Viking River Cruises - Viking Alsvin Reviews

Accommodations and Shipboard Service: Excellent. We could not have asked for more attentive staff or better accommodations. Food was great, but did not always reflect local cuisine and tastes. Staff was really good about keeping travelers organized and they were unfailingly polite and accommodating. Excursions: We enjoyed the excursions to the castles. The beer tasting excursion was not a full experience as there was no demonstration regarding the brewing process nor was there any variety of beers to taste. The wine tasting was a good experience, but hurried. Free time: There was very little free time in which to explore towns we visited or to find our own restaurants, shops, points of interest or to interact with locals. We were able to access the top deck only one or two days and although we had a veranda room and enjoyed sitting there during sailing time, we were disappointed not to be able to sit on the top deck with friends and the front deck became very crowded. Music entertainment was very good. However, most of the onboard demonstrations were brief and not very informative or interesting. The tour director was very good and very approachable. However, because of the quantity of travelers and she had so many responsibilities, we were unable to establish a connection with her. For instance when we had a problem, she couldn't remember who we were or what our problem was in order to deal with it in a timely fashion. Internet service was patchy or nonexistent. Taking the cost into account, we felt we did not get our money's worth. We have done bus tours in the past and felt we got a more complete experience. We are doubtful that we will travel with Viking again.