Viking Buri River Cruises Reviews

Viking's staff is always very accommodating and helpful. The was the first time we experienced a buffet for inner, which we did not care for. It seemed rushed and was cumbersome to navigate, especially for those with mobility problems. Some excursions took us out of the cities and thus we had less time to explore the stop.

Great experience... advice to others - the optional excursions made a difference!

The trip was very relaxing. We don't need to plan. Everything is planned for us.

Viking was great. This was our first trip with them and could not have been more pleased. Everything, I mean absolutely everything, had clearly been thought through and refined to suit our needs.

Viking River Cruises are wonderful

We had an awesome time!! Viking is a wonderful company to travel with.

The South of France is beautiful at any time but with the lavender fields blooming, this time of the year is amazing.

The ship, service and included sightseeing was wonderful! Crew were very helpful and cheerful as well.

This was our third Viking River Cruise and matched our previous excellent experiences!

I was pleasantly surprised by Viking as I didn't expect a high-level tour. The accommodations, the food, the service, staff, guides, etc. were all above my low expectations (based on all the advertising and pricing). My only objections were that there were so many things paid for as EXTRAS; tips, wine, optional excursions, etc. And seemingly less interesting passengers than tours I've taken with Uniworld and World Affairs Council. But that's my own 'snobbishness'. Overall, a good value and a good experience. Was not impressed with United Airlines as very loose with providing wheelchairs.

Too much time in the evening....there was a piano player, while good was not much else going on.

This was our 4th Viking trip. We love Viking but have never been on one of their LongBoat Ships before. We found the room to be extremely small and the bathroom shower also. I will make note that we did not have a balcony room, just a French Balcony, but we have had such a room before on other Viking ships and they were not as small. I know we don't spend a lot of time in our room. But two of us could not get showered, change for dinner or do any preparations together at the same time in the cabin. As usual the staff and food was fabulous. And their included tours are amazing along with great optional tours. Viking also offers very cheap airfares. However I will not go thru them for airfares again because on two trips now we have had to leave the ship or hotel at 3:30 AM to get our transatlantic trip home.

Itinerary changed due to rain conditions and high river level, disappointing since half the cruise experience was done with buses.

As independent travelers in the past we expected more freedom in going ashore, but we often were moored at some distance from the town/city, and had to rely on arranged scheduled bus transfers. Apparently this is not unusual, as most others were comfortable with this, but it gives us pause to consider another river cruise.

Based on this most recent trip with Viking River Cruises - our third - I am not sure if we will book again. This trip was not up to the standards of previous trips. While the room stewards and restaurant/lounge staff were outstanding, the other staff, including the Captain and Program Director, could use improvement. The Captain, quite sure he spoke no English, did not interact with the guests and seemed to have trouble getting the boat into each of the twelve locks we went through. The Program Director did not get to know the guests and did not communicate itinerary changes to the guests in a timely fashion. This was the last tour of the season for this boat, Viking Buri, and it seemed like some of the staff were just going with the paces while marking time to go home. As most of the guests were repeat cruisers with Viking, we discussed our disappointment with the cruise and everyone was in agreement that it was not bad, but just did not live up to the Viking standard.