Far exceeded our expectations

Have been ocean cruising for a few years now and thought we would give river cruising a try.

We saw Jane Mcdonald on a Danube river cruise, liked the itinery, so started looking around. Viking seemed to get a lot of excellent reviews, nothing negative that we could find, so we booked with them.

First off, they posted a nice personalised brochure to us. I logged onto their website and reserved our trips-don't worry if you forget this, you are automatically reserved on each of the included excursions and can change these at anytime, even on board.

The meet up with the Viking rep at the airport and coach trip to the ship is very smooth.Once on the coach you won't touch your luggage again until its delivered to your cabin.

On arrival we were shown around the ship and our cabin, and (depending on the time you arrive) were directed to a wine and cheese tasting event to get things going.

The cabin was bigger than I expected, at least the same as on ocean cruises. Spotlessly clean and nicely decorated. Bottled water every day.

Food was very good. Great choices with local variations at each port. Wine and beer included with every lunch and dinner. Waiters are mainly Philippino, very cheerful and clearly enjoy working for Viking. Nothing is too much trouble.

Entertainment is obviously different to on an ocean cruise but the singers, musicians, and Tim our entertainment Director, are of very good quality and perfect for a ship of this size. Be prepared to join in, it makes for a great evening. Tim must eat Duracell batteries for breakfast, he's a human dynamo.

The excursions are excellent, they run so smoothly and are fabulous. Water bottles are handed out as you leave the ship, so no getting dehydrated.

No photographer on board (hooray! ), no sales pitches,no gym, a small onboard shop for those who collect memorabilia. Basically, what you pay for the cruise is virtually all you need to budget for, no nasty surprises. And no children on board!

We are definitely using Viking again, we only need to decide where to go!