In this episode of Luxury Cruising, Dr. Krystal Sodaitis continues the summer of river cruising series with guest Kat, host of the Your Travel Bestie Kat Podcast. Kat shares her first river cruise experience aboard Viking Kara from Amsterdam to Basel, highlighting the intimate ship size, exceptional crew, regional cuisine, scenic castle cruising, and why the service made it feel truly luxurious.
What is it really like to take your first river cruise with Viking?
In this conversation, host Dr. Krystal Sodaitis welcomes Kat, a passionate cruiser and host of Your Travel Bestie, to talk about her voyage on the Viking Kara along the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland. Kat describes the welcoming atmosphere of a smaller ship (just 174 passengers), the crew’s impressive ability to learn guests’ names almost immediately, and the convenience of docking right in the heart of towns. She discusses the Juliet balcony stateroom she preferred, the high-quality Viking toiletries, and the excellent regional food that changed daily to match the destinations.
Listeners will also hear about the realities of side-by-side docking, large included excursions, a memorable scenic cruise past dozens of castles, the surprisingly tight fit through the river locks, and why Kat believes true luxury is defined by how you are treated. She wraps up by sharing her dream of an Australia and New Zealand cruise and her upcoming Virgin Voyages itineraries.
Episode Highlights:
About The Guest
Kat is a passionate cruiser who calls herself your travel bestie. Host of the Your Travel Bestie podcast, she covers all types of travel and often features guests whose businesses connect to exploration and healing. A first-time river cruiser, she recently sailed Viking’s Rhine itinerary and has upcoming Virgin Voyages trips planned.
Podcast: Your Travel Bestie Kat Podcast.
About the Host:
Dr. Krystal Sodaitis is a pediatrician, executive, and life coach for neurodiverse physicians—and the passionate host behind Luxury Cruising. She brings expert insight and honest excitement to every interview, helping curious travelers elevate their adventures at sea.
📍 Website: luxurycruising.net
📧 Email: luxurycruisingpodcast@gmail.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/krystalsodaitis
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[00:00:00] Welcome back to Luxury Cruising. I'm your host, Crystal Soditis, and we are continuing with our summer of river cruising. Kat is going to talk to us about her river cruise experience on Viking. Kat, please tell the audience anything you would like them to know about you.
Hey, y'all. I'm Kat. I love cruising. I like to think I'm your travel bestie. And, um, yeah, cruising's my absolute favorite thing, and this was our first time going on a river cruise, so we were super excited and we really liked it.
Amazing. So tell us what made you choose Viking? Remind me of the name of the ship, 'cause I can't seem to keep that in my head, and just give us some background about what made you decide this itinerary, et cetera.
Yeah. It was the Viking Kara. Well, originally when we chose the itinerary, it was from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland. It had a lot of stops in Germany, which my husband had been to Germany before, but I hadn't, so we were super [00:01:00] excited to get to see those stops together. Um, and it was supposed to be on one of their newer ships, but I guess it wasn't ready in time, so they moved us back to the Kara, which was fine.
it switched the dates a little and yeah. So we were a little sad about that 'cause we wanted to see one of the newer ships, but we still had a really good time. Um, we wanted to try river cruising because the boats are smaller, which there's just less people so you're gonna get to meet everybody pretty much that's on there.
And then, um, you'll be having a smaller ratio with the crew, right? It's more like two to one versus when you're on those jumbo ships, it's maybe, like, 30 to one,
yeah, It's so many, I don't even think they publish those kinds of numbers on mega ships.
It's kinda crazy.
I mean, it's a lot of people I don't think I could ever do a ship that has, like, 8,000, 9,000 people on it. We had 174- ... on the cruise we were on, and it was very small and very [00:02:00] nice.
So first impressions of the Viking Kara, what did you think?
When you first walk on board, they're just so welcoming and friendly.
I was kinda surprised having been on Disney and Virgin Voyages before that, you know, you're always scanning to get on and they're checking everything. And when you first get there and you just walk on board, they're like, "Hey," and the boat's just right there, and you just walk the plank and you're, like, right on board, and that was cool, so that was a different experience.
And it's funny when you're, um, getting off right there in the middle of the towns to go do things and you're coming back, and if people forget to swipe back in because it is so small. They're just kind of, like, walking around looking for people. They're like, "So we're missing four people.
Has anybody seen..." You know? And we're like, "Oh, okay."
Interesting. Wow, that's really interesting. Knocking on doors like, "Hello?"
Yeah, they pretty much did one night 'cause there were four people that They were back on [00:03:00] board, but they had forgotten to tap their little thing, and they were just going around looking for them.
and they found them.
Wow. and just the fact that people are so recognizable that I would imagine it's, the crew would recognize if somebody walked on board that wasn't supposed to be there. 'Cause that's what I think of- Oh, absolutely ... like, well, how could, how does that prevent anybody from just anybody walking on board?
But I guess it's so small and the crew know everyone that if they don't recognize you, they're for sure stopping you.
I think so, yeah. And now there's a couple of times when you are in some of the smaller ports that they tied side to side, so you're with another Viking ship and you're kind of walking through them to get on or they're walking through you to get on or off.
So at that point you might not recognize some of the people passing. But I think if they turn to go down one of the halls that had cabins, the crew probably would definitely say, "Hey, you don't look familiar," you [00:04:00] know, or, "Are you sure this is your boat? Maybe you're on that one," because you did have that.
Sometimes people would get confused and forget that their boat was the second boat tied off, and they'd go to what they thought was their cabin and somebody else was in it 'cause they were on the wrong boat.
Wow. Did that actually happen?
It didn't happen to us, but it did happen to our friends. Um, they were on the second floor and we were on the third, and they, um, had someone knock on their door 'cause their key card wouldn't work and it wasn't their room.
Oh my goodness. They were on the wrong boat. And that's because they were tied. And that is something important people should- Yeah ... know about river cruising, is that because you're on a river and there's only so much space to dock, sometimes the boats dock side by side and you have to actually cross- Yeah
through a boat to get onto the shore. Yeah. Yeah. And if you forgot, were you the second boat or the third boat, ... you might end up... And since Viking ships all look so similar.
I mean, they all look [00:05:00] exactly the same. They don't change really anything, I don't think. Except maybe some of the newer ones have some different colors on the inside or maybe some, a little bit different decor, but they're all exactly the same size because the locks are all the same size.
So yeah.
Wow. So what did you think of that sort of clean Scandinavian, decor? What did you think of it?
I liked the cruise. We had a really good time. I guess the only thing I was kind of sad about was I wish they had a gym. I get that, you know, maybe it's an older crowd and maybe they don't think about that as much, but I kind of would have liked if it had a little gym even, just a tiny one.
So yeah, that was the only thing I was sad about. Otherwise, the food was really good. the staff is phenomenal. I think they must give them pictures of us beforehand because they learn your names just like the flick of a wrist, and You've been on board one time, you ordered a drink, and the [00:06:00] next time you walk through an hour later, they're like, "Hey, Kat, how's it going?"
You know? So like they're on top of their game with that, and the crew is really phenomenal.
Wow. That sounds awesome. any standouts in terms of service? Any standouts that you can remember?
Like staff taking care of you service or-
Or, you know, like a story that a staff member went above and beyond.
Anything that particularly comes to mind.
It wasn't us, but I know another group really wanted to do one of the bike tours, and they weren't sure they were gonna have enough spaces, and they had them reach out to the folks at the port where we were gonna be at next to see about getting extra bikes. So they were able to get all six of them on that excursion, not just the four, so that was kinda cool.
they weren't sure they could do it, but the lady who was in charge of all the excursions, she did such a [00:07:00] really good job, and she called ahead and made sure it happened, so that was kinda neat.
That is awesome. So it sounds like also small excursions, that they were only doing four people on, originally supposed to be four people and they expanded it to six?
Well, originally four of the group of six were going on it, and they wanted to add two more. No, generally with the bike tours, I think there's usually, like, 20 or 25, because that's how many bikes are at each spot or whatever. But they were calling ahead to see if there was any way they could maybe add two more folks, and they made it happen, so that was kinda cool.
But most- Yeah ... of the excursions that are included there's a lot of people on it, so that was maybe only a little negative, you know.
So large excursions. Do you think that because I know Viking does have some included excursions, is that correct?
Yes. At every port you get at least one [00:08:00] excursion.
Um, sometimes they'll have two choices, but usually for sure one, and y- one is always included, and then you can always opt to get one of the extra bonus ones.
So would you say then that if there's, 100, 140 people on board that the free excursions, the majority of those 140 people are on that excursion?
I think a lot of times, yes, that was the case, and they split them into groups of, like, 30 to 35, so that still was quite a lot of people. I know we did one when we were at a castle, and it was one of the paid excursions. We thought that would be fun 'cause we like to go wander around castles.
And it was still a really big group. And keeping in mind, I don't know if you've toured a castle, but those rooms were not that big back in the day. So when you put 25 people in a, in each room as you take the tour, it was a little crowded a couple times in there. [00:09:00]
Yeah, tight. It was tight.
Yeah.
I bet.
Let's get back to your room, like, your stateroom. Yes. What kind of room did you have, and what did you think?
We did one of the ones that has the Juliet balcony. So it's not a real balcony. It just has the sliding door. I actually liked that better than having the balcony, honestly. Um, because then you could just sit on the bed and open the whole door, and it was like your whole room was the balcony, I felt like.
So I thought that was cool, but I know some people absolutely want a balcony. But we thought that was neat 'cause it kinda made the whole room a balcony.
Nice. I like that.
Have you ever cruised the Rhine? Because there are so many birds when you go down that cruise.
We kept seeing swans like crazy, and they were mated pairs. Sometimes they had little babies with them. It was so cute. I've just never seen that many swans anywhere,
I love that. I have never been down the Rhine, but that is definitely [00:10:00] something to look forward to when I get there.
Yes.
Any, any particular amenities that came with the room that you think are noteworthy ?
Oh, yeah. They do have their own line of, um, like, toiletries. So lotion, shampoo, and conditioner, and body wash, and different things like that, and they are really nice. I thought they smelled really good, and I'm not usually one of those people that likes that kinda stuff. And they give you a fairly big size, and they bring more after a couple of days, so we did bring some home.
I put it in the guest bathroom.
I love upgraded bath products. It's just so nice- there's something about it. It's not just smelling better, but like, you just feel better going on and using them, so I love a good upgraded bath product.
Awesome. I don't know if you mentioned the food. Tell us about the food and what you thought.
The food was really, really good. They try to do regional dishes, so they change the menu every day for where you're at. So, like, if you're in Cologne, Germany, they're gonna have some food that's specific to that region.
[00:11:00] as we got closer to the Black Forest, they had more, um, traditional German food like bratwurst and things like that. They had a set menu that was always the same. So if you weren't feeling adventurous or, you know, maybe you just don't really like other things like that, you could order off the basic menu, which always had steak, it always had some chicken and some fish and different things like that.
But if you wanted to try the regional food, they did that every night really well.
Anything stand out? like, showstoppers that you can remember?
Hmm. They did a Beef Wellington one night. I really liked that. That was really good. And, the night they did the German food, it was all the different kinds of German food.
You had, schnitzel and all the things. That was really, really good, if you like German food, and I do.
Yeah. Sounds awesome. Especially with a German, sort of a German intense [00:12:00] itinerary, it is so nice- Yeah ... when they bring in, regional food. And the one nice thing about river cruising is they're often locally sourcing the food, and so it's really authentic, and just adds to the taste.
Yeah, you could see 'em at each stop. When we were getting on and off, they were bringing things on from the local area, different things of food and desserts and stuff. So that was kinda cool.
Awesome. remind me if I'm wrong, you started out in Amsterdam and you went down to Basel, Switzerland.
Is that right?
Yes.
Any highlights from the itinerary or, excursions that you thought were really very quintessentially Viking or made special because you were, on a Viking ship?
Well, I do like that they stay late usually in most of the ports. I know sometimes things change and they have to leave a little earlier to get somewhere quicker.
But we were in Amsterdam really late, so they had, an excursion even that [00:13:00] first day when you got on where you could go and do a canal cruise. We didn't do that. We got on and had lunch, and then we got back off and headed over to their tallest building where they have a swing out over the side, which is kinda cool, and I wanted to do that and see all of the things.
I really like Amsterdam. If you haven't been to Amsterdam and you're gonna cruise the Rhine, you should definitely either stay a couple days late or go a couple days early 'cause it's so fun there.
Agreed. I have been to Amsterdam a couple of times, and it's fantastic and probably has the best Indonesian food outside of Indonesia, so highly recommend.
Oh,
really? Okay. Yes. Well, I didn't know that, so I wish I'd met you before. I would've had some Indonesian food.
...
there's a lot of cathedrals on that tour too when you're going everywhere.
Um, Ruden Sheim and some of the different ones, it's very cathedral heavy, so you can get off and go and hike around and see all the beautiful cathedrals in all the different places. And that one, ha, and I can't remember, [00:14:00] um... It skips my mind, but it's got the clock that goes off every hour, and it's so cool there.
Did you mostly, cruise, like were you on the water overnight, and then when you get to your port in the morning and then you have the whole day to explore the port, and then the next night you get back on, and then the next night sort of cruise to the next port. Is that kind of how it goes?
That is how it goes, and on this cruise it does that on all of them but the one day where you did get up early and get off. That was the day we toured the castle. And then you get back on in the afternoon, and you cruise down to the next stop, which is Rudenheim. And on that tour ride down, your tour guide is the cruise director on board, and they'll usually tell you, they'll come over the intercom wherever you're sitting.
Most people sit up on the top deck. And you just watch all the castles go by for like three hours, And they tell you, you know, how [00:15:00] old they are and who lived in 'em, and if there's still people living in them. Or some of them, one of them had been turned into a hotel, so that was kinda cool, and you just got to see all the castles as you cruised down.
Yeah. That was fun. I love that because that is the one thing that I think I would miss on a river cruise is that if the ship is only moving at night, I do- Mm-hmm ... like, call it scenic cruising, where you're just sitting on the deck watching the world go by, um, or you're passing by all the castles and everything.
So for me, I would definitely need a river cruise itinerary that had at least one afternoon of just scenic cruising, where I could just relax as the ship passed by and I could see all the scenery.
That was fun, having them tell you about the history of some of the castles and some of the things that had happened in them, and getting pictures of them, obviously.
And then the other time was one afternoon/evening we were back on a little earlier, we were going through the locks to the next stop, [00:16:00] and you are so close. Like, when they say all these boats are the same size so they fit through those locks, like if it was a millimeter, that wall was right there.
And you go in and then it just raises you up, and then you go out. And I was like, "That is the craziest thing I have ever experienced." It's not like the Panama Canal, if you've done that, because when you go through that sucker there's still plenty of space even though it's smaller. This, I mean literally the wall was like right there.
Wow. Wow, crazy. Anything else about the ship or, Viking in general or the itinerary that you feel we haven't covered?
I feel like, uh, just circling back to the crew, I think they do such an amazing job because they do get to know everyone. They learn your names. They say hi. They ask you how you're doing.
You kind of become friends with some of them while you're on board. And I [00:17:00] think we just talked to a couple of 'em while we were sitting in the bar one night, and they have a really great work-life balance that you don't see on some of those bigger cruise lines like we talked about. They're like four weeks on, three weeks off, or three weeks on and then four weeks off, where, you know, some of the other bigger ships, you're on for six months.
And that's gotta be hard with, you think about work-life balance. I'd miss my family. I mean
Yeah. you know, I think that also speaks to why the service often is better because the crew are generally happier. I mean, I've never had outright bad service on a cruise, but you can imagine that it's harder on the crew when they're away from their families for as long as they are on ocean ships.
Yeah, I would think it would be hard to put your happy face on knowing, especially, like, if you were two weeks in to a six-month contract, like, and you were missing your mom or your daughter or your [00:18:00] husband or, ... your cat. I mean I just couldn't imagine. Yeah. That's gotta be really hard. But going into a four-week contract knowing that then you're gonna be home for three weeks, you're like, "We are gonna have a good time.
I'm gonna love on these people, and then I'm gonna go home and see my family," right?
Yeah. That is good. That is a good thing to consider.
that's what makes their crew so phenomenal, so exceptional.
Yeah.
Yeah. So let me take a step back, um, and ask you some questions that I ask everyone. Okay. And the first question is, how do you define luxury?
Is it the price point or is it, the size? I don't know. I mean, I think Viking is luxury, but also I think there are some other ships that maybe do it a little fancier.
Obviously, you know, I think it's the way you're treated that defines that luxury. I really do. I think the crew has a lot to do with that because [00:19:00] I think you can have luxury on Disney because the crew is so phenomenal. but maybe there are some other larger ship lines that you wouldn't say that about.
Got it. And so do you think that your experience on Viking met your definition of luxury?
I do think so. Yeah.
Awesome.
I do. I think it's how you're treated.
Awesome. Do you have a dream cruise?
Ooh, yes. I want to do, um, Australia and New Zealand.
Yeah. Do you want to do a Transpacific to Australia and then cruise Australia to New Zealand, or fly to Australia and then cruise?
Ooh, yeah. Gosh, if you did a Transpacific, that is a long time on a boat, but it's also a long time in the air. So either way, you're putting in the time to get to Australia. I think that's what's holding me back 'cause I definitely don't wanna fly for 24 hours, but it would be fun to cross the ocean to go [00:20:00] there.
That's a good idea. I'm gonna have to sell my husband on that one
that's totally on my list I have this sort of like in my list of potential dream cruises would be to do a Transpacific from, North America, wherever, whether it's, uh, Alaska or, California west coast.
Do Transpacific, go to Australia cruise around Australia and see Australia, and then go back the other direction.
Oh, okay. Sorry So you would boat there, tour around, and then boat back too.
Yes,
if I could do it my way and I had unlimited amount of time, 'cause that would be a-
time commitment.
Well, you know, if you can work from anywhere, you could work from, anywhere.
Yeah. Absolutely. have you got anything on the books? Any cruises, luxury or otherwise, coming up or other travel?
Yes, so we always go at the end of January, [00:21:00] 1st of February on a cruise for my husband's birthday and our anniversary, and we're gonna go out of San Juan on that one, and we're doing the ABCs this time.
Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. And I think La Martinique is in there again too because I'm excited they have a library that I wanna go to 'cause secretly am a book nerd Maybe not so secretly, And which ship are you gonna be on for that cruise?
that is Virgin Voyages, so it's adults only, and I like that 'cause I don't always like other people's kids.
Yeah, Absolutely. That is the draw of Virgin.
Yeah.
In part.
And we're doing another one in June with them that goes from Athens to Athens. It has four stops in Greece, and then it has an overnight for 48 hours in Cairo, and I've never been to Cairo, so I'm super excited.
That sounds like a great itinerary. Yeah.
I am so jazzed. I'm taking a bunch of my friends with me on that one, so we have, like, eight other cabins going on that one, so we're [00:22:00] super excited.
Awesome.
You should come go.
I wish. I got kids still that I have to care for, Unfortunately. And they don't like when I cruise without them. But someday. Someday we'll make it. Someday. For sure. So before we recorded, Kat, we were talking that you have a podcast too.
So what is the name of your- Yeah ... podcast?
It's called Your Travel Bestie, Kat.
Awesome.
do you cover all aspects of travel?
I do. I cover all aspects of travel and, um, a lot of times I have folks on that also have businesses that sort of connect with travel.
Like my one friend, she does a lot of grief retreats with travel involved, kind of how that can heal you, so different things like that. So yeah.
Well, awesome. We'll definitely put that in the show notes. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. I really appreciate it. And to all the listeners, thank you for being here, and until next time, I wish you safe and luxurious cruising.