We chose this, our first cruise, in particular because it traveled to Israel, where day excursions took us to many places in the holy land we never thought we would ever see. Originally starting from Istanbul, we could tell the few new port changes in itinerary were meant to fill in for days we were meant to spend elsewhere.

We chose Viking because emphasis is on experiences at the destinations, not the Mickey Mouse review or the extreme water slide. (Nothing wrong with that if you have a young family.) I particularly appreciated the ability to use their travel service (for a very reasonable charge) to make our atypical flight arrangements.

We arrived in Athens two days before boarding the ship, to account for any airline equipment issues, and to take a day to explore. After the cruise terminated in Rome, we spent another week in Italy, flying home out of Venice. Viking made all the arrangements without hesitation. Read more