Viking Star Review

5.0 / 5.0
2,050 reviews

Everything we hoped for.

Review for the Mediterranean Cruise on Viking Star
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YandD
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Sep 2019

We chose this cruise because of the range of countries, ports and variety of excursions offered. We loved Croatia, a country we might never otherwise have seen. Corfu was beautifully exotic. In Naples we toured Herculaneum rather than Pompeii and were surprised how immersive the tour was, being able to walk through the buildings and get up close to the frescoes, even walking on the original tiled floors. Then on to Florence. Every corner, every building was an architectural wonder. Monaco was underwhelming, we heard after that Nice is a better choice to explore. Marseille was a surprise being cleaner, friendlier and more relaxed than I remembered from the early 70s. Our cruise ended in Barcelona, a city I had looked forward to seeing but somehow didn't appeal as much as I'd hoped. In each port the bus drivers were expert at getting through narrow streets, tour guides were knowledgeable, though one or two should back off from the heavy sell they use to get tourists into favored retailers.

All staff we encountered on the cruise were efficient, professional, welcoming and friendly. The meals on board were excellent, restaurant quality and never disappointed. The Viking Star was a smooth and stable home for our 12 days even in some overnight rough weather. Embarkation and disembarkation ran extremely well, obviously they've got it streamlined.

We are looking forward to our next cruise, and it will be with Viking. It matches perfectly our choice for number of fellow passengers, age and interest profile and truly becomes an important part of the whole vacation.

Cabin Review

Our cabin was spotless. Kris, our cabin steward quickly attuned to our daily routine and prepared our cabin around our schedule. As it was our first cruise, he made sure to explain all the inclusives to us, based on our cabin status. Evening turn down was always impeccable and he always greeted us by name when meeting in the hallway. A couple of extra drawers in the cabin would be nice but we managed pretty well. The cabin was large enough considering we were only there to sleep.

Port Reviews

Split

An excellent introductory tour, learning of the recent history in Croatia. A gorgeous country with an Italian/Roman influence.

Venice

The lace island- beautiful, sunny and warm. Colorful buildings. A brief interesting tour, then time to wander on our own.

Venice

The glass island- glass factory tour, then a wander around. It was interesting to learn the history of glass blowing in Burano, very entertaining.

Corfu

Once again a city tour. So different from Croatia. A Greek island and culture. Incredibly friendly. Lots of cafe and restaurant choices. Plenty of time for walking around.

Naples

An optional excursion and well worth the price. History at your feet.

Rome (Civitavecchia)

A wonderful overview. Hit all the top spots. Drop off and pick up was at the Vatican which was not on our list of tours but made for a convenient meeting place

Rome (Civitavecchia)

Deserves a 10. Bucket list checked and it did not disappoint. I'm a history nerd and this was perfect.

Florence (Livorno)

We had been advised to skip Pisa. Excellent advice.

Fell in love with Florence, so happy to have made it there. Could spend weeks there quite happily. History and Architecture together. Perfect.

Monaco (Monte Carlo)

Plans changed because of rough sea and ship docked at Villefranch(?) Bus still took us to Monte Carlo, which we found clean, quaint and boring. Viking refunded the charge for the excursion. Cheque arrived by Nov. 1st.

Marseille

Once again an excellent tour of the city, with time left over to wander at leisure. Next time we will branch out to different sites in each of these cities.

Barcelona

Once more a good overview of the city, but as with the others there is so much more to see. We found Barcelona didn't appeal to us as much as the other cities, but still worth the visit.

Dubrovnik

Again a general city tour to get an overview of the area. What a beautiful city. It's on my list for a return visit. An excellent tour guide.

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