Going to the "Holy Land" was the primary reason to select this cruise. We also have heard a lot of good things about Viking Ocean Cruises and after more than 25 ocean cruises wanted to give them a try. We took a Viking River Cruise in July and did not like it as much as our river cruises on Vantage. The stateroom, the ship, and food were the best we ever had. Viking has gotten ocean cruising right. The food was the best and had a great selection. We missed sitting at a dinner table where we can meet other people. We went usually at 6:00 p.m. and asked for a bigger table, but they could not garentee when another couple would show up and want to sit with others. After a few days we decided to go to the buffet wher we could sit with other people. The buffet was wonderful and they would prepare what you wanted fresh, so you did not lose much by going to the buffet. I also found I ate less at the buffet and ate what I wanted. The menus were lised on your TV daily so you could decide where you wanted to go. The buffet menu difffered a little from the dinner menu. Even at breakfast they prepared eggs benedict fresh for you. They also had fresh squeesed orange juice.

We were not sure about the smaller ship, but we loved it. We did not have to walk that far and they only had two sets of elevators, but you rarely had to wait for one.

The staff was wonderful mostly, India staff. The captain advised us on the first night we had 928 passengers and 458 staff. That is one staff member to two passengers. You never had to look for staff. The staff appeared well educated and enjoyable. Read more