We went on the Viking Grand European River Cruise in June, 2014, and were very pleased. We raved to all our friends about the high level of service provided by Viking. Due to serious health issues, we could not book a trip far in advance. We jumped on the chance to take an ocean cruise with Viking in April, upon receiving an offer in an e-mail in January, 2016. We booked our tour through a travel agent after receiving a copy of the itinerary showing 10 port stops and only two full days at sea. We found out about the drastic change in itinerary 67 days before departure, when we were given the opportunity to sign up for excursions. It was quite a shock to see that there would only be 7 port calls and four full days at sea. We called Viking to inquire about the change in itinerary, and were told that there had been no changes, and the fault lied with travel agency for giving us the wrong itinerary. During our cruise we spoke with many people, every one of whom told us that they had been given the wrong itinerary, even those who had booked directly through Viking.

Upon arrival in Barcelona, we were met by Viking representatives. Transportation to the ship and embarkation went very smoothly. All of the staff aboard the ship from Reynolds, who cleaned our cabin, to Martha, the head of customer service, were very helpful and attentive to our needs. Food was excellent and the service was very gracious. We ate most of our meals in the World Café, because of its casual nature.

We did eat several times in the more formal "Restaurant" and twice at Manfredi's. Read more