We liked the itinerary. Starting in Nuremberg and ending in Budapest allowed us to have a good experience on the Danube and visit several towns. Viking is very well run. The staff was excellent; the ship was clean and efficient; the food was good; and the tours were well organized.

I would have rated the cruise "Excellent" but for a couple of small items. First, unlike some other cruise ships, Viking or at least the Jarl did not have bikes available. There were days when we would have enjoyed biking along the river or from one town to another. Second, we thought the food was well prepared and good, but it did not bowl us over. Good not excellent. We are not complaining; for a ship of 200 people, the staff did a fine job and the food was consistently good. Its just that we were rarely "wowed" by the food. There was some "sameness" to the breakfast and lunches on board and I would preferred a couple of nights with a little extra special touch to the dinner.

Partly, we may have been affected by the weather. It was a tad chilly and some days it rained, so that limited our ability to use the upper deck or other outside areas. Even with the dampness, we enjoyed the cruise. I want to repeat that we thought the staff was excellent. Everyone was friendly and wanted to be helpful. They displayed a great deal of training and good management. And the ship was very clean, showing again excellent management of the ship and its staff. Read more