Just one optional tour off the ship did not meet my expectations. The other optional tours were good. Although the walking tour to see the windmills was a cold and blustery day we went anyway. Guide was very pleasant and kept us in a good mood with the rain and wind whirling around us. The day we went thru the canyon on the Rhine it was cold but we crowded on the top to get pictures and have a 360 degree view. They brought us blankets and coffee with Baileys and piping hot. Was so thoughtful. They really take good care of you. Loved it when we came back on ship after walking or shopping tour and staff had mimosas or other small shot sized drinks. They kept us informed all the way. Our cruise was the first one since September that could travel the length of the scheduled tour because they had rain and water level had risen. That was so nice for crew and passengers. This was a great crew. Only thing besides the beer tout that was not good ,they did our airfare and we left late out of Basel and had to run in Frankfort to catch our overseas flight. Please allow more time. Thank you Read Less

So I am on the Rhine Getaway as I type. Left 11/23 from Amsterdam. Mixed feelings here. Some relative to Viking, some to the cruise itinerary itself. First be aware that you WILL change ships, probably through year end, regardless of what Viking says. They have been doing it for months, and will likely do it through year end. It wasn't too disruptive, though and they arranged a Rhine day tour to see yhe castles we would have missed. More bus time than normal, however. The experience is not quite what you see in the promotional videos. Germany is heavily industrialized. They don't show scenes of industrial plants, container terminals. etc. that dominate the landscape. Docked in an industrial port last night, lined up w another ship. Not their fault, but it ain't Tuscanny! Food was pretty good, although tonight was the Taste of Germany! The only night there was no alternative menu (just when we needed one). Just not into bratwurst, sourkraut, etc. This was an exception. Salzburg was definitely the highlight. Skipped the bus tour to Heidleburg and did 2 days in Salzburg. Much prefer France. Clientele was interesting. Not sure how some guests were able to afford this cruise, but they did bring along thier finest biker t shirts.Overall a pleasant group though. We have cruised extensively and this is our first river cruise. I think next time we'll rent a villa in Tuscanny for a week. Without dining excessively as you do on a cruise it should be no more expensive. Bon voyage! Read Less

We purposely chose the explorer suite for the comfort it offered plus the use of our deck, watching scenery along the the Rhine river valley. Both ships were as nice as our previous cruise down the Danube and the crews on the two boats were pleasant and professional. I think we were disproportionately punished though, by all the time we spent bussing from Cologne to Strasbourg without having stopped in Koblenz or Speyer. I served in the U.S.Army, stationed in Nuremberg and Frankfurt in 1970-1972. I was particularly looking forward to revisiting Heidelberg on my cruise. I knew there was more to the city than the castle. I think had we not had to bus all the way to Heidelberg from Strasbourg we might have had more time to spend in this old university town. By the time we reached Breisach am Rhein we had spent so much time on busses we passed on the Black Forest bus trip and spent the day in Breisach and enjoyed a few hours in the village and our deck. I must say the service, the crews, the accommodations were all excellent. I am inclined to question the necessity of not cancelling our trip. I’m not sure the sacrifices of lost time in the cities, time spent on the busses, and loss of utility of our cabin amenities were worth the sacrifices made by the passengers. Read Less

Traveled with my sister and her husband, Oct 5 - 12, Basel - Amsterdam. The ship was clean, food was fair to good, wine selections poor and included internet virtually unusable due to extremely low speeds (10+ minutes to load a page!). The included tours, were, for the most part, a waste of time. The Black Forest tour was a 1.5 hour bus ride to reach a small shopping center, missing Freiburg and other interesting sites. The Cologne city walking tour was a brief tour of the Cathedra, interesting, but brief and far short of seeing the city. The optional wine tasting tours were also disappointing, Fairly long bus rides to visit a single winery, tasting 3 varieties, and then having ample time to buy their offered products. Once again, a tour that I paid for, only to be shepherded to another shopping venue. The only tours I can recommend is the village of Colmar, the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress and the Bruhl Palace. The last full day of the cruise was spent at the "Kinderdijk windmills", while somewhat interesting, certainly not worth an entire day of the cruise. This day was wasted, as the cruise could have visited Rotterdam or the Hague, rather than sitting in the middle of nowhere for 12 hours. I've spent the same amount of money/day on Crystal and AMA with much better results. Don't waste your time on Viking River cruises. Read Less

Service and food was excellent. Staff was first rate, especially the cruise director. disappointed in how much time we spent on buses especially when we had to change boats.The set up in the dining room was conducive to meeting new people. Overall a very good experience; we are planning to do another Viking cruise next fall The excursions overall were very good but on the one excursion to the coo coo clock factory, we travelled for about 2 hours and were able so spend only about 30 minutes at the factory, hardly enough time. If that could change some how to allow us more time there it would be nice also, the amount of time on the buses during our change in boats was very long. I'm sure your contingency plans were in place, but overall we spent way too much time on the bus transferring to the new boat, and on other excursions (as above) had too little time to enjoy the scenery and sights. the food was delicious, and I liked that we could have anything on the menu, not restricted to one item. the beer and wine were very good; better than most "house" brands. Wait staff was among the best I've ever seen. Read Less

It was our first cruise and my third time to Europe, but first for my wife. The Rhine trip meant a lot to me because my ancestors came from the region centuries ago. Even with the challenge of low water on the Rhine, the Captain and crew made it all work. This ship was run by professionals and made it totally enjoyable. The Captain was always honest about the situation and how to deal with it - and very accessible. The Cruise Director was excellent and made every day fun and upbeat. The food was very good with multiple options at each meal. You felt like you and the other guests and crew were one big family and the interaction was really great. We did a pre-trip excursion to Lucerne and it was well worth it - particularly the side trip to the Stanserhorn. The ports of call were what we expected (quaint old towns) although being in Colmar and Strasbourg on the weekend made for large crowds. The local guides were very good and the personal microphones made communication easy in a crowd. Our day on the Rhine sailing by the castles was perfect weather and a real treat. Spending time in the Marksburg Castle was one of the trip highlights. Also enjoyed seeing the windmills in Kinderdijk - I took the bike ride and it was fun with the group and guide. It was probably the best vacation experience ever and we have already signed up for another cruise in 2020. Viking delivers on all their promises and made it a great experience. Read Less

This was my second River Cruise and my husband's first. We really enjoyed the whole experience. It is so nice to unpack one time and not have to worry again about it until time to disembark. The included tours are very informational and well planned. We love climbing the stairs to the tops of the cathedrals and overlooking the entire city! We met some wonderful people on the boat and they made our trip more enjoyable. We have maintained contact with some couples (husband and wife and a sister duo) with whom we would love to meet up with again! The service and food were both excellent. I love sampling foods from the region that we are visiting and the Chef made sure that we had plenty of varieties of regional dishes. The cabins are very clean and the beds very comfortable. We have already booked our next River Cruise for May 2019.. Can't wait! Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the geographical location. We traveled from Basel to Strasbourg, France and throughout Germany, all along the Rhein. From Germany, we visited the Netherlands and ended our trip in Amsterdam. All of the local guides were friendly, helpful and informative. The scenery from the ship was beautiful. We were celebrating an anniversary and the staff made it very special with recognitions throughout the trip. The excursions were fun and did not deviate from what was promised in the description. We felt immersed in local culture during our tours, but were given ample free time to venture out on our own. The food was amazing! Service was very good. Drinks were plentiful and we rarely had to wait for service. The interior of the ship is beautiful and was immaculately clean, always. We made several new friends on board. It was excellent and everything exceeded our expectations! We are already planning our next Viking Cruise! Read Less

The staff on this ship was absolutely the BEST!! They were attentive and catered to my specific dietary needs with concern and pleasure. After only 2 days, the bartender, Mladen, knew what drink I enjoyed and had it ready for me as soon as I approached the bar. Valentino, our M’atre de, made sure that each evening I received the menu for the following day so that he could assist me in selecting my meals in regards to my specific needs. He even searched for me one afternoon to provide me with a specially prepared lunch. The dining staff also became aware of my needs and quickly corrected any inconsistencies that arose. Gigi provided wonderful entertainment every evening. His ability to honor requested songs was much appreciated. He was always ready to create a festive and enjoyable evening. The ship was beautiful and clean and comfortable. It was very easy to navigate. We are already planning our next river cruise. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of advice from our Travel Agent and of hearing good things concerning Viking Cruises from past passengers. The Captain, all crew members, the balcony room, the ports of call, and cleanliness of the ship were all excellent. Our main gripe was the poor quality of the food served on board. As an example, after a very early start on our departure date, we were told on the coach taking us from the airport in Amsterdam to the ship, that a lunch would be ready upon our arrival on board. We were quite hungry by this time, so was looking forward to a good lunch which we expected to be served in the dining room. Instead it was served in a self-service bar at the rear of the ship. It consisted of Soup, Cheese and Tomato or Ham and Tomato baguettes, breaded chicken wings and cold chips and a cake for the sweet. There was also free wine or beer available. We found the main evening meals to be of poor quality. Again as an example "Halibut" on the menu. Yes it was halibut but of the very cheap variety called "Greenland Halibut or Mock Halibut". (How do I know this, because I suspected as such and confirmed it with the head chef). I ordered a shrimp cocktail one evening, only to be served with the poorest quality tasteless shrimps I have ever had, served on a very hard piece of rye bread. I would make a guess that these were cheap Asian shrimps, which are usually served as a cooking shrimp. I tried the Salmon one evening, and although the quality seemed very good, it was ruined by over-cooking and therefore very dry. I also found that the English breakfast bacon was also very over-cooked, and I could have used it as a table tennis bat it was that hard. We had a "Serve yourself" German meal one evening. It was chaos. Imagine over 100 patrons all trying to get served at the same time around a small servery. It was impossible to see what was on offer before the "stampede" I ended up with some breaded meat, which was so grisly, I was unable to eat it. Again poor quality produce. We enjoyed the "free excursions" ( I say "free" because no doubt the cost was included in our original cost of the cruise.) We found them to be most interesting and the guides very good. However, one day we decided not to go on the "free" and take an evening excursion in Rudeheim. We were informed that we would be taken to a typical German restaurant with free wine tasting, entertainment by a typical German band, together with a sumtuous meal. To get to the restaurant we would be taken by a miniature train. This turned out to be Seaside Tractor Train, which left us quite a long way away from our restaurant. We were given a red wine and a white wine which was not our choice with a take it or leave it attitude. The band consisted of a keyboard player, a violin, and lady singer. (Where was the "slap my side" German band ?) The food was very poor, and I had to send my main meal course back because it was cold. It was put in the micro-wave and returned to me. There was no other entertainment except what we, the customers, provided for ourselves. The cost of this trip was 79 Euro each!. I complained to Ivan, the cruise director, concerning what poor value for money this was, given that we had already paid for an evening meal and complimentary wine on board ship. He said he would report my remarks. Haven't hear a thing from Viking. Would we go again - No. This cruise cost us £2600 each (my wife and I) which works out at £742 per day for us both. We enjoyed the camaraderie of meeting lots of nice people. The cruise director (Ivan) was very good, and also the pianist (GeGe ?) Would we go again? Not too sure. It would have to be at a very reduced price. My wife and I are seasoned cruisers, and have completed in the region of about 60 ocean cruises with various lines, and so well experienced in cruise quality. This was our first experience of a river cruise. I am probably being a little unfair with my criticism of the food, as our previous cruise to this one, had been on the Ociania Cruise Ship "Riviera" where, if you really want to know what good food is like, then try this line, Read Less