I chose this cruise since it was going to the Holy Land for 3 nights. The food was spectacular. We ate in different restaurants/ buffets almost. every night. The variety was incredible and was always served hot and fresh when called for. We stayed in a PV3 stateroom. It was a relatively spacious room with a very nice balcony, although we didn't use it too much since the weather, although warmer than normal was still a little too chilly for us to sit out on, especially while sailing. We attended the "Port Call" lectures the night before arriving in any port. Heather was very informative and conveyed the information with humor. It was truly good to know before going into the different ports, what to look for and what to avoid, And she had a fabulous singing voice, probably a trained voice. We went to the Torshavn club several times and saw the Viking Band and Nat. Excellent entertainment. Kudos to our cabin attendants. Foussie (Sp?) and Baby Rose. They kept our stateroom perfectly cleaned and appointed. Another kudo should go to Leon from Zimbabwe. He was always ready to take our drink order and, after only one night, remembered what we drank. By the end of the cruise all we had to do was signal Leon and he would get us our drinks and even remembered our stateroom number. Great service. OK, now the shore excursions: We took an included excursion in Rome, Naples and Crete. However the next ones were in Israel. On the first day, we took the excursion to Jerusalem and Bethlehem and on the 2d day, we took the excursion to Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. This one also took us to the River Jordan. Perhaps where Jesus was baptized, but even if not, it was still amazing to see it. In Jerusalem we saw the Western Wall and walked part of the Via dolorosa, where Jesus carried his cross. To think that we may have walked on a path taken by him or perhaps touched a stone that he had touched was absolutely mind-boggling. In Bethlehem, we went to the Church of the Nativity. In Nazareth, we saw where Mary lived and where the angel may have told her of her pregnancy.

We also visited the Church of the Annunciation. Again, all things related to Mary and Jesus were unbelievably wonderful. On the 3rd day, we had chosen to take the included the tour to Haifa and Acre, but were simply too exhausted to go. ON Cyprus, we also took an included tour and I was surprised at Cyprus. I do not know what I expected, but this was certainly much better than I had expected. Next came Rhodes. This was my favorite destination outside of Israel. The architecture was amazing and. although the walk to Rhodes Town was a little long, it was well-worth the walk. We skipped the tour on Mykonos due to lack of energy. We actually did a two-day pre-stay in Rome and we did the included excursion on the 24th, but we had set up a private tour on the 23rd through the Viking Representatives at our hotel. Daniel took us on a 3-hour tour of Rome. We got to see Circus Maximus, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and many other sites I don't remember at this time. He then dropped us off at the Vatican City and we were able to get into the St. Peter's Basilica. It is incredible. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and energy before we could get in to see the Sistine Chapel. We also did a 2-day post-stay in Athens, Greece. On the first day, we got to see a large swath of Athens from the bus in the included tour. The next day, we took a private tour to the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum and the Archaeological Museum. We managed to see all of the buildings on the Acropolis. Visiting all of those, is certainly worthwhile. The history goes back several thousand years. Unbelievable.