This was our first river cruise and experience of this kind. It was an absolutely wonderful experience and the crew of the Ve was "the best"! Our cruise director Maya was terrific and could not have done more for us. For the most part, our shore excursions were great! The only negative thing was that we experienced low water and could not continue on the Danube to Vienna. We had to pack up and bus to Vienna. Viking could not have done more to make the trip great, however. With deluxe accommodations in a hotel in Vienna to side trips to see some of what we were missing. As no one can control the weather, the crew, Maya and Marco in particular did everything humanly possible to help make everything wonderful! It was a fabulous experience and one that we hope to do again in the near future. Our thanks to the entire crew of the "Ve" for their very caring attitude and kind attention to detail! We don't know if all crews on other ships are the same but the crew of the Ve were all so welcoming, kind, caring and attentive. The entire cruise left us with a thirst to see more and to repeat this experience!