This was just the second cruise with this itinerary and we loved the ports and especially the included excursions (the best we've had on four Viking Cruises). Unfortunately a major glitch was the departure time listed in my documents from Toronto which was listed as 10pm, About 12 people arrived at the port just as the ship was sailing away at 8pm!! Some of them had air booked by Viking which is unbelievable. They missed the entire first day which I thought was the most interesting -- the transit of the Welland Canal. This trip outdid the Panama Canal transit we've done twice as it had drawbridges as well as the locks. It's also older than the Panama Canal and has 8 locks. This was the most expensive cruise per diem we've done, but part of our fare went to pay for the scientific lab on board and its tests and salaries of researchers and scientist who are invited onboard to help with Viking's research. This includes launching weather balloons and tracking the debris and trash in Antarctic waters as well as the Great Lakes. The ship carries a lot of "water toys", even a submarine which is not allowed to be used the Lakes, but is in Antartica. Other glitches were the inaccuracy of the menus displayed on the Viking App and the failure of Viking to set the correct time on their phones in Milwaukee (we set an automated wake up call for 2:15am to meet for departure to the airport at 3:15am and the phone went off at 1:15am -- obviously unable to go back to sleep).