I was really looking forward to our stop in Liverpool for a variety of reasons: John, Paul, George and Ringo. I was not disappointed.

I still remember that first Ed Sullivan Show appearance, when it was hard to hear them over the screaming fans on our black-and-white TV. Still, enough notes made it through the applause to realize: this is something special.

Over the next few years, nearly everyone I knew started what was then called a ‘garage band’ to feed the hunger created by the Beatles. My friend Kevin’s last name was Paul so he took Paul McCartney’s lyrics, my first name is Jon, so I was John Lennon and everyone else took the leftovers, George & Ringo. Ok, we were 8 years old so just go with it.

The point is, this was our reaction to what would be called the British Invasion, which also included Herman’s Hermits. My older sister would grow tired of hearing the lyrics to Henry the 8th over and over and over and over again. Still, pop music occupied a great amount of my time for many years.

Visiting Liverpool with Viking Cruises 60 years later would bring back long-forgotten memories. Good, clean, wonderful memories of hope, excitement and a hefty dose of star-struckitis which I am pretty sure is not actually a word.

I have always thought that one of the single most differentiating factors that puts all things Viking head and shoulders ahead of many other cruise lines is the detail they go through to bring the destinations home. The choreography of events that lead to a fabulous travel experience is actually broken down into easy digestible portions that add up to a fabulous (and often life-changing) travel experience. In other words: it does not get better than this.

How Viking goes about this is a bit of a mystery I don’t even want to know the details of. Why look behind the curtain when the wizard has provided everything one might expect and so much more. It’s that “so much more” part that we will spend a lot of time on here in an effort to describe what Viking does.

To a point.

Somewhere along the way travelers have to believe. They must know they have aligned themselves with like-minded travelers AND a like-minded travel company. Viking solidly nails both from the moment we walk on their ships. Every. Single. Time.