We were looking forward to a stellar Viking experience-such as we've had previously on Viking River cruises. This Bangkok, Bali & Beyond embarking from Bangkok on November 16, 2018, was a rather dismal journey.

1. The ports and excursions were not that interesting nor enjoyable. The Viking contracted buses were almost shoddy and had no bathrooms (some of the drive times, exceeded 1.5 hours). We heard very negative reports from passengers who took the additional ($$) excursions.

2. After a norovirus break-out, the ship instituted CDC precautions--this is very understandable. However, this caused the serving staff to dole out the buffet food and many times it felt like high-school/college cafeteria lines. The serving staff seemed unprepared for this process, were not literate in English, and usually unattentive (backs turned) when one needed some particular food item. Read more