Viking Cruises review: Instead of the unforgettable vacation promised, it rapidly became the forgettable one!

Recently returned from our Danube cruise that I planned for 2 1/2 years for our 45th anniversary and took along our adult sons and their wives. The booking process was a complete disaster where I literally had to make sure they did their jobs for them. And even with my efforts, they still screwed up the details and at my expense.
1 week before departure, I began to get notices of potential "minor" interruptions due to low water. I called Viking and asked specifically how "minor" these disruptions were for boats currently cruising the Danube. I was assured that there was no need to worry.
We got to Budapest only to find out we would not be in Budapest but instead be an hour outside of town and will be bussed into town. This became a theme. Vienna, where we got stuck on the river and were bussed 1 1/2 hours into town, took a 30 minute bus tour, walked 1 hour through town, then back on the bus and 1 1/2 hours back to our beached boat. No museums to tour, no concerts to go to, no restaurants to enjoy, no shopping. NOTHING!
The rest of the trip was the same theme. Only once were we able to get off the boat and walk into town. The rest of the time we were bussed, in total we spent over 13 hours of our time being bussed here and there. I felt bad for the crews of the boats (I said crews because at one point, we exited our ship along with our luggage and were transferred to another Viking boat upriver) who lamented that Viking would have been better off cancelling the cruise.
On the plus side, we got to see some of the finest rail yards, fueling stations, bus depots on the Danube because we rarely were in a place where we could get off the boat and roam on our own. We had upgraded our rooms to have balconies, but the only view we ever had seemed to be that of another boat tied up tightly next to ours.
At one time, Viking had a sterling reputation. But they are now publicly traded and as such, their focus is on profit and not reputation and that is very sad. To date, Viking has offered a 25% reduction in fare on our next cruise with them which I personally find offensive. Ther are other and better companies to trust your hard earner vacation and cruise dollars than Viking. They misled me and at times lied to me when I have called and talk to them. Do yourself a favor and look somewhere else and don't fall into my trap. Save yourself the headache.