The ship was fine and to Vikings usual standards.

If I thought embarkation at Istanbul was bad it was nothing compared to Athens.

DON'T bother with the overpriced Athens extension. We had to leave our stateroom by 8am , ( no hot water in the room that day)sat on the ship for over an hour, in fact it felt as if we were just dumped off the ship before the most disorganised, chaotic transfer to the Athens Marriott hotel. This hotel is not in the city centre, it is a conference hotel alongside a very busy highway. The Viking ground agents were useless and patronising. There was little if no communication . We were herded into a windowless ballroom, not offered coffee or other refreshments, while we were expected to wait for over 5 hours for the rooms to be ready. No information about the hotel or local area was given, no WiFi code and the 2 English speaking representatives (Ann and Judy) had no interest in helping the Viking guests. Their standard response was "it's not in the Viking contract " . This wait time could have been put to good use by giving us refreshments, a talk on the local area and hotel. There were many senior age Viking guests who were very confused and upset. Read more