I just noticed that the top of this review it says 7 Night Journey to Antiquities. That is not what was sold to us by Viking. We bought a 14 day cruise called Mediterranean Antiquities Cruise. More about that later in my review.

We chose this cruise because we had been looking for a cruise that stayed overnight in Rome and Viking sent us an email about this cruise and it was exactly what we were looking for. This cruise left Athens, Greece and ended in Barcelona, Spain with stops in Athens, Crete, Katakolon, Greece then over to Italy with stops in Sicily, Naples, Rome, Florence, a stop in Monte Carlo, onto France with stops in Marseille and Sete and finally arriving in Barcelona, Spain. So far so good. We also booked the two day pre cruise in Athens. Arrived in Athens and as with Viking someone was waiting there to take us to our hotel. Viking was amazing. They made registering at the hotel a breeze and then Viking staff was very helpful with tips on tours and restaurants. When it was time to board the ship, again Viking did an excellant job. Picked us up at the hotel and drove us to the port and checking into the boat was again a breeze. Being it was the Jupiter's maiden voyage we were able to get into our rooms right away. Room Steward Fiery was amazing. Anything and everything you needed he made it happen. The ship was beautiful. Since we had cruised earlier in August 2018 on the Sky we remembered pretty much where everything was. On our last cruise I did not have the opportunity to try Tea in the Wintergarden but this time the opportunity came up and we went to Tea. I am not a big tea drinking but you must try Tea at least once. The Tea as so good. The use loose tea not bags and it makes such a difference and the scones served with cream and jam were to die for. The newest item on the Jupiter was the planetarium which unfortunately Viking did not utilize to the fullest. We had an astronomer on board you would have thought that he would have given some lectures or shows in the planetarium. Nope. The two shows that we watched in the planetarium were something you could have watched on Natural Geographic. The seats in the planetarium did not recline so you could not see the entire ceiling so you could not see the entire film. Both times I was in there people were falling asleep it was so bad. Viking really needs to rethink the use of the planetarium. Such great potential not being used. We were also disappointed in the entertainment. On our cruise In To The Midnight Sun on the Sky in August of 2018 the Viking Band with Vince and Jennifer were amazing. They were always playing somewhere. We so enjoyed listening to them and the singers in the production shows .were so good and they too would be always performing somewhere on the ship. We were so looking forward to hearing the same type and quality of music on the Jupiter. Our first night we waited with anticipation to hear the Viking Band in Troshaven. We were the first one in Troshaven and when the band and the singer started we just looked at each other and went HUH! The band acted like they did not want to be there and the singer could not carry a beat and we could not understand her. So disappointed we left after 10 minutes. You never heard or saw the Viking Band unless it was in Troshaven or during a production in the Star Theater. If there was music on the ship it was a string quartet or piano. Nothing upbeat. The performers for the theater productions was also disappointing after being on the Sky. It was like watching a "high school production". The entertainment on the Jupiter was very disappointing.

Ok now for the part that Viking did to us and approximately 100 other passengers. They sold us a 14 day cruise and once we got on the boat we found out it was actually two 7 days cruises back to back. Ok you think no big deal right............wrong! The first 7 days of our 14 day cruise ended in Rome. 800 passengers got off and 800 new passengers got on and what did they offer the 100 passengers that we on the boat still.....NOTHING! There was no port talk for Rome like they do for all other ports they stop in. There was an including tour offered for Rome where they drove you into Rome showed you some of the sights (by bus no stops) and then dropped you at Vatican City for 5 hours of free time! WHAT! The reason we booked this cruise was to be able to see Rome. The reason we book with Viking is so they will escort me with a guide around Rome. I don't want to have to do the leg work to find the tours and organize everything. Again that is why I book with Viking. Every other port you go to they offer at least a dozen different tours you can select from. Not for us and not in Rome! We were very disappointed in Viking. We spoke with several of the other 100 passengers that had been sold this "14 day" cruise and they too were not happy. We ended up staying on the boat and even then we felt like we were under everyone's feet because they were trying to get everything on the ship ready for the new passengers. So ok Rome was a bust! Then think about it on a 14 day cruise you have 14 days of different entertainment and lectures. Hmmmmmm not on back to back 7's so on the second week of our cruise all the production shows were repeated and they were not good enough the first time to go see them again and only a couple of new lectures. We are still working with Viking to figure out why and how this happened. I guess the old saying "buyer beware" should be applied here. Unfortunately by the time we found out what was happening we had already booked and paid for the cruise. Read more