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Viking River Cruises

r/b Viking Europe

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: D. King
# previous cruises: 5
Date of Trip: April 5, 2003
Itinerary: European Rivers

First river cruise after 2 Ocean cruises. This is the way to go. Always something to see out the windows. Excursions are included. Food was awesome. 150 passengers or less so very intimate and the crew gets to know you and vice versa. Hard to beat this service.

These are small ships, 150 people max. Not much public area. A restaurant and lounge/bar area. Big enough to sit all the people, that's about it. No other amenities like gym, pool, etc. There is a sun deck up top, but in Mid April in Amsterdam area, too cold to use it. Everything was comfortable and clean.

Only buffet is for breakfast, but even there, they have eggs, pancakes, etc. cooked to order. Lunch and Dinner are all served. Order as much as you like. Special diets, dairy free, sugar free, kosher, etc. were all handled like they do it every day. Much different than other cruise lines where if you couldn't eat what they were serving, too bad. This cruise they bent over backwards to accommodate, even anticipating your needs as the week went on.

Cabins are all about same size on this ship. Good sizes. Do not know exact sq footage. Plenty of storage for 2 good size suit cases and the clothes. A spot to put empty luggage would have been nicer, but for 1 week there was plenty of space. Bathroom overall decent sized.

Not much entertainment on these ships. You are there for the cruising and the learning of different areas of the country you are visiting. Since all excursions are included (ok, all but 2), you are always out and about doing something, and not getting nickel and dimed to death for excursions every day.

Itinerary was Amsterdam to Amsterdam with stops in Rotterdam, Einkhorn, Hoorn, Arnhem, Schoonhoven, Volendam. Some were your basic tourist places, most were just quaint towns showing how the people lived and the architecture. Lots of the buildings are from the 1500s, so the architecture was very interesting to look at. Excellent way to learn about Netherlands. Tulips in April at Keukenhof were unbelievable. Could not have prepared for how gorgeous they were. Not 100s or 1000s, but probably close to a million tulips all over the grounds.

Most people were over 60, few people were in the 40s. One couple was in early 20s, but that was the exception. Seemed mostly for people interested in learning and seeing another country as opposed to going to party all day and night.