I saw the December cruise from Rome to Athens advertised in August. It was a good deal so I booked the cruise for my husband and me. We had taken a Viking River Cruise in 2018 and have a Viking Alaska cruise booked for June 2020. Our first ocean cruise was fantastic, despite the fact that we missed the Naples port and our Pompeii excursion due to 65 mph wind and 17 ft seas in Civitavechia. We sailed directly to Sicily on the following morning-definitely the correct decision by our delightful Captain, " a Viking from Norway".

The ships are beautifully decorated in clean Norwegian style. The Christmas decorations were beautiful! There is no feeling of being crowded on these ships because there are so many places to "hang out".

The staff was fantastic! Service is great in every way and everyone is so genuinely friendly! Our cabin steward, James, saw that my husband uses a C-pap and ordered demonized water for him-without having been asked. We had great service from and great conversations with my husband's favorite bar-tender, Apri, and Margerite, the adorable server who introduced me to a Proscecco and raspberry liqueur drink: Fantastic! And the best part is that Apri is scheduled to be on our Alaska cruise in June! Read more