We were on our Viking ocean cruise from 10/2 – 10/14 on the new Viking Star. That ended up being really superb. We flew to Montreal to pick up the ship. It went to Quebec, then Saguenay. Next we went to Charlottetown, the capitol of Prince Edward Island, and then Halifax, Nova Scotia. We’d been to Montreal and Quebec before, but not the rest. After leaving Canada we headed out of the Bay of St. Lawrence to Boston, and we finally ended up in New York City. From there we flew back to Atlanta. On the way from Boston to NYC we crossed the Cape Cod peninsula through the Cape Cod Canal that we didn’t even know existed, although we’d driven across it a couple of times when we visited the cape years ago. We did see it, but we just didn’t realize it was a canal. It saved us time and a much rougher trip than what we did experience closer to the mainland. We had three at-sea days not in port during the trip, and one of them on the way to Boston was a bit rough. We spent most of that day in the room watching Downton Abbey on the shipboard TV. We’d never watched it before, but we managed to get into season 3 by the time we got off the ship.

They ask that slacks be worn to the two reservation restaurants, but late in the cruise jeans were creeping in. Jeans are the preferred dress for both of us, and we wore them most of the time. The menus for the restaurant meals were all excellent. The ship had one main restaurant, with an Italian restaurant, and a wine-pairing restaurant they called the Chef’s Table as reservation-only units. They were fun, but the main restaurant was pretty much unbeatable. There was also a Norwegian restaurant open for breakfast and lunch, a large café where you picked up items at various food stations and a pool-side sandwich and salad stop. We ate three meals ashore the whole trip. Wine or beer was included with lunch and dinner for everyone. They offered a beverage package which included upgraded wines as well as all but the most expensive drinks (ex: Armagnac) at the bar. It would have been very easy to overindulge, but I tried to keep myself in check. My wife probably doesn’t agree, but our standards are different.

We recommend Viking’s new ocean vessels without reservation. Up to now we've been small ship cruisers (under 150 passengers). The Viking ocean ships hold about 900 passengers, and we never felt crowded, even once. The cabins are all outside and I think they all have small balconies. The Star is the second of six ships that they have planned, and all six are exactly the same. Shipboard staff and service was outstanding. While onboard we signed up for a 2018 cruise to the British Isles. This was our fifth cruise in total, only one of them on Viking, and it’s the very first time we’ve ever signed up for another cruise while onboard. The cruise lines usually push for passengers to do so with extra discounts or other come-ons available only while on the cruise, but we’ve always found it fairly easy to resist before now.