We chose this cruise (Bucharest to Amsterdam) for its length and itinerary. Just before leaving for Bucharest, we got an email from Viking saying that there might be a problem between Passau and Regensburg so we were prepared for a minor disruption in our journey. What happened though was it took us 4 boats and countless endless bus rides to complete our trip. Obviously Viking cannot be responsible for the water depth on the rivers; however, had we known how bad the situation was, we would have reconsidered taking this trip at this time. Several crew members on two of our ships told us that Viking had been unable to complete this trip since May, some 5 months before we arrived. Instead, Viking chose to minimize the impact of the low water and by the time we found out just how bad the situation was we were 7 days into our journey.

Because long bus rides were required to take most of the included tours, we skipped them and just stayed on board. On one offering for Regensburg, passengers were given the opportunity to visit the city. My husband decided to go even though the trip started at 8:30 in the morning and didn't end until early evening. So a large group of people left for Regensburg and when they arrived discovered that it was a holiday and everything was closed! While they were able to have lunch (on their own) they had no choice but to mill about for 3-4 hours waiting for the bus to take them back to the ship. Viking did not think it was important to let everyone know that it was a holiday before they got on the bus!

This was the longest and most expensive trip we have ever taken and we had high hopes that it would be one of the best. Instead we got a miserable cruise that did not provide much of what was promised. Read more