Wanted to visit Budapest and Vienna on a land tour so with the extra ports, seemed to make sense (we are not interested in organized bus tours, but having the same room every night is appealing). While the tours and tour guides were good, the onboard experience was lacking.

We are frequent travellers (every two to three months since retiring six years ago) and experienced cruisers (50+,including one Viking river cruise on Elbe). On first trip with a travel provider, I always choose lowest pricing/category to gauge the experience/service offered to these guests. Theory being, if experience at this level is wonderful, higher levels should be WOW! Then we know if we want to travel with them again.

Unfortunately, while the crew members were polite, general service and their response to requests was non existent (not really sure if Suite guests got better service/response). Read more