We picked this cruise because it visited the fjords of Norway as well as St. Petersburg. The ship was outstanding. It was full with 930 passengers and yet it never was crowded. The staterooms are spacious. The food venues were first class. There was no need to go to the specialty restaurants given the quality and service at the main restaurant. The staff throughout the ship could not have been finer. Heather, the cruise director, set the standard. She could not have been better. I do not know how Viking selects its staff but they do a suburb job in hiring and keeping them. The ports speak for themselves. It was nice having included excursions at each port. We took advantage of a number of them and also booked some private tours on our own. Entertainment was very good except for the magician. The singers and dancers were excellent. I have been on a number of different cruise lines, but Viking was clearly the best. If our voyage is typical of Viking, one cannot go wrong with sailing with them,