So glad we took this Rhine river cruise, Viking is the best. This was an 8 day cruise from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Basel, Switzerland with a 3 day extension in Lucerne, Switzerland.

We booked the air, premium economy through Viking, special thanks to Jake at Viking customer service for all his help. Make sure you pay the extra fee to pick your seats. When we landed a Viking rep was waiting for us and once they got a group together, about 30 minutes, we went by bus to the ship. To say embarkation was a breeze is an understatement, we got to the ship, luggage was dropped off and we were free to either wait and take the ship’s tour or go off on our own. So at 10am we walked to the metro, got an all day pass and off we went to sightsee. The redlight district is within walking distance of the ship no need to take mass transit.

Loved the tours in the other ports, included in the price there was no nickel and diming so prevelant on the large cruise ships. The only thing I didn’t like was sitting with strangers and having a set dining time. You are in a different port every day and even if you don’t want to do the ship tour use it for transportation in and out of the towns if nothing else. We broke away frequently to do the Christmas markets instead. Do take some of the optional tours like Colmar. Loved not having boring sea days! We went during the holidays but the crowd was older with a few very quiet and well behaved teens traveling with their families. Read more