My husband and I just returned from our very first river cruise – the 7-night “Rhine Getaway” itinerary on the Viking Eir, embarking in Amsterdam and disembarking in Basel, Switzerland. We absolutely loved this experience. It was a “trip of a lifetime”!

Things did not begin so smoothly. With only a few days remaining before our flight to Amsterdam, we had not received any documentation or instructions from Viking – for example, cruise documents allowing us to board the ship, instructions as to where to find the ship, etc. We have gone on several ocean cruises with Princess, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian, and – as many on this website know – it is very easy to obtain information and cruise documents on those cruise liners’ websites prior to embarkation. That is not the case with Viking. I have found their website to be far inferior to the big ocean liners’ websites in this regard.

After a couple phone calls to Viking and our travel agent, we finally received the cruise materials two days prior to departing for Amsterdam. Since this was our first river cruise, we did not realize that you only need your passport in order to board the ship. No other formal documents are required. Viking also sends along luggage tags, and a couple booklets with information about the trip – the itinerary, general info about the Rhine and its tributaries, etc. Read more