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Viking Ocean Cruises

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Excellent

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Viking Star

Viking Sea

Viking Sky

Viking Orion

Viking Jupiter

Zhao Shang Yi Dun (Viking Sun)

Viking Venus

Viking Mars

Viking Neptune

Viking Saturn

Beautiful Adriatic Sea voyage

Whittier

The Ship did not disappoint.  The room was great, our room steward was accommodating and did a great job.  The Spa service was a great benefit.  Our excursions were interesting, and the on-board lectures and entertainment was top notch.  We had a lot of dining choices for a small ship. The cocktail service was great.  We were always greeted when we exited and entered the ship.  If we had a request for our room, it was taken of care of promptly. The Spa staff was a great asset to use.  I tweaked my back flying, and the Massuse made me feel so much better.   I felt very taken care of the whole time we were on the cruise.  They took care of us from the time we were in Miami and to the time we left Puerto Rico.  Great organization of getting all of us on and off the boat.

Fabulous staff and activities

Nadi

The cruise staff was awesome. The ship was very nice and easy to navigate. This is our first Viking Ocean and really enjoyed it. The stops were hit and miss a little but thats not Viking's fault - we signed up to see the Amazon River. I think the Spa also stood out as a great experience and enjoyed the hot to cold. The room stewards were amazing as they stocked our bar, catered to any request and exceeded expectations as we continued to cruise. The 12 nights they tryed to guess how many cups of coffee we would drink in the morning and what type of beer and wine we enjoyed as they restocked more and then balanced it. The veranda sitting outside was comfortable and enjoyeable to take in the sights. We had other expectations to see alot of wildlife and dolphins on the river but to no avail.

Viking Sea - Amazon River 

The Viking Sea is in great condition!  All the amenities and features of this beautiful ship worked great.  The crew was very attentive, the food excellent, the wine and beer served at lunch and dinner where above average.

The entertainment could have been improved because the sound system was too loud and with too much reverb applied that it did a disservice to the wonderful cast of performers.

The port excursions where great, others not so great.  Be careful to really dig into what these excursions are like for some are quite primitive and require strenuous hiking on slippery jungle trails.

Overall a very pleasant trip with very attentive Viking travel services.

This my 2nd Viking cruise but only the 1st Viking Ocean cruise. The other Viking cruise was a river cruise which was outstanding.

Viking is a great cruise line and I will sail with them again.  Probably another ocean cruise but to more refined ports of call.

Great cruise but choose excursions wisely

I had been on Viking River cruises and loved them, but this was my first trial of their ocean ship. Previously, I had travelled on much larger ships on the ocean. I was very surprised about how much rocking and noise there was from the movement of this ship. I was very seasick, even with meds. To be honest, my travel companions and most people I met did not experience any symptoms and they loved the rocking. I have several other complaints. The included tours were a joke. Every one was a bus ride around an island with local guides showing us non-descript places. Two even brought us to tourist trap shopping venues as the only prolonged stop. 

   I also object to their daily planning. I understand that many people were on extra-pay tours in the afternoon, but there were no activities for those of us who only took included tours in the morning. All the lectures about wildlife or history were at 6:30 PM. As far as I could see, the dining rooms were overflowing at 6 PM, so I'm not sure who was able to attend these lectures. The shows at 9 PM were too late, as we had to leave the ship by 8 AM for most included tours and needed to go to bed early. I would have liked some afternoon lectures and a show or two at 8 PM. From what I heard the shows were pretty lame, so I guess I didn't miss much.

   I also wasn't entranced by the cuisine. My travel companions really liked it, but I felt there was much less variety than on larger ships. The food was bland and only rated as good in my estimation rather than excellent.

   Now for the best parts. The staff was beyond wonderful. Seema and Vidi in the dining room were practically like family. The ship and cabin were kept immaculate. I loved the free laundry. Embarking and disembarking were super easy. We got a glimpse of many Caribbean islands. I will take Viking river cruises in the future, but no more ocean ones.

Not For Me

My review of the Viking Sea…it was bigger than I thought…nearly 900 people.  I got spoiled on the other Viking with the River Cruise of only about 150ish…and the Celebrity X which I absolutely loved.  The room we had was very worth it size wise…the veranda was nice, the service of the cabin was excellent, and the storage area was HUGE…there were drawers everywhere.  I used the laundry for the first time and it was easy. The bathroom was very nice, with heated floors.  I loved the Chef’s Table, which was Chinese Fusion…and didn’t care as much for the Manfredi Italian.  Way heavy and too much for me.  I often skipped appetizers and salads and soups as there was just so much.  We did a lot of the World Cafe (a buffet) for breakfast and two nights…and I discovered Sushi one night after someone told me.  My husband liked eating there more than I did.  I wanted to try the Restaurant which is the same food as World Cafe only it is plated for you and a bit less of the chaotic eating that you always see on Cruise Ships.  Somehow we didn’t get there.I loved the lounges…He loved the Pool casual lunch area for burgers and salads.  We didn’t eat as much ice cream as usual...sorbet was wonderful.  There was a lobster night that was GREAT and we ate on the Aqua-Deck (or something like that) outside.  We did sharing tables a lot and sometimes got lucky and more often it was a stretch to keep the night going.  The drink package was worth it.  The bed was comfy…bet we didn’t have the TV on more than 3 times.  We did write a review of the drink package wording and the manager came to us and talked to us…she was so appreciative,  too.  Premium wines are NOT included...they are available for 30% off.  Nowhere do you read that on the website. The interior carpets were nice…the stairways were comfortable to climb.  The elevators were good…and fast…but, they ding constantly and I am worried about that for our next trip.  I don’t know if the folks near the elevators could hear that.  The shows were minimal.  And the Port Talks okay but not that great. The lectures often were scheduled while we were on an excursion.  We got very spoiled by Viking River and Celebrity X.   Informative but left out how long you would be on the bus, etc. I did write about that in the middle of the cruise.  They actually called me!  Guest Services addressed that immediately and changed the talks to include times to travel to what you were doing. Sort of rattled on…did I answer the question?  The art was nice.  The cookies were GREAT…I loved them!  More serving yourself than before only because of the distinct care that they were taking with handwashing and all.  Can I just add I thought that the excursions were okay...and the descriptions need to be revised with how much time you actually DO the excursion.  We plugged in a few things we wanted to do...snorkeling in particular.  I overdid it on that.  The folks that did included ones seemed to really like them.  We did none of those and I sort of regret it.  But, do what makes you happiest...and water and swimming make us super happy.

Discovering the West Indies

We chose the Viking Sea for the itinerary and the cruise line.  WE chose the penthouse jr suite and loved how spacious it was.

I can't say enough about the food and the service which went far beyond our expectations, as we didn't know what to expect. We had always sailed on much larger ships.  The intimacy of the ship, yet the privacy we found when we wanted it was wonderful.  Although the age of most of the cruisers were post retirement age, we found everyone on the ship to be more than warm and friendly. 

Food:  Excellent. We ate at all the restaurants, and the food was always exemplary and the service was terrific. I have dietary restrictions and ever meal i had met those restrictions.  The chefs were always able to craft me a meal suited to my restrictions, and they always tasted wonderfully.  Our favorite meal was at the Chef's Table for Mexican night.  

Service:  what more can i say.  the service was fantastic.  Anything we needed was provided immediately.  We opted for the silver spirits package and the wine steward was always there to recommend a wine to pair with dinner.  When I asked for wine in our stateroom, a full bottle was delivered, no extra charge.  Our room stewards both went above and beyond trying to please us.  The room was kept incredibly clean, when we had a problem with the bathroom shower, it was fixed immediately.

Ship decor:  absolutely beautiful

Islands visited:  We liked Dominica the best, since it was so port intensive, we did not tour all the islands.  We took the included tours on st. kitts, barbados, antigua, st. lucia.  We paid for the tour to jako falls (dominica) and that was lovely as well.  Our tour guides were ok, some better than others on the included tours.  In St. thomas and puerto rico we just walked or took a taxi into town as we had been there before.  

All in all, I would say we would book another viking ocean cruise.  This one greatly exceeded our expectations.

Wonderful cruise, fantastic food and service

My husband and I chose Viking  based on a friend’s recommendation and published reviews. We chose the West Indies Explorer cruise to celebrate the Christmas holidays. Overall, we had a wonderful time.

Ship: We  loved the casual elegance of the ship’s design and furnishing. The ship’s small size made it easy to become familiar with its facilities and to get around. It was easy to get on and off the ship as, because of its small size and scheduling, use of tenders was not required for any port.

Staff: The staff was very welcoming, warm, attentive, accommodating and friendly. Kudos to Singh, the World Cafe and Manfredi’s head waiter, for keeping us laughing throughout our trip.

Cleanliness: Housekeeping was excellent. Rodezza  kept our room spotless. Cleaning of chairs and tables in World Cafe could be improved as this is a very popular and heavily used casual restaurant.

Entertainment: The onboard entertainment was outstanding. Kudos to the Cruise Director, Ryan Bishop, and the very talented entertainers.

Dining: There was an excellent variety of food which was well prepared and served. We most enjoyed dining at Manfredi’s and The Chef’s Table. 

Communications: The Viking TV channel and the Viking Daily publication, which was left in our room daily, kept us completely informed in regard to onboard activities and excursions

Excursions: We most enjoyed the St. Kitts Scenic Railway and the St. Lucia Ladera Resort by Catarmaran (paid tours).

Home Away From Home

I know I’m not a seasoned cruiser, but I will tell you this much: I will be back on another Viking ship. Everything was clean, the food was delicious, the staff couldn’t have been better…I seriously can’t think of any complaints. We had a problem with the ports we were supposed to go to (Amazon River was low), but Viking gave us an excellent experience anyway. We even got onboard credit due to the schedule change, which gave me a chance to do things I normally wouldn’t have (extra excursions, TWO different massages, alcoholic drinks, etc.). The whole experience was amazing. We had a very attentive stateroom attendant who was ready to address any concerns we had (not that there were any). The whole experience was very personal. The staff knew our family and addressed us by name, which is very impressive considering how many people they see in a single day. That really stuck out to me. If I ever have the pleasure of cruising again, Viking will be my first choice.

Couldn’t have been better!

I would have given 5 stars as it was a wonderful experience overall with one major exception.  We were supposed to go to Manaus & other stops in Brazil, but the Amazon was at historic low water levels and couldn't be navigated.  Instead of rerouting us to a coastal port in Brazil, we were taken to the West Indies.  We had visited those islands with Viking the year before, so the repeat stops seemed redundant to us.

The ship is fine, the staff is first rate...well trained, hard working, impeccably dressed, and unfailingly polite & gracious.  The food was good, but not as good as our last cruise on the Viking Sea.  The passengers were comfortable to be around.  They mostly dressed well for the type and style of ship.  We met many nice people and enjoyed their company.

We never were able to enjoy any of the entertainment as it was offered late evenings after we had gone to bed.  An exception was the music provided in the living room by the classical string artists and the delightful lady playing the piano.

My wife has some difficulty getting around, so shore excursions were a bit of an issue.  Most places we visited, including em/disembarkation featured long piers.  Some had shuttles to get us to the head of the pier, but not all.  There were other passengers with more severe issues than my wife has, and we were amazed that they were able to get off the ship and go on excursions.  More power to them.

No Brazil!

I love Viking and I love the amenities of their ocean ships. This was my 3rd ocean cruise and I was disappointed in the decline of service in the restaurant, bars, and tea room. 

Servers either didn’t take my order except after several requests or took my order and never returned or brought only a partial order. 

I was never asked if I wanted a cocktail in the pool area or lounge where drink menu’s were displayed. 

The only exception to poor service was an excellent barista in the living room bar for the 6am to 9am shift and my room steward who was very attentive and responsive to requests. 

The excursion manager was defensive and argumentative when an optional tour was unacceptable because it was not a hands on class as described. 

The cruise director was extremely talented, more so than the ships singers, and the band in the Torshwn was very talented. 

I’ll go again, but not this ship, not this itinerary.

Definite decline in service 

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