Viking Baldur Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We chose the Tulips and Windmills cruise because, um, we wanted to see tulips and windmills. That, and we wanted to go on a river cruise, and Viking looked like the best choice ... and it was!
The ship and crew were remarkable. Excursion sites, guides and organization exceeded our expectations. The home hosted visit in Amsterdam was an unexpected pleasure, mostly because I'm very reserved and shy, and I thought the visit may feel awkward. It was the opposite, the couple who invited our group of 6 into their home put me at ease immediately. In addition, we made friends with 6-8 other people right away and enjoyed each others company throughout the cruise. It was as if we were already friends, we just hadn't met each other until the cruise. I'm pretty sure we'll continue keep in touch with some of them in the future..
The crew also exceeded our expectations. Mereck, the Program Director, has the perfect personality for the position. He kept things lively and is quite an entertainer. He put on a very funny, dramatic Van Gough "lecture". Corny as it sounds, it's almost like the guests were his friends, we just happened to be on the Viking Baldur river cruise. He sincerely seemed to want everyone to have a good time.
Cabin Review
The lower category staterooms are small, really small. (Having said that, I think it's they are same size and the French balcony rooms, but they only have a window instead of sliding doors.) The window is nice to have, but it's not "chest high" as indicated in some of the promo literature. It was above my eye level, and I'm 5'6". Luckily, we understood this in advance and were okay with it.
Port Reviews
Rotterdam
No excursion, the ship was only in port for a couple of hours late in the afternoon. We didn't really feel like going out on our own.