This was my first cruise (although my wife has been on a couple of others). We cruised from Bucharest to Budapest, and then went on to Prague by bus. I enjoyed the cruise; the boat was very comfortable (we had a balcony stateroom B), the services and staff were excellent, the food was great, and we enjoyed the tours. I was impressed with the ability of the staff to formulate alternatives, especially when we couldn't get into Budapest due to low water, but the long bus ride due to low water at the embarkation point was a bit tiresome.

I also appreciated the limited number of people on the boat (130 or so). The hotels which were provided were excellent - good locations in the city centers and very comfortable. That being said, I find cruises (we just returned from a Smithsonian cruise - my second in as many months) to be somewhat limiting in terms of really getting to explore the countries one is visiting. Bus rides are often fairly long and time at the sites is somewhat limited. Some very nice touches on this cruise, however, were the musical performances at two churches and the visit to the horse farm. The visit to a family in Croatia was really interesting - to hear the husband talk about his and his family's life and hopes was a moving and informative experience.

Some of the on-board entertainment was fun and the discussion of the EU from the Eastern European perspective was revealing. Budapest and Prague were great cities to visit and we did have a couple of days in each - enough time to at least hit the highlights. The local guides were quite good for the most part. All in all, I would certainly take another Viking cruise.