This cruise followed the route of the Vikings to the New World, from Norway, to the Shetland Islands, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Quebec City, ending in Montreal. Incredible route and fascinating land tours of areas of our world not often considered for a vacation. Viking's nightly enrichment talks added immensely to our understanding of this harsh northern environment. The Viking Star is a gorgeous ship. All well appointed staterooms are on the outside with balconies. The staff are all exceedingly friendly and helpful. We sincerely hope to encounter some of them again on future Viking cruises. There were a couple shows that were fun and well done. Viking kept us entertained even on the sea days between docking. Even tho there were roughly 1000 passengers aboard, it never felt crowded. Ample places to explore and rest! Dining was always a treat. Featured items included food items of the areas we were visiting, plus the 3 speciality restaurants could rival the best of those found on land (the Italian Manfredi's steak is superb! We definitely will miss it!) We'll done, Viking Star. Read Less

An e-mail designated the cruise which seemed fabulous. An immediate phone call to a Viking representative indicated a hot demand requiring an immediate signing up. We received the same cabin as last year. It is a wonderful cabin, No. 4011. Malitza and Danica were absolutely fabulous cabin stewards attending astutely to every problem and need. There also provided friendship and humor greatly prized by us. Our best tours were seeing a water fall you could stand under, creating rope and an artisan building boats, and eating at a fruit farm outside Bergen. The Iceland and Greenland and Newfoundland tours were culturally inspiring. Quebec City was a great tour with an excellent guide! The Shetland Island tour showed us what was there, but nothing special. Saguenay should be eliminated. The tour and guide were not up to Viking standards.The wine tasting event was so stingy you perhaps were drinking something priceless. The performance of the evening celebrating Saguenay while making a fascinating panorama was not up to par. Something that was up to par was the musicals performed by the Viking singers and dancers along with the fascinating use of graphics and staging. They were great! I did not see many lectures, but those I did participate in were very good, The World Cafe was excellent as always. We had two great evenings at the Italian Restaurant. We did not enjoy our experience at The Chefs Table. We only liked the main coarse. Everything else did not suit our palates and the wine pairings were weird. We cancelled our second night During the infamous storm in the Atlantic two men from the restaurant escorted my wife Kathy back to our room. She has trouble maneuvering because of surgeries. Read Less

After all the publicity regarding the Viking Sky off the coast of Norway and the impact on the passengers, it appears that it is not widely recognized what happened to us on the Viking Star in early October of 2016. Our captain, and I am sure Viking, went directly in a significant storm when sailing from Iceland to Greenland in the North Atlantic. According to the captain, who I spoke with directly after we had come through this ordeal, the seas were as high as 45 feet and the winds were gusting to 90 mph. The captain said that they had to strap him into his chair since he had fallen off the chair and hit his head. Why would he not turn around and weather the storm in Reykjavik harbor is beyond me? Everything that was not secured fell or was smashed. It started when we were in the dining room and our table kept moving into a table closest to a wall. A door in the dining room blasted open and had to be held closed by a person from the crew until it could be jammed closed with a piece of wood. An entire tray of desserts in the kitchen fell over as did a large wine rack. In our room a pitcher and glasses were swept of a table and our sliding door closet doors hit the frame so hard they cracked the wooden frame. I was on the deck with the buffet later in the evening and could barely stand as I was thrown around. Stacks of dishes smashed on the floor. Talking to other passengers the next day, one woman said that she was bounced out of bed with her mattress and I heard that someone had a broken leg. Apparently this disaster was kept quiet and never reached the notoriety that the Viking Star has reached. In addition to this harrowing event the clock system was not working for two days waking people up two hours earlier than requested among other little issues. We were in the last group to be tendered to a major Viking site in Canada when the captain aborted the tender operation. He later apologized and said that we could have safely been tendered to shore and back. The Star is a beautiful ship and many of the amenities are great, yet Viking was not ready for ocean cruising and it seems it still is not ready. For all what happened and other screw ups during the cruise, we were offered a $100 credit per person, which is a joke and something we would never use. Viking should stay on the rivers and out of the ocean. Read Less

Zuiderdam I sailed from Bergen to NYC.Sailing through Hermine the captain made the correct call missing Nova Scotia and head for NYC. I enjoyed the city for a full day.Hop on hop off for$64.00 with ferry. It appeared as though they are short staffed rarely extra staff was called in when it got super busy.I was disappointed in finding out the ship had no self serve laundry.$30.00 abag or $110.00 unlimited.Very hard working staff and friendly. I was surprised to hear the ship ran out of 4 or 5 different beers.The onboard entertainment could be better and a longer show to boot.The milk cartons were the worse you had to punch a straw through the top, good luck trying to open it to pour.I suggested to the cruise line to offer extended days in certain ports.1 day in Reykavik was not enough I hate to rush to see as much as I can.They decided to fix some area on the lido area interrupting seating.I feel the whole needs reconfigurating.not enough seating at prime time.The casual smart dining menu is similar a lot if the times.So if you want to sit for an hour and a half or two it,s up to you.I also don't know why they only offer happy hour in just 2 locals.I heard they are going to dry dock the ship in the near future. Read Less