Neither my husband nor I had ever been on a cruise before, but in 2019 we decided to book a European Viking River Cruise for July 2020. After Viking had to cancel the river cruise three times due to Covid-19, we opted to change our cruise to an ocean cruise nearer home. We chose Viking because we knew several people who had been on their river cruises and loved them. We had also read many, many stellar reviews about Viking's ocean cruises. Our expectations were high and Viking exceeded them! The staff/crew all did everything possible to ensure that we were completely and totally pampered -- we had never before been so relaxed. The food is quite good in all of the restaurants, but we preferred eating our dinners at The Restaurant even though we enjoyed both Manfredi's and The Chef's Table (the two specialty restaurants). We also enjoyed eating at World Cafe -- the buffet changes daily and with every meal. The pool grill / bar is a nice place to grab a quick salad or hamburger, too.

The excursions were all good. We mostly took the included excursions although we did pay for the Domed Train Ride by the Panama Canal. That is an excellent day trip ... our guide provided a running commentary on how the areas through which we were traveling were dug out to form the canal and many historical facts/figures. A very nice hot buffet lunch was provided in Panama City as well as a scenic bus tour around the area.

I liked having a free laundry room on every deck. There are four washers & dryers and two ironing boards w/irons. People were very good about not 'hogging' the machines -- everyone seemed to be quite considerate. Read more