I had never been to Europe before. I chose Viking due to reputation and marketing information received through the mail. I wanted to devote a minimum of two weeks to this trip to justify the flight time and distance. The Grand European Tour fit the bill.

We got to see all of our scheduled stops including a nice unexpected porting and tour of the city of Mainz. However, due to river levels, a few of the scheduled events were either altered or eliminated.

* Two of our "scenic sailing afternoons" were eliminated due to increased ship speed and motoring fast at night necessary to get through some of the low points in the Rhine. This was not Viking's fault and the company did a nice job of getting us to excursion destinations by bus and feeding us lunch off the ship to maintain schedules as best as possible. Missing the scenic sailing with castle viewing from the roof deck was very disappointing though. Read more