My Husband and I boarded this cruise in Barcelona, and continued for 15 days until we reached Venice. Ports included Sete (Montpelier) Marseille, VilleFranche Sur Mer (Monaco), Florence, Rome, Naples, Messina, Bari, Crotone, SIbenik Croatia and Venice. We chose Viking because we really liked the destinations we were allowed. Also, they allowed us to cancel for any reason prior to the cruise - and we thought that was important in 2021. We decided to go ahead with the cruise once we were assured that 100% of the Passengers AND Crew were fully vaccinated and would be PCR tested every day while on the journey. (as of day 10, there were no positive cases. But I only know that because I happened to talk to someone who happened to ride in the tender with a member of the lab crew. This wasn't announced daily or anything)

The excursions were very very good - but I encourage you to consider that a Moderate tour will easily include 4 miles of walking. Some of them were up to 7 miles according to my Apply Watch. Many cities were hilly and of course lots of cobblestones. We were very tired several times, and would have loved to take a taxi back to the boat. But this is not allowed, you have to stay inside your "Viking bubble". So really think about your stamina, your shoes, your energy level and so on. Because once you get going on an excursion, you have to continue. (On one excursion, there was a man in a wheelchair, and the wheelchair got a flat tire. His daughter and another member of the tour had to push it up and down Cobblestone hills for 2 hours. It was so hard to just walk it, I was really breathless and aching at several points, I don't know how they did it. ) And due to COVID, there is no sitting down in a park to rest, or stopping in a restaurant for a half hour or so, and no shopping in either France or Italy. (Even if the description of the tour says "time on your own to explore" you are not allowed to explore or to have time on your own. We were given a few minutes to shop in Barcelona, (less than 30 minutes) and we could shop in the duty free shops that were inside the cruise terminals at several ports. Many passengers were irate that they couldn't shop or explore freely - so if those types of opportunities are important to you, it might be best to put off your trip. Shopping was not my reason for going to Europe, and as I said, the tours were fantastic.

Food was first rate, pools were open and clean, entertainment was good. The speakers were very knowledgeable and entertaining at the same time. If you want to have a relaxing experience in the thermal spa, BE SURE TO BRING EARPLUGS OR NOISE CANCELLING HEADPHONES. People were talking and laughing as loudly as they would in a bar. It was not at all "serene". Also, they limit you to 2 1 hour appointments per week in the thermal suite due to COVID, and you have to schedule in advance. They will allow you to use your 2 hours consecutively. And they did allow me to use my husband's hours the second week, so I was able to do two 2-hour visits. Read more