We wanted to see as much of Europe as we could in a couple of weeks so we chose the Grand European from Budapest to Amsterdam. This trip started out with a smooth arrival and easy transfer to the ship and only got better from there. The itinerary covers such a wide range of places. Even though many of the cities are in Germany we were amazed at how different they were. Each had its own character and history and the local guides were very knowledgeable and funny. Our program director Stephen was seemingly everywhere all the time making sure we were where we needed to be and had the best possible experience. He even sang for us a few times in the evening, accompanied by Csaba on the piano!

Our room had enough space to put all our stuff and plenty of electrical outlets. The bathroom had a heated floor - very nice when you step out of the shower. The food is excellent and I can't say enough about the service, but that's only to be expected from Viking. Everyone, from our stateroom steward to the captain, was professional, super friendly and went out of their way to make this trip perfect. When my husband wanted a shirt from the gift shop but they didn't have it in his size, they simply said "we'll check with the neighbors." There are often several Viking ships docked near each other. Sure enough, the shirt was in our room by the time we got back from our shore excursion.

This was our first river cruise but it will definitely not be our last.