Our first vacation in 12 years, and it was a great choice

We waited a long time for this vacation, and selected it for its ports of call. Sadly, Tunisia was removed from the itinerary as was Sicily. Naples was a poor substitute for Tunis, as it was visited on a holiday and mostly closed, besides being very dirty. A real disappointment.

We missed Sicily due to bad weather and stayed in the port of Naples for a second day. The visit to the archaeological museum was very good.

The ports of Valencia and Barcelona far exceeded our expectations. We loved both cities and were lucky enough to stay in Barcelona for 2 extra days. A real gem.

On the downside, the magnificent city of Rome was very crowded (holiday) and filthy. The crowds were due to the New Years holiday, but overflowing trash bins, dumpsters, etc. , a real disappointment. Shame on you, Rome.

The ship and crew were superb. The service was excellent . Food outstanding. Public areas were beautifully decorated and very comfortable. The ship was large enough, yet cozy. Loved the heated bathroom floor, the really hot shower, the product line in the bathroom, thick towels, and the silky linens on the bed.

Our only criticisms: stated in the cruise information was the average temperature for each city, and that was how we packed. In fact, it was much colder. If you go in winter, pack a winter coat, not a spring jacket.

The dress codefor dinner was for business casual or casual chic. Many passengers were dressed in jeans at dinner, and very sloppily. Kind of disrupts the magic of it all.

While we are grandparents and love our grandchildren, were were glad this was an adults only cruise. That being said, it was largely older folks on the boat. I couldn't give you an average age; my husband thought maybe 70ish.

The guides we had were all excellent. We did feel that there wasn't enough free time to look around and enjoy where we were.

We would definitely do another Viking trip. It was expensive, but worth it. Our first cruise was in 1990. A completely different cruise this time. Worth the wait, although I would not want to cruise to all destinations, as the experience of a longer visit vs. A quick in and out is dramatic.

VIKING did everything to make the boarding and disembarkation experience smooth.