Viking River Cruises
Best Value and Service on Viking River Cruises
With itineraries in Europe, China and Russia, Ukraine, Egypt, Cambodia and Vietnam, Viking River Cruises is the world's largest river cruise line. Discriminating travelers appreciate the small-size ships, spacious river-view staterooms and gourmet, on-board meals. Today, the company boasts the world's largest fleet of deluxe river cruisers, including the newest and most luxurious ships on China's Yangtze River. The company is a multi-year recipient of Travel+Leisure's "World Best" award, and has been named to Conde Nast Traveler's "Gold List" multiple times.
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Award-winning service, low prices, client satisfaction
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Review: Rhine Getaway With VikingMedieval castle, grand cathedrals, historic cities, quiant towns and spectacular scenery are all included on this Rhine Getaway With Viking.
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Review: Rhine Getaway With Viking River CruiseThe Rhine Getaway with Viking experience was amazing. We’ve never been on a river cruise before this, and we can’t imagine taking any other type of cruise!
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Review: Danube Waltz With Viking River CruiseDanube Waltz with Viking was a true feast for all our senses, with charming villages, art museums, castles and amazing new food and drinking experiences.
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Review: Rhine Getaway With VikingAll in all, we fell in love with the Alsatian region, Germany, and the beautiful river cruising experience on the Rhine Getaway with Viking.
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Review: Danube Waltz With Viking River CruisesDanube Waltz with Viking river cruise gave us an excellent sampling of each destination’s culture, language, architecture, history, local food and wines.
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Review: Danube Waltz With Viking River CruiseOn the Danube Waltz with Viking River Cruise, there is a tremendous amount of cultural and historical sites throughout the region
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Learn More About Viking River Cruises
Viking is a cruise company which was founded in the year 1997. The company successfully bought the KD River Cruises of Europe in the year 2000. This gave a boom to Viking's growth because not only did KD River Cruises increased its fleet to 26 river vessels but also gave it a 40 year experience as a leverage and provided Viking with access to some of the best docks in the key cities of Europe. Viking opened its marketing headquarter in Los Angeles, California in the year 2000. This gave the company a chance to enter the United States' cruising market. After so many successful endeavors like these in such a short time, Viking became one of the World's largest River Cruise Line. All of which happened in less than a decade of it being introduced into the River Cruise industry. The itineraries that Viking offers have always focused on the destinations that will be visited by the cruise. Since, most of Viking cruises operate from Switzerland; it gives a chance to the company to access some of the very best naturally rich destinations located in Europe.
- Viking is one of the best river cruise tour operator in the World with over two decades of experience in the market.
- Viking River Cruises is owned by Viking. This company also owns two more tour operating subsidiaries apart from Viking River Cruises. These subsidiaries are Viking Ocean Cruises and Viking Expeditions.
- The company operates from its headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It has another headquarter in California, USA, which oversees the marketing and advertisement functions of Viking.
- Viking River Cruises has a fleet of over 76 river vessels, which are all operational and are cruising on the rivers of North America, South America, Europe, Egypt, Southeast Asia and China.
- The company has seen very rapid expansion during its initial three years and has seen continuous growth in the years after that. This growth can be assessed by the fact that currently the company has more than 5000 employees around the globe, which is a huge number as compared to other tour operators.
- The establishment of Viking is a quite unique story of its founder Torstein Hagen who made his money in the Russian private equity markets. He helped a few Russian oligarchs to purchase a shipping company and as a return he received four river cruises from them at a very cheap price. These four vessels were the founding fleet of Viking River Cruises and this is how it all started.
- Viking is planning to expand its river cruising operations further by introducing Mississippi River of United States of America as one of its cruise destinations. They plan to achieve that by the year 2022.
- The average passenger capacity on Viking River Cruises is about 190 while the ship with least capacity can accommodate about 52 passengers and their vessel with the highest capacity can accommodate some 256 passenger. Most of their ships have the same length of 135 meters, have some 95 staterooms and carry the Swiss flag.
- Viking has sponsored a lot of TV programs including Masterpiece Theater by PBS, Sherlock and Downtown Abbey. It also sponsors the National Geographic Channel's scripted series on the life of Albert Einstein called Genius.
- Viking River Cruises has won many awards by different reader's magazines. These awards are mostly based on the user reviews and they depict the approval ratio of customers for this tour operator. Some of the awards that Viking has won are "World's Best by Travel + Leisure", "#1 River Cruise Line by Conde Nast" and "#1 Cruise Line by Cruise Critic"
- Viking also offers air services for its customer's convenience and they can buy their air tickets directly from Viking to match their river cruise dates.
Top Reasons To Choose Viking River Cruises
- It has been voted as the World's number one river cruise line by Conde Nast Traveler 2020 Readers' Choice Awards with the travelers rating it at 97.37 out of 100 on average.
- They provide a series of movies, documentaries, reading materials and videos to their guests before their departure so that the guests can have more insight about the cultures and local traditions of their destinations.
- Viking has always given top priority to their customer's satisfaction and they take into consideration every tiny detail about the cruising experience that their guests are going to have. From their cuisines to their cabin interior everything is designed in a way that you get a feel of the heritage and be able to connect to your destination.
- The onshore experience by Viking River Cruises offers you opportunities and insights that are not seen by many. While there onshore excursions include most of the famous landmarks and attraction spots, they will also take you to too many appealing points at your destinations that are pretty much hidden from the general public.
- The ships of Viking River Cruises are carefully designed in such a way that they are compact enough to be docked at many of the smaller towns in Europe so that you don't miss out on anything.
- They also offer cruises on longer ships that have more luxurious and spacious decks so that the people who like to travel in a more lavish and less crowded cruise ship can have an option to go on a cruise with Viking in their longer ships.
- Viking ships have been designed to accommodate large windows, beautiful terraces and wide balconies where you can sit and have your breakfast with panoramic view of the sun rising from the horizon.
- Their cuisines are destination focus and the food that you eat in their Scandinavian designed restaurant is always going to be something from the regional cuisine of your nearby destination so that you know which place you are at right now.
Frequently Asked Questions About Viking River Cruises
- What kind of trips can I take with you?
Viking is a river cruise company that offers many types of trips for its customers. These trips may include, but are not limited to, small ship river cruises along the European regions, long ship river cruises, cruises with shorter duration of stay and cruises that have a very lengthy duration of stay.
- How much would a tour cost?
Viking is a luxury cruise operator and one of the World's leading names in the industry which is why a lot of people believe that Viking River Cruises maybe very expensive but that is not the case for many of their regular cruises. The reason for this is because they have been in the business for a long time and have excess to supply that does not cost them too much. On average a river cruise by Viking may cost you somewhere around $2000 to $8000 per person. These prices are for a European tour that takes you on a cruise for almost 8 to 21 days.
- Can I take my family with the guide and not be stuck with other people?
Taking a tour guide with you and your family may be possible in the case where there are some extra tour guides available on the ship. Since the tour guides provided by Viking are very experienced and their availability exclusively for your family can not be promised. But if you intimate this request to the company before your tour then they may be able to accommodate you somehow.
- Can I tell the agent what I want out of the trip?
This company has a very high customer satisfaction ratio and they give their utmost importance to their customers. They have many programs through which you can let them know about your expectations and desires for the trip.
- Do they have support that can help me regardless of what time?
Yes there are many different ways by which you can contact the support staff of Viking and they will definitely respond back to you with in a short while. They have a toll free number and an email address available on their website "contact us" page that you can use to reach out to them.
- What do the guides do for you?
Viking River Cruise's tour guides are very knowledgeable and they will guide you about each and everything of your destination. These guides will always be there on your onshore excursions and will help you out in every matter possible.
- Do they have specialists that are working in each place?
Yes, their people specialize in the fields in which they work. They have been doing it for many years and have developed a special set of skills that help Viking stand out amongst its competitors.
- What type of way can you travel when you are traveling through Viking Cruises?
Viking River Cruises has two more partner companies, Viking Ocean Cruises and Viking Land Expeditions. These three companies together offer you a vast number of options in which you can travel with them. You can either go on a river cruise, an ocean cruise or you can also choose to go to the destination by yourself and let Viking help you out in your land expeditions.
- Who customizes the itinerary or things you are going to do ahead of time?
A team of professionals who are expert in customizing itineraries do this job for the Viking. These people have customized too many itineraries before and have the knowhow of creating itineraries.
- Where do you stay while you are at the destinations?
Your stay on land is also going to be very decent if you are travelling with Viking because they offer packages that have the cost of staying in beautiful hotels and resorts during on shore expeditions, included in the price.
- Is there a single supplement that can be used for travelers who are solo?
Yes, there is a single supplement charged to solo travelers. This charge is not a fixed charge and may change with the passage of time. As of now, Viking is offering a very low supplement charge of only 25% which is available for a very limited time only.
- On average, what is the group size like?
Group size in Viking cruises may vary from time to time and cruise to cruise. A typical group on a Viking cruise may consist of 10 to 15 people if you are on a walking tour but if you are on a bus tour then the group size might increase to be between 40 and 50 passengers, which can be a little problematic for those who like to travel with a little privacy.
Viking met and exceeded our expectation. It was our very first river cruise and we're simply blown away with the overall experience. The room was always kept neat and tidy. The food and wait staff were outstanding. All the included excursions were great. Couldn't have ask for a better trip. Another check mark off our bucket lists!
Our Viking Cruise was nearly flawless. They go out of their way to make sure you have a lovely time. The accommodations are a little plain but most of what you do is off the ship. We loved the comfort of the modern busses and the use of the headsets to hear what the guide was saying made it so easy to catch every word. The guides are the best in the industry. The itineraries were all very interesting. We did not feel that we wasted a minute of our time. The food was excellent and included local recipes along with many other choices. The wine was great and was included with each meal. There was always some kind of entertainment in the evening. The set up on the ship made it possible to easily mingle with other guests.
The staff on the Viking Cruise were phenomenal. They were very pleasant, attentive and accommodating. The Program Director, David, was energetic and enthusiastic. He skillfully managed problems that arise that were beyond his control(climate related). He did so in a positive and update manner. Lufthansa Airlines was very disappointing. The loading procedures both here and in Germany were very disorganized. We almost missed a connecting flight! On our return.
The eight day trip through Hungary, Austria, and Germany on the Danube to visit historic sights and the various Christmas Markets was a wonderful experience. The Viking cruise met our highest expectations. Be prepared for a range of temperatures from the 40's to below freezing.
Regions
- Germany River Cruises (2885)
- France River Cruises (2115)
- Netherlands River Cruises (1467)
- Hungary River Cruises (1436)
- Austria River Cruises (1317)
- Switzerland River Cruises (1142)
- Czech Republic River Cruises (540)
- Slovakia River Cruises (473)
- Portugal River Cruises (320)
- Romania River Cruises (273)
- Egypt River Cruises (242)
- Luxembourg River Cruises (228)
Rivers
- Rhine River Cruises (1745)
- Danube River Cruises (1446)
- Main River Cruises (726)
- Seine River Cruises (619)
- Rhone River Cruises (528)
- Douro River Cruises (320)
- Elbe River Cruises (271)
- Saone River Cruises (264)
- Nile River Cruises (233)
- Moselle River Cruises (204)
- Svir River Cruises (126)
- Volga River Cruises (119)
Departure
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Very fun. Learned a lot. Met good people. Had wonderful local guides. Excellent safety.