We've never been to Norway and, like my wife's parents did before, we wanted to enjoy its beauty. Besides the venue, we are totally hooked on Viking! This one was our fourth Viking Cruise, two ocean and two river. We'll never change.
Our ship was new and familiar. The staff was well trained, courteous, and attentive. Our cabin was most comfortable and kept spotlessly clean. The minibar was constantly kept full.
Our dining experiences at every one of the dining venues was excellent. We could choose to be served or to pick up a quick meal from a buffet line. Every choice was different and the food was delicious. The wine with lunch and dinner was very good. We also chose to attend the three wine tastings. Jude and Paul were superb sommeliers and we learned a lot while having fun drinking fine wines. Jovana was the Head Waitress whom we'd met on our previous ocean cruise; it was like dining with family. We also ran into Jasna, now a Head Bartender, whom we'd met before. It is comforting to see familiar faces and enjoy their elegant service.
Very comfortable! Great views. Plenty of storage room. Roomy bathroom.
In the Orkneys, we visited the Italian Chapel, built by WWII Italian POWs. It was a beautiful story and a pleasant visit. We also saw the Churchill Barriers around Scapa Flow and enjoyed the related war stories. Finally, we visited the Highland Park Distillery and saw how they distilled Scotch Whiskey; quite interesting. All in all, a very pleasant and informative visit.
In the Shetlands, we took a nature walk on the trails of uninhabited Mousa Island, which we enjoyed thoroughly. The scenery was beautiful and the stone buildings remaining from times gone by were fascinating to climb and were impressive in their construction. The birds, the sheep, the flowers, the watering holes, all were very pleasant to enjoy, while getting a full day's worth of exercise.
In Molde, we visited the Romsdal Open Air Museum and were treated to some local cultural entertainment featuring Norwegian children in traditional clothing, dancing and singing to obviously old tunes. They were wonderful! Afterwards, we were able to visit some of the older buildings, each with a dirt and grass roof, completely furnished as of old and one with a fire and some Norwegian baking demonstrations. Finally, the Museum had artifacts and photos from the early days, to enlighten us even more of how these hardy people lived many years ago.