Our bad. Arriving Basel one day early to give us some wiggle room and to explore, we truly believed we could take the tram to Kvasir the following day. Long story short, one stop too early, we wound up on a bridge over the Rhine fruitlessly searching for our ship. Four of us, two couples, 7 pieces of luggage. Phone call to Nancy, hotel manager on the ship. She would send a cab, ok a van. Fifteen minutes later a tour bus starts to slow down and this lovely woman is waving at us from within. Nancy had commandeered the Basel tour bus and directed the driver to us. We only held up traffic for 2 minutes as the driver loaded our luggage and Nancy welcomed us aboard (the bus!) We apologised for the inconvenience, but we liked Viking already.

We found our cruise (a survey course of some of the loveliest towns and cities on the Rhine) to be more than expected. Nancy's staff were great. Efficient, accomodating, friendly, fun. They made our time onboard a delight. Only a day or so to know our names and our preferences. Always with a smile. They seemed to get along quite well with each other. It showed.

The cruise was, as mentioned, a survey course. We mostly went on the provided excursions and with the exception of being trapped in a cuckoo clock factory in the Black Forest for a couple of hours, we enjoyed each outing. How can one spend 3 to 6 hours in Basel or Cologne or Strasbourg or Heidelberg and expect more than a glossy overview? That said, our tour guides each showed a passion for their locale that seemed to home in on an interesting or intriguing aspect of these great places whetting our whistles for a hoped for future return. The ports varied from small towns to major cities, a short walk or bus trip away. All unique and remarkable. Read more