We chose Viking to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Three weeks before our sail date they emailed us that the Rhein was low and we may have to swap boats. We started on the Tialfi and I explained to the Matre D that it was an anniversary trip and could he do something special (we did this based on the guidance of the tour director Lutz) because of the boat swap it almost didn’t happen and I had to ask twice more to make sure we foot a little special treatment at dinner. They kept telling us there was a chance we wouldn’t have to swap, but we did. We ended up swapping to the Alruna.Then we found out they have been swapping for weeks. It felt like we spent more time packing, unpacking, riding buses and sitting in industrial ports than we did actually enjoying a cruise in the river. We showed up on a Monday in Cologne and all of the museums were closed. We showed up in Strasbourg on All Saints day and everything was closed. The Black Forest trip was a bus ride with a stop at a glorified rest area, then back to the ship. We arrived in Basel in just enough time to get in a bus back to the airport to leave. Everyone on the ship said their goal was to surpass our expectations and Lutz and crew tried. The food was average on the boat. The veranda stateroom was a waste because there was rarely any scenery. We had a wonderful time exploring Kinderdjyk, Koblenz, Cologne and Strasbourg. But we could have had that experience for a fraction of the cost.