We have done two Viking River Cruises and decided to try one of the ocean ships. We went to Venice, Italy three days in advance to help us to acclimate to the time difference from the USA. What a hotel! The Hilton Stucky was really lovely, clean, and accomodating. The staff was most gracious and helpful. Viking had an agent or two in the foyer of the hotel and also ran a shuttle from the hotel over to the Grand Canal.

Boarding the ship was easy. We were taken from the hotel directly to the ship. This time we had a junior penthouse suite and loved it. The cabin was spacious with a sitting room area and a larger veranda. We had 2 tvs, complimentary laundry service, and a complimentary snack/beverage fridge. The bathroom had a large shower, a heated towel rack, two large sinks, and a heated floor. There were 900 passengers on board but we did not have the sense that there were so many folks at any time. We aren't fond of the large numbers of people on the bigger ships.This was perfect!

We ate two evenings in Manfredi's, the Italian Restaurant, and two evenings in The Chef's Table. Because we had the silver liquor package we were able to upgrade our wines with dinner. In the Chef's Table we were able to upgrade to adding wine pairings to the menu.The other evenings we split between the buffet and The Restaurant. As usual on Viking, all our food was excellent. Read more