We chose this sailing so we could visit Christmas markets. We were not disappointed! Many markets, large and small, throughout the various ports. We were disappointed that we had to be bussed into so many towns however.

The ship was clean and fresh. Our stateroom (verandah) was roomier than we had anticipate with plenty of storage/closet space. The food was very good. Entertainment was primarily a piano player. We had a cooking demonstration, a Dutch tea, a young girls’ choir, a water management lecture, etc., on various late afternoons. Great accordion player one night during dinner. We felt no movement at all onboard nor experienced any engine noise. Only when going through the locks, did the ship rock at all. We would have liked more information on the locks and to know when the ship was scheduled to traverse them.

The schedule was rather regimented - not relaxing. I hit 10,000+ steps every day. All included tours were in the morning. It would have been gracious to have some optional tours in the morning, so that each day was not predicated by having to get up early to have breakfast to be ready to join an included tour. “Leisure walk” tours were available about day three, also in the mornings. No explanation as to how these would be different than the regular tours, except they might be slower paced. I would have appreciated more information. Viking did provide both water and umbrellas. Viking was no help at all when a passenger inquired about shipping items home, FedEx, etc. Read more