We chose this cruise because we wanted to see Switzerland, Germany,France and the Netherlands. Germany in particular because our heritage is Germanic. We enjoyed the great service and food on board the ship and the wonderful people we met from the USA and United Kingdom. The shore excursions were fun and informative. I would recommend going on a Viking river cruise like this. It was great and we enjoyed it tremendously !!! Viking did a great job of setting up the airfare and all transfers. Viking also kept us well informed on all details with regard to the trip and sent us videos of how the ship was layed out so when we went on board we knew what to expect. They provided a German theme at one of the dinners with live entertainment. We also had a guest lecture from a German business man explaining how their health care and education is payed by the government and how expensive it is to live there.