Poor Experience
Viking Aegir Cruise Review to Europe
7 Night Danube Waltz Westbound (Budapest To Passau)
Sail date: April 13, 2018
Ship: Viking Aegir
Cabin type: Balcony
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
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.Embarkation
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1 Comment
VikingCruises 6 years ago