Grand European Tour 2024 Itinerary Amsterdam to Budapest Viking®
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You’ll find Viking River cruises throughout Europe, Egypt, and Southeast Asia. There are so many choices of destinations and lengths of the trip. Some people book two cruises back-to-back to extend their vacation.
It's all about the destination
American Queen and American Cruise Lines offer Columbia and Snake River cruises, eastern U.S. river cruises (at prices comparable to the Mississippi) as well as coastal cruises. By and large, the same rules for scoring deals and prices apply in the U.S. as they do in Europe. On average, U.S. river cruise prices start around $300 to $400 per person, per night.
Rhine Getaway
Viking's ocean ships also offer a large number of suites, many of which are quite spacious. Even the smallest cabins on Viking's ocean ships are large by cruise ship standards at 270 square feet, and the largest suites measure nearly 1,500 square feet. For this subset of travelers, Viking offers a wide range of both ocean and river cruise itineraries that have a heavy focus on the destinations visited. Viking's longships dock in the heart of each city, so sights and excursions are on your doorstep (sometimes that literally means the Eiffel Tower in Paris). The line's high-end offerings and free shore excursions also help make Viking river itineraries some of the most popular in Europe.
Which Viking River Cruise Ships Sail on the Douro in Portugal?
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Soothing, minimalist colors — think creams, grays and lighter blues — are the order of the day. You'll find everything from eight-day cruises in the Mediterranean to 138-day around-the-world voyages among the line's voyages. That's because the vast majority of Viking's ocean vessels are carbon copies of each other. One of the best Viking River Cruises in Europe sails Portugal's stunning Douro River.
Viking River Cruise Destinations
On the other side of the menu are “regional specialties” or options that are focused on our destinations. The Silver Spirits package is complimentary for guests in an Explorer Suite. We arrived in Avignon and headed to the ship where a light lunch was provided.
Excursions on a Viking River Cruise
Standard staterooms on the lower deck have a fixed window. These 25 rooms, coming in at 150 square feet, are often called "aquarium class" because the windows are at the same level of the river outside. While you don't get the benefit of fresh air, people often choose these cabins for their lower price point and the fact that you often don't spend all that much time in your room on a typical river cruise.
Viking is one of the only cruise brands in the world that offers a balcony with every cabin on every ocean ship it operates — even the least expensive, smallest cabins. That's something that even the most upscale of Viking's ocean cruise rivals including Oceania Cruises, Azamara, Seabourn, Silversea Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises can't say. The nine nearly identical ocean ships — Viking Saturn, Viking Neptune, Viking Mars, Viking Venus, Viking Jupiter, Viking Orion, Viking Sky, Viking Sea and Viking Star — began rolling out in 2015.
Sometimes optional excursions sell out, although there are usually some available once you’re on the ship. Please note that Viking requires at least 48 hours’ cancellation notice if you are on the ship and decide not to go on an optional excursion. Without a doubt, we give Viking chefs top marks for the presentation and flavor of the food they serve. We always enjoyed the variety of food from the local areas we were visiting. After all, we travel to experience new places, new food, and new people, so we like to eat local specialties whenever possible. Whichever side of the menu you order from, the meals for the entire table are served at the same time.
Night Passage To Eastern EuropeDetails
There's also the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, which offers 2 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on travel (and 3 Ultimate Rewards points per dollar on dining). That said, given the complexity of booking a cruise — there are a lot of decisions to make during the booking process, trust us — we always recommend that you use a seasoned travel agent who specializes in cruises. Viking fares do include port taxes and fees, which can add up to hundreds of dollars per sailing. Most other lines do not include port taxes and fees in their base fares and add them later in the booking process. The centerpiece of the top deck of each of Viking's ocean ships is the main pool area, which is home to a pool, hot tub and rows of lounge chairs, as well as comfortable seating areas. The number of restaurants and other dining options that you'll find on Viking ships will vary greatly depending on whether you are sailing on an ocean or a river ship.
This includes everything from personalized service to thoughtfully organized shore excursions and locally sourced food. In addition, most Viking vessels offer laundry and pressing services. Such services are complimentary for passengers staying in certain categories of cabins. Otherwise, fees are comparable to what you'll pay cleaners at home. Dry cleaning is available on the line's ocean ships but not on Viking river ships. Cruise Critic is not a booking agent and does not charge any service fees to users of our site.
What really makes Viking Longships stand out, however, are the suites onboard. Viking is one of the few river cruise lines that offer a true two-room suite on their river ships. The ships have seven 275-square foot Veranda Suites, which are all located on the upper deck and have a separate sleeping and living area.
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Viking offers a variety of itineraries on Europe's rivers -- but what doesn't change much are the cruise ships themselves. Known as "Longships," Viking's fleet of river cruise ships on most rivers all carry 190 passengers, with a similar Scandinavian decor and sensibility, as well as inclusions and programming. During the day on excursions, travelers dress very comfortably as they leave the ship to explore a destination. However, most guests sport a smart casual look for dinner.
There's no extra charge for dining in the smaller restaurants, but reservations are required. Each passenger is only allowed to make one to three reservations per cruise at the eateries, depending on which category of cabin they have booked. The main restaurants on these ships are notable for their walls of glass that can slide open to create al fresco dining, something that is unusual in the cruise world.
In this blog post, you’ll find an overview of Viking’s two concepts—Ocean Cruises, and River Cruises—and their respective price points and features.
Prices vary according to the cruise duration and destinations, but typically, they fall within the $1,699-$4,999 range. Note that there are many Viking River Cruises in Europe that fall under the $2,000 price point, which makes them surprisingly affordable. Their Asia, Egypt and Russia cruises are generally a bit pricier, starting from $3,224. Just like the Viking Ocean Cruises above, Viking River Cruises was also voted the best in its category. Conde Nast readers proclaimed Viking the best river cruise line in the world and have done so ever since this category was introduced. Viking River Cruises has won awards for two decades now, highlighting how great its cruises actually are.
Once everyone was accounted for, we were able to leave, return our life vests to our stateroom, and resume what we were doing. Having sailed with Viking on both ocean and river, I can tell you the experience is not the same. Ocean cruises feature a much larger ship, a wider variety of restaurants and entertainment, and a bigger crew. You usually dock overnight at many of the ports, leaving you the option to explore in the evening if you choose. When you dock ashore, Viking includes an activity each and every day.
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