We scheduled this cruise for 2020 and our 30th anniversary, and finally ended up being able to sail in 2022. Although we had been initially hesitant about sailing during Covid, Viking handled the situation beautifully and I can’t say that our vacation was negatively impacted by the precautions.

As expected, the overall level of service and the quality of the dining was excellent throughout the ship. We particularly enjoyed using our silver spirits package to try some unusual top shelf beverages, attend a fabulous whiskey tasting, and experiment with a variety of specialty cocktails. The wine pairings with our meals were also quite lovely. We particularly enjoyed the explorers lounge. Room service breakfast was one of the nicest we’ve had.

We did about half included excursions and half paid excursions, and some were better than others. Tour guides, for the most part, were knowledgeable and friendly. Some of the smaller ports would have been better enjoyed if we had done self-directed exploring and shopping rather than taking the included tour. Overall, however, excursions were worthwhile, educational and enjoyable.