Torstein Hagen, CEO of Viking River Cruises, forecasts a 29 percent rate of growth in European river cruising from 1990 to 2001. Joan Ricciuti knew not to expect much entertainment, so she brought several books on her cruise. And she never read them. We got acquainted with the Hungarian couple who entertained, we danced every night. We got to know more people than we have on the larger cruise ships.
Meals are in one seating, at assigned tables or open seating.
There's no cabin service. Our cabin was standard for a river cruiser. Like most river boat cabins, it was smaller than a cruise ship cabin, about 150 square feet, with two sofas that converted to twin beds at night. It was air conditioned and had large windows, one of which opened. We had television, a phone and private bath with shower.