Our first river cruise.  We have made 9 ocean cruises with 4 different lines.  This was the BEST ever!  Very laid back and wonderful scenery.  The staff and crew were expecially nice and seemed to go out of their way to make you happy.We left Nuremburg on a Sunday and sailed the canal until we reached the Danube.  The locks were very exciting and so different than the Panama Canal.  Sailing day was especially nice, there was "fair" or German family gathering at our dock.  All kinds of water activities and food, beer and children's activites.  Nice to get some more of the local atmosphere.  We spent 3-days in the city before getting on the ship.  Nuremburg is a very friendly city and lots of great sausage and beer.  We highly recommend hotel LeMeridian.  In the center of all the sights.Sailing on the canal and river were wonderful!  All along the Danube there are walking and bike trails, landscaped and very beautiful. We ended in Budapest.Viking certainly has it "all-together" when it comes to the excursions.  Every one left on time and returned on time.  If anyone was left, they could get a taxi to the dock.  It was very nice not having to wait for those who don't care about being on time.  All the guides we had were excellent.  English was perfect and groups were small.  The headsets were great.Food was good.  Lots of choices, if you didn't like the daily menu, there was always something extra you could order.Main critism:  We paid $114.00 to see the Mozart, Strauss concert.  The music was wonderful.  I'm glad we had the opportunity in Vienna.  They put around 500 people (other cruise lines) in one very small room.  Chairs (small) very close together.  It was very hot and lots of mosquitoes.  We called it the "sweat & swat" event!!  They should have warned us to dress accordinly and bring repellent.Our stateroom was very nice, room for everything and closed was good.  Just like a large cruise ship.  Our cabin steward Rianna did a fabulous job.The bartenders could have been a lot friendlier.  Didn't seem to go out of their way to sell liquor.  Many of the fellow travelers said they enjoyed not being "hastled" by them.I would go with Viking again.  We really did enjoy he "small ship" atmosphere.