Viking River Cruises

Viking River Cruises' staff members who operate two ships on the Yangtze in China like to read a note stuck to a mirror before they go out to meet guests in the dining room.

It reads: Perfection comes from the heart. They don't merely play lip service to this adage. Many customers have tears in their eyes when they bid farewell at the end of a Yangtze cruise, says Michelle Saegesser, the company's Vice President for Australia and New Zealand.

"I've never met more service-oriented people than the staff we have on those ships in China," says Michelle who recently assumed her role down under. "When you see passengers in tears you know the staff have hit what they're supposed to hit at the core of the product; they've touched someone's life and changed it."

Indeed Viking River Cruises has been winning customers' hearts since it was established in 1997. The company was founded by a Norwegian of genuine Viking descent, Torstein Hagen, (one of the founders of the former Royal Viking Line) who decided after years in the travel industry that river cruises - an up-close and leisurely exploration of culture, cuisine and historic sites - was his favourite way to see a destination.

The acquisition of four ships in Russia was followed by the purchase in 2000 of Europe's KD River Cruises, a firm with a heritage of more than a century of river cruising.

Now employing 2000 people and with 21 vessels operating in Europe, Russia and China, Viking is an increasingly significant player in the booming river cruise market. At the core of its seemingly fail-safe formula is a policy of owning its vessels and never contracting out employees.

"Many other river cruise lines lease ships," explains Michelle Saegesser. "But when you board a Viking ship there's consistency, whether you're in France or Russia, because everyone from the captain to the bedroom stewards and waiters are our own people. That lets us maintain control of the quality of the product from beginning to end."

Viking's prime base is in LA, and it has offices in Cologne, Basle and Boston. Sydney-based Russia and Beyond has been its main tour wholesale partner in Australia, but, reflecting the growing importance of our market, it will soon open a sales and marketing office of its own in Sydney.

Australians already represent 20 to 25 per cent of the company's business and that percentage is growing, says Michelle, whose earlier career spanned Disney and Princess Cruises.

"We decided this market deserved more attention, which is why I'm here. Aussies like longer itineraries and they're especially fond of the Amsterdam-Budapest trip."

Viking River Cruise Ships

Viking Pakhomov

What you get

What can Australians expect on a Viking river cruise? For a start they get a breadth of product and fascinating itineraries. There's a tulip voyage in Holland, for example. In Russia there's the 12-day Waterways of the Tsars voyage, which sails from St Petersburg to Moscow and, in Ukraine, the 11-day Footstep of the Cossacks from Kiev to Odessa.

Passengers can invariably expect five-star luxury. The Yangtze cruisers, for instance, are "absolutely the most five-star product in China," says Michelle. "They're also much larger than the average, accommodating 306 passengers in balcony cabins."

In Europe the average Viking ship takes just 150 passengers, a size that's ideal for a Continental river experience, she contends. Viking ships in Europe operate on an English-only basis, so Australians, New Zealanders, Brits, Canadians and Americans are well represented on board, which makes communication easy.

Moreover the cosy size makes for a compelling and diverse cultural experience. On a river you're stopping continually at villages and towns, then moving on to some other place just as interesting. On river cruises, too, there's a closeness you don't find on big liners and you can learn the inimitable culture of the waterways.

"You can actually watch the captain running the ship, for instance, and get to know him," says Michelle. "The captains are usually younger than ocean skippers; some have been on the rivers since they were kids, because that's what their families did."

Viking Cruise customers will have access to even more cultural experiences in future as the company releases additional cruise and land programs - such as the Paris-to-Prague itinerary that incorporates several days in Paris and in Prague combined with the cruise.

Each day on most itineraries an excursion is included if passengers wish to take it. If they don't they can sleep in and get up at their own time and wander into the towns themselves.

Making a difference

Not only does Viking aim to make a difference in passengers' lives, it also helps the communities it visits in meaningful ways. The company trains many young local people from scratch in the art of service, and has taken the admirable if unusual step of creating three schools in China, which it sponsors. Passengers get to visit at least one of these on a voyage. "We have over 800 children in each school now," says Michelle.

In 2009 Viking Cruise Line will launch a new ship on the Mekong in Vietnam. It's hoping to start similar school and training programs in that country, and to create more jobs.

More growth

Considered a niche product for many years, river cruising has experienced unprecedented recent growth as passengers seek smaller ship experiences along with more 'enrichment' in their holidays.

At the same time some tour operators are getting into river cruising because they're losing business off the motor coach trade, says Michelle. She predicts a levelling off in the growth over the next few years. There will probably come a time when there are too many river ships in the market, she says, but Viking's management is confident is will continue to prosper.

"We know how to run a program and we enjoy what we do," says Michelle. "It's fun to be with a company like Viking that's aggressive, well funded and willing to go out there and be the best. For me just being part of a team like that's a lot of fun."

Meantime the company's short-term goal in Australia is to make sure the product is properly branded in this market place. "I don't think it will take long," says Michelle. It seems like a safe bet.