We always wanted to do a European river cruise. After reviewing 5 different companies we choose Viking mainly due to price. We did the Amsterdam to Budapest cruise. Remember your paying almost $600 per couple per night for these cruises. The rooms were very nice - no complaints. The food was good but the portion sizes were random. One night your fish order would be a substantial 3" x 6" fillet and the next night it would be 2" x 4". Service on the Vili was excellent. However, because of low water due to drought we switched ships in the Danube canal and did the second half of our trip on the Viking Mimir. The service on this ship was not nearly as good as the Vili. It was noticeably a less attentive - it took longer to get waited on and served, water and wine were not refilled unless you made a request.

I was also disappointed in the excursions. While they were nice they were not nearly as exclusive as the marketing people lead you to believe. To me they were on par with what you would get on a bus land tour. We had friends do the same cruise on another line and their excursions seemed to be much more intimate and exclusive.

One thing they don't put in the marketing brochures is that for 5 days of this trip, they close the top deck due to bridge height so you are restricted to the inside of the ship or the bow. This is a real bummer and came as a big surprise. Read more