this was our 4th Viking river cruise and to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful precruise trip to Kraków. We then suffered a 6.5 hour minibus transfer to Prague. Before leaving I asked about this transfer and was assured it was a short comfy trip. After our day in Prague we were transferred to the Beyla a beautiful new ship designed for the Elbe.

The water level of the Elbe had been noted for several weeks earlier to be very low. Viking did not warn us about how this might Affect our cruise. As a result the ship was not in Melnik so we missed that beautiful city entirely and boarded at Bad Shandau. The Elbe is barely a river; more like a wide creek. The captain had to call and wait for water to be released several times before we could sail. One earlier Viking ship was stranded for three days and the passengers bussed for hours to the next port. Many of the former East German cities we stopped at looked deserted. At Wittenburg the bus drivers refused to return to the ship as we were promised so many of us cooked in the record hot temperatures for 2 hours before they opened the bus and turned on the A/C. There was no Viking tour in Berlin; surely. Bus tour could be part of that last day.

The food was not inspiring. The staff were great. The ship was clean and beautiful and only a few months old. We had paid for a French balcony yet for at least three days another Viking ship tied up alongside completely blocking our view and forcing us to close the blinds as the deckhands of the other ship were working outside our cabin. Read more