The main reason my wife and I took this cruise was to see the Passion Play in Oberammergau. However, Viking showed themselves to be a first-class river cruise company all the way. We had elected to come to Rome two weeks before the cruise started, so our independent travel ended when we walked into the Hilton-Munich Park Hotel. From that minute until Viking's representatives put us in front of the security lanes at the airport in Budapest, we worried for nothing and knew that every detail had already been smoothed well in advance by Viking's superior staff. We elected to withdraw from automatic tipping because we felt the staff were simply not receiving large enough tips and that decision allowed us to give more than we would have otherwise. This was a trip we will remember for the rest of our lives and we will look forward to an around-the-world cruise based entirely on our positive experiences with Viking cruise line.