Our friends had been wanting to do a river cruise for years so last year we agreed to go with them on the Cities of Light cruise with Viking. They have traveled to Europe many times but it was our first trip. My husband was not all that excited about going. In fact, before we left he basically said see what you want to see because this will be our last trip. Thankfully this Viking cruise changed his mind and we are already planning another one.

We have done many ocean cruises on various cruise lines but this was our first river cruise. It was amazing. Our ship was only about 60% full so we were so spoiled with so few people. One of the staff said there was only 99 passengers on board. The service was outstanding. The crew was so friendly and learned everyone's name. Our cabin steward, Milan, couldn't have made our stay better. There is open seating in the dining room but we sat at about the same table every night so we could have our same server Dimitar. He was wonderful. So friendly, professional, attentive and we looked forward to seeing him every day. He loved to joke with my husband about his love of desserts and would bring him one of everything each evening. (My husband is a runner and thin, I wish I could eat dessert like that).

The ports were wonderful as well. We loved the small German towns. They were just beautiful and the local people were all very friendly. Many evenings after our dinner we would get off the ship and just walk around the town until almost dark. Read more