Specifically one of the river tours?
My husband and I have been looking at them and we like not only the itineraries of a few, but also the smaller group size and the sound of the planned tours etc.
Any insight?
I have not taken a Viking branded cruise. But I have taken a US river cruise on a small boat with 100+ guests, not umpteen thousand.
It is a totally different experience that your standard mongo Love Boat. Totally recommend. Anything else I might say runs the risk of being too cruise line-specific or itinerary-specific.
But its a totally different experience from Big Cruising. And one my now-deceased first wife and I enjoyed greatly.
I was disappointed by the lack of pillaging, Odin worshipping, and inflicting the blood eagle on captured foes. Would not recommend.
We will be taking a Viking ocean cruise in July. If there’s anything I can tell you about our experience, before or after our trip, feel free to ask.
While looking around for advice on our cruise, I found YouTuber Gary Bembridge, whose site is Tips for Travelers.
He mainly focuses on the big ocean cruisers, but he has a few videos about river cruising, too. Here’s one.
Although I haven’t watched this one myself, I liked his sensibilities and viewpoints in the ones on ocean cruises I did watch, and you may, too. Or look for other YT sites more narrowly focused on river cruising. There are sure to be some.
Good luck.
My sister has taken a few and loved them. We mentioned this to our financial advisor and he said a lot of his clients also love them.
We have taken a couple on Viking, in Europe, and enjoyed them immensely. The boats we were on were very well designed and appointed. The rooms were good sized and comfortable. If you have experience on large ocean going cruises, the experience is very different.
Certainly the crowds are not an issue. As expected the dining options are not as varied. And the entertainment is very modest compared to large cruise ships.
A nice feature is that many of the port stops are that you literally step off the boat and you are in town. There are shore excursion options that put you on a bus to take you somewhere, but if you choose not to do those you can generally just stroll around town on your own.
We didn’t even loot Lindesfarne visit the Gift Shoppe.
Having watched the video, I would say he’s not wrong exactly, but he seems to frame his opinions in the most negative way possible. He seemed to characterize the shore excursions as very regimented, and that you were not allowed to pass on those. I don’t know where he picked that up. There were always a couple of options. And we found that it was no problem to choose to stay on board or walk around town instead. And that our experience with large ocean cruises often had a much more stressful scheduling around excursions (must be at the bus by 6:30 am for a 4 hour ride to see X).
As always, YMMV. I suspect that this commentator enjoys large bustling urban metropolises vs. villages and outdoor experiences.
As I said, I haven’t watched that video, and I haven’t taken a river cruise, so I can’t speak to his comments on it. I just have found him helpful in preparing for our ocean cruise. Some of his comments about Viking ocean cruising were mildly condescending, as if he were surprised to find the ship was as nice as it was.
But his tips about how to plan embarkation and debarkation days, how to get good service, what to do and not do, etc., have been interesting and helpful. (For instance, having loud sex in your room with the balcony doors open can get you thrown off the ship or even banned! He did not find this out first hand.)
And a lot of it is from the perspective of someone who really wants to be on a giant cruise ship and enjoy cruise ship entertainment. My sense, which he confirms, but treats as a negative rather than just a feature that you might prefer or not, is that river cruises are more about traveling without needing to pack and unpack endless hotel rooms. It’s not really about the joy of being in a large boat with boat-provided gift shops and entertainment.
Yeah, I really DON’T want the big cruise with giant buffets and nightclub acts and all the rest. I want to move slowly through the landscape and watch the scenery, eat good food that I don’t have to cook and clean up after, and do some gentle sightseeing.
And if I could do it without being surrounded by shrieking kids, so much the better.
Wife and I took one (Basel to Amsterdam) in Oct/Nov 2019. Could not recommend Viking more highly. No children, no casino, no auction or even a big gift shop. Every morning had an excursion, but they are entirely optional. We took a couple of the offered ones that we paid for. We thought them good value. Food selection is limited but was extremely good. All evening meals made from fresh food and vegetables loaded to the ship that morning and based on regional dishes. Highly enjoyable, and we are going on another late this year. On the higher end of the pricing but well worth it in my opinion.
Yeah, at the risk of continuing to hijack this thread into a commentary on the video, there are cruise experiences that appeal to the younger nightlife crowd at one end of the spectrum, and cruises experiences that appeal to the not-so-younger quieter crowd on the other end. River cruises are not for the younger nightlife crowd.
Cool. We’re doing Amsterdam to Basel in October, rescheduling for a Danube trip we canceled during Covid. We’re going that way because we are taking the pre-cruise package, since we always arrive early in case of flight delays. And I figured there is more to do in Amsterdam (which I’ve been to, but only for dinner) than Basel.
We did this exact itinerary last May on Uniworld, and spent 3 days in Amsterdam at the start. Very nice!
We did a Viking river cruise a few years ago and would thoroughly recommend it.
Book a cabin with a balcony if you can. They are tiny compared to a cruise ship, but It’s nice to have the fresh air and the view.
At every port, we had several options. A couple of coach tours to places of interest, a guided walking tour around the town, doing our own thing and of course, staying on board.
We opted out of the coach tours as visiting somewhere in a large group doesn’t appeal. We did some of the guided tours but mostly opted for DIY. Every town has a cathedral and it’s not long before you are “all cathedralled out”.
I haven’t done a river cruise, but this sounds very appealing! I see the TV commercials for Viking and they look tempting. About the post about getting a room with a view. That’s how I’d do it.
I’ve only done a handful of cruises (again, not river), and in the western Mediterranean we sailed between Sardinia and Corsica, and I made sure to be where I could see the island.
My wife and I have done one ocean cruise (Princess I think). Never again. Felt like we were in a huge apartment complex with mass food service and lots of kids.
We’ve done a couple of Viking river cruises (pre-pandemic) and are now thinking about another.
Thoughts:
Seine cruise: The river was flooded so the boat could not sail (couldn’t fit under some of the bridges). It’s a relatively short cruise (Paris to Normandy) so they bused us for excursions (which would happen anyway), but they had identical boats at the Paris start point and at Rouen, which was the cruise far point. We slept and ate on the Paris boat a few nights and on an identical boat in Rouen after that. So we slept and ate on board, had the same room number and they moved all our stuff with no hassle to us. Saw Monet’s home and gardens (beautiful) and Omaha beach and surroundings (a lifetime experience). I felt they did a fabulous job of making the best of a bad situation, and they gave a partial credit toward another cruise.
Rhine cruise: We actually started in Amsterdam for a few days and bused to the cruise start. Being a history guy, this was a fabulous cruise. Cologne, Strasbourg, ending in Basel. Had a tour of the Colmar pocket area - actually saw the place where Audie Murphy somehow failed to die and became a hero. Another lasting memory was passing through locks late at night on the Rhine and being able to reach out and touch the concrete wall that was one side of the lock.
I enjoyed Viking. I believe maximum capacity is 200 guests. It doesn’t feel crowded. Food is actually quite good and locally sourced for the most part. Crew unfailingly friendly and knowledgeable. Two levels of tours - one included and one up-charge. We mostly did the up-charge tours; they have professional local guides who (in our experience) were great and the groups for those tours are small. Another thing I liked: They provide small wireless headphone sets (Quiet Vox?) so the tour guide speaks quietly into your ear instead of shouting to a group. And the guide doesn’t have to carry a flag for you to follow around.
I have no experience with other river cruises, but Viking provides a well-done cruise in my opinion. Hope this is helpful.
Wife and I just got back from a Viking cruise. Cruise of a lifetime and we wanted to take it before we got too old. My wife remarked many times that we were wise because even though we are old…we were one of the youngest couples there. Most in 70s and 80s and have mobility issues. We may be older but no mobility issues yet. It wasn’t a river cruise but the 2 week Mediterranean antiquity cruise.
I was nervous as my wife never had taken a cruise before where I had taken several when young/not married. It is different. Kind of like a Renn Fesitival in which people are excited to go until they see what it is about and are disappointed. Basically, if you like laying around, drinking and eating like crazy, not have to lift a finger for anything, love being waited on and love going on excursions that are looking at things and not much action…cruises are for you.
I need not have worried. My wife loved it.
Make sure you get the liquor package so you can drink like a fish and try anything you want and make sure you don’t skimp on shore excursions. They can add some cost but this is why you are taking the cruise in the first place. Look these up as soon as possible as some excursions can sell out. Also, try to do a couple meals in the ‘fancy’ restaurants. The normal food is fine and you don’t want to overdo the ‘fancy’ but it is worth doing some especially if you have the liquor package.
As for cabin? I tried telling my wife we could skimp and get a lower cost cabin as you only sleep and shower and store stuff in there anyway but she wanted a private deck…which we didn’t use much 
From this moment on, you’re dead to me. My GF and I have been going to the PA Renn Faire about once a year for the last ten years. I can do a Russian accent and ask “Pardoning me- how many rubles is this?” I can watch shows. I can eat a gigundous turkey leg. I can drink mead. I doth love the Renn Faire!