Viking Star Review
Excellent Tour of the Mediterranean and Southern Italy and Parts of Spain
Rating by category
Additional details
We only had one problem on this entire cruise and it was a relatively minor one. We chose to arrange our own transportation from the Rome Airport to the Civitavecchia port. It was a taxi cab and the entrance to the part of the port where the ship boards was blocked by security for some unknown reason. In retrospect we should have asked the cab driver to translate for us and find out how to board the ship. We could see the ship but it was not clear which path to take to find it, and we got a bit lost even though we knew exactly where the ship was located. In the end we found a bus, which was free, and got on board in plenty of time before the cruise began.
Besides that small incident, everything else was fantastic and "as advertised"! Food, locations, ship, staff, excursions - all top notch. Would definitely do a cruise like that one again in the future. A small issue with limited choice for vegetarians in the restaurants, but the buffet style food did have good selections.
From the brochure, it appeared that the ship was large, but once we got settled it was easy to find our way around. They have good maps and signs as well as TV monitors that explain a wide variety of things about the cruise and the ship. Every day there is a "debriefing" which were always excellent. If you missed an onboard lecture, don't worry because they are recorded and easy to play back on the TV in the stateroom.
Cabin Review
The cabin was very comfortable, and surprisingly, very quiet. The one complaint we have is with the door. It did not always close and lock unless you pull or push it very hard. One night a very confused passenger opened the door while sleep walking because it hadn't automatically locked for us when we closed it.
Port Reviews
Rome (Civitavecchia)
If you arrange your own transportation from airport to cruise ship port, be careful because the taxi cab cannot drive you all the way to the boat. There is some walking at the end (or a local, free bus, which was difficult to find) and unless you speak the language, it's not easy to know how to get to the ship.