Viking and river cruises are one and the same to many Americans, but AmaWaterways is the brand you may not have heard about but should know.
That’s a marketing accomplishment, one of the most successful in modern travel. Viking built it deliberately, with hundreds of millions in PBS sponsorships, glossy print, and an aspirational aesthetic that made river cruising feel like the grown-up alternative to Carnival. It worked. Viking is now pushing aggressively into ocean, expedition, and a new Mississippi product, and the brand carries all of it. The Wall Street Journal has even gone so far as to call Viking a luxury line, though that label has problems I’ve written about before, high prices and luxury are not the same thing.
Viking is not the best river cruise product on the rivers Viking made famous. AmaWaterways is. And on a head-to-head value, service, and onboard product comparison, the gap is wide enough that most Viking loyalists would switch after a single sailing on Ama, if they could ever be convinced to try one.
A great solo travel tip spotted this week on Live and Let's Fly.
