We had taken a Viking River cruise before and were very pleased with the experience. This was our first ocean cruise and we weren't sure that we would like and ocean cruise as much as the river cruise. Our friends contacted us and invited to join them on the Viking cruise from Florida to the Panama Canal. Viking exceeded our expectations for ocean cruising and we really enjoyed taking their cruise through the Canal. Viking's quality of our accommodations and the exceptional attention to detail by the staff was outstanding. The restaurants were excellent and offered a variety menus. The programs aboard ship were very informative and well done. The staff's effort to make the trip enjoyable for us was just exceptional. Travel through the locks on the Panama Canal was extremely interesting and a great way to see them up close.

The only element of our experience that was negative was that there was no Viking representative at the airport to transport us to the ship, and we had to take a taxi to make that connection.