Viking Sky Review
Nice ship & service, but expensive compared to river cruising
Rating by category
Additional details
Partner and I (UK British) have not ocean cruised for 25 years, so this was an 'experiment' after several wonderful Viking river cruises. Ship was almost brand new - I was worried about potential problems with the ship, however all went well with few disappointments.
The Wows:
Very nice small ship. 930 passengers but many times we were almost the only people on the prom deck, in the explorer lounge, in the spar, in the atrium... If you want to cruise on a 'one seat' liner this is for you!
Cabin Review
Lots of room. Nicely fitted. Good facilities. Was very comfortable and had wonderful views of the ports from deck 8. Very nicely located for Mamsen's for breakfast. Only complaint was the bathroom floor, towel rail, and mirror heating which had no controls, and seemed to be on all the time.
Port Reviews
Barcelona
Did our own thing (Gaudi excursion was cancelled). Free Viking shuttle bus allowed us to walk around the old town. Spent two days before cruising and visited all the Gaudi sights ourselves. Will go back to spend more time here.
Toulon
Not a great day weather wise. Port security was very high, and the included excursion did not really take us to the town or allow us to stop there.
Villefranche
Due to bad weather the captain could not dock in Monaco. We went back around the coast to Villefrache-sur-mer, which is a delightful location. A serendipity moment walking around the small town that we would have never thought to visit. We can visit Monaco another time! We did not take the re-arranged included tour but went ashore by tender ourselves for a couple of hours. Lavender ice cream from a cafe in the old town was probably the highlight of the cruise.
Rome (Civitavecchia)
As we were staying in Rome post cruise we declined the 3-4 hour round trip on a coach to go anywhere and booked the Ostia excursion, which was cancelled due to lack of interest. We took the free shuttle bus into town and enjoyed a couple of hours walking around Civitavecchia. Interesting enough.
Much enjoyed Rome on our own over three days. Found a few wonderful Roman remains that are not on the tourist hot list, as well as viewing most of the important sites.