There was nothing ordinary about this cruise: everything was above and beyond. Viking treated us like special people, not numbers on a passenger list. The food, crew, entertainment, and the ship itself was superlative. The pre-excursion talks were informative and gave us more insight into our excursions. The library had a wealth of information; the hallways had nicely appointed original sketches and works of art. Our cabin attendants were friendly and became our friends; and we met wonderful people from all over the world, many of whom we still keep in touch. And we appreciated not being nickel-dimed- for example, one hot day we were given bottles of water as we left the ship, and met people from other ships that day that complained about having to pay their cruise ship $7-$8 for every bottle of water. Viking set the high-water standard on this cruise. We would not hesitate to cruise with Viking again.