Like many, we'd done several Viking River cruises and wanted to try their ocean voyages. I was not disappointed.

First, embarkation: We've taken ocean cruises on a couple of other lines, but the embarkation to Viking Sea was the easiest and fastest I have ever experienced. I braced myself for waiting in a long line and climbing a vast gangway into the ship, but we walked into an empty cruise terminal, went to a table staffed by several helpful people, and had our keycards in about a minute. Then we walked about ten yards through the door to the ship and up the shortest gangway I've ever seen and into the ship. Embarkation time, maybe ten minutes tops.

Our cabin wasn't ready, so we went to the World Cafe on deck 7 and hung out, waited on by friendly, welcoming staff. We relaxed with a light lunch and then explored the ship before heading to the cabin. We also dropped in at the spa and fitness center to sign up for classes and make appointments. Read more