We selected this cruise from an offer we received from Viking because we had traveled with them previously. The itinerary looked interesting so we booked the cruise. We are both retired so we have the flexibility to make plans with short notice.

The only major disappointment we had was the cancellation of one of our excursions: "Michelangelo's David without the Crowds". This was a very expensive ($799/person) excursion but we thought it was worth the money to see this fabulous piece of art. We were notified once we started the cruise that this excursion was canceled because not enough guests signed up for it, and the alternative excursion to see the art was fully booked. Since we were not notified until the cruise was underway it was too late to book a tour through a private vendor. They did offer us the opportunity to book another excursion, just not to see "David". They promptly refunded our fees for the excursion. That said, we missed what was to be one of the highlights of the cruise.

It's rather misleading to say the cruise includes Rome. Actually, you disembark in Rome and if you do not sign up for the Rome extension all you would see of Rome is the view from the bus on the trip from ship to the airport. It would have been nice to have at least one night on the ship when we were docked in Rome to avoid paying for additional time in Rome. This is how they scheduled the embarkation; we had a full day to explore Barcelona before the cruise left port. Read more