This was our second Viking cruise, but our first Viking Ocean cruise. We have also gone on several cruises on larger ships with other companies. We certainly enjoy the smaller Viking ships. This itinerary was perfect for us, starting in Venice, with stops in Split, Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, and Olympia, before ending in Athens. Each stop was unique with interesting, informative, and well-organized excursions. I see now why so many others on this cruise had either started a week earlier in Rome or stayed aboard for another week continuing on to Istanbul.

Food in World Cafe, The Restaurant, and Pool Grill were all very good. Lots of options, and also some items available every day in case the local theme was not appealing.

So, why didn't I give this a 5-star rating? Two reasons: 1. Chioggia is not a replacement for Venice. Cruise ships are no longer allowed to dock in Venice. Viking has chosen to dock in Chioggia, a small fishing village on the other side of the Venice lagoon. The bus ride from the airport would not have been too bad, except that the "tour guide" talked nonstop about random topics. Almost everyone was tired from traveling and would have preferred some silence to sleep. Overall, Chioggia was really quite disappointing. 2. The Chef's Table was very disappointing. It may have been a "5-course meal" but no course was noteworthy and altogether it wasn't a "meal" - at least for the Asian theme. (Others we spoke with had similar opinions about the Chef's Table.) But, one bad meal did not detract from the overall experience.