This was our third cruise on Viking River Crusies and the first time on one of the new Longships. The new ships are really nice. The are well appointed and more spacious than the previous Viking ships we had experienced. The food on board the ship was excellent. One of the reasons we come back to Viking River Cruises is the casual atmosphere and the nice peolpe we meet from other parts of the US as well as people from other countries. Another reason we come back are the Viking employees. They have always been so nice and helpful as well as being fun. You can talk to them like friends and after a couple of days that's what they become, friends. They always are there to make sure you are taken care of and have everything you need.

The cruise was fun with a lot of interesting ports of call and things to do. Where to begin? Amtersdam was full of historical sites from the Anne Frank House to the Rijksmuseum. Our next stop was the quaint town of Hoorn. After a walking tour we did something quite interesting here. We were broken into smaller groups and were able to visit with one of the local residents in her home. In Arnhem we took an optional tour to the Kroller-Muller museum with it's enormous collection of impressionist art. We enjoyed the story of Kinderdijk and the chance to vist an operational windmill. This was a real treat and we got a better idea of why windmills were so important to Holland. Bruges was a gorgeous medievil town. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip. You could spend your day just taking pictures and aborbing the atmosphere. We ended our cruise by visiting the Keukenhof Gardens. I have never seen such a beautiful garden with so many beautiful flowers.