River Cruises - Europe Cruise Reviews

Viking is a premier cruise line. The staff and the ship were impressive as expected. The water levels and weather made the experience less enjoyable than a prior Viking river cruise on a different river. The success of these cruises has caused a very large number of ships from a number of lines, which translates to crowding at the docks and in the small old cities. As long as the possibility of the frequent and long coach rides is expected, these cruises are great.

When I booked a “river cruise” I expected what is shown in their marketing campaigns. Most of the time my veranda was tethered to another ship close enough to touch. Other than meeting other nice travelers, I should have just spent the money on a nice hotel in Vienna and taken the train to Budapest for another few days at a 5 star hotel. Their marketing implies that tours are included, but in actuality what’s included is a two hour “walking tour” in each port. Supplemental tours were all minimum $129+. I have already booked & paid for a Nile cruise with them for next year. I certainly hope it’s a better experience. I realize that they cannot control the weather or the water levels, but I feel that we should have had an option or been better informed of what the low water levels meant as opposed to an email a week before departure.

We have always been extremely satisfied with the service we received working with the Koehrings. They are always available to answer any questions we have. If they don't have an answer, they get back to us with answers. We continually recommend their services to our friends and family. We were pleased with the cruise. Always kept busy and never a dull moment. The guides were very good. The history lessons were interesting. But the beauty of these cities were fantastic!

Probably won’t do Viking again. Would like someone to call me or will have to tell all my friends what happened

We were very excited for this trip but wouldn’t go again. Many delays. Many truck stops. Limited excursions once onboard. Terrible room. No sanitation. Lack of local wine. So many more small issues that shouldn’t happen on a luxury boutique line. Others are much better.

I prefer larger ocean cruises because of gambling, shows, and variety of food choices. The cruise was educational and great included excursions. A great itinerary for a river cruise.

We had great service and wonderful food. The ports were interesting and guides pleasant and knowledgeable.

We cruise quite often but this was our first Viking river cruise. It was like no other cruise in regards to service and the attention you receive from the staff. Excellent.

We had initially booked for May of 2020 and had to reschedule due to the global pandemic. I had a major medical event while trying to rebook and our credit was about to expire so I asked Avalon to do the air and add-ons, WHAT A MISTAKE!! The ship was changed, which was fine, but we later learned from the cruise director that the original ship "was old and being retired so the new one was better." Yet they were glad to book us on it to start with for of course full price. The day before we left on the cruise the itenerary was changed and the most important stop for us was cancelled, Nuremberg. The next problem was our flight to Prague. We flew from Tampa to Chicago, had a 6 hour layover, flew to Vienna for 8 1/2 hours, another 3 hour layover and then to Prague. UNBELIVABLE!! There were couples from Canada that flew to Amsterdam and then to Prague, we can also fly from Tampa direct to Amsterdam. Why were we flown so far out of the way with such poor connections? The add-on for Prague was a joke and very expensive. The charge was $1,000.00 for 2 nights w/ breakfast, a walking tour of a castle and city tour. I priced the hotel and it was $188.00 a night, how much was Avalon making on each add-on per person?? And then the motor coaches started and continued throughout the entire trip. Our embarkation port was then a 4 hour drive instead of 2 hours and the itenerary was completely changed and other ports were missed. The entire time the cruise director acted like a used car salesman trying to tell us how wonderful everything is when it was all terrible, "please look over here while we try to distract you from reality". Some of the guides were good others were absolutely terrible. The food on cruise was at times inedible, not just my opinion but that of most of the passengers. German food is not listed as a favorite worldwide cuisine in the top 15 yet most every meal and in each catagory was German and not done very well. I love vegetarian food but they tried to hard and totally missed the mark. You should not come off a cruise having lost weight, on this cruise it was very easy. I understand they want to offer some regional meals but there should be more middle of the road dished. The dining room staff worked hard and were friendly, the remainder not very friendly at all. I could go on and on with more issues but will finish with our return flight. Avalon scheduled us for a 6:30am flight home that required us to leave the boat at 3:15am and then travel for the next 20 1/2 hours to get home. When I asked the cruise director about this, he blamed Bonvoy cruises. Most every passenger caught a respiratory virus, confrimed by urgent care when we returned home, and this may have happened as there never seemed to be anyone cleaning the handrails or the common areas even though you could hear and see everyone was sick. Best of all was the bus driver pulled up to the airport, pulled out the luggage and left. Thank goodness Viking cruises had representatives meeting their passengers at the airport door and offered assistance to all of us. This also happend when we landed in Frankfurt, they meet our plane for their passengers and took pity on us and escorted us to customs and to our gates with many helpful hints about food, shopping and restrooms. Overall this was our first and last river cruise, Avalon was very disappointing on every level. This terrible experience was very costly at $15,000.00 for 11 days, and as advertised everything is not included so be prepared.

Excellent food and service onboard. Poor customer service exhibited at disembarkation and the final intended port (Budapest). A written two-page letter was sent to the President/CEO of Viking, but all we received was lip service, a small credit, and no formal written reply whatsoever... Viking is supposed to be a top-notch customer service organization - but it failed miserably. We will be cruising elsewhere going forward.

The lack of water in the Danube made for some work arounds to get us to different ports but the ship worked around the problem by busing us to ports of call or different excursions and found proper hotels.

I’ve been on many cruises, and four River cruises. I think they’re starting to be overpriced

Very enjoyable. On the go everyday, but still had time to relax and enjoy the ship. Food was great and the crew pleasant and helpful

The country of Portugal is wonderful to visit, and Viking provides a visit that superb. The 7-night cruise is the highlight, as the entire Douro Valley is magnificent, and Viking offers tremendous activities both on and off the boat for its guests. The days in Lisbon prior to sailing are wonderful, and the pre- and post-cruise extensions offer even more opportunities to fall in love with this great region of the world.

The Elegant Elbe itinerary visits a number of interesting ports with historical significance. Prague and Berlin are both very interesting cities to visit. The low water and subsequent lack of actual cruising detracted from the overall experience. The move between ships was quite smooth other than having to pack and unpack an extra time.

Outstanding cruise with amazing service. Alina and Marcello Stood out from a staff perspective. Yasaar our waiter was also Amazing. We had great excursions. We felt Pampered.

Overall the cruise was ok for us- not exceptional. But we had been to most of the ports previously. Service very good. Food ok but not exceptional. Cabin smaller than expected.

A must do for everyones bucket list. You will meet many nice people and Viking makes it easy and stress free.

Need a Zurich hotel closer to the Old Town, & a Paris hotel in a more walkable area!

Maybe we weren't old enough. Not enough to do on the boat, beds were not very comfortable, and the included tours were pretty much a march through the town with about 30 to 45 minutes of free time before loading back on the bus. The upper deck was closed for 5 days due to the water levels and the bridges, so felt a bit trapped inside.