We departed Frankfurt on Nov. 25 and sailed on the Viking Kara, disembarking in Nuremburg. The Kara was one of the newest longships and did not disappoint. This was our 5th Viking Cruise and it seems that Viking just keeps getting better. Our Captain, Johann Bons, was engaging and very personable as well as professional. He went out of his way to make all passengers feel welcome. I had asked him when we would be passing Karlstadt and he gave me an approximate time, and he blew the horn for us so we knew when we were passing it. He was great. All of the staff were great, nothing too much for them. The Executive Chef, Florian was always around asking about the food, the soups and the meals were very, very good. Always enough to eat.

The ports were Frankfurt, Wertheim, Wurzburg, Bamburg and Nuremburg. We did not go on the Heidelberg excursion ( I had gotten sick) it was a 2 hour bus ride. Instead we sailed on the ship with a few other passengers, it was a wonderful day cruising with lovely fall like scenery. The Christmas Markets were just opened. So we had gluhwein at every stop. Nuremburg was very crowded. We had our only optional tour in Nuremburg on WWII sites. The guide was very knowledgable and it was worth the extra $39 Euro. We did go into the courtroom where the Nuremburg trials were held, that was really something.

We so enjoyed this cruise and will be on another in 2015.