I haven't. We use Viking pretty regularly, so I just delete them. Every once in a while I'll get something that actually piques my interest.
Did a Viking cruise last summer. Started in Regensburg Germany. thru Austria, and ended up in Budapest, Hungary. The beer selection on board was actually pretty good. Trying to remember what they all had. They had 4 or 5 beers from Maisel and Friends that I really enjoyed. Paulaner Helles. Kostrizer. Bitburger Pils was the free beer they had on tap. I'm sure there are a few I'm forgetting. Just about every day on the way back from excursions I would stop at a local store and buy some local beers. Viking has no problem with you bringing your own booze on the ship. I figure it saves them money in the long run. After about 3 days of bringing my bottles of beer to the lounge and asking them to open them for me and bring me a glass, as soon as they saw me they would automatically bring me a glass and an opener. There were a few other passengers that would always come up and ask me what I discovered that day for beers.
I think one of the other big issues is the impact on the cost and availability of housing. Landlords who would have normally been renting their flats to locals who need housing are now renting them on Airbnb to tourists for way more money, thus shrinking the available housing to locals by an enormous amount.
I don't know if it does or not, but this is a feature that the wife and I like about Viking as well. Also, while I wouldn't call the onboard selection great, it's not bad. It's not just light AALs, which I appreciate. The European river cruises we've been on also had several bottled Belgian selections which were decent I thought. Frankly, I've been satisfied with the beer selection on board Viking longboats. The wine selection is a different matter, but it's pretty easy to find decent wine at the various ports along the way. As you indicated, Viking has no problem with you bringing your own wine onboard, and usually the staff are interested in what you brought aboard (and are happy to talk about it with you). As you know, Viking serves free wine and wine by the glass/bottle for a fee at meal time (unless you have the Silver Spirits package). Often times the staff would bring by a complimentary glass or the rest of an unpoured bottle once they realized this was something I was interested in. It's a little thing, I know, but its one of the reasons we like using Viking.
Maybe I misunderstood your post, but I think this is one of the main benefits of Riverboat Cruising. Your lodging is on board the ship, so there's no need to rent out a hotel, apartment or Airbnb. Most of your meals are provided as well. Outside of the occasional influx of tourists at various gift stores and cafes, the impact on the local economy is minimal. Frankly, the impression I've always gotten is that local store owners are happy to get the extra business that a cruise ship brings into town.
My lady entertains the thought of going on a cruise. It's not my thing. I've been offered work on cruise lines as a musician but never took it. If I were to pay to get aboard a ship with lots of strangers I'd like it to be the way I like breweries: No KIds. No Pets. And I wouldn't bother with beer 'cause it makes one pee frequently. Tequila. Lots of Tequila and or white wine. If a decent Ale was to be had I might do that.
The nice thing about River Cruises are: No Kids. No Pets. Total souls on board are about 110 or so. It really is just like having your hotel room and a restaurant follow you on your trip. You can stay on the boat as much as you want, or be off as much as you want (within reason of course). 80% of the travel on the boat is done at night while your asleep. That way, you have the whole day (or at least most of the day) to go on an excursion or just go explore by yourself. The days they travel are the one's you want to be on the boat for a view you really can't get anywhere else. Such as through the Rhine Gorge. I've done Ocean Cruises also, and probably won't ever do them again. When I go on vacation, I'm not one to sit by a pool, I want to explore somewhere I've never been.
I think that was in general, related to my comment on some cities being over crowded, and anti tourism. Which isn't just a cruise issue, but an overall tourism issue...wouldn't be a thread here without somebody taking it slightly off topic, apologies But again, Barcelona is an example of heavy anti tourism, for some of the reasons @Providence and @HouseofWortship mentioned, at least relatively recently.
My response was just a general comment about the anti-tourists protests in Barcelona (and beyond). I've no idea how cruises are impacting the local economies. As you suggest, perhaps there are far fewer people searching for Airbnbs because they are shacked-up on the ship.
I was on an Alaskan cruise and they had Alaska Brewing Co beers which was nice plus the traditional big AALs. There was one bar/pub on the ship that had more diverse Belgian beers, but very limited hours and a long line. Like @KPlen said the beer selection no matter what cruise will be limited to a certain selection. The variety will be at the destinations. But just like beer, that's sort of cruises in general for me. You are sequestered on a ship for hours and hours and then the destination ports are where the real fun of exploring begins. I wouldn't go on a cruise for the purpose of craft beer.
So I ended up going on the exact same cruise this year, and didn't get the drink package. Still no good beers on board except the Lagunitas. But I did join a shore excursion in La Paz, Mexico which had a stop at a bar where we had a tasting of craft beers from Baja Brewing https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/26772/ It wasn't *much* of a tasting, basically just two samples and an invitation to buy more beer in the 20 minutes before we had to leave for the next stop lol. The "Peyote" Pale Ale was pretty decent, though: https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16900/72814/
Beer just asks to be consumed. Wine and fine liquors are for sipping. It must be challenging to meet a vatied craft beer demand with limited space on ship.
