We flew to Rome from the UK and were very impressed to find Viking representatives in the baggage arrivals hall with porters for our luggage and then we were taken to the port in small groups in mini buses. Easy boarding and found our deluxe verandah room quickly. The ship is lovely, quite Scandinavian / retro 1950s in decor, very comfortable, lots of areas to sit and relax and several different eating venues. Our room was very nice and the bathroom was super with underfloor heating, great shower cubicle and spacious vanity unit. The storage for clothing is adequate for a short cruise but there is very little drawer space. The fridge with soft drinks and daily snacks was not worth the extra cost of a deluxe room. Lovely comfy bed, small settee and average size balcony. The television was interactive with daily menus, excursions etc and was very useful!
Too many ports for our liking, one every day is very tiring, but most of the passengers were American and there to see Europe! The included shore excursions were all good. Many passengers had not bothered to get any Euros and there was quite a bit of time lost while people needing toilets tried to change dollars. The "mighty" dollar is of no use for toilets!!
We booked two optional excursions, one was a transfer from Messina to Taormina, the other a day trip to Palermo which was poor with a massive lunch which no one either wanted or needed and then just a bus ride through Palermo after visiting two cathedrals, a real waste of time and money.