We chose this cruise because friends had recommended it. They gave us some pointers which we found to be useful. A second floor French balcony room is the best choice for this particular cruise. It afforded us the better views. Once you unpack the incredible Viking staff takes care of everything – more than you can imagine! The ship was lovely and perfectly clean and efficient at all times. Mimi our cruise director was intelligent, caring, fun, and hard-working. The captain, the wine steward, the chef, the waiters, the cabin stewards...everyone was friendly and gracious. Each meal was over-the-top perfection. While most people report gaining 4 lbs. per week I actually was able to continue a weight loss program because there were many healthy choices offered at each meal. My husband and I felt that the nightly briefings about our excursion the next day helped us to feel confident that we would have fun. Our tour guides were all excellent and helped us get the most out of our visit. The activities aboard the ship were interesting and fun as well – cooking demonstrations, live music, trivia, games. It was all wonderful. The upper deck with its walking path was a joy each night. Seeing the herbs growing on the upper deck was fun too. One day after a long tour we returned to find the chef handing out freshly-made mango smoothies – what a treat! While we didn't travel with children there was a multi-generational family, ranging in age from 10 – 85, on our cruise who were all delightful. We asked the teens if they were bored with all us "old people" and they said, "Are you kidding? We're having a blast!" One gentleman on our cruise was disappointed that Delta lost his luggage. He told us that Viking worked tirelessly to locate and return it to him. In the meantime they washed his clothes each night and had them waiting for him at no charge. The slight glitch we had was when we first arrived at the airport. Our Viking rep met us and led us to the shuttle. Other couples got on too. One couple had lost their passports. I'm sure the Viking folks assumed this could be handled quickly, but unfortunately it took hours. We felt that perhaps the couple with the lost passports should have remained behind (and Viking could send a cab for them to the ship) which would have allowed the rest of the shuttle of passengers to get to the ship quickly. That said – it was a minor irritation and didn't detract from our view that this cruise was just wonderful!