WE chose this cruise for the destinations, to try the new Viking Ocean Cruises and to be with friends. The Viking Star is small by cruise ship standards, but very nicely appointed and stable. Food is generally good, but the Italian Restaurant was disappointing. Our deluxe stateroom was very nice and the bed was comfortable. Service was very good and staff was friendly. Some shore excursions spent too much time on a bus. The train ride to and from Berlin was poorly organized (we were separated from our friends) and accounted fro 5 hours of the excursion time. The destinations are very interesting and the guide for our bus on the Ultimate St Petersburg tour, "Helen" was terrific! The cruise was great and we would do it again, but we prefer the smaller, more intimate Viking River Cruises. There were no children on our Viking Homelands Cruise and that was a real plus! Read Less

I picked this cruise because of the itinerary - the opportunity to visit a range of fabulous cities and fjord towns - on what was billed as a new, stylish and not too large cruise liner. I was not disappointed. The ship is the style of the show - like living for a fortnight in a 'boutique museum', a mix of the modern scandi and a wealth of historical detail. It had all the facilities you might need and all of a high quality, designed with function and beauty in mind. Cabins were well designed, comfortable and attractive and well maintained by the friendliest room service you could wish for. Similarly, the dining facilities and food were of a high quality, from the homely Mamsens with its jam and waffles to the highly innovative, taste bud tingling Chef's Table. And make sure you have a cocktail in the Explorer's Lounge whilst passing through the Stockholm archipelago, the fjords or whilst watching the sun go down - a recipe for a magical moment. The pool areas were attractive and well maintained and swimming in the infinity pool in sunshine in St Petersburg was one of the unexpected highlights of the journey. A free trip was included at each port - I only paid for extras in St Petersburg (Gold Room and Hermitage - well worth doing), the ballet in St Petersburg and the jazz cruise in Copenhagen (pricey but a wonderful evening out). After feeling very herded on the Helsinki trip (lots of ships in port and the city felt under strain) we decided to do most of the other ports on our own which enabled us to miss the groups and investigate things of particular interest to us. We did, however, participate in the free trip in Warnemunde (alternative to Berlin) and this turned out to be a lovely day with a brewery visit (beer at 9.30am!!), guided tour of an incredible cathedral and a boat trip with fabulous views - a surprising gem of a day and all included! The following 'extras' were lovely bonuses: the quality of the lectures delivered by the guest lecturers that were informative and helped you to build knowledge as your trip progressed; the music everywhere on the ship - of a high quality but not too loud or obtrusive; the laundrette (not exciting but making packing and dressing much easier!); the fabulous spa facility - no need to pay a penny to fully immerse yourself in the Nordic spa system and the facility is usually nearly empty; the shuttle bus service at all larger ports (if you're the sort of person who doesn't like large, herded groups then this is the service for you - free transport to the heart of your port, a good map with a note of pick up point and you're set up for a great day!). This is not a family cruise ship, it is not an all singing all dancing entertainment ship, it is not a dressing up and having your photo taken at every opportunity ship. Instead it is a relaxing, informative, safe environment from which to explore a fabulous range of ports in a style that suits you. My only gripe - there was only a minimal reduction on double occupancy rates for a single traveller! A better deal would be the icing on the cake! Read Less

We heard really great things about the service and amenities of Viking cruises and we were looking for an adult cruising experience. We were more interested in a cultural experience than an entertainment environment. Viking met every one of our expectations. The organization for travel and embarkment was smooth. The Viking Journal kept us updated on the necessary preparations for the trip and provided us with meaningful insight into each port. Our cabin was very comfortable, the food was outstanding, and the staff made our trip so relaxing. We enjoyed the variety of lectures which was very important to us and we looked forward to the daily port talks. The shore excursions were very well organized and planned and the tour guides were exceptional in their knowledge of each city. There was also an interesting variety of shore excursions. We were so pleased with this trip that we have two future Viking cruises on our calendar! Read Less

Friends had ask us to join them on this cruise and we thought it would be a dream come true to be able to see lands we never thought we would. Our ship was the Viking Star new to the Viking fleet and we were not disappointed. All crew members were so helpful and there to take care of all our needs sometimes before we knew we needed anything. The shore excursions were most enjoyable especially St. Petersburg and Tallinn. These tours were just like stepping back in time and everything we had hope they would be. We loved seeing the old churches and see the Viking long houses as well as the new modern places. Seems as though the world is a much smaller place that we thought as many ports had the very same thing as we do here in the USA. Would we do it again...yes but a different cruise and different places to help us be able to see more of the world. Read Less

Chose this cruise based on the itinerary- wanted to go to St. Petersburg. Also wanted a smaller ship. Embarkation is the easiest I have ever experienced.... The ship is gorgeous- Scandinavian design throughout, very elegant without being glitzy. The cabin was adequate, the bathroom was fantastic. My 6ft2" husband could stand up in the shower!! Plenty of storage space in the bathroom but not enough storage space in the cabin. The luggage fit under the bed. The closet was spacious with sufficient hangers. Complimentary mini bar in room- you can decide what type of soft drinks you want, replenished daily. Choices on the TV were limited but the TED Talks available were a great bonus. Could use more choices of movies, especially more current ones. Also, could use some music channels. Bed is heavenly.... Food is excellent. The menu at the dining room and buffet is almost the same on most nights. Fresh sushi every night. Manfredi's Italian restaurant is a must!!! Rivals any excellent Italian restaurant on land. The Chef's Table is excellent if you are a foodie and like to experiment. Included tours were basic, some good others not so. Viking provides transportation to and from the ship in most cities. Crew was fantastic= could not do enough for you. Would definitely sail with Viking Sea again!!! Read Less

We have done a number of river cruises with Viking but this was our first ocean cruise with this line. As always with Viking, the service was excellent. The staff was uniformly friendly and helpful. The cruise and excursions were well organized and varied. The ship is beautiful and sailed smoothly with minimal roughness even in a storm. We especially appreciated the small size of the passenger list - just 930 travelers max - and the focus of the group - adult English-speakers only. These combined to mean no long lines, no waits while information was repeated in different languages and a emphasis on cultural experiences: no gambling,no Las Vegas-style floor shows, or children. Port talks were very informative and the enrichment speakers were excellent and very enlightening. We enjoyed the choice of restaurants and were particularly impressed with the imaginative food preparation at the Chef's Table. The public spaces are lovely and varied. The spa is the real thing, with professional staff and a variety of services. Our cabin was comfortable with a small balcony. An extra was a bathroom with heated floors! Our only disappointment was that the post-cruise excursion from Bergen to Oslo by rail stayed an extra day in Bergen with the result of only a few hours in Oslo. Read Less

Previous excellent experience with Viking River cruise, new ship, inclusive cruising, comfortable luxury. Viking takes excellent care of its clients in my opinion. An example of this care was on an evening when we returned to the ship without having had a chance for dinner, and we were rather late for the standard dinner alternatives. Much to our surprise, a lovely light supper awaited us in our cabin upon our return. It is also wonderful to have a ship with only 930 guests total. You never felt crowded or lost in the shuffle. The spa was spectacular, many activities were available, and we especially enjoyed having an included tour in each port. We did participate in some extra events, but the included tours we attended were also excellent. Our tour in St. Petersburg of the Hermitage was the best and most complete museum tour I have ever encountered. Well worth the fee! The dining venues were delicious and, yes, we tried them all over the course of the cruise. My husband also appreciated that there were no "formal" nights, and we both appreciated the lack of a casino, art sales and children. Read Less

I am going to focus on the positives! This is a beautiful ship with an amazing crew many of whom seek to go the extra mile in trying to give you a great time! We had an amazing trip. It was our first sea cruise and we were not disappointed. All of the four restaurants are excellent and we eat 3/4 times int he evening in each. Even the buffet style World Cafe is great in the evening as it is quiet, spacious and has the best views on the ship! We particularly enjoyed the Chef's table and were able to enjoy 4 out of 5 of the menus offered when we were on board. The included wines repeat a bit over 2 weeks but we are not great drinkers so it dodon't bother us. We loved the entertainment programme and music which were outstanding but for us the enrichment lectures were rather highbrow...and I am no intellectual slouch at all! They seem to be enjoyed by the academically minded on board. So for the downsides...security was a bit of a shambles...with the scanning process quickly abandoned after a port or two due to inefficiency. My wife's bag was impounded as she had a picnic knife and it took us 2 hours to track it down after we had to go to Guest Services and initiate a search! Finally what must be imporved - excursions...we had a really poor experience before we went with changed excursion times ( which Viking put right under pressure) and one really bad excursion that I am still discussing with them ( awful guide and not as described) . It is a challenge to get 700 or so people off on an included excursion. Those disattisfied with their walking tour allocation learnt that groups could be gatecrashed on the quay leading to a loss of control! ( not a problem with coach trips though as tickets were tightly controlled). It is early days and I am sure Viking will sort all this out. Most of our excursions are fine but be ready for immobile people who cannot keep up with the most gentle walks! Enough of that...an amazing experience...we loved it and hope to be back on a Viking cruise ship in a year or two. Read Less

The finest ship on the water at that size (930 passengers) Best service from all personnel including management. Food was great and the buffet is probably the best on the ocean. Overall ship design and quality of interior public space could not be better.. NO CASINO was a welcome relief!! Free land tours at each port were well above expectations. Once onboard the ship, it was perfect. HOWEVER, it was necessary for my travel agent and I to contact the Los Angeles based ground service group several times before departure and our experiences there were with the WORST GROUND SERVICE GROUP OF ANY CRUISE LINE. We have traveled over 20 times on several lines and never have we seen such totally incompetent service. Nothing was correct, factual or relevant to the requests being made. Unfortunately, we plan on another Viking Ocean cruise and dread the interface with the Los Angeles ground service people. Read Less

My friend invited me to join her as she had paid 2 for 1 on her single cabin so I lucked out!!!! The Viking Star is like a first class hotel - the staff are very kind and helpful and the food is just unbelievable!!!! I made sure I took full advantage of all the port talks and lectures, the spa (including being snowed on, don't enter without shoes and definitely don't sit down or your tush could be frozen to the seat for ever!!!!) I loved the infinity pool and swam there regularly, often alone for some reason! We took several excursions and enjoyed them all - the canal jazz tour around Copenhagen was the only time I was sad to see the Viking Star - our excursion was not long enough! It was great fun! We did manage to book all our included excursions eventually but that was the only thing about the entire trip that caused some anxiety - how can included excursions be sold out? Luckily extra trips were added so we got to see St. Petersburg. It says somewhere that you need to purchase a Russian visa if you want to leave the ship unaccompanied. I think it should be in bigger print because I was about to book to go to the Hermitage on my own when someone at home warned me that it was a problem without a visa and they are expensive!!!!! I had the best time and met many lovely people. I had withdrawals from being able to log on to My Viking Journey. com when I got home but the photos and memories will remain with me forever. Thank you Viking Star - I really hope to see you again some day! Read Less

We chose this cruise for the destination and previous excellent cruises with Viking. It was far better than our very high expectations. The ship makes one feel like high royalty in every way. Beautiful furnishings and common areas. Gracious, highly trained, professional staff. Gourmet dining in lovely onboard restaurants. Wonderful entertainment to suit a variety of tastes. No punk, heavy-metal or CW, on one end of the culture spectrum. Fabulous, professional flute-violin-cello trio, an acoustic guitarist, & a classical pianist played several times daily; lightly attended. Lots of Broadway tunes & toned-down Vegas-style shows were packed with elderly, middlebrow cruisers. Great variety and quality of food & service worthy of fine NY or European restaurants. That said, probably 1/4 to 1/3 of the cruisers ate pizza, burgers, steak, fries & ice cream most of the time. Can't say enough good things about the destinations and activities offered. Read Viking's brochures, look at the TV ads, & fully expect it to be 2-3 times better! We're experienced Europe-travelers & heretofore France & Italy were our favorite countries. On the basis of this cruise & before/after stays in Stockholm & Oslo, we think Scandinavia & the Baltic are even better. We like to socialize & we met lots of exceptionally nice people on the cruise. Most of our shipmates were age 75-85+ with some in great shape, and a good many more with significant physical limitations, including wheelchairs & electric scooters. This really compromised shore excursions, on some of which it seemed most of the time was spent getting people on & off the bus, & on long & frequent bathroom stops. The cruise offered lovely onboard & off-ship classical music programs. Our shipmates' concert etiquette tended to be annoying & embarassing. Photography including flash. Video recording, and playback with sound, during a performance!!!! Arm-waving & loud talking. All in all, the cruise was just wonderful & we can't wait to go again! Read Less