Our 21 day tour began in Bangkok and ended Cambodia at Angkor Wat. The guides and service staff were outstanding. The tours were interesting, however, they did not include a downtown tour of the city of Bangkok. It would have been much more interesting to see this city than do the railroad market. The tours left a lot to be desired in regard to seeing life in the larger cities. I grew up on a farm and did not need to see a pepper field or go to a brick factory. In regard to the later, this was an area that was not safe to walk around in. Industrial clutter was everywhere and easily one could have hurt themselves. The junk rides were fun but the areas to disembark were steep, wet and again very unsafe. The saving grace was the guide, Ut, who was wonderful.

Viking needs to consider a more modern and up to date ship. The "cute little ship" we were on was the worst one we have taken on a river cruise. The stairs were very narrow and steep much like on a naval vessel. There were thresholds everywhere at each door. This is not a good thing when the travelers were all over 60! I tripped on one and broke my ankle while on the tour. No wheelchair was available either and no elevator! As a temporary measure I had to use an office chair with wheels to try to get around my room. I had to convince the administrator to get a wheelchair which he did for me. The lounge area for movies and spa was in the lower level of the ship with again a very steep narrow stairwell. This was very poorly supplied with old worn out furniture I would have had placed in my basement for the grand kids to jump on. I would recommend the tour but not on the current ship. Avalon had one of their ships pulled up next to us and it was a smaller version of the big Viking ships. If I had known this ship was available I would have selected them to travel with.

The evening briefing was held on the sundeck with another steep and narrow naval stairwell to climb. With the broken ankle I was left with the choice of not to go or slide on my butt up each stair to the top of the ship. Read more