First let me start by saying I have cruised hundreds of days with a number of cruise lines, including Celebrity, Royal Carribean, Princess, Norwegian and hold status on many of these lines. I am an avid traveler both by land and sea and have had nothing but positive experiences. Last fall my husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary, we had so wanted to do a Riverboat cruise We left September 6th, 2022 from Basel and cruised the Rhine all the way to Amsterdam. The entire vacation experience was over the top, every detailed taken care of, outstanding, friendly staff, and exemplary food. I could not have been more impressed; the entire experience exceeded my expectations and became my favorite cruise of all time. WOW! I was excited to try an ocean cruise with Viking.

The opportunity presented itself when my cousin and I decided to celebrate our 60th birthdays on an exotic cruise. Viking immediately came to mind since I felt comfortable knowing two women would be well cared for, safe in a foreign land, and pampered just like we experienced on the Viking's Riverboat Cruise. I could not have been more wrong. The Riverboat cruise was the best cruise I had ever taken, the Ocean cruise on Viking was the worst. This is certainly telling since I have hundreds of days at sea. I spoke to many other passengers during my 14-day trip and all of them had the same impressions and notable had cruised Viking on an ocean cruise previously and found this one subpar. What was the difference?

First and foremost, the cost of the trip was nearly 4 times any cruise I had ever taken (nearly 5K each for a balcony room) that was before we added beverage packages, tips, excursions, insurance, cost for visas, etc. which would have likely been the same on another line like Princess. (That added another 3K each). Read more