Excellent trip from start to finish. We had cruised from Amsterdam to Budapest with Uniworld in 2012 and while the Rhone is not as scenic as the Rhine or the Danube, the towns and villages we visited were very interesting. We were met at Lyon by the Viking rep and escorted to our bus for our trip to the Hermod. Doris, the hotel manager escorted us to our cabin and explained the features of the explorer suite. We enjoyed all the included trips and took two optional tours to Les Baux and the Pont du Gard aqueduct. Every one of the guides was friendly and knowledgeable. All the ships officers addressed us at one time or another but the cruise director, Nickolus, was outstanding. I saw him on every tour we were on and his nightly briefings were filled with information and humor. The food was excellent and the chef would give his recommendations for dinner at the evening briefings. We had the silver spirits package and ordered from the wine list, but the house red and white were fine with all the people I talked to. I think we came out ahead with the spirit package, but we went to the lounge every evening. The entertainment was mostly the piano player, but he did a good job. A few other local people also came on board to give lectures or demonstrations. Service was friendly and efficient throughout the ship. I was worried about our air reservations since Viking made them and we weren't allowed to modify them or request any specific airlines with the airfare deal we had but they chose the routing I would have chosen if I had made the reservations myself. Disembarkation went well but leaving the ship at 3:30 AM (for a 6:55 departure) makes for a very long day.
Great cabin. It had lots of room, the refrigerator was kept stocked, and the rear facing veranda meant that we could sit outside even when parked next to another ship.