CCWineLover

1 hour ago, CROSBY said:

Currently on the Viking Star at Dubrovnik....soon to sail to Motor Montenegro.

First Viking experience.

For me ...yes the mattress is too firm...also had to ask for a third pillow as too flat for me. Mattress on Celebrity much better for me.

Apart from that loving this cruise. Staff amazing,trips excellent,food very,very good. Croatia really beautiful... can't recommend enough . Weather has been changeable....very warm and now raining...but am enjoying.

Kotor is an unbelievable place!  Glad you are going.

As you've do doubt read in this thread, everyone has a different opinion - either like or dislike the beds.  Sort of like everything in life these days.  That is why seeking people's opinions on things doesn't mean as much anymore.  🙂

18 hours ago, duquephart said:

"Lobster Night" on a Viking cruise is no big deal - unless one thinks frozen lobster of unknown orign is a big deal.

Agree - it was a big disappointment.  Can't for the life of me figure out why all the hoopla and fuss about lobster night.  People cancel other reservations to attend and line up early even.  Good news is that it frees up reservations to Manfredi's or CT on that night - you can walk up with no reservations on Lobster Night 🙂

23 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Maybe this will help.

14 award winning Japanese wines:

https://cluboenologique.com/review/best-japanese-wine/

 

@deec Will you be on the Far Eastern Horizons? Here is the role call:

 

Thanks Joe, I will take a look.  And I had sent Dee the Roll Call link as well.  

6 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Interesting - I also have a Casper at home and this has been the best mattress I have had in my life, but I love the Viking beds.  
 

I have a question... I come from the hotel industry originally - from way back.  Most often hotels claim that the mattress is part of their experience and they pride themselves on that mattress and use it chain wide.  Some hotels sell their mattresses.

 

Do Viking use the same mattress on all ships?  On River and Ocean?

 

I see some say that they dislike the Ocean mattress but like the River mattress?

 

Just curious.

 

If they potentially use the same mattress, then perhaps it is age of mattress that is causing some grief?

In our experience (16 Viking cruises), the beds have been the same on every ship we've been on - which is great for us!   Never noticed a difference in Ocean versus River mattresses.  We look forward to the Viking beds and always sleep well!

3 hours ago, RLK33853 said:

Next month we will be on our first Viking cruise,  While we were on the fence about the drink package and wine, we took it for no reason other than convienance. 

 

As CDNPolar and others have mentioned, we are going in with an open mind.  My wife and some of our friends (while not exactly oenophiles or winesnobs), do enjoy some of the more expensive or finer wines,  That being said, their "drink now" favorites run anywhere between $20 and $40 a bottle.  Most people we know (can't speak for ones we don't) get used to a profile or grape and then judge other wines in comparison.  A lot forget that when you go to Italy, wines are different than France, those are different from Chile, and those are different from Australia (let alone the sub-regions).  We try to keep an open mind.  Worst possible scenario while aboard Viking is that we don't like their wines and we buy some on port days.

 

Last thought - every year as a birthday present for my wife I purchase five or six bottles of the same varietal, all different price points, and do a blind tasting for her and friends.  I really try to find a cheaper $10-$15 dollar bottle, a couple in the $20-$25 range, one in the $30's, one in the $40-$50 or higher.  In every case, with only one exception (and we have been doing this for at least 20 years), my wife and DIL will always identify the cheapest and the most expensive wines.  Not that the most expensive is the one they like, but they can identify it.  As for the others doing the taste test, it has always been a mixed bag of which wines people like - other than most won't like the cheapest (although once a friend really liked the $12 bottle and we don't let him forget it).  At the same time, the majority also don't like the most expensive one, likely since they are not used to the complexity.

 

Of course as CDNPolar said, add in food - bland, spicy, sweet, etc and everything changes again.  I can't stand icewine until you have some sort of sweet first.

 

I'll provide our thoughts on the Viking wines once we get home.

 

In the meantime, enjoy whatever makes YOU happy.  

 

 

 

 

Thank you as well.  Excellent points.

We love all kinds of wine and are definitely not wine snobs.  Part of our traveling is trying new wines from different ports we visit, as well as different foods.   What's the point of traveling if you just try to replicate what you have at home?

Yes, sometimes the wines haven't been the best, or the pricing mechanism isn't the greatest, but those are very minor things.  And when it is important to us, we'll bring some bottles onboard at ports.  It's been fun to talk with the wine stewards about them as they open them at dinner for us.

My guess is that we may hear lots of complaints but social media gives a distorted view of how many people like/dislike things, including cruising, food, and wine.  The great silent majority certainly must enjoy it. 

I believe Viking makes changes or tweaks only if a vast number of passengers are requesting some kind of change.  Until then, I would guess the wine situation stays the same, which is OK.

5 minutes ago, katlew said:

I love the beds! I have found I don't get any of the hip pains that I do on softer beds. I want to get something similar for home!

Funny you mention hips.  Love the beds ALSO because my hip pains go away on a Viking cruise amazingly enough.   And the hip pain comes back on soft beds.

OK Linda - couldn't resist.  Your pictures brought back fond memories of our week stay in Sorrento apartment ahead of our Viking Saturn cruise to Athens.  The view from our VRBO balcony of Mt Vesuvius.  The whole area is breathtaking and so easy to walk miles everywhere!

15 minutes ago, Deb922 said:

I was watching a YouTube. The couple hated the beds on Viking! They said they were the only drawback to their cruise. They had the attendant put 3 feather toppers but still had trouble sleeping. 
 

What do you think of the beds? Are they similar to the beds on the river cruises? Our first cruise, I thought the bed was very comfortable, the second not so much. I had the attendant put a blanket underneath and that helped. 
 

I know on a river cruise, the mattress is pretty thin so to accommodate luggage underneath. 
 

thanks 

We absolutely love the beds.  We think they are just the way we like them.

Like anything else, there are people who say they are too hard, and some that say they are too soft.  So it probably is totally a personal thing.

Sort of like asking people if the rooms are too hot or too cold.  Everyone has a different opinion.  My guess is that the majority of the people we've spoken with do like the beds.  Viking can't please everyone so they have IMHO tried to go the middle ground.

On ocean ships, there is space underneath as well like river, to accommodate luggage.

Just saw this in an email.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/04/windstar-cruises-welcomes-two-new-ships-to-fleet/

Windstar has two new ships coming, with 224 guests each.

Maybe one will be in Tahiti.

15 hours ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

April’s future guest promo is the same as March‘s. This week we booked Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes cruise and the agent ran the numbers with the future guest promotion and the ESE24 promotion. The latter was a far better deal.

 

When do you go?

(Note - we also got a better deal with ESE24 than future guest promo)

1 minute ago, WanderingBrit said:

We took all our meals at World Cafe except for one Manfredi's and one Chef's Table on our last cruise. We found the environment to be quieter than The Restaurant, and enjoyed the opportunity to "name our own adventure" by selecting only the items and quantities that we wanted. Comparing to the menu for The Restaurant it looked as if both were serving largely the same dishes each day.

Exactly!  Trying lots of different things became our nightly adventure!

And especially for my wife, it was SO much quieter in the World Cafe compared to the din in the restaurants, particularly if you go to the World Cafe at 7:30 or later, after the 6:00 PM "feeding frenzy"  🙂

15 minutes ago, Squawkman said:

Agree - and I will add that we love the bread basket served at Manfredi’s.

You're absolutely right!  How could I forget about that Manfredi's bread basket.  It is so good, with so many different items, that I have to keep my hands away from it at times, so that I have enough room for dinner 🙂

8 hours ago, Steerpike58 said:

I'm incredibly impressed by the food on Viking cruises. My attitude to buffets has been changed forever, and we ended up eating at World Cafe for 10 out of 14 nights recently, with just two (very enjoyable) dinners at 'The Restaurant', and two somewhat disappointing dinners at Manfredi's and Chef's Table. 

 

My one complaint is the bread!  Doesn't matter where you eat, it's always the same. I absolutely love French baguettes, and also Italian Ciabatta's and similar. All the bread on Viking seems to be some mushy off-white product with a soft crust.  I would give an arm and a leg for a crunchy firm crust with a fluffy white interior, but alas, this seems to be impossible. I asked for a baguette one evening, and after a LONG delay, was brought some soft-shelled, insipid off-white product. Is there any way to find decent white fluffy bread with a crunchy exterior? 

I do agree with your first point - we most often eat at World Cafe as we are usually disappointed with the Manfredi's and The Restaurant.  At least at WC, if something isn't that great you can try multiple things without waiting to reorder from the Restaurants.

However, I do totally disagree with your 2nd point.  Perhaps you've been unlucky.  We also like French baguettes and crunchy firm crusts and fluffy white interiors.  However, unlike you, every cruise except one we've encountered just that at the World Cafe.  Absolutely love their baguettes.  Sometimes they are the long 18 inch kind and sometimes the 6 inch short ones.  But they are ALWAYS that nice crunchy firm crust and fluffy interior!  They are to die for!  Not as good as Paris, but still great!!   Next time I'll have to take pictures and a video of the crunching and pulling apart of the fresh fluffy interior!!  🙂

2 hours ago, Nodakboiler said:

Question- when former passengers get the letter and it says there will be a $1000 reduction from the printed fare, is that the crossed out original fare or the new fare available to anyone? Waiting to hear back from our booking agent.

Just asked this of our TA and Viking.  In our case the $1000 would be $500 pp.  It was the same deduction as the listed cross out price on the web site.   Not sure what the big deal on the sale was except perhaps $400 past guest discount.  Note - that was for the March equivalent sale.  Perhaps April is different if they didn't get enough takers.

1 hour ago, kctwinmommy said:

That is the one port we are using an outside vendor. We booked a tour through Viator because we wanted to go to both Pompeii & Herculaneum.

We did Pompeii with Viking and Herculaneum with an independent local guide.  Both well worth it!  We were blessed with good weather in late February.

1 hour ago, PasadenaDave said:

Anyone get off the ship in Hong Kong and have late flight?

 

 reason I ask is that we do the Tokyo to Hong Kong trip in October 2024 and we fly out in the early evening.  I wonder if there is an excursion with a drop off at the airport mid-afternoon.

 

We might just go to airport in the morning, check bags and sightsee from there.

You must have been to Hong Kong before.

We've been but still plan to spend a couple days after our Oct 25 cruise, just because we totally enjoy the vibrancy and food of this city!

But - best of luck!

3 hours ago, hutch1994 said:

Be careful when staying at this hotel.  Was part of the Viking post extension in Madrid and just got hit with a bill for $216.00 euros even though we didn't have any charges there and it was a zero bill when we checked out.  This comes from them requesting a credit card for incidental charges.  Naturally, we are challenging this charge.  Very bad form on their part.

Wow -

Your trip has sure been a trip full of issues and bad luck!  Sometimes they all seem to hit on one vacation, don't they.   Hoping you don't give up travel and keep trying.

51 minutes ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

Yes, your balance is zero, I’ve always been told the same. That is not the same as the deposit on your card. That is posted to your account when they swipe your card at check in and is later reversed after checkout. The entire process may take a week or more to go through the system. It’s how it works at every hotel I’ve ever used. If the charge appears on your account as “pending” you have nothing to worry about and nothing you can do until the charge clears. Unless the charge is actually “due,” I think you are overreacting to this entire situation. 
 

 

We've had the same experiences many times in Europe. For some reason it seems to take longer for the "pending" transaction to be reversed, but it always has been.  Give it a couple days and then do the blood pressure raise.

1 hour ago, Lemondrops said:

Unfortunately, we weren't fast enough to get the ONE excursion we really wanted for our upcoming trip in July 2024. (Not to mention that we were both online, on time, on separate computers and the excursion WAS available but we learned quickly that only one person can sign up for excursions.  This, of course, ended slowing us down and then we missed out!)  C'est la vie! Has anyone here had any success getting added onto a sold out excursion?  Might there be a wait list on the ship once we board?  After the recent news stories about people booking outside excursions and then missing their ships departure, I don't want to risk it.  I'd rather go with Viking.  Thanks in advance.

Keep checking back again!  Up until you leave, people do indeed cancel.  Then onboard immediately go to the excursion desk and ask to be put on a list to be contacted if someone cancels.  People get sick on board and do cancel excursions.

48 minutes ago, Insanityx4 said:

I called Viking and they said the list is wrong so reaching out to my TA to be sure. Could be things have changed on the newer ships.Thanks for the info on the trip.

Very sorry but the list is correct.  I personally verified and checked nearly every room.  This is the Viking Star Class (Star, Sea, Sky, Orion, Jupiter, Venus, Mars, Neptune, Saturn).   The rooms are the same for all these ships.  Personally I wouldn't trust anything a rep at Viking tells me - as they've been wrong so many times on information I know to be correct.

Best of luck!

21 minutes ago, Insanityx4 said:

We almost always choose the port side but this trip is Canada and New England Scenic Shores and it's recommended to be on the starboard side as we go down the New England coast and through Nova Scotia. We changed from 5030 to 5031 but might change back since it's still open.

Apparently they hug the Nova Scotia coastline and Prince Edward Islands but we do spend most of the time during the day in the Explorers Lounge or up on deck so probably doesn't make a difference.

Just checked and 5030 also has a door!

Hi - we did this exact cruise from Montreal to FLL last Sept/Oct on the Mars.

I hate to tell you this, but we did NOT hug the Nova Scotia coastline (we were out aways).  Coming into PEI, the view was on the port side, albeit brief.  I don't recall having much of any view however, of much coastline while sailing, as it is often dark while sailing.  And if the was coastline in was in the distance or obscured by weather.

I think you'll be fine - but only you know how much a slider will mean.

14 minutes ago, Insanityx4 said:

They are already all booked on the Starboard side which is recommended for our trip. As we get closer to the cruise hopefully something will open up.

It's not a big deal but we would prefer the slider.

Good luck.  I don't know which itinerary you have, but for all the ones we've had, it didn't make any difference starboard or port.   The ships are far from land in nearly all itineraries between ports.  If/when they are closer, we find it more fun to be above deck where you can go from one side to the other easily, or be in Explorer's Lounge and see it all (such as South America or Norway Fjords).

We prefer sliders over doors and have made that exact decision - choosing a slider over the "supposed" preferred starboard or port side.  

1 hour ago, rjp50 said:

It will be interesting to see if they maintain a primarily Western clientele for the Chinese market.  If not, it will then be interesting to see if they are able to maintain a smoke-free environment.  We were on a cruise up the Yangtze on a ship that was primarily Chinese tourists.  While there was an official no smoking policy, it was totally ignored and the hallways were always filled with smoke.

Interesting.  Had wondered about that as well.  It would keep me from doing Viking China (the smoking despite No Smoking allowed).

6 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

The included wines run from ok to terrible.  Reds are better than whites. Soda and beer are better choices. If you really like good wine, bring it.  

Exactly what I say - after many Viking Ocean Cruises.  Things are different post-COVID.

2 hours ago, Insanityx4 said:

We just realized after we booked cabin 5031 that is not a slider. Hopefully we can change. We have had a PV before with the door and the curtain kept getting caught in it plus the view is not as good with the split windows.

Hi -

I would ask your Travel Agent or Viking if no TA, immediately, to see if it is possible to change to a slider room.  Don't wait at all!!

Viking Ocean - PV Rooms with Sliders.pdf