Of all the excursions, Gottweig Abby was my favorite. It wasn't overrun with tourists and the views, people and nectarine products were amazing. It was so interesting to hear the history and see the beauty of this place. Although we didn't spend as much time in port as I thought we would, the time cruising in the evening was usually very pretty and we had one afternoon with some great photo ops from the boat. One of the best things we did was break off from the tour group in Regensburg and Passau. We decided to do that after having no time to explore on our own in Vienna and IMHO the tour wasn't that interesting.

The service was generally good, as well as the food. I don't drink which is unusual I know, but the lounge staff stopped asking me what I wanted to drink about 2 days in when I didn't order anything alcoholic :-/ I have to say our room steward made up for that by being amazing! She was friendly and gave us great service and great tips about going on shore ... it was like having our own concierge! We handed her a huge tip just for her we would not have like the trip half as much without her.

While I would not make this particular trip again, I am considering a river cruise in France since so many of the other passengers recommended the cruise that goes to Normandy. TIP: If you want to explore Budapest you HAVE to get the extension. Otherwise you get a bus tour with 2 very quick stops. And the Budapest currency, the florint, is not needed. Everyone excepts Euros and almost everyone accepts US dollars.