My husband and I loved many things about our Viking river cruise. Having under 200 passengers onboard was so much better than 2000! We sat with different folks at meals, so we met many wonderful people. The food, service, cabins, and public areas were exceptional! The evening activities were fun and varied. We loved the cities we visited and the pace of activities was just right.... No being herded like cattle, plenty of free time, etc. My husband even liked standing on our balcony watching as the Idi passed through locks on the Rhine! The excursions at the ports were great. Our favorite was an all-day tour of Strasbourg, France with a guide named Audry. There were 18 of us and we shopped at bread stores, pastry shops, cheese stores, chocolate shops, and wine shops for items we later ate. We toured the Petite France section of Strasbourg which is beyond beautiful. We plan to travel the Danube next... Read Less

Chose cruise since destination, Ukraine, was of interest and itinerary looked interesting. Big mistake. The cruise tried to make a lot out of very little. Balance was wrong, started with 3 days in Odessa,very little to see and ended with only a day and a half in Kiev, a much more interesting city. Very poor and over exaggerated included tours. Day ! Panoramic Odessa. only two buildings of note, lots of statues to people never heard of. Afternoon Odessa Catacombs, interesting tour to site of W W 2 resistance fighters H Q Day 2 Akkerman Fortress Did not go since it entailed 4 hours driving for 40 minute visit. not worth effort, As it happened, rain caused 5 hour journey and only 20 mins at fort Day 3 odessa Art museum -hot stuffy and not very interesting Day 4 Kherson, Cradle of Black Sea Fleet Tour consisted of 3 statues, 1 church and a market of 4 stalls selling tourist tat Day 5 Zaporozhe Higlights Another dull town Drove over a Hydro Electric Dam Visit to Cossack fort, very Interesting. Afternoon Cossack horse show .typical tourist show but quite entertaining Day 6 Dnipro Highlights Museum and church Afternoon visit to art centre. Long drive for very little Day 7Kremenchug Prospectves and Home Hosted Visit .Obligatory statue stop, Drove via power station and oil refinery to visit village. Brochure promised " Ukranian Dumplings, Vaenkyk , home baked bread and local fruit and vegetables .Stood in garden for 40 minutes, given weak fruit juice and sugar pastry! Day 8 Panoramic Kiev and Monastery. Rushed through main cathedral, hardly time to see anything Visit to caves even less time after tiring walk Day 8 Most interesting day . Visit to Pirogovo Folk architecture museum If you want to see dull towns numerous statues and hear endless stories of Nazi/Russian/Roumanian atrocities this is th trip for you' On the plus side, the cabins are spacious and comfortable, the service is excellent. Food is average and below the standard of other cruises we have been on. Entertainment is very poor. A resident pianist and synthesiser. Outside entertainment was only shown on one night. We felt this cruise was not over enthusiasticlly described Read Less

We received a mailer sent to someone else at our address that we have lived at for 40 years and we have always said that we wanted to return to Europe for a river cruise so it was a God thing. The ship and staff were great. The food was also great and they catered to my wife's gluten free needs always. The Shore excursions were vary informative and well planned. We added two extra excursions ( Cheese Making and My personnel favorite the WWII outing). We are talking about taking a Alaska Cruise with my brothers and their wives for our next trip. The ship, staff, dining and entertainment were great with the staff wanting to take care of our needs and desires. We have told many friends about our trip and how much fun we had and some are looking into booking a similar trip. Thank you for a wonderful time. Read Less

This was our first river cruise. We were on the Viking Idi sailing June 27, 2018 from Amsterdam to Basel. Since this was our first river cruise after many ocean cruises on other lines, we did not know what to expect as to the food. Breakfast was super....many choices and all were tasty and served quickly. As to lunch and dinner....another story. We are not "foodies" and not very particular, but the lack of selection was surprising. Only 2 daily menu selections for main course and several nights there was nothing we liked! Beef stew was one night....really? Another surprise was the lack of German dishes (except for one night at the end of the cruise). Then you had a myriad of yummy German dishes. Wish they would have spread them out and have at least one each evening. We were on the Rhine for goodness sake. One night shrimp curry was the feature! Bland at best. Wait staff attentive, pouring house wines and beer liberally. Apparently this ship was beef challenged...rib eye, sirloin and burgers were tough or over cooked. When a chef came to our table and asked about the meal one evening, I told him about the steak. Several people at out table agreed that it was barely edible. He turned on his heel and walked off! The included tours were good but when the cruise director had her briefing on the next port, it was hard for us ( having never been on a ship that had included tours) to know if what she was describing was "included" or "optional". I suggested making that clearer, but it never changed during the 8 days. Eventually we figured that every morning tour (but one) was "included". They never changed our bed linens the whole week. That was a surprise as well. We used Viking air and came in one day prior to the cruise and stayed in a hotel of our choosing so we did not get a transfer to the ship. We could stow our luggage as early as 8 am and we boarded easily at 9:30am. Then we walked on our own to a canal tour boat very close to the dock. Transfer from the ship to the airport in Basel was great. We had a private cab due to our flight departure time I guess and were met at the airport by a Viking rep who took us to the correct check in spot! That was a nice touch. The actual voyage was very interesting....sailing down the Rhine and viewing people at small beaches, cows and horses at other beach areas....houses, castles, locks and a variety of river traffic made for enjoyable sights. Returning from the daily tours, staff greeted us with a small glass of something refreshing. Another nice touch! We thoroughly enjoyed the trip, but agreed that a river cruise was just not for us. We are booked on a Viking ocean cruise in the Med in March of 2019 and hope that Viking has the same level of service on board, but better food selections! Read Less

This was our first Viking Cruise and my first trip abroad! As we began researching cruises, we always came back to Viking because of what they offered. Needless to say, Viking exceeded our expectations! From the minute we landed in Amsterdam until our departure in Lucerne, we were taken care of and all we did was enjoy EVERYTHING! The ship Idi was perfect! The size was perfect and not overwhelming. The staff, and I mean everyone onboard was friendly and made sure you were taken care of. The food was always wonderful and the selection of what and where to eat was great! Making new friends and enjoying good conversations was so enjoyable around meal time! Our favorite night was when we were going through the locks and eating outside. And of course the sunsets were absolutely beautiful! Our cabin was perfect and we loved the balcony outside our room. We would come back to the room and enjoy a glass of wine and talk about our day as we continued to watch the sunset which was well after 9pm! Our cabin was always stocked and prepared to our liking by our steward. The ports and shore excursions are why we chose this cruise. We loved every excursion we did. The guides are what made it special for us! They drew you in to their country and made you feel so welcome. The history they gave to us was amazing and their passion for what they did and where they live was incredible! We sure had a lot of laughs along the way with our fellow cruisers! Amsterdam and Basel we wonderful extensions and would recommend adding to this cruise! We have already booked another cruise for 2020!! Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the sampling of Europe for our first European trip and from the advertising and reviews we had researched. The marketing is outstanding.The service, detailed organization and over all quality was amazing.we were pleased with the excursions offered and especially with the knowledge, expertise and humor of the guides that were contracted. We learned a great deal of history and laughed a lot! We were extremely pleased with the staff and their attention to detail. They went above and beyond to see that we were well taken care of. The food was delicious and a variety of options were made available to us at each meal. We enjoyed the casual elegant style of this atmosphere. We were not required to dress formally yet all were on a casual but tasteful manner. We can’t wait until our next trip! We will always cruise with Viking after this fabulous experience. Read Less

We chose this cruise because both my husband and I have German ancestors. My father actually left Germany when he was in his teens. We wanted to do something special for our 50th wedding anniversary, and we thought this cruise would be perfect! We thoroughly enjoyed our time aboard the ship with its laid-back atmosphere. Since it is much smaller than the cruise ships we had been on before, we got to meet many nice people. The food was exceptional, each day having a choice of local cuisine or more Americanized entrees, such as salmon and chicken. The crew was very pleasant and helpful. The program director went out of her way to make arrangements for us to meet up with my cousin and her husband who live in Augsburg, Germany. The only negative comment we have is that it was a lot of walking for older people. Most of the shore tours were walking tours of the different towns. We learned a great deal from our guides; but after the tour, all we wanted to do was get back to the ship and rest. This is a great tour for anyone who is in good shape and can walk long distances. Some of the tours required walking up very steep hills. Our 70+ year-old legs and feet were not prepared for such strenuous walking. We spent an extra day in Amsterdam prior to the cruise and two extra days in Lucerne at the end of the cruise. Both cities, although very different, offered us a variety of things to explore. Read Less

This was our second river cruise with Viking and it was a last minutes deal that our travel agent sent our way and we took it. Our flight arrangements were great. Los Angeles to Amsterdam round trip nonstop flights on KLM Airlines. We added a pre-cruise two nights trip to Lucerne. And it was a surprise that Viking had some one picked up the two of us from Zurich airport and drove us to our hotel in Lucerne in a black Mercedes E class sedan. The river cruise is nice with so many point of interests within walking distance from the docking locations. We explored Breisach, Kehl, and Rudesheim on our own. The crew member were courteous and helpful. The food and wine were delicious. That included Riesling was just great so we took an optional Moselle Wine Tasting trip to experience more. We made friends with two other couples. They were our dining mates and we had a great time. We booked Viking Mediterranean Odyssey for 2019 and looking forward to it. Read Less

We had never seen these countries before and this was our 2nd Viking cruise. Spent two days at beautiful Lake Lucerne before the cruise. A beautiful city, in which, we took many amazing photos. We enjoyed the relaxation of a river cruise and the extra special service of the staff. The cabin was extremely clean and the bed was very comfortable. The staff really went out of their way to keep us enjoying every minute of our trip. The chef also deserves credit for preparing exceptional dinners and buffets. It's very easy to put on more weight. This trip we traveled with 4 of our friends (first time they had gone on a river cruise), had great adventures and so much fun. We went on several shore excursions, even danced at the restaurant in Rudesheim am Rhein. We took many photos of the 20 castles we passed along the Rhine. We would love to take another Viking cruise. Read Less

We choose this tour because we wanted to get a introduction into Germany. This was a great way to do it. The Rhine river is wonderful to cruise and there are so many awesome sights to see and to experience. The crew welcomed us in Amsterdam and they very quickly made us feel like family. We looked forward to seeing them every day. The meals served on ship were very good with a great variety. The time went so fast. I was disappointed when, after I toured the wheelhouse, where the captain showed me how the ship operated, that he would not let me pilot the ship. The tours were great.Every stop, made me realize that I could go back and spend more time and that there was more to see. Even before the tour was over, we were thinking of going on another cruise next year. My special request to Viking is to let the crew of the Idi take me to where I go. Read Less