Just come back off this cruise (Kiev to Odessa). I would give it 5 out of 10 compared to other cruises we have been on.
Restaurant staff are friendly and helpful but could do with more training e.g. don’t bring out second course before passengers have finished the first. Very good at topping up alcoholic drinks but if you don’t drink alcohol you would rarely get asked if you wanted a top up. Their lack of understanding of English could cause confusion at times.
Food was OK, they did good soups and fish dishes. Main meat dishes were a bit mixed. Also if you just wanted a basic steak there seemed to be an inability to cook it as you liked (medium rare, medium etc.). A chef’s recommendation was Veal and sphagetti in tomato sauce, which I did not think was a good combination. Anything with gelatine in had much too much, therefore chocolate mouse was like chocolate rubber, similarily cheescakes were rubbery. A dessert described as a Saucher Torte was not a Saucher Torte. The toaster (which several people complained about and seemed was like a long term issue) took at least 3 tries before it browned bread, so don’t bother having toast for breakfast!
Evening enertainment was poor. We had 1 good music quiz, another night had quiz that lasted 20min and on another night a local group who because of the design of the sky bar only the first 2 rows could see what was going on. That was it for the evening entertainment.
The tour guides had good English, for us Lena was the best. For some of the others their “delivery” was a bit stilted, but much better than my Ukrainian would ever be!
Kiev and Odessa were obviously the best stops, with mixed Quality in between. The Cossack museum and show were very good. Ackerman Fort was good but too short there to look around . The journey each way is 2-2.5hrs. In the middle you have a 30min tour but then only 20min to walk around. Didn’t do any of the add on tours, so can’t comment on those but people seemed to enjoy the visit to the opera house.
Beware public toilets are of the the hole in the ground type, so not very pleasant.
If you have mobility issues the lift on the ship is unreliable, it broke down at least 3 times.
Everyone was friendly and welcoming and the interior of the ship has been refitted well and everything was well organised. Oliver, the cruise director was entertaining.
Viking Sineus - Ukraine
in River Cruising
Posted
Hi
Just come back off this cruise (Kiev to Odessa). I would give it 5 out of 10 compared to other cruises we have been on.
Restaurant staff are friendly and helpful but could do with more training e.g. don’t bring out second course before passengers have finished the first. Very good at topping up alcoholic drinks but if you don’t drink alcohol you would rarely get asked if you wanted a top up. Their lack of understanding of English could cause confusion at times.
Food was OK, they did good soups and fish dishes. Main meat dishes were a bit mixed. Also if you just wanted a basic steak there seemed to be an inability to cook it as you liked (medium rare, medium etc.). A chef’s recommendation was Veal and sphagetti in tomato sauce, which I did not think was a good combination. Anything with gelatine in had much too much, therefore chocolate mouse was like chocolate rubber, similarily cheescakes were rubbery. A dessert described as a Saucher Torte was not a Saucher Torte. The toaster (which several people complained about and seemed was like a long term issue) took at least 3 tries before it browned bread, so don’t bother having toast for breakfast!
Evening enertainment was poor. We had 1 good music quiz, another night had quiz that lasted 20min and on another night a local group who because of the design of the sky bar only the first 2 rows could see what was going on. That was it for the evening entertainment.
The tour guides had good English, for us Lena was the best. For some of the others their “delivery” was a bit stilted, but much better than my Ukrainian would ever be!
Kiev and Odessa were obviously the best stops, with mixed Quality in between. The Cossack museum and show were very good. Ackerman Fort was good but too short there to look around . The journey each way is 2-2.5hrs. In the middle you have a 30min tour but then only 20min to walk around. Didn’t do any of the add on tours, so can’t comment on those but people seemed to enjoy the visit to the opera house.
Beware public toilets are of the the hole in the ground type, so not very pleasant.
If you have mobility issues the lift on the ship is unreliable, it broke down at least 3 times.
Everyone was friendly and welcoming and the interior of the ship has been refitted well and everything was well organised. Oliver, the cruise director was entertaining.