Paris to The Swiss Alps - this was my first river cruise. Chose Viking on its fine reputation and it didn't disappoint. Everything from airport arrival pick up, embarkation, disembarkation, and return to airport went smoothly. The hotels were excellent. Everything about the ship was excellent:, staff, service, amenities, food - couldn't be better. The tour guides on the excursions were particularly good - so well informed, enthusiastic, and personable. Every detail is taken care of - a truly memorable experience. Our cruise director was very enthusiastic, so well informed, and accommodating. Loved the on board presentations.

The only reason I rated it as 4 star instead of 5 is the billing process. We had an excellent Viking representative. However, it appears that Viking has a very cumbersome billing process if 2 people who are not family or related are traveling together. I went on the cruise with a friend who lives in another state than I do. We needed our invoices separated as we were each paying separately with our separate credit cards. Things were very complicated and confusing in this regard, and it really took away from the total experience. Like I said, our Viking representative bent over backwards trying to accommodate us, but the Viking systems do not appear to be set up to accommodate 2 separate people traveling together and sharing a cabin. I would hope that Viking would be looking to improve this in the future.