We were particularly interested in visiting Japan and this cruise turned out even better than what was expected. Several months prior to cruise the itinerary was changed. South Korea was cancelled and replaced with another stop in Japan. Although it may have been nice to check off another country visited, one very limited day (due to delays through customs) would not have been very satisfying. Instead we had a longer time in a couple of ports in Japan.
This was our 2nd Viking Ocean Cruise and we love their ships. The Viking Orion has the added "planetarium" which we visited on several occasions, for night sky show and several documentary movies. All other details in the ship were basically the same as on our previous cruise on the Viking Sea.
* Food and restaurant selection is quite good, although there were occasional disappointments.
Our cabin choice is Deluxe Veranda (DV). We find the rooms quite comfortable and since our focus is on visiting ports and attending wonderful lectures, we don't feel it necessary to have a larger room. Some complain about lack of storage space but we prefer to travel light and found we had plenty of room. The bathroom is quite nice, with heated floors and a roomy shower. We choose DV over the Veranda (V) rooms, mostly for earlier booking on excursions. The DV also gives a few other extras, such as binoculars, coffee machine, daily refill of soft drinks and snacks in your mini-fridge.
All included in Postcards of Hong Kong
All included in Postcards of Hong Kong
Kagoshima Scenic Ride - included 3 hour tour
We visited Shroyama Park where we enjoyed views of Kagoshima and sakurajima volcano spewing ash. We then stopped at the Reimeikan museum to view cultural artifacts. The excursion then returned to the ship but we departed to explore further on our own and take the cruise provided shuttle back to the city from Dolphin Port.