CCWineLover

We are on Neptune TA now and have the complete opposite experience. Most of us agree the food has been so much better than before! The Asian Panorama was spectacular-everything done perfectly last night. Much better than the previous cruises we’ve had it. Manfredis has been so superior than before! Amazing short ribs tonight-and we are Viking veterans . I guess we have a spectacular chef and you sadly do not. note-everyone always has different opinions. Especially food. also note-everyone I’ve spoken to on our ship so far feels the same way!

No new Vela booked, Dee. They seem to be concentrating on the Norway cruises (totally understandable) and Europe. They are doing Malta in late 2025 I see. Most of the Vela itineraries sadly do not interest us or would be repeats.

Linda - on our Saturn, Mars, and now Neptune cruises this year - there were signs asking to go clockwise. It was even put in the Viking Daily's several times.

Another vote for Steve! He also educated us on just insuring the deposit (min. of $500). Love the features of the policies he utilizes - that allow you to transfer your premium and insurance over to a different cruise. We've done that many times so far. Sure beats Tripmate.

Have never heard anyone complain about people walking versus jogging. In our experience on quite a number of Viking Ocean cruises, at any given time, the number of joggers might be 1 or 2 and the number of walkers might be 20-25. A couple cruises we actually had the Cruise Director doing a walk the deck "class" with water and refreshments at the fantail station. And have even seen a couple Captains walking the promenade as well. As I said, the grumbling comes from people who follow directions and go clockwise, having to bump into all those who insist on not following the guidelines and instead go counter-clockwise, often telling us we are going the wrong way, when we are going to Viking requested way. Again - I asked Viking and was told they ask people to go clockwise for safety - to be farthest from the rail at all time.

Yes. Viking's ships are in 3 sets of 3 after the Star (15), which was the original. -Sea (16), Sun (16), Sky (17) - the next 3. None had the Aquavit station at all. Just dishwashing, preparation space. Sun sold to China. Now joint offering to Viking customers for China cruises. -Orion (18), Jupiter (19), Venus (21) - the 1st 2 had the Planetarium but it was not put on Venus in 2021 due to the customer negative feedback. They all have the station at the back by Aquavit -Mars (22), Neptune (22), Saturn (23) - have the Aquavit Station, plus some other improvements. No planetarium Originally the Aquavit station had multiple purposes: Breakfast - Omelette, eggs to order, etc; Lunch - often pasta; Dinner - Asian They have been rolling out the station now as 100 % Asian dishes breakfast, lunch, dinner. Quite popular.

Totally agree! Viking lately has been doing heavily this free air stuff, likely possibly to attract new customers. It is of no use to those who want to fly business class, as they don’t discount that. wish they would do something with actual cruise price, but with high demand, I see why they won’t do that.

Thanks! Yes our new room is quite wonderful! It has the door/window combo versus the big slider (that had broken). We slept like babies! Following seas too, giving that nice corkscrew motion as the wind at 35 knots, is ENE or right behind us. re decks 2 and 8: both can be used for walking. They only wish joggers to use 2 though. They ask everyone to go clockwise (that puts everyone closer to the wall and further from the rails). However somehow nobody pays attention and it seems over 50% go counter clockwise. Maybe that’s because it US, our tracks are always counterclockwise - or because people are just oblivious. so yes, use deck 2 to walk. It’s our favorite. See you out there! Kent

Fantastic Joe! Hi to Bridgette as well. Let’s hope we are all doing well then. Kent and Pam

MikeyB - this is the same schedule we have on the Neptune TA right now. Note carefully that the 9-15 "days" break covers most of the Viking "2 week" cruises (15 days 14 nights), so you really don't get up to $300pp until the many 17 day cruises they have (like S.America) We asked and there is NO more $500 pp for 15+ The onboard non-refundable credits are only $100 pp, down from times prior. Viking has such demand our consultant said, that they don't need to incentivize people much anymore. Sadly, gone are the good old days!

Excellent, Dee! What dates are you going?

Caroline and John - again, thank you for your observations as first time Viking cruisers. Please note - this incredibly over-loud "noise" not music is hopefully a one-off. We've never ever had it this loud. I've spoken to several other Viking veterans and they also are quite upset about it. It basically renders the wonderful Explorer's Lounge and the Attrium unusable from 5 PM to 9 PM. We now look at the daily so we can have a quick visit/drink with friends for the 15 minutes the piano man, the guitarist, and the duo take a break. Hard to believe! Maybe these guys have a huge ego and want their voices and music as loud as possible. Hopefully Viking will take the feedback to heart from the many of us who are commenting to them. We also felt that Manfredi's was the best we'd had since the new menu (We've had the new menu now 4 times). I think we must have an incredible chef - as every venue has been top notch, which hasn't been the case before. The included wines are also much better that before. The staff is so good, it's almost embarrassing. Today they helped us move cabins (6015 to 6077). They tried to fix the issue with the sliding balcony door but could not and are going to have to replace the whole door frame in FLL. So nice of the stewards too to help us change rooms. Above and beyond the call of duty! Our ship is full they said, with just 3 spare rooms for emergencies.

Yes Dee - that is her! I always remember to pronounce her name "A-Bean". She still has the boyfriend in IT. We were also fortunate to have her on her first Head CD role on Star last Christmas. She did an incredibly professional enthusiastic job! As I said, no wonder they put her in the role of CD for the World Cruise. She and boyfriend are riding as "vacation" passengers on the Lisbon-FLL segment, before she takes over.

Thx for the kind words. as for our cruise, again have to say it’s been one of our best in terms of food and service. Another fabulous dinner at MDR last night with good friends! Filling out our mid cruise feedback form. Top of the list: TURN DOWN the volume on the Attrium and Explorers piano, duo, and piano players! Can’t even carry on a conversation! Ridiculous! Never ever had it so loud and deafening on previous Viking ships. Hopefully it’s a one off issue. These are not concerts. They should be “background” bar music. Minor issues though. But on the whole the ship itself is fantastic!!!

I ran into your new CD in the Neptune Attrium. I call her “A-Bean”. She is the greatest! You are so fortunate. She remembered me as we had her last Christmas on Star - her first as a CD. I worked with her to put on our meet and Mingle. She was so good. Glad to see she’s been promoted to the World Cruise!! plus you get Gail and Russell Lee - easily the best guest speakers ever!

October 2025. All others sold out!

Nice observations! We enjoyed meeting you at our VC meet and mingle! We also were at CT last night and doing MDR tonight. We are a bit of Viking veterans, but this ship IMHO has had the most incredible service (our stewards have been the best ever!), as well as the food at WC, CT, and Manfredis. We must have an excellent chef! Only disappointment is that the Asian bar is closed due to malfunction door. We’ve always enjoyed that place back by Aquavit Bar. the seas don’t seem that rough to us and we’ve had worse. Sitting in Explorers, looking out, and watching the sun finally break through!

Tokyo to Hong Kong on Viking Orion!

Thx Dee - you would clearly win the number of nights! We are rockin and rolllin now between Azores and Bermuda! Whew Haw!! just had one of the best Hamburgers at Pool Grill! Definitely not grocery store frozen. Cooke to perfection and melts in your mouth. And Bacon crisp and perfect! And wonderful sesame seed fresh bun! And French fries perfectly done!!!

Yes. We got the discount for FV23 plus onboard booking discount of $200 pp plus $100 pp credit on our account for spending on current cruise ( will go towards gratuities) plus no final payment until April 25 for the Oct 25 cruise plus only $25 pp deposit! Hard to pass up this placeholder!!!

Dee - not every Viking veteran rants! We are on VOC #15! we are on Neptune. The Ahi is fantastic. We and friends had THE BEST meal ever at Manfredis and last night at CT the Asian panorama was the best and we,ve done both locations many times as you know. but we are glass half full people. hopeful continued sensational service and cruising this week!!

Every cabin is Veranda or higher. Deck 3 is lowest deck. Look at the floor plans online.

We booked onboard Neptune with the Cruise Consultant . He did say FV23 did not apply to all cruises, but fortunately to the one we wanted in 2025.

This our 10th VOC since Covid. I concur totally with your observations. It has been a constantly improving experience as things have gotten much better the past few times. We are on Neptune in high seas hi winds half way across the Atlantic! We had the best Manfredis meal (service and quality) 2 nights ago and the best CT (Asian Panorama) last night. Maybe we are blessed with a great chef and staff! only complaint is like you said…. No place for quiet conversation in the bar areas. The noise volume of the entertainers has risen so loud, you cannot converse. From the guitar to the duo to the pianist, this is the loudest cruise we’ve had. Unbearable. They must be trying to cultivate the 20-40 year olds. Just disappointing. So we are forced to the Aquavit bar.

NewSalty - I just did this yesterday! booked the new FV23 promo with Viking and transferred to my TA to get the TA benefits. All worked like magic! Great savings!! Good luck.