down to the bar and order one. You are on your own. By this time my husband was so fed up with how the services are on board and the limited staff that is available we were so disenchanted that I only wanted to be off this ship! So, this is how the meals program works, breakfast is 7-9 am, lunch 12-2 pm, however, the restaurant is not open for those days where everyone or the majority of passengers our off on tours. So, the only day that lunch would even be available in the restaurant is the 24th as it was the only "Sailing day" to "enjoy the luxuries of this ship" a joke. Dinner starts at 7 pm as per their program sent to us. Not true, on the ship we were told that if you did not make it past 7:20 pm in the restaurant, most likely you would miss out on your appetizer, and if you got there by 7:45 pm you would might not get your main course, so of course everyone like cattle, herd over to the restaurant right at 7 pm! What a joke, where is the luxury in this, the comfort, why work on your time vs. ours! We are paying for this service it is not a nursing home, but we sure felt like it! We were so disgusted with this that we didn't even put in our dinner order we went back to our room and discussed our options, we decided to cut this trip short and leave! Didn't care where, just leave! I spoke with the Hotel director on board and explained that we were so disenchanted with this whole experience we just wanted off the boat. We left August 23 at 9 am to never, ever turn back. We ended up having to pay for a driver to take us to Sofia, Bulgaria $200 Euros. Booked a room at the Hilton in Sofia for 5 nights and booked two one-way plane tickets $1500 K to take us from Sofia to Budapest on the 28th as we already have the 2 post days in Budapest booked with Viking. We don't head home until the 1st of Sept so it would of cost us a lot of money to change our first-class seats back to the US for an earlier departure, plus Budapest has been on our bucket list for a long time. So, to summarize our experience, if you are looking for true luxurious travel, with all the comforts of high-end cruising VIKING IS NOT, again NOT FOR YOU! Our advice, please do your research, I failed to do this, and we relied on what people we knew that travel like us had shared! I didn't bother to read reviews, or investigate further, since their pricing and advertising is similar to those true luxury lines, we didn't think twice on booking. However, lessons learned, from now on it does not matter how experience travelers we are, we will always check. I am so upset about this, this cost us over $15,000 K, we could have done a beautiful resort in Hawaii or a luxury pent-house cruise in the Caribbean for this price, but no, we chose Viking due to their misleading, false advertising. As I initially stated, I called their customer service number once we arrived at Sofia, Bulgaria to ensure that they would NOT cancel our hotel in Budapest as it was part of the package and to also request a partial refund for such an awful experience. They lady on the phone proceeded to tell me that we didn't buy trip insurance and therefore, we were not owned anything back! As we chose to leave, no lady, you gave us plenty of reasons to leave that is the big difference!! We didn't buy trip insurance, why would we, we are both healthy and had every intention to make this trip, it is my husband’s 60th. She told me that if we would have purchased it, there would have been a partial refund. NOT TRUE, their trip insurance does not refund you for dissatisfied services only for the following as per their brochures: CANCEL FOR ANY REASON WAIVER DETAILS What We Will Do: Under the “Cancel For Any Reason” Waiver, we will waive our cancellation penalties and reimburse you in cash or travel vouchers (depending on the reason for cancellation) for the nonrefundable portion of your Viking trip cost, provided that you cancel before your scheduled departure. We will also waive any additional fees you would otherwise incur for a change in your per person occupancy rate if a person booked to travel with you cancels his or her trip and you do not cancel your trip. How You Are Reimbursed: If you cancel for one of the “Specified Reasons” listed in the Protection Plan document, we will reimburse you in cash. If you cancel for any other reason, we will reimburse you with a travel voucher that can be used for future voyages with us. The maximum amount covered under this “Cancel For Any Reason” Waiver is the cost of the travel arrangements provided by Viking Cruises. TRIP INTERRUPTION AND DELAYED ARRIVAL - Provides You with a reimbursement for the unused prepaid, non-refundable Payments or Deposits for Your land or water Travel Arrangements for Your Trip, plus the additional airfare cost to return home, if Your Trip is interrupted for a covered reason. MISSED CONNECTION - Provides You with a reimbursement for the unused portions of Your land or water Travel Arrangements, plus the additional costs to join Your trip, if Your arrival at the Trip destination is delayed for 3 hours or more for a covered reason. TRAVEL DELAY - Assists with additional travel expenses incurred when You are delayed at least 12 hours due to a covered reason. In the event of a covered delay, You will be reimbursed for additional expenses for hotels, meals, and transportation. AIR FLIGHT ONLY ACCIDENTAL DEATH & DISMEMBERMENT - Provides coverage up to the maximum benefit payable for loss of life, limb or sight resulting from an Accidental Injury. MEDICAL EXPENSE/EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE - Provides Medical Expense benefits for a covered Sickness or Injury incurred while on Your Trip. When required, We will evacuate You to the nearest qualified hospital and will then return You home when You are safe to travel. POLITICAL OR SECURITY EVACUATION - Provides coverage for all reasonable evacuation expenses incurred for Your transportation to the nearest safe haven, if You must leave Your Trip for a covered Political or Security Event. Evacuation must occur within 10 days of any Political or Security Event. BAGGAGE & PERSONAL EFFECTS - Provides reimbursement when Your baggage or personal belongings are damaged, lost or stolen during Your Trip. Personal belongings include such things as loss of luggage, jewelry, passports or travel visas. Ms. Viking Customer service or better yet, Mr. Hagen (CEO and President of Viking) tell me where you would reimburse me if we were unsatisfied with your services if we would have even opted to buy your so called “travel Insurance” oh but yes, another scam. Things to know, the main drive of Viking is to sell you tours, to get you off their ships like cattle herding as they now don't have to entertain you with drinks and meals on board. They put you on buses and bus you around and give you nice bottles of “warm” water and some type of lunch meal, then bus you back to their ship and feed you again to put you back to sleep in your corral and do this all over the next day. I call Viking a low-class glamping service, that really is what they are. There is absolutely no way to reach out to those higher up in the Viking organization, but one wonders if they are possibly well aware of these selling methods and activities. It is all about driving profit. I feel that as a consumer is my right to advocate for us travelers, and if publishing my review throughout all travel sites will have my voice heard, I will do until I have someone in the Viking organization try and appease this situation with us and reimburse us partially for such a disappointing and disastrous experience. I will also be disputing this with my credit card company. Also, anyone would be so kind, please share this review. Again, thank you for taking the time to read my review and feel free in reaching out to us, united we have a bigger voice. August 25, 2019