We traveled on the Viking Ship Idi on April 26 sailing the Rhine from Basel to Amsterdam and had a wonderful time. The service, staff, food and even most included excursions are top notch. Viking really does their utmost to please their cruisers and having done my homework, reading lots of reviews and knowing what was and wasn’t included, we found nothing lacking. We give it eighteen stars, two thumbs up and a big high-five without hesitation.

This was an anniversary trip for my husband and me, who both still work and were significantly younger than most of the cruisers. It looked to us that there were a couple people in their forties, and they seemed to be with family. We spotted a girl in her twenties with her mom and a young couple also most likely in their twenties who seemed to be on their own. Most everyone else was sixty-five plus. A lot of people traveled with friends/family, which I think is a great idea. For many people, it’s really exciting to meet and chat with people from different parts of the U.S. as well as from other countries. We definitely knew that going in, but since we still have children at home and my husband works with the public taking care of dozens of people all day long as a doctor—we were hoping for a quieter experience with more one and one time together. And we did!! Thanks to a previous review (concerning a woman who found the dining room too loud with her hearing aid), we found that there is a way to have a more intimate experience on this very social river cruise.

There is a large formal dining room where most meals are served. However, there is also a small place called The Aquavit, right off of the lounge area in front of the ship where buffet style breakfasts, lunches and a “paired down” sit-down dinner is served. The Aquavit is used by many cruisers for breakfast and lunch, but dinner is a different story. The menu is different and smaller than the dining room downstairs, but let me assure you, the menu is delicious! The appetizers stay the same each night, but the main course changes, and once again, is different than the main courses served in the dining room. And may I just say that after the third night in a row of eating dinner there, we got to know the waiter very well and he was more than happy to take a special request—especially since I’m not too fond of seafood, and there was only seafood on The Aquavit menu that night. Read more