This was our first time on a Viking river cruise sailing the Rhine. We have sailed twice on AMA Waterways on the Danube cruise and the tulip cruise. We have also given AMA an excellent rating, but wanted to try one of the new longships.

I will compare the two cruise companies, understanding that we have limited experience with both. The cabins on both were very nice, but I would give AMA the edge, as it was slightly more spacious, especially the bathroom. The food was very good on both, but again, I would give AMA the edge with a slightly wider entree selection and better wine selection. For our entire cruise on Viking, we had the same red and white wine each night. A little boring.

As to shore excursions, the edge clearly goes to Viking. Every excursion was well executed, leaving precisely on time. Our cruise director gave 15 minutes advanced notice each time and made sure we took the appropriate things for each excursion. The night before he gave a thorough briefing as to what to expect on the next day's tour. And, he was very accurate in his descriptions. Water was given out on each excursion as you left the ship. The CD and the concierge accompanied each excursion to make sure all was in order and the guests were enjoying themselves. Somehow Viking managed to have terrific guides in each port and the buses which took us on excursions were Viking buses with Viking drivers, so we usually had the same driver each day. Read more