Viking Homeland Cruise: I went on the Viking Venus five star luxury cruise ship and this is what I thought

My Penthouse Veranda Stateroom had floor to ceiling glass doors on to the veranda. It was spacious, elegant and well planned and had all the amenities one would expect of a five star hotel including a twice daily exemplary housekeeping service that really impressed me.

This was a destination-focused voyage with 11 included excursions, daily Port Talks and Enrichment Lectures by the Resident Historian plus guest speakers added an extra dimension and if you missed them live they were available your TV.

Dining was a five star gastronomic experience in the multiple dining venues all with sweeping views of the ocean and personal, friendly and attentive service.

Each venue offered an extensive choice from fine dining and regional specialities to classics, whilst The Wintergarden’s Afternoon tea with live piano music was pure decadence.

Evening entertainment ranged from Sergey, an incredibly talented concert pianist with musical interludes in the Atrium to vocalists in the theatre with programmes from The Beatles to Broadway. The intimate surroundings of the Torshavn was the perfect place for those amongst us who wanted to dance the night away with The Viking Band playing foot tapping music.

Stockholm, our first port of call, known as the Venice of Scandinavia is made up of 14 islands and 57 bridges that connect it to the mainland. The old town walking tour took us through winding cobbled streets lined with 18th century merchant’s houses. The Royal Palace with its guards was impressive whilst The Strandvagen one of Europe’s most beautiful waterfront esplanades was the place to watch the world go by before visiting the impressive city hall

We had a beautiful sail away down the Grahanmsfjeren Sea that separates Finland from Sweden and next day we were in Mariehamn on the Aland Islands, an autonomous territory under Finish Sovereignty, with its own parliament, flag and stamps it is made up of 6,000 islands some only a couple of feet long.

Vikings small ships easily navigate into places like Mariehamn, Bornholm, and Alborg in Denmark, where we enjoyed an ‘exclusive’ when the annual Carnival passed in front of our ship, music, whistles, dancing and all!

Our only sea day meant time for pampering in the Nordic Spa. Its warm thalassotherapy pool, steam room, heated ceramic loungers, snow room and Nordic facial treatments were amazing and so reviving. I only wished I had booked the Nordic Bathing Night which I am told was totally amazing.

We arrived in Gdansk known as the City of Glowing Amber and the Party Capital of Poland next day. Ninety percent of Gdansk was destroyed in WW2 and a vibrant and beautiful faux medieval city has been expertly created since the 1950s. We visited Westerplatte were the first shots of WW2 were fired in September 1939 and learned how a brave battalion of Polish Soldiers held it for as long as they could whilst in Solidarity Square we saw Gate No.2 of the Lenin Shipyard where protesting shipyard workers were shot during the Communist regime in 1970.

A military precision operation next day saw 180 guests disembark seamlessly and board a chartered train for various excursions in and around Berlin. We visited the Brandenburg Gate, Check point Charlie, saw the remains of the Berlin Wall, The former Winter Palace and a couple of Berlin’s 160 museums

Next we sailed to Copenhagen. I chose to sightsee on a jazz canal cruise and what a way to do it. I saw everything from the Little Mermaid to the Marble Church and Christiansborg Palace. The following day we were in Norwegian waters in Stavanger known as the oil capital of the world. Touring the old town we strolled down cobbled streets lined with restored 18th century wooden houses seeing more of modern Stavanger at the Petroleum Museum, which despite its name is fascinating.

Being a culture vulture Oslo was for me and as we were there overnight I had time to explore. The Munch Museum has ten floors of modernism’s most prolific artist Edvard Munch’work, best known for ‘The Scream’ was a must to visit fas was the Opera House with its marble roof meant to be walked on .

Viegeland Park the world’s largest sculpture park created by one man Gustav Viegeland has over 200 sculptures including a 56foot obelisk carved from a single granite block.

From Oslo we sailed down the majestic fjords to Eidfjord a quaint village in the heart of one of Norway’s most scenic regions. After visiting the Norwegian Nature Centre I soaked up the tranquility of Eidfjord visiting the white spired church and experienced some local culture and chatted with some locals.

Our final destination Bergen allowed me time to explore at my own pace . I meandered on Bryggen’s wharfe with its wooden walkways and painted building, discovered the ancient fish market, tried some local snacks and indulged in some retail therapy at Strandgaten the famous shopping street.

That night it was farewell to Viking Virgin – I really didn’t want to leave and was so sorry my incredible adventure had some to a close.

For details of The Viking Homeland Cruise and other Viking Cruises visit www.viking.com or call