The weeks before the trip we worried about the news regarding low water levels between Passau and Regensburg and kept up to date on Viking's status page about conditions and how they were addressing it. Hoping that they wouldn't need to, we were impressed by the way they were dealing with Mother Nature (running two boats on a northern and southern loop). Fortunately, within a week of our departure all was in good shape.From the moment we arrived in Budapest, I felt we were in good hands. From beginning to end I was impressed and are looking forward to another trip with Viking. Regarding the particulars - our stateroom was quite comfortable (a veranda suite, 1 cabin away from the library in the center of the ship) altho we found the closet space a little challenging to deal with (wasted space too). All our meals were tip-top. The whole experience -- no doubt because there were fewer than 190 passengers -- made me feel like I was in a home away from home. A few years ago we did an Alaskan cruise-tour and even tho we enjoyed it -- the ambiance on a ship with 1800 passengers is really quite different from one with less than 190. Less is clearly better. The crew was fantastic - GIles the Program Director, Luccia - the concierge, Paolo - the Hotel Manager -- to name a few. Over 15 days, we got to know them quite well. Between the daily excursions, evening entertainments, and other events held in the lounge we felt as tho we got our money's worth.