We chose this cruise of the Danube based on an outstanding experience with Viking in China. Unfortunately, our experience would not be duplicated. We were disappointed that "Mother Nature" did not cooperate and the water levels were low and so our itinerary was altered significantly. This resulted in many long bus rides, certainly not what we were expecting. In addition, our itinerary had to change to accomodate an international air show and we did not get to "cruise" the Danube!! In all of the 8 days scheduled on our cruise, 4 proceeded as expected.

However, it was the unprofessionalism and poor and incorrect communications from Viking, both corporate and the ship's management, that resulted in a terrible experience and is the basis for this rating. The company was either unaware or unwilling to correctly notify us of where we would be embarking. We spent 2 plus days of our pre cruise vacation trying to find out where we were picking up the cruise. Once on the cruise, there were issues with noise above the cabin which the ship's management could not or would not address. Is Viking so big that they do not care how they are perceived by their customers? There was no effort on the part of the Company to provide any additional service or acknowledgement of a difficult and unfortunate situation. They could have bought the passengers a drink!

On a positive note, the general staff of the ship was outstanding. They couldn't do enough!