We had previously sailed with Viking on a river cruise and found it to be very enjoyable, so we decided to try them again to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. As before, they took care of all the details from start to finish, so all we had to do was unpack, stay informed (they did a great job of communicating the activities that were available), and enjoy the experience. The voyage itself was fun and culturally enlightening. If any issues or questions cropped up, the staff was attentive and quick to address them. All members of the crew were upbeat and friendly, and they made it a point to actively engage with the passengers. The food was top-notch and provided ample opportunities to sample local cuisine. The seating plan in the lounge and restaurant was well-designed and facilitated meeting other travelers. This was a long trip (15 days), so there were a couple of occasions when we needed to just "take a day off", relax on the sun deck, and happily watch the world go by. We found that we could be as active or laid-back as we wanted to be. One of the charms of a river cruise is that the ship usually docks in a location that makes it extremely easy for passengers to disembark, take a stroll, and explore the locale on their own-----often right in the heart of the city/town.

It must be said that the river levels were a bit low for this time of year-----something that Viking has absolutely no control over but that could have severely disrupted the trip. Having said that, it was fascinating to see how the Captain and crew successfully improvised to compensate for this. Watching them do their work to keep the ship safely moving forward to its final destination unexpectedly turned out to be one of the more memorable aspects of the cruise.