This trip was selected by my husband for his 60th birthday gift. We have been on many ocean cruises but never a river one. And typically I do all the planning and arrangements - and this time I let Viking do it all and I was not sorry! We did the Israel pre-cruise add on also which wasn't my first choice - but my husband selected it over the post-cruise days in Jordan. We were the youngest couple in our group of 30 that started together and I give some of the older folks a lot of credit. We were on the GO at all times, and there were no "sit at the pool" times on this entire 15 days. The sights we saw and the story that was told to us was nothing short of amazing.

Nicola was our Israeli guide - she was very knowledgeable - and entertaining when she was verbally sparring with our bus driver. The Hospital excursion could be skipped, would have liked to see other parts of the city. Highlight was the Western Wall for me. Very spiritual experience.

Huge shout out to HEBA, our amazing Egyptian guide - what an amazing lady she was. She was a BOSS and didn't take any crap in a country that favors males. She taught us so much about her countries history and culture - her passion and energy was astonishing. Read more