Past experience with Viking put them at the front of our list of cruise ship companies. Our interests were in exploring and experiencing a part of the World that we had not visited previously or to this depth. While a one destination trip will give one much greater depth of experience and understanding of a locale, a cruise such as this is excellent for giving a broader scope of a number of countries and their peoples. This trip showed us the rugged beauty of Norway's fjords and mountains, the rolling countryside and cities of Sweden, the lovely, fertile lowlands of Finland, Russia, Estonia, Poland, northern Germany and Denmark. It truly packed a unique, busy itinerary and frankly, dizzying assortment of countries into a 15 day experience. Especially interesting (and recommended) are the optional home visits available on this cruise - we visited two Danish families and one farm based one in Norway. These put a more personal face to the countries we visited.