We expected a great experience with Viking after taking 4 river cruises with them, and our 5th cruise did not disappoint. We arrived in Munich for our pre-cruise excursion to Munich and Salzburg. Viking personnel were waiting for us and transported us to our hotel, Hilton Munich Park. The hotel was nice and the location next to the English Garden was wonderful, and we managed a quick visit to the Chinese Tower beer garden on our first afternoon. The second day was a tour to Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, two palaces of King Ludwig. Neuschwanstein was incredible, gorgeous setting and views, but very, very crowded. Linderhof was smaller, more spectacular inside, and not so busy. The third day was a tour of Munich, including BMW World and the Marienplatz. Our guide was good, but the tour felt a little rushed so we could get to the Marienplatz in time to see the glockenspiel. In the afternoon we traveled from Munich to Salzburg. Salzburg was absolutely beautiful. The hotel, Radisson Blu Altstadt, was right in the heart of the old town with lots of shops and restaurants within easy walking distance. The next morning we had a walking tour of Salzburg, very interesting and informative. The afternoon was free time. The final morning of the pre-cruise excursion we went on a Sound of Music tour to the Austrian lake country, which was spectacular, beautiful lakes and mountains, gorgeous scenery. We stopped in a cute lakeside village for lunch and then to Mondsee to the church where the wedding scene from the movie was filmed. Then, finally to the Viking Vilhjalm, docked in Passau.

Our cruise was wonderful. Our stateroom, 307, was exactly the same room we had on past cruises, and met all of our expectations. We loved our veranda and used it often. Luckily we were not "rafted" very often (at least not on our side of the ship) - once in Passau and once in Vienna where we were in the middle of 3 Viking ships! Otherwise we always had a view either of the river (Linz), or the docks (Krems, Bratislava, Budapest). Our cabin steward, Tanya, took great care of the room and brought us a top sheet for additional sleeping comfort. Food on the ship was very good. Every night had a set of "regional specialities" - 3 courses of appetizer, main course, and dessert. There were other choices as well and we could mix and match as we desired from 3 or 4 choices for each course every night. One night was Taste of Austria, with a plate of mixed meats and vegetables local to the area, and with musicians playing during dinner. We also enjoyed the Explorer Lounge. We had the Silver Spirits package and liked being able to choose a premium wine each night with dinner, and there were some excellent selections. Service overall was outstanding - we never had to ask twice for anything we needed, and sometimes our needs were anticipated before we even asked.

Excursions were all excellent. We had some cold, rainy weather in Passau but found the city tour interesting. One of our favorites was the trip to Cesky Krumlov - we took the "gentle" walkers excursion and there were only 4 of us, like a private tour. We also enjoyed having a few hours of free time to enjoy this town. City tours in Vienna and Bratislava were very good. We did the optional excursion to Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, very interesting, but very crowded on a beautiful hot Sunday afternoon in Vienna. We were in Budapest on May 1, a huge holiday, and our city tour was impacted by the downtown Pest area being closed for a car show and car races, so we didn't get to see all of the city. The bonus was that afternoon there was an air show with planes flying down the Danube right past our ship, so we spent time on the sun deck watching the show. Our absolute favorite excursion was the optional Wachau Valley wine tasting. Erhard Morwald supplies the house wines to Viking and he welcomed us to his winery. Erhard and our tour guide Trinka were a fine-tuned comedy team and the wine tasting was interesting but also very much fun. The tasting pours were generous and Erhard was constantly offering more if you wanted it. A great afternoon. Read more