This was our first trip on Viking having only been on smaller ships with Windstar. We were quite impressed. While the ship holds 930 passengers we were told there were only 369 on board, but with the abundance of staff (perhaps they were fully staffed) the service was outstanding. We were the first (in 18 months) and only ship in all but one port so the locals were very happy we were there. The passengers were mostly older and it appeared that many came since the fare was less expensive than other Viking cruises.

After some trouble in booking wanting to come in the day before since we were coming from a mountain airport in Colorado Viking really came through giving us the flights we wanted and paying for a hotel the night before boarding. They even provided a private chauffeur to the hotel and to the ship.

On COVID all passengers had to be vaccinated and were tested each day with spit samples collected by the room steward around 8:30 each day. You also had your temperature checked through a facial recognition device before you went in a restaurant once per day. Also masks were required indoors unless eating or drinking. (So order a drink and you can take your mask off). While we were required to have a negative test within 48 hours of boarding we (and others we spoke with) were never asked for the negative test. Coming in a day early we had to jump through hoops to get the test and results in time. Read more