Viking Idun Review

4.0 / 5.0
157 reviews

Worst trip EVER

Review for Europe River Cruise on Viking Idun
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sinkingboat
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Oct 2014

WORST TRIP EVER. "Romantic Danube Tour" on Viking Idun. Daily tours were vaguely "organized" and lacked any depth or intellectual content at all. Unless you eat and drink A LOT and do not plan to enjoy any meals a shore, not a good value. They charged 3 euros for a soft drink in the middle of the afternoon. Drinks are only free during meal times. There is not enough time to see much of any city unless it is a tiny town along the way like Regensburg. If you have any personal interests or have any sense of wanting to do anything specifically, skip Viking tours. The geriatrics on these tours just want to be herded around blindly and without substance, then fed at the appointed hour (everyone eats at 7pm, packed in wall-to-wall, elbow to elbow). And the on-board programs are too feeble for words.

Worst part: after a short day in Vienna, and racing back to boat for departure, we were told that the lock was flooded so boat couldn't go anywhere. We would not be in Budapest by morning as scheduled. In morning, boat was still in Vienna, and we were BUSED for 3 hours to Budapest, given an inedible lunch, which they bragged about, then driven around for an hour while the tour guided pointed at buildings. After spending a useless hour on top of a hill in Buda, we were driven an hour BACK to the boat which was slowly making it way down the river. We never got to explore Budapest, never got the optional tours they promoted, or the romantic evening stroll through the city they suggested. The boat finally made it to Budapest in the late evening, while most of us were packing to (thankfully) leave in a few hours.

This was a natural incident beyond Viking's control, but they did not really have a back-up plan, didn't apologize or offer any compensation for the lost day and activities in Budapest, which was the main reason we took this tour. Their customer service is beyond useless. Basically, Viking is great at making commercials with happy-looking people cruising along sipping wine. If you just want to be mindlessly herded around, you may like this. If you have a brain and any self-will or interests, STAY AWAY. Use your $10,000 to plan your own trip and you will do much better. Total rip off.

Cabin Review

adequate space and storage. bathroom functional.

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