We did this cruise with the pre-extension in Munich and Salzburg. The pre-extension was fantastic and definitely a must if you are a Sound of Music fan. We had the best Program Director (Fred). This was our second Christmas Market cruise, and we were not disappointed. The food was delicious, staff was wonderful and the ports of call were fantastic. Because of low river levels, we thought we were going to spend one additional night in Venice and be bused to Budapest. Fortunately for us, we were the first ship to sail into Budapest in over 12 weeks. Going into Budapest at night and seeing the Parliament Building lite up is beyond words. That evening, Viking helped me secure tickets to do a tour of the inside of the Parliament Building. What a wonderful tour. I highly recommend everybody tour the Parliament Building since Viking does not offer this as an excursion.
I always book a Veranda Suite because there's more room to move around in the cabin. It doesn't matter whether or not we utilize the balcony or not.