My wife and I took the VAR from Amsterdam to Basel. The boat was very well run and the crew went out of their way to make things work. The river water level was high and some changes had to be made in the itinerary. Viking handled this change very well. I could feel the scrabbling to make the last minute changes. The excursions were well planned and well organized. I had to change local guides because the one I was assigned to wouldn't stop talking about extraneous things. No harm, I just hooked up with another group. The trip to Cologne was the best I have ever taken. The history of Cologne was fascinating, I would do it again if given the chance.

The only small thing that went wrong was I put money in the safe and didn't push the button after closing it. When I came back I noticed that the safe was open. I check my wallet and saw that money was in the wallet and didn't think much about it. When I got to Basel Airport, I checked and found that my $3,600 US was suddenly $1,600 US. It was my fault, I should have counted the money when I found the safe open.

Overall, very pleasant trip well worth the price. Beautiful boat with nice people running it. Great food all the way. I highly recommend the Viking Var.