Reduced Costs on Viking

Viking River Cruises (www.vikingrivercruises.com) has announced some special reductions along with free air fare on certain of its European cruises for 2014. The fares are still high, but if you are travelling as a couple and want to splurge, this could be a relatively good deal.

 For the November departures of its 15-day Amsterdam to Budapest cruise the rate can go as low as around $320 per person per day. A number of shorter cruises are also included in this sale, and there the lowest cost is around $400 per person per day..

 The cost comes with free air fare from some North American gateways and for some classes of cabins

, all meals and enteratinment on board, free wine or beer with lunch or dinner, and a number of tours.

To get these deals you need to book by July 31, and the booking code is 20 Echo.

I have travelled with Viking in Ukraine and enjoyed the cruise very much. However, the line seems not to be catering to lone passengers any more, and in general to be going upscale, out of my price range. The same, unfortunately, seems to apply to most other river cruises as well. The image above is of the Mikhail Lomonosov, the Viking ship on which I sailed. This ship is no longer part of Viking's fleet.