We met the Viking rep at the airport and caught a very smoky bus to the ship. The ship was very nice and our rooms were ready pretty quick. After unpacking, we went on a walking tour of the city that Viking provided. This was our first experience with Viking and overall we were very pleased.

Day 2, we sailed to Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We toured windmills. Returned aboard for lunch and an afternoon of Dutch diversions: sample handcrafted Dutch cheeses and jenever, a distilled juniper liquor. Cruised through the night. The windmill tour was very nice. Cloudy morning gave way to a sunny afternoon. Temperature was about 70. We have great waiters on our ship, Allen LaCapp, from the Philippines. Very funny and entertaining. Other wait staff that were really great were Expidito and Vanya.

Day 3 - Cologne. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Continued along the Rhine this morning; arrived in Cologne and disembarked for a walking tour. Strolled through Old Town past St. Martin’s Church, and spent some time inside Cologne’s Dom, We arrived a little late in Cologne, due to slow sailing time due to the Rheine river being low. We walked a total of 3.4 miles today, that included our Viking walking tour plus walking on our own. We had a great lunch at Peters Brauhaus. We had brat and potatoes and apple strudel plus Peters beer. We paid 25€ Euros. Nice weather, partly cloudy most of the day. High was around 68 degrees. Read more