My husband wasn't too interested in traveling abroad except for in Germany. So this met his criteria. I am willing to go anywhere so it met my criteria too. The flight from Detroit was direct to Amsterdam - long and tiring as expected. Just a hop from Amsterdam to Basel. I slept the arrival afternoon; my husband took the walking tour and enjoyed it. The cabin was fine - not elegant but well arranged and clean. Neither of us are "foodies" but we did enjoy all of the meals on the ship - especially the 5 course meal on the front deck. We did that the first night which was smart as there was only one other couple there. As word spread about how enjoyable it was people could not get reservations and it was probably not nearly as "special" as it had been for us. Of all the tours we enjoyed the Colmar World War II tour the most. Our guide was fabulous...so knowledgeable and passionate about the subject. He made us feel like we right there with Audie Murphy and his troops. Also enjoyed the museum in town. Cannot recommend it highly enough. Our second favorite tour was of the windmill in Kinderdijk. We did not do the bicycle tour - only the included tour. Our guide for this tour was also special. He was from Kinderdijk and thus knowledgeable and passionate about his town and the windmills and their significance. The rest of the included tours were fine...driving through the black forest was great; and seeing all the vineyards in southern France was very interesting too, Viking was very successful in mixing up "cruising" and "touristing" - we did not have a boring minute. We also especially liked the cruise through "castle country" as I call it. Recommend that you get a guidebook for the Rhine to assist in identifying and learning about all the castles you see as you cruise. Very organized in the way Viking handled leaving the ship/bussing everyone to their destination/and the return. As well as being able to hear the guides. Our cruise director Boris was fantastic - seemed to know everything about everything - and no matter what when on, always pleasant. The whole staff was great. Seemed to know everyone's name within 24 hours - how they do that I do not know. The entertainment was good....we were pretty tired at the end of each day so turned in early. Slept very well whether in port or cruising at night. Viking is great. We would go again in a heartbeat