The Viking River Cruise longship from Amsterdam to Budapest doesn't go to Budapest it goes to Nuremberg, then to where you get to pack your bags again then get on a bus for three + hours to Passau where you get another barge. And unpack your bags. That's right your Viking Longship is a barge. A self powered barge, but a barge just the same. Which is not all bad. Stable and roomy come to mind. All of the crew are great! But the people in charge of running the cruise are not. They lie by omission. Asking about barge changes will get you no where. They haven't run a single barge from Amsterdam to Budapest in over three months and they don't want you to know this. The office did not respond to a single inquiry. Other than a 'don't reply' acknowledgement of email receipt. They ( corporate headquarters) put all the burden on the crew aboard the barge. The barge also SKIPPED THE REGENSBURG STOP! unless you want to take another long bus ride. Then the second barge DOES NOT GO TO BUDAPEST IT GOES TO KORMARON 60 + miles TO BUDAPEST FOR THE FIRST OF THREE BUS TRIPS TO BUDAPEST. Over an hour and 15 minutes each way.

To summarize, no single Viking boat is going from Amsterdam to Budapest, and hasn't for three months. Even the second boat goes only to KORMARON. The Viking company ( based in Switzerland) is keeping this really quiet. They sent me an email two days before departure saying this might happen. Never mentioning Kormaron. However most of the passengers onboard were completely shocked at this trip changing news. And I, like many passengers was already in Amsterdam. Making it too late to back out. Total failure for Viking. Also VERY IMPORTANT IF YOU ARE UNDER 65 DON'T TAKE THIS TRIP. All senior citizens are not infirm or stodgy but a sizable fraction are. I am 59 and quite probably the youngest guest. Also many days your boat will be sandwiched between other boats making the additional expense of veranda worthless.