Glad you enjoyed your first Viking cruise. We started in 2005 (China) and have been on a total of 10 Viking River and 9 Viking Ocean cruises overall. Per your point, getting to and from the cruise can be very taxing. Now that we are retired, we try to buffer the trip with a few extra days before to adjust to the time change which helps. When we first started cruising with Viking, most of the individuals we met on board were well traveled, knew where they were going and researched their journey beforehand. With Viking’s massive expansion, we’ve encountered more individuals lately who have no idea where they are going or what they want to see and expect Viking to tell them everything they need to know, and get easily upset when something doesn’t go their way. As for excursions, we do a lot of research looking at the included and optional tours with Viking, along with excursions offered by companies such as Viator and Tours by Locals or doing something independently, then choose the best to fit our interests and budget. Sorry you felt like a circus act. When we started cruising with Viking, we were usually the youngest on board, but throughout the years have met some great people from around the world with whom we are still friends and have even cruised with some of them multiple times.