This was our first river cruise on Viking, but won't be the last. I'd done two much smaller barge trips on the Thames and Loire rivers with Abercrombie and Kent in other years and this was a totally different experience and impossible to compare (A & K trips only had 10 or 12 people on the barge, while the Viking Idi longboat had maybe 170 people).

I booked pre and post accommodations in Lucerne and Amsterdam on our own instead of going through Viking. We also booked our own air.

Our cabin was functional and lovely, although I will never again book the least expensive room. Why? I'd figured we'd only be in our room to sleep, shower, and change clothes, so decided to spend the money on our Amsterdam & Lucerne boutique hotels instead. We were on the lowest floor (can't remember what the level was called) and the water lapped against the room we were in, keeping my husband awake most of the night. We usually get a balcony and it was a mistake to economize. Read more