While this is an issue with all cruise lines, it is way too easy to eat too much!!!! There is food available all day long (mainly cookies between meals (good cookies!!!)). You can get two appetizers and/or two main courses and/or two desserts!!! Mmmmm, our chef Dennis was excellent!!! Each night he would explain the menu before dinner started. Luckily, we averaged five miles a day walking on most walking tours and exploring on our own!

One thing that I was unhappy with is that the Sun Deck is closed from Regensburg to Koblentz. The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal and the Main canal have low bridges that require the railings and deck furniture to be laid down for clearance. If it were one or two days, it would not be so bad. However, it is for five days!!

The approximate arrival times in each port are not published anywhere. When I contacted Viking about them, they would not give me an answer. They say it just varies from cruise to cruise. Look, I get that the ship cannot schedule a specific time through each lock, so there is some variability. I was able to find someone who scanned their Viking Dailys and that gave me an idea of a schedule. I included the port times in each day, so someone else could use them. The port times are handy when you are trying to determine if you want to schedule your own tour at each port.

Each night, there is a program on the next day’s itinerary. The Program Director (Carl) is very good at presenting what is going to happen. I just find it funny that he repeats himself several times to get the information across. I do it all of the time with my students. Sometimes, I must repeat myself a few more times. I love it when he is asked about something he just presented on!!!!

You have two choices for eating; the main dining room and the Aquavit Terrace. In the main dining room, the tables have six chairs and it makes you dine with other people. The recommendation is that you have long pants/dress for the dining room (no flip-flops!) for dinners. Lunches are a little looser! If you are happy meeting new people, this is a great opportunity. This is where we ate our lunches (the buffet is better here). On the Aquavit Terrace, you have a few options for a table for two or four. You can sit outside or inside there. There is no dress recommendation here. I wore shorts and flip-flops for dinners. This is where we ate our breakfasts and dinners.

On a large cruise ship with a few thousand passengers, it is easier to hide and be alone. On a smaller ship, it is impossible not to meet and talk to the other passengers. In the Galapagos, we were on a sixteen person cruise and we got to know everybody!