Although this 16 (in my case 18) day "cruise" should have been on the Beyla, only 5 days were spent on the wonderfully serviced ship. Included were 3 paid gourmet meals and excellent service. The rest of the days were spent pack, unpack and get on the early bus. There were only hotel buffets for breakfast. All else was out of pocket. There were too many "optional guided tours" to pay for and not enough free tour options. The Viking staff was accommodating, but the so called five star hotels were sometimes not helpful. A few of the hotels used fancy fixtures but terrible installation with cracks in the baseboards and terrible electrical installation. It is too bad that Viking has deteriorated to this although its ads still show passengers floating down the river instead of riding down the road. Maybe that is why they are pushing Ocean Cruisers. The Oceans still have water.