Viking Bestla

The ship was beautiful, the staff was extremely friendly, courteous and proficient, the food excellent, the chefs more than happy to make a special meal without onions just for me and the sites while cruising truly amazing. The excursions where interesting and enjoyable, but rather monotonous after the 7th day. Too many churches, castles and same repetitive history facts.  Wish we would have had a lot more "free" time exploring the cities themselves. Needed at least 2 days in certain cities like beautiful Vienna.  To us, the 2 hours touring the windmills in Kinderdijk was just a waste of our time. We never even had the opportunity to see the actual city. 

We were mildly pleased.  The ship is new,a bonus .  The accommodations are uncomfortably small.  The room measures 10X18 includung a very small patio  Room for one cramped chair, cannot open the drawers that are at the end of the bed by standing in front , you have to stand on the side.  The bath is smaller than on a  personal boat.  The shower opens inward  allowing someone to stand in front of the sink .

The bar area is nice.All meals were only acceptable. Nothing special.  Ever....

The room steward was efficient and the wait staff was pleasant.  The venue was as advertised.  "Windmills and Tulips".  The off boat tours were good and the weather was perfect.

Would only travel with Viking again if the itenerary was what we wanted and we wanted a newer boat than was offered  by the competetion.

The 2 for 1 is a false advertising ploy.  I have traveled with Viking before at the 2 for 1  rate and it really was.  Not now.

Have done extensive travelling.  We like cruiseing both on the Ocean and on rivers and canals.

Disappointed!

We just finished our 14-day Grand European river cruise. The cruise itself was fantastic. The entire staff of the Bestla ship was friendly, courteous, and did their best to satisfy your needs. The entire staff made you feel like you were VIP's throughout the entire cruise. On our departure day, two of the staff members even followed us out to the waiting taxi even thought it was raining. The dinners were OK, but not every meal was to our liking. They have several (always available) back up items on the menu that I ordered up several times. Breakfast was always filled with lots of choices that fit everyone's taste.

         Cons: Booking with Viking Air service:

Since we booked the cruise directly with Viking, we were offered a discounted airfare. When I asked about the airline and number of stops that we would have to make, I was told to pay up in advance before any airline discussions would take place. I was told that we would save approx. $600. per person. I charged the airfare on my credit card, and then called the Viking air department. First of all, I asked if their were any direct flights from San Francisco to Amsterdam. They said no. Since that is the only thing they do is book airfares, I trusted their response. I booked a flight from SFO to London, then London to Amsterdam. When I received mu updated Viking invoice, I noticed that several fees were added to my bill making the airfare $6180.00. The extra fees were an air deviation fee of $200. since I was going a few days early and not booking a hotel with Viking. Also a custom air service fee of $100., then a CNF transoceanic flight fee of $200.00, a pick your seat fee of $300.00, and finally a British air surcharge fee of $250.00. When I noticed all those extra fees, I immediately called and cancelled all the airline reservations that Viking made on my behalf. I then called British airways myself and made the same exact reservations that Viking had made for me. Total cost was $4895.96 for the exact same seats on the exact same flights. I saved myself $1,284.04 by booking the airfare myself. Bottom line; do not book your airfare using the Viking Air service department. 

The small river cruise with only 190 passengers and the beautiful views that you cross all they long.