We’d traveled with Viking twice before on their river cruises and love the Viking experience. I took my wife on her first cruise experience to the western Caribbean on one of those large ships and it was a disaster. So I convinced my bride we should try a Viking Ocean Cruise and neither one of us had been to Italy so the Odyssey made sense

We started our trip with the Tuscany pre-sailing stay and were so glad we did. They put us up in a beautiful Tuscan Villa just outside of Florence and it couldn’t have been more charming. The accommodations were excellent, the service outstanding and the views were what you’ve seen in movies and pictures. We were taken on full day tours in high end motor coaches with a guide who put all other guides to shame. The tours were nice but as usual, the local guides tried to pump too much information into your ear so off we went to explore on our own once the meeting place and times were set. We enjoy the local shops & such but live just finding a small outdoor cafe and having a coffee or a glass of wine with some small nibbles.

Viking bussed us to Venice where we picked up the Viking Star. What a beautiful ship. For a small ship it was quite large. But by comparison, we were docked next to the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Sea and we were tiny by comparison. We had cabin 8007 which we found to be a perfect location. The ship was easy to learn and easy to get around. The first thing you notice is how warm and friendly the crew is. From the stateroom stewards to the bar tenders, waiters, kitchen staff, etc. We spoke to many of the staff we came in contact with and they were genuinely happy to be there despite the hard work and long hours. To a person they all thought Viking was the best of all the cruise lines to work for. Read more