I have cruised with Viking before; my new boyfriend has been a Seabourn cruiser. We chose this repositioning cruise because of the good price and the itinerary. I was not sure what to expect in the mid-Atlantic in December, but we enjoyed temperatures in the high 70s, clear skies and smooth seas. We had a very relaxing time. My boyfriend found the food to be better than he had expected; I enjoyed the Viking friendliness that I had enjoyed before, and the whole design of the ship. We met many interesting fellow passengers onboard. At ages 71 and 72, we were probably close to the median of travelers on the ship.

Our original itinerary was changed when Viking learned that the streets of Valencia would be jammed the day we were scheduled to arrive because of a city marathon race, so we were routed to Malaga instead. This was done with plenty of notice, but the change meant we did not sail through the Straits of Gibraltar during daylight. Because of a storm system centered on Madeira, we went to Grand Canary Island instead. That decision was made much more quickly, but the Viking staff scrambled admirably to put new excursions in place, and we enjoyed the change. Indeed that more southerly route may have contributed to our positive experience in crossing.

My only critique, compared to my cruise six years ago, was that I sensed it had been a challenge to staff up the dining rooms post-covid. At times, there did not seem to be adequate wait staff in The World Cafe, the main buffet restaurant, and we sometimes had to look around for place settings, coffee pitchers, etc. It also seemed as if the numbers of reservations for the specialty restaurants, Manfredi's and The Chef's Table, had been limited more than in the past, probably because there was not enough staff to run them for two full seatings. It seemed harder to get a reservation after we make our initial pre-cruise reservations. But staff morale seemed very good, and we enjoyed forming relationships with some of the entertainers, bar tenders, and guest lecturers.