Cities of Light Reviews

This was our sixth European River Cruise and whilst it met expectations in most areas it fell short in some areas and those were ones which we are important to us. In terms of the cabin, the catering, the friendliness of the crew, the on-board facilities and the routine on board, we found that Viking were on par with the other major operators we have ...read more cruised with.

The areas we were disappointed with were the on-board entertainment and the excursions. The on-board entertainment did not include a German folklore/music evening (the cruise was totally within Germany)until the last night of the cruise and many guests did not show up, presumably as they were preparing for departure the following day. There was also a glass blowing demonstration one evening which more of a souvenir/sales event than a cultural event.

The excursions contained too many hours of coach travel (particularly as it had extensions either end in Prague and Paris with several hours by road between ship and hotel). There was also no folklore night offered in advance by Viking in Prague and we booked our own only to find that on the day of our arrival in Prague a folklore evening was being offered by Viking. Also in Rudesheim the main attraction (for us) was the Musical Instrument Museum but not included in any tour offered by Viking, so we and several other passengers had to do our thing. On the other hand the tour to Heidelberg included a local lunch with a foreign student from the university (our student was from Sudan) which we found to be a pleasant change.

The river cruise aspect of this package cannot be faulted. The food and wine was excellent. The accommodation was very good, and we were at water line. The staff were amazing on board.