Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

Thanks, Roothy!!!

The AeroPress doesn't plug in, but DOES need hot water from another source, and ground coffee. :) Sounds like she might need to lump it and give the onboard options a go, or seek out a coffee house while in port somewhere.

Can we talk coffee for a minute? :D

 

Usually my mother loves French Press and considers herself a coffee connoisseur. We certainly don't expect that onboard, but how does the coffee from the various venues rate? What about the in-room maker?

 

If I brought along an AeroPress, is there a supply of ground coffee anywhere? I don't imagine we would be able to bring ground coffee from stateside, correct?

You could bring your own coffee as long as it was factory sealed (and leave what you don't use on the ship because getting it back in the US might be a problem). But honestly, why bother; why spend your vacation dealing with a coffee maker that you have to clean after every use (in a sink that isn't designed for doing dishes) and the water will never arrive hot enough. There are so many other ways to get hot coffee on board the ship and, except with alcohol in it, for free 24/7. You are on vacation. Take advantage of the services that come with the ship -- and that includes not doing your own cooking and cleaning and having someone else make you a fresh cup of coffee any time you want it. They will even deliver it to your cabin.

IMHO, the best coffee on board comes from the baristas and their espresso machines and the worst is served in The Restaurant (I stopped at the Bar on Deck 1 and brought it into the MBR at breakfast). The self-serve in the World Cafe is some place in the middle--but note that the bar in the World Cafe does have an espresso machine.

If anyone has any questions, I'm on the Viking Star right now. In Warnemunde. Copenhagen tomorrow!

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If anyone has any questions, I'm on the Viking Star right now. In Warnemunde. Copenhagen tomorrow!

 

 

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Please, don't bury this offer here. Start a new thread and let us know you are posting live from the Star.

I'll give my two cents on coffee, but I've never had French Press before, so just take my two cents with a grain of salt.

 

The coffee machines in the rooms (although I don't know if the "veranda" room category folks get one) seem to produce pretty strong coffee, unless I just missed something in how to make it. Even with a lot of creamer, I found it to be undrinkable. The machine uses pods, so I suppose if you really wanted to, you could punch those open and try that coffee in an Aero Press. However, my goal in packing/cruising is to pack light, so I wouldn't want to take anything like that along, even though I believe those units are pretty small. I believe European cities (if you're flying to and boarding in Europe) allow you to bring coffee into the country, although I'm not positive. Likewise, I assume a French Press machine uses hot water from another source. However, if it plugs in and you heat water from there, you may want to check with Viking to make sure it's OK to bring it. For safety reasons, many cruise lines prohibit appliances that draw a lot of power - for example, irons. I'm not sure what Viking's policy is.

 

In my opinion, the best coffee, and the most variety, is at the little coffee/breakfast bread/cookie/tiny sandwich area mid-ship on deck 1. I don't know what brand they use, but their regular coffee seems pretty similar to what many Americans like. They also have specialty coffees, some free, some at additional cost.

 

They may use the same coffee at the mid-ship place (Viking Bar?) on deck 1 as they do in the restaurants. If not, it tasted similar - not horribly strong but not weak either.

roothy123, there are 3 buttons on the top right side of the machine. They have lighted cups of different size. The top one (closest to the back of the machine is the smallest) is for espresso, the middle one for coffee, and the closest to to you is Americano. The pods are the same but it's an amount of water that makes coffee in those machines stronger or weaker. If it's still strong, press any of those buttons (depends of how much water you want) again.

I'm an opposite, I like my espresso very strong, so I just stop the machine in a middle of water dispensing :) Vanya (sorry, spelling?) from Viking Star made the best strongest espresso that was actually ristretto (short shot of espresso). Nobody else there could repeat it. She works in the bar on the first floor.

AdventureGal79,

I'm very particular for my coffee. I did take my espresso maker (manual travel size) to our river cruise last year. They had pretty good espresso in the dining room. I had to explain what i want maybe a couple of times at the start but after that I got what I wanted. I didn't take anything with me on the Homelands. I knew what machine we will have in the room plus I knew there are professional espresso makers at the bars. I think your Mom will be all right :)

We love a good strong cup of coffee. Pod coffee maker was able to deliver that for our first wake up when we just wanted 'to be' for a few moments. French press quality? Nope. Would I bring my own coffee maker and rely on hot water etc....no I wouldn't. But to each their own.

I do know that we missed that coffee that everyone is talking about on Deck 1, and we won't this next trip!! 👍 Another great nugget from CC members!!

roothy123, there are 3 buttons on the top right side of the machine. They have lighted cups of different size. The top one (closest to the back of the machine is the smallest) is for espresso, the middle one for coffee, and the closest to to you is Americano. The pods are the same but it's an amount of water that makes coffee in those machines stronger or weaker...

This is the problem with 'Americano.' Starting with Espresso-roasted beans [or Starbucks, for that matter] you are going to get Espresso-tasting coffee [or burnt, in the case of Starbucks]. No amount of water will turn that into a good cup of Joe. Lots and lots of sugar and milk will turn it into a terrific cup of lukewarm coffee ice-cream, but most people don't consider that an acceptable substitute.

This is the problem with 'Americano.' Starting with Espresso-roasted beans [or Starbucks, for that matter] you are going to get Espresso-tasting coffee [or burnt, in the case of Starbucks]. No amount of water will turn that into a good cup of Joe. Lots and lots of sugar and milk will turn it into a terrific cup of lukewarm coffee ice-cream, but most people don't consider that an acceptable substitute.

Clarification: the pods are the same size BUT we had espresso pods, French coffee, and something decaf. I'm not sure if Viking Star had more choices. Espresso for me and French coffee for DH were fine. Fortunately it wasn't Starbucks so espresso and coffee were tasty but not bitter plus both had an excellent crema!

Clarification: the pods are the same size BUT we had espresso pods, French coffee, and something decaf. I'm not sure if Viking Star had more choices. Espresso for me and French coffee for DH were fine. Fortunately it wasn't Starbucks so espresso and coffee were tasty but not bitter plus both had an excellent crema!

Thanks for the clarification. That is very hopeful.

Thanks for your feedback everyone, as always you are wonderful!! I will tell me mother she can rest easy and grab something good from the barista. I'm good with the pod maker (I'll drink nearly anything). Great tips on using the in-room maker, too!!

roothy123, there are 3 buttons on the top right side of the machine. They have lighted cups of different size. The top one (closest to the back of the machine is the smallest) is for espresso, the middle one for coffee, and the closest to to you is Americano. :) Vanya (sorry, spelling?) from Viking Star made the best strongest espresso that was actually ristretto (short shot of espresso). Nobody else there could repeat it. She works in the bar on the first floor.

 

I did play with the coffee "size" buttons, but even using the one for the big cup (assuming that's what I should have used) made something that tasted like Starbucks to me, so I said "never mind." I guess I'm just a coffee wimp. But at least it was easy enough to pull on some casual clothes and go downstairs. Since our room was slightly aft, it was not far to go. They will give you a to go cup if you ask.

I did find the instruction card next to the machine helpful.

So what can we tackle next - on board time, alarm clocks, etc.? Has that been mentioned? If you'll be cruising through multiple time zones and think you'll need an alarm clock, I would NOT rely on your cell phone unless you know it will work OK on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean. I took a small travel alarm. Sometimes old school is best. Perhaps there was a way to use the phone for an alarm, but I didn't know before my cruise, and I didn't want to take any chances. Therefore, I checked the battery in the alarm before leaving home and kept it in my cosmetic bag to take with me. And yes, the ship goes by local time. I've read that some cruise lines don't, but that seems a little weird to me. Of course, if you ever travel to Newfoundland, Canada, there may be a special surprise for you. They were a half hour earlier or later (forget which) than the time of the neighboring province!

Regarding having the dock info and emergency contact info & phone numbers on the Dailies, I just take a screenshot with my phone so we always have that info with us.

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Regarding having the dock info and emergency contact info & phone numbers on the Dailies, I just take a screenshot with my phone so we always have that info with us.

 

 

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Make sure you include the part written in the local language to use with local taxi drivers with directions to the ship.

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Hope this hasn't been already covered, but since I just looked at Bluetooth speakers, I thought I'd mention it.

I don't think there are music channels on the room/suite TVs, just some music as background for one channel. If you want something more, you may want to bring/buy a small (maybe 3 inch round?) and inexpensive Bluetooth-enabled speaker to use with your tablet or phone. That will enable you to listen to music you've loaded, or listen to Youtube/other online music if WiFi is strong, etc. I don't like to pack stuff I may not even use, but I'm thinking of adding a speaker to my packing list.

Hopefully the Ocean cabins are better sound insulated than the river ships where we could hear the TV on the floor below

Hopefully the Ocean cabins are better sound insulated than the river ships where we could hear the TV on the floor below

I don't think we could (Viking Star - 5th deck). Sometimes we heard TV sound from the cabin next door. If the volume is set loud enough, that may defeat any normal sound insulation scheme.

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We could hear the TV in the room next door a couple times.....the couple there asked if they had bothered us as they were watching a movie and had the volume up - it was afternoon so we didn't care at all.....it seemed to me that most people were really conscientious of others and noise wasn't an issue......

We take a small Bluetooth speaker with us on our trips and just keep the volume down. It is a nice accessory to have use of once in a while.

Hopefully the Ocean cabins are better sound insulated than the river ships where we could hear the TV on the floor below

No, they are not! Unfortunately we joined our neighbors by the wall where our TVs were. Boy, it was loud that we sometimes had to add volume on our side to hear the news or a movie :(. We suspected hearing problem (they talked loud too) and didn't say anything. I guess TV earphones would be nice but they have to be cordless - the TV is right in front of the bed. It would be also nice if we could rotate our TV. I would rather watch it from the sofa than the bed.

Hope this hasn't been already covered, but since I just looked at Bluetooth speakers, I thought I'd mention it.

 

I don't think there are music channels on the room/suite TVs, just some music as background for one channel. If you want something more, you may want to bring/buy a small (maybe 3 inch round?) and inexpensive Bluetooth-enabled speaker to use with your tablet or phone. That will enable you to listen to music you've loaded, or listen to Youtube/other online music if WiFi is strong, etc. I don't like to pack stuff I may not even use, but I'm thinking of adding a speaker to my packing list.

Check out Shark Bluetooth speaker. It's 2.3" in diameter and 2" tall but this baby has a sound! It also has a velvet travel bag. It's not light though at 256g

No, they are not! Unfortunately we joined our neighbors by the wall where our TVs were. Boy, it was loud that we sometimes had to add volume on our side to hear the news or a movie :(. We suspected hearing problem (they talked loud too) and didn't say anything. I guess TV earphones would be nice but they have to be cordless - the TV is right in front of the bed. It would be also nice if we could rotate our TV. I would rather watch it from the sofa than the bed.

How funny. Definitely depends on who your neighbors are for sure. We didn't hear one thing next to us or in the hallway on the ocean cruise like we did on our river cruise. My husband has hearing aids and would hike up the volume. When he wasn't looking I would turn it down, LOL.

I've never heard a word on either side of me, two cruises now. But of course not every person watches a lot of TV on a cruise, not every person has perfect hearing, and not every person spends a lot of time in his/her room, so each person's experience is different.

I'll check out the Shark speaker. I've been using a borrowed Jam Plus speaker about the same size and it really is amazing the sound you get from those things - even mono.

We didn't hear anything from TVs. If I had ours on I always had the volume low and our neighbors did too. What we DID hear were the slamming doors! Some folks would leave their cabin and instead of easing the door shut they would let it slam, and it would shake the wall. It was crazy. You'd be in bed and hear KERBLAM...SHAKE!!

I'll check out the Shark speaker. I've been using a borrowed Jam Plus speaker about the same size and it really is amazing the sound you get from those things - even mono.

It is amazing! Play with surface too. It will sound differently on different surfaces.

if you ever travel to Newfoundland, Canada, there may be a special surprise for you. They were a half hour earlier or laer (forget which) than the time of the neighboring province!

The other maritime provinces (e.g., Nova Scotia) are on Atlantic Time, one hour ahead of Eastern Time. Newfoundland is on its own time, 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic Time. Noon Eastern would be 1:30 PM in Nfld.

Check out Shark Bluetooth speaker. It's 2.3" in diameter and 2" tall but this baby has a sound! It also has a velvet travel bag. It's not light though at 256g

I looked for this on Amazon is this the speaker you're talking about? Thanks, Pat

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