For guests, a shore excursion is a seamless, enriching experience—stepping off the ship, exploring breathtaking destinations, and immersing themselves in history and culture. But behind the scenes? It’s a carefully orchestrated effort that takes months of planning, training, and coordination to ensure everything runs like clockwork.
Here’s a look at what goes into crafting the perfect river cruise excursion—before guests even step on board.
Pre-Season Planning: The Foundation of Great Excursion Execution
Before the first guests of the season arrive, the majority of the groundwork has already been laid by the land operations team. They are the ones who scout locations, negotiate contracts with local vendors, and fine-tune the details of each itinerary. They ensure that every excursion aligns with The Viking Way—providing guests with destination-focused, culturally enriching experiences that go beyond standard sightseeing.
Season Start: Training & Preparation in Winter Harbour
Once winter fades and the new season approaches, the entire Danube fleet gathers in Vienna’s Winter Harbour, where our ships are moored during the off-season. This marks the start of our 10-day intensive training period, ensuring that every department is aligned and ready.
Setting Up the Ship – Most programme directors along with some of the other catering crew have winter off to recuperate for the following season. During this time the ships are carefully prepared and any maintenance required is carried out from small repair jobs like a wobbly table leg, to huge jobs such as full furniture reupholstery or even a new propeller. By the time the first guests of the season step on board the ship is pristine.
Viking College – Before the crew board, we all participate in a series of webinars and training sessions. These cover:
What’s new for the upcoming season
What did and didn’t work last season & what’s been improved
Updates to excursions, logistics, and guest expectations
This training continues once we board the ship with further in depth destination training, company values and culture training and leadership workshops.
Regulatory Training – Every crew member undergoes essential safety and compliance training, including first aid, firefighting, and emergency procedures.
Mastering the Details: From Logistics to Guest Experience
As Programme Directors, our role is to study each destination inside and out—not just from a historical and cultural perspective but also to understand the logistics behind every tour. We need to know:
How long each excursion will be
What provisions are required
Where guests need to be and when
How to manage group sizes efficiently
What challenges we may face (weather, accessibility, timing conflicts, etc.)
While we’re doing this, our local tour providers and guides are going through the same process—studying the route, rehearsing their commentary, and fine-tuning every detail to ensure we all deliver a truly aligned experience.
Bringing It All Together: The Guest Experience
By the time our first guests step aboard, everything has been meticulously tested, reviewed, and synchronized. It may look effortless, but behind every smooth excursion, there’s a network of moving parts working in perfect harmony—from the ship’s crew to the tour guides, the coach drivers, and the local vendors.
The goal is to make sure that when guests step off the ship, they’re stepping into an immersive, worry-free, and unforgettable experience—one that feels natural, but is actually the result of months of careful planning.
So, the next time you join a shore excursion and marvel at how seamlessly everything unfolds, just know: a LOT of work has gone into making it look that effortless!
Jennifer
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