This was our first river cruise and first experience of any kind with Viking. Once you get past paying for the entire cruise months(years) in advance, it was surely worth our wait. We were particularly excited because our first reservation was canceled due to COVID and we were offered the 120% credit to rebook.
This was a bucket list cruise for me. My wife, not so much upon booking. We did the two day pre-booked stay in Amsterdam through Viking and absolutely loved the Pestana Hotel. In our first reservation we were placed at the Movenpick Hotel. If you have an option choose the Pestana. It is closer to the heart of Amsterdam. The accommodations were very nice and the included breakfast buffet was very nice.
If you choose the Grand European tour I highly suggest spring or very early summer for two reasons. First the river water levels are generally higher, negating the need to bus between ports. Additionally, the included walking tours generally ran 2 1/2 - 3 hours. We had several warm days and any hotter the tours would have been insufferable. The local tour guides really did a great job. When we did have to make a short bus drive to town for the tours the buses were very comfortable and water was offered as we left the ship.
The cabin certainly met our needs. We loved the mattress. The heated floor in the bathroom was a very nice touch. We loved our floor length windows.
We absolutely loved Amsterdam. It is a very easy city to navigate via public transportation. A canal tour is a must.