This was our first river cruise, selected for the itinerary, length, and stops. We loved Budapest and all the cities on the cruise itinerary. We were blessed by superb weather. The meals served aboard ship were generally superb, and the portions were generous. With beer and wine available at both lunch and dinner, there was no need for purchasing any additional drink packages. The crew was very welcoming and responsive to any request. Our French Balcony stateroom was comfortable, if just a tad small, but it was just fine for us. The offerings for daily activities will keep your days pretty full, and one lesson we learned was to allow some "down time" to just relax aboard ship. Vienna is an awful lot for one day, and you yearn to return to spend longer. Definitely take the excursion to Cesky Krumlov, it is an absolutely charming town with great little restaurants. Information that the crew provides in advance of the various stops is very helpful. Onboard entertainment was intimate due to the small venue, but extremely entertaining - we had some truly great operatic vocalists! We spent several days in Budapest before the cruise started, and in Prague after the cruise was over, on our own itinerary/dime (as opposed to using the Viking pre- and post-trips - our view is that you get a better deal that way. To sum up, we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and recommend it fully and energetically.