My husband and I were looking for a special way to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary so we decided to take our first Viking River Cruise. We were NOT disappointed and have been bitten by the Viking travel bug! We chose to add 2 extra days in Basel before the cruise started. After an orientation walk by a very informative and personable guide we had plenty of time to discover Basel on our own. Once we boarded The Hild, the onboard staff was all so helpful and friendly. Our stateroom was perfect for the two of us! Our balcony gave us the option to watch the river go by in our pajamas if we chose. We enjoyed the relaxed dining room attire and the food was marvelous! In addition to the included excursions we took at least one extra excursion in each port. Our favorite was probably the Alsatian Wine and Tasting excursion which was as much about strolling through Alsace as it was about tasting wine. We had the pleasure of visiting the Albert Seltz vineyard where we had a direct audience with the vintner himself who was very knowledgeable and friendly. We wish we had added 2 days in Amsterdam to the end of our cruise but that might have to wait for our next trip.

We loved that The Hild was small and cozy and not a overwhelming, crazy, floating megalopolis as some cruise ships have felt to us.

We would HIGHLY recommend this cruise and Viking!