We wanted to see again the beautiful cities of Bucharest and Budapest. We opted for the 4-day pre-cruise excursion in Bucharest and again saw one of the prettiest cities in Europe. The cruise itself then began in Bucharest, Romania, and from there we had informative visits in Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia. The cruise ended in wonderful Budapest where, among other things, we were finally able to visit the amazing Parliament building.

Viking's service, from housekeeping to dining to excursions, was excellent. The staff is very friendly and works hard to learn each passenger's name. The dining was great, and local menu's were offered for each lunch and dinner, and thus were our selections on most dining occasions.

Other travelers should be aware that the first and last nights of the cruise are actually spent in hotels rather than on the ship. While the hotels provided were excellent, the moves from hotel to ship to hotel resulted in a departure from the customary attractive benefit of river cruising that one has to unpack only once.