Horrible River Cruise

Viking Beyla Cruise Review to River Cruises - Europe

Conned

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

2.3 out of 5

9 Night Elegant Elbe Eastbound (Berlin To Prague)

Sail date: November 10, 2021

Ship: Viking Beyla

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

I recently returned from the worse cruise experience of my life and I blame it on Viking River Cruises. Viking is not the image they advertise! Their website didn't work for months before my cruise. It took an hour to get through the phones. My flight back -which Viking arranged - was canceled and they never informed me (Luckily I looked at the airline schedule so I could find my own flight. I was still charge for their air assistance). The day after I arrived, Eastern Europe closed down for another pandemic breakout. Surely experienced Viking knew about the closedown 24 hours before. They should have told me the morning of my departure and I could have avoided the hell I went through. Viking mishandled 90% of my Elegant Elbe River Cruise. Viking boasts how they've does business in that part of the for years and are the best. Most of our advertised main river stops were closed to us. Instead, Vikiing took us on buses to dreary non-tourist cities and left us at repetitive small local Xmas markets; a few kiosks, sausages and candy every time. They didn't even use Google to tell us interesting facts. The ship was dreary, not a touch of a decoration or color, zilch entertainment except for an afternoon piano and the worst TV of any cruise I've experienced. "Happy Hour" was peanuts and a piano player. Meals were not creative or interesting. When they used their metal gangplank there was no rubber mat to prevent us from slipping on the wet surface. One passenger was badly injured and they didn’t have a doctor or a medical kit onboard. Every excursion (except for Prague) was about WWII, nazis and walls from bombed buildings. Never could our guide come up with a recommendation for a place to eat or trip (haven't they heard of Trip Advisor?)! This was one of their most costly cruises. When I returned, I received a voucher I'll never use for 25% of my $10,000 cruise! Online, I read they they hand out vouchers like candy and no one receives compensation a cruise that went sour, very sour.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

The food was nothing exciting or memorable. The dining room was gray, plain and not what I expected on a luxury cruise. Happy hour consisted off peanuts.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

There is nothing to do on the Beyla! Entertainment consisted of a piano player (no requests) and terrible TV.. The weather was bad so we stayed inside. Everything is gray. There was no color or artwork or even a holiday decoration. We had lots of service but there was nothing to get service over. There is no fitness center, pool or even any cards or gameboards onboard.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Horrible. my travel companion and I felt trapped in a gray box with nothing going on. A grand piano or Downton Abbey in my room is not my idea of a luxury cruise. The Cruise Director had no humor or interaction although she did all the proper forms and tests.

Children's Programs

This is not a ship for children -- ever. Plus, I am single wo children.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

The service was excellent within limits. One passenger was badly injured on their slippery icy gangplank and they had no medical kit or doctor. There was no room service.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

The ship was nicely basic...and unexciting. It was very clean. We had to use a metal gangplank in the bad weather and it slippery and icy. After one bad fall the staff covered it with bath towels at every stop. 30 hears in the business and they didn't have rubber mats.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

The cabin was very clean and comfortable with plenty of room. It was also rather plain, all gray and beige, not pictures or color of any kind. The thermostat was very adjustable.

Ship tip

Don't go unless you can be sure there is no change in their routine. Covid prevented most of our planned stops and it's a terrible ship to be stuck on.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Wittenberg, Germany

2 out of 5

Meissen, Germany Did not visit port

The port was closed to us due to a new pandemic shutdown. I still believe Viking had time to inform us of the shutdown before we left the US.

Thumbs Up 0

Dresden, Germany Did not visit port

We were told we couldn't land due to pandemic shutdown.

Thumbs Up 0

Decin, Czech Republic

1 out of 5

End Of Vacation

2 out of 5

We ended in Prague for 2 days. Viking wasn't responsible for the bad weather. Our hotel was a huge conference hotel and kept way to cold for comfort.

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Viking was very thorough and took small numbers of passengers right to their airplane checkin.

8 Comments

VikingCruises 2 years ago

Thank you for sharing you experience with the cruising community, Conned. Although we're saddened to learn that many aspects of your voyage were not as delightful as you'd envisioned, including our onboard entertainment and offered shore excursions, we've taken note of your feedback. We appreciate your understanding of necessary itinerary adjustments, which are often determined by local port authorities and implemented with your experience and safety in mind. As mentioned, we've recorded your remarks, however we welcome a continued discussion should you wish to share more at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. We're grateful for the opportunity to respond and wish you all the best.

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izrgreen 2 years ago

Sorry to hear of your experience.

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willwork4cruz 2 years ago

Did you hear of the ports shutting down on the news before you left? Once the port makes that decision, they send a press release. I'm sure they don't contact all the tour operators ahead of that. Sail at your own risk, especially when ports are shutting down all the time.

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Awful, sail safe

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javawoody 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing

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CruzeFan 2 years ago

Thanks for the review. Sounds like river cruising is not for you, at least not until Covid is over.

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cruising2004 2 years ago

Sorry to hear about your experiences.

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AuntPinkie 2 years ago

Sorry all that happened!

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