We wanted to give Viking Ocean cruises a try, after sailing with them previously on 6 or 7 river cruises. We've been sailing Viking for about 15 years. On our last river cruise (about 6 months ago), we were disappointed; the quality just wasn't the same as it had been previously. We've also sailed on Azamara (we love Azamara!), Princess, Oceania, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean.

On the "plus" side, the Viking Sea is beautiful! Our stateroom was comfy, well appointed, and had tons of storage space - even in the bathroom! Our cabin steward, Tedhi, was fantastic! The ship has a thermal spa which was a wonderful amenity that we used. We also liked the Torshavn lounge, which is a small nightclub, and thought that Jenifer and Vince were terrific performers. There were lots of nice spaces throughout the ship to relax and "hang out."

Like its river cruises, the Viking Sea had included excursions at each port. That was one of the things that appealed to use when we looked at this cruise. However, except for the "hop-on, hop-off" bus in Halifax, the other included excursions were a disappointment. In Boston, the tour guides for the included excursion were a "no show" and the bus drivers had to give the tours based upon their own knowledge of the areas we drove through. We took only one optional excursion, a hike at a national park in Gaspe, and that was good. Gaspe was a last minute change in the itinerary (it had been Charlottetown, PEI). There wasn't much to see in Gaspe, and if Viking had to alter the itinerary, a better option would have been to spend more time in Quebec City or Halifax (both lovely stops). The timing of the port stops was also less than ideal; we had barely a day in Quebec City and Halifax; too much time in Boston (almost 2 days), and only 1/2 day in NYC. Read more