Viking Aegir

small cabin and limited choice food. staff was good.

We're glad we did one Viking river cruise. However, in the future we plan to stay with ocean cruises which cost less and offer more food choices in a much more pleasant atmosphere. With all the liquor served onboard the Aegir, lunch and dinner in the dining room were very, very loud. We could hardly converse with each other because of the extremely loud passengers all around us. Because river cruises are "all inclusive" we paid for alcohol we did not drink, and had to endure the people who certainly got their money's worth. At most of the ports our side of the ship had good views, but sometimes we were tied up side by side with other Viking ships at the same docking space & had no view, & had to keep our drapes closed, as did the cabin facing us. In Budapest the Viking Tor was between 2 other ships; neither side of their cabins had any view of that beautiful city; that was a shame, and a real disappointment for passengers that had no view.

Outstanding destinations, excellent crew and staff; great guides; good onboard food and bar, wine list could be improved, but adequate.  Ship was comfortable, suite was really nice.  Housekeeping was excellent.

ship was like new

My experience was not a good one, for three primary reasons. First, we paid a lot for a room with an outside balcony, and it was almost useless. Viking has so many boats cruising the same place at the same time that it "docks" all of its boats side-by-side. And, very importantly, most of our river cruising was at night. This meant that during almost all daylight hours, our outside deck was one foot away from ANOTHER Viking ship's outside deck and we were blocked from seeing ANYTHING from our deck, OR our window. This happened at EVERY docking on our 7 day journey. So we SAW almost nothing of the river side scenery along the trip (only the Wachau Valley, but from the top of the boat). Second, Viking's dock spaces are a LONG walk to an access to shore facilities, such as transportation. You have to WALK a long way along a narrow path beside the docking spaces at every "stop" to catch a cab or public transportation. There is no (direct) access to the public streets/roads from the boat. Viking DOES allow some free time on your own at the stops along the way, but it is EXTREMELY tiring to have to WALK so far in order to gain access to transportation to wherever you want to go, on your own. Third, our Tour Director, and a few other staff were EXTREMELY aggressive/obtrusive in his/their so-called "friendliness". He, and they, simply "over power" you in their manner of speaking, acting, relating, and responding to questions, to the point of being VERY annoying. As a matter of fact, I found it hard to make suggestions or have a conversation with him, and a few others, including front desk personnel, because they were "coming back" with THEIR comments/explanations or "their side of the story" before you could even BEGIN to explain your situation/problem or suggestion. One meaningful comment about this: Once, when we/a small crowd of travelers were :traversing" our way OFF our boat (through a couple of other boats and on the gangway) I kept getting "bumped", several times, from behind by someone else who was in a "big hurry" to pass me or get by me. I FINALLY "stepped to one side" to allow this person to get by me. I was shocked to see it was our Tour Director! When I stepped to one side and invited him to come by me, he made this "grand sweeping motion" with his body and arms and loudly said "OH, NO...of course, YOU first!" He was just being his "typical friendly self"! A couple of waiters were often VERY "off-putting" by their aggressive friendliness, such as "dancing a jig", or singing a little something (to be cute), when they came to your table. These staff persons might be described, among other words one might choose, as VERY egotistical. Based on my experience, I would NEVER travel with Viking again...or recommend Viking to anyone.