This was my second Viking River Cruise in Europe. Viking is a bit more expensive, but you get what you pay for. The food and service is excellent. This is a newer boat and very well equipped. The excursions are very well organized and very fun. The optional excursions are more, and generally worth it unless you enjoy being more adventurous and taking a bit of risk. I highly recommend the Rhine river cruises. We visited the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland. I recently had a friend that was on another tour (not Viking) and their air was cancelled, so they missed their whole trip. I suggest always arriving at least a day prior to ship departure just to avoid any flight issues. Viking generally has pre-trip options just to be safe. They do have late seatings for dinner, which wasn't the best for our schedule. We didn't have any options for state rooms as they were all sold out and we hadn't planned well in advance.