We booked this cruise and air travel directly with Viking having previously cruised with Avalon and Uniworld. This was the new vessels fourth cruise since its construction. The ship exterior is all white and it looks rather under-stated. On board, the public rooms are nicely appointed however the main lounge is somewhat small which led to late arrivers for the daily briefing to sit in folding chairs or stand up--rather odd for a new ship design not to have accommodated the passenger load. Just arrive early to get a comfortable seat. The bow terrace was a nice feature. We had booked a French balcony since we believed the weather would be too cool to enjoy a full balcony. The cabin had a queen bed that was very comfortable and adequate built in storage but there was no room for even a single chair--which would have been nice. The tiny bathroom had top quality plumbing fixtures and the john had tremendous force--definitely not low-flow. WIFI was slooow in our cabin.

The ships staff was friendly and responsive. The captain was definitely not a "smoozer," possibly because of limited language skills, but he was a skillful manager of negotiating locks and shore moorings. We took several of the extra shore excursions and the local guides were knowledgeable; however, some were way too verbose. Although the activities director told the passengers that green or red rating cards would be provided after excursions so passengers could evaluate the guides, the cards never appeared. The headphones worked most of the time but if two tour groups got close together the signals got mixed up.

The food quality was good and it was very artfully presented. Anyone who didn't get enough to eat really wasn't trying. Since breakfast and lunch were served mostly buffet style, passengers who didn't get enough for dinner could eat until they popped if they wanted ocean cruise size portions. There were no tables set for two people so for the AM feeding we sometimes just sat at an end of the longer tables so we could slowly, quietly wake up.