We sailed the Basel to Amsterdam, Rhine cruise, our first time cruising. Loved it! The small ship was perfect, the crew was amazing. 178 passengers and 52 crew members. The food was plentiful and delicious although a little heavy on the meats and light on the vegetables. Our stateroom was small but very comfortable, and I loved sitting on the small balcony. Weather cooperated, we only had one partial day of rain in the ten days we were traveling. Everything was made easy by a very hard working crew, whether on the ship or land. Local tour guides were all excellent with plenty of information about their specific areas. Walking tours were strenuous enough to burn off the food, but not too much to exhaust you. Great daily communications to keep you up to date on what was coming next.

The evening entertainment was not too exciting, but by the time we finished dinner, usually about 9 pm, we were ready for our stateroom. Morning excursions usually started by 8:30, so no lazy, slow mornings.

We did a post cruise in Amsterdam. It was pricey for what you got, basically 1.5 days of additional sightseeing, no where close to enough time to see Amsterdam well. However, Viking did arrange a last minute tour out to the Keukenhof Gardens which was worth every penny. Read more