While I had been to Copenhagen, Berlin and St. Petersburg before, all the other stops -- Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn, Gdansk, Stavanger, Bergen were knew to me. I had been on a Viking River Cruise in Southeast Asia. It was OK, but I thought I would try one of Viking's new ocean liners. The ship was quite well appointed. I really appreciated the simple Scandinavian design elements. The room was comfortable and like the rest of the ship simply, but beautifully furnished. The pool with the retractable roof was lovely as well. The meals were OK, although the two speciality restaurants left a lot to be desired. The shore excursions were, for the most part, well planned. Although, I was disappointed in how many of the excursions required additional fees. The service on board was first rate. Hats off to the entire crew -- waiters, bartenders, etc. I was pleasantly surprised by the art work in the communal areas and I enjoyed the giant screen above the main staircase. All in all, Viking is to be commended. They are not super luxury, but that's not their market. For what they do (let's call it Upper Middle Class), they do it pretty well.