After a two year delay, it was with some trepidation that we resumed cruising on Viking Sky’s Ancient Mediterranean Treasures voyage. We had read that the checkin procedure was long and tedious but from the moment we were picked up at Athens airport to the arrival in our room, everything went quickly and smoothly. We booked a penthouse veranda room on the 6th floor and it was spacious and the stateroom attendants were fantastic. One sour note: by virtue of our penthouse veranda booking, we were entitled to two reservations in each of the Sky’s specialty restaurants. Despite this stateroom benefit, it was totally impossible to make an online reservation for two before sailing and we had to beg seatings for these restaurants on board. Having said that, the food was great and service impeccable once seated. The tourist sights for the offshore excursions were crowded, even this early in the season. Still, we saw some great sights, and with one exception, our local guides were good. Be warned: traffic in Istanbul is horrific. We took a five hour tour of Turkey’s Amazing edifices and spent three and a half hours of it sitting in traffic.

The highlight of the cruise was the extension to Cappadocia where we took an early morning balloon ride, rising in the sky with 150 other balloons a mile above earth, and stayed in a unique cave hotel. Overall, given the problems caused by the pandemic, Viking did a great job and we look forward to our next cruise with them.