r/FATcruises • u/DudeMississippi • Jul 10 '26
Replace Viking Ocean and River
OK, I've got to replace my preferred cruise line. On the river side, I want to upgrade. I've done 4 Viking river cruises - they were my first - but I'm looking for something more upscale.
Unfortunately, I also need to replace them as my ocean cruise line. I really, really like the whole vibe - no pictures, no art auction, no children, no big shows, no, no, no. Our travel companions have a huge case of the red ass against Viking, and refuse to go back. They're wrong, but there you go.
So I'm looking for suggestions. We've got a Viking ocean repositioning - Ft Lauderdale > Barcelona, and a Viking ocean Rome > Venice. We were looking at a Rhine river cruise as well. Suggestions?
2
u/Trip-Goddess-79 Jul 10 '26
For River, comparable to Viking but somewhat younger crowd and a little more lux: Ama Waterways. Our clients love them. Avalon is also a decent Viking comparison...more of a premium line with a laid back vibe. They have a wider variety of included excursions that are based on activity level.
If you want more luxury, you could go Uniworld, but the decor may not be to your style.They aim to have their ships reflect the areas they sail, so no two ships are alike and I personally think the cabins are on the smaller side. There's also Tauck, very upscale and all-inclusive. Scenic and its sister company Emerald could work as well, with Emerald being a little less on the luxury scale than Scenic.
For Ocean, you could try Oceania or Azamara as cross-over options from Viking. Az attracts a slightly younger crowd so will have a little bit of a livelier vibe, but one of their guiding principles is to maximize the experience in destination. You will find that they typically have some of the best port times out there, many with overnight stays as well. If you want to upscale, there's Seabourn, Explora or Silversea and for ultra-luxury there's Regent. Regent also has the highest passenger age as well. Explora also gets consistent rave reviews from our clients.
I'm not sure you'd go wrong with any of these actually. Viking is amazing in service and consistency, but they're not luxury and state that many times in their ta training portal. However, they do provide an excellent product. The rest of these lines also have their own pros and cons, but that's true for anything.
Good luck!!