I went on this cruise with my family who are former Viking cruise-goers. My first impression of the ship was that it was very nice and well maintained. You could tell the staff cared about the ship's presentation. There was a smoker a few balconies down, and staff promptly handled the situation so I was able to enjoy my balcony the rest of the trip. The cabin was very nice, and surprisingly big for what I was expecting on a boat. The food was great, and I enjoyed the Chef's recommendations each night. I appreciated the variety of foods to choose from each night, from Thanksgiving themed dinner to Asian-inspired meals. Our cruise had to be altered at the last minute due to weather flooding the river, but Viking continued to arrange buses to the nearby cities so we could keep our planned excursions (which were good) as well as add other last minute options taking into consideration the inconvenience of being stuck. As part of the weather accommodations, they arranged a local river boat to take us up the scenic part of the river to view castles, as well as getting to go back to nearby towns that we had limited time at originally. Most of the excursions were good, but the walking tours were disappointing because some of the sites we didn't go in, simply stood out front and saw them while the tour guide talked about what we'd see on the inside if we did go on, which we didn't. I'd go around the city on my own instead of a walking tour, but they don't tell you the meeting place for the buses until the end of the tour, which seems like an easy enough fix with advanced planning. The trip was supposed to be Christmas themed, but we were a few days too early for the fist cities so their Christmas markets weren't open. However, they sell the same types of items in the rest of the cities so I didn't mind but if you want to full Christmas week then I'd suggest a later time.