Overall, our on board experience was very good. The staff and service was outstanding. The dining experience/food was wonderful and the ship was new and clean and designed with an understated elegance decor. Entertainment and activities were fine, however were geared toward an average age of 65+ and older, not the average age of 55 years old that Viking advertises. The majority of port stops were wonderful, however Berlin was not enjoyable (2 hour train ride each way just to get to Berlin, then only 4 hours in the city). Included shore excursions were good, primarily bus or walking tours with groups of 30 people though at some times were slow moving. Viking's policy for optional excursions on their ocean cruises should be considered before booking a cruise. Optional excursions are offered to passengers based on cabin levels and sell out quickly to upper cabins passengers before they are available to mid-level cabin passengers for booking. The primary reason we choose Viking was to take the optional two-day excursion they offered in St. Petersburg, Russia, however it sold out before our booking date. Fortunately we found the same tour online and booked it directly with Alla Tours, a Russian tour company which was outstanding! The company did not require a visitors visa, was half the price of the Viking excursion and did not require payment until the end of the first day of our tour. We booked other tours on our own online in several ports which is very easy to do and saved a great deal of money (over $800) by booking on our own. We are considering booking a Viking river cruise since passengers can purchase optional excursions at the time of booking, allowing passengers to see which excursions are sold out or are still available before they book the cruise.