This was our first river cruise as we had previously enjoyed four ocean cruises with another cruise line. The itinerary of this cruise really appealed to us and it didn't disappoint. We chose not to use Viking air and booked our own air from IAD to Budapest flying KLM, it was a direct flight and we were impressed with their service. We also chose not to book with Viking for our pre and post travel hotels. Embarkation was smooth and we were immediately impressed with the service. Shout out to David, Chef Joey, Alan the maitre de, Dylon(sp) the bar tender and Stephan one of the many outstanding servers. I was impressed with all the tours and how smoothly everything ran. The only negative was we had purchased a cabin with a balcony and really couldn't use it due to the way Viking docks at most ports. I called customer service today and they issues us a credit, class organization. The cabin was much smaller than on the ocean lines, but comfortable, clean and plenty of storage room for the 15 day cruise. Loved the heated floors in the bathroom. The food was much better than on the ocean cruises and this includes the speciality dining. We enjoyed the guest lectures, the entertainers they brought on board as well as the father/daughter duo that sang in the lounge. We had 185 people on board but it seemed like even fewer than that given the outstanding service. We are already looking to book another cruise.