It won't be our last, in fact we booked another Viking Ocean cruise while on board (Viking Homelands). We had sailed the Rhine with Viking, but had never been on an ocean cruise with any cruise company. I wasn't too sure about being on the open ocean for any length of time. One of the reasons we chose Empires of the Mediterranean was there were no open ocean cruising days, we were in a port every day. We chose our excursions before embarkation, something I would recommend for all travelers. We were amazed at the variety of experiences available. From mountain biking and off-roading to 'old town' walking tours and cheese farm tours. We tried most dining experiences. We found the service less attentive in The Restaurant during breakfast so we chose the buffet after that. Dinner service was consistently good in The Restaurant. Manfredi's menu was vast and very different from anything else offered on the ship. We were lucky enough to have 2 reservations there so we could try many things, but the menu is the same daily. Our cabin was on level 5. I'm not sure how different it would be on a higher or lower level, but I would never want to be without a balcony. We sat out there every day, we especially liked watching the port arrivals and departures.