Overall a very pleasant cruise: The Viking long-ships are hard to beat for creature comfort and Viking knows how to take care of customers with great food, attention to detail and professional staff. This particular March cruise (our second Viking cruise for my wife and I) delivered excellent weather and reduced tourist crowds and convinced us that Europe travel in early spring is the way to go. This was the first time I did not book the air portion of travel myself, we utilized Vikings air service and the process at both ends was flawless. We will use them again.

The cities/towns visited and the associated tours were a real eye-opener and changed our preconception of this part of the world. While the route traveled passed through areas that have seen relatively recent conflicts and political unrest the vibrancy of both the cities and people attest to the resiliency of the people and governments. Sadly this was not the case during our stop in Vukovar Croatia; here the ravages of the recent wars were still in evidence and was somewhat of a downer, not helped with a tour stop visit that was clearly not up to Viking standards.

On balance I would recommend this cruise for a glimpse of a part of the world that most of us only read about in the newspapers during times of conflict; the positive takeaway is that the people are proud, modern and youthful and clearly dedicated to rebuilding the countries.