Myrtle Ave. Mayhem

@jollyjonesAs a Viking fanatic I'm reading your thread in rapt attention. Love everyone's observations how they experience & enjoy different lines & ships. I'm looking to venture into the luxury lines, Silversea is my first choice.

I'm a swimmer aboard cruise ships! I fondly remember the deep pools aboard the the old Dawn/Fair Princess(Fairwind/Fairsea) that were saltwater! As a swimmer I prefer colder water, once neck deep the body warms up & adjusts. The only time Viking pools ever get busy seems to me early afternoon/midday with the wading/social crowd. Everyone can have their time depending on what they use the pool for. In the morning or later afternoon us swimmers have carte blanche.

I'm currently recovering from the jet lag flying home, following my Viking Mars trans-Atlantic crossing. IMHO Oceania & Viking are the two closest competitors, the "upper premium" category. That's why I like checking into this board to feel the pulse of other lines. Seems to me that some Viking loyalists are beginning to feel the same way. Small details that ad up when combined ad to this experience & perspective. From the vantage point now looking back pre Covid, there's been more "needs improvement" on my comment card. Specifically regarding bar/lounge services, food presentation, entertainment, & senior officer visibility. My Neptune crossing in December 2022 was the first time I stepped off a Viking ship underwhelmed and disappointed. Overall a sloppy product presentation, not aligned with Viking's usual lazer focused attention to detail. Boarding Mars two weeks ago I was somewhat on guard. The first two days the bar/lounge service was spotty at best. On the third day I had a meeting with the ships hotel general manager, who was warmly receptive & genuinely concerned about the experience I was having thus far. I made it clear that my bringing this to his attention was in no way meant to be a complaint in anger or to report any specific crew member, but to give management the chance to know what's happening from a passengers perspective, so they can hopefully rectify the situation. Within that day everything improved for the remainder of the cruise.

The full length episode was recently available on Tubi.

That's a fantastic article! The great thing about The Love Boat is how wonderfully it made cruising appear accessible to the regular person. Years before The Love Boat aired, my grandparents & great aunt & uncle were frequent cruisers aboard Princess, Sitmar, & Royal Caribbean. Cruising was very expensive up into the 80's. Even before Sovereign of The Seas, there was a whole early 1970's first generation purpose built cruise ships, which included the ultra lux Royal Viking Line. The Love Boat & Fantasy Island were delightful Saturday night double feature escapism! Yet, as mentioned in the article, The Love Boat wasn't like the real life Princess Cruises. My aunt & uncle always brought that up when I mentioned my love for the show. When they first started sailing with Princess it was a mostly Norwegian & Italian crew, then after P&0 bought Princess, the crews were British, Italian, & Indian. Thank goodness my grandparents & aunt & uncle created the template for my future cruise passion. Once I started cruising in my college years, Princess was my favorite line for many years. Pacific/Island Princess being my absolute favorite of any ships I've sailed aboard. What was so enjoyable about those ships was the intimate atmosphere with the focus being about the service, food, crew, & fellow passengers. Back then we didn't need huge ships with all the bells & whistles. Also worthy of mention is an episode of The Partridge Family titled The Last of Howard, season 4, filmed aboard Sitmar, Fairsea!

Indeed! My biggest complaint about Viking entertainment in Explorers Lounge.

Yes, you got it! Thank you.

Wonderful thread! The S & R class ships were the best. The experience of stepping aboard the brand new Zaandam & being escorted to my cabin by the white gloved steward is an experience I'll never forget. Everywhere around the ship looked & felt luxe, like a Ritz-Carlton at sea. Perfectly designed ships that embodied everything wonderful about HAL. Some quirky choices of art & design being the cow mascot at the Seaview Pool, the pipe organ in the atrium, & those yellow lips. After Zaandam, my favorite ship in the fleet was Veendam. The Jacobs Ladder glass sculpture is one of the most beautiful things I've seen on a ship. Then came Zuiderdam, noticeably larger & more crowded, ablaze in those wildly psychedelic interiors. This was the first time I noticed ships being designed for revenue production over passenger comfort. Ever so slowly cutbacks came & service standards began to slip. I gave Koningsdam a whirl when she first came out & the whole experience felt decidedly mass market. Enter Viking Ocean! Eight VO cruises in & more booked, I'm hooked. Ship design, crew, service, dining, onboard atmosphere all out of the ballpark home run. Higher price point than HAL but worth every penny.

I've been cruising 35 years & have experienced the changes for better & worse in the cruise travel industry. Of any lines currently sailing, the hands down winner is Viking Ocean! Reasons being - ship design, dining, service, onboard atmosphere, fine tuned attention to detail. Of former lines, it's a tie between Sitmar & Royal Viking Line.

This ship encapsulates everything I hate about the current mass market line cruise ship design. Spending a week at a mall isn't my idea of a cruise vacation. Major pass for me. Thank goodness there is a line & ship for every cruiser.

As a person who lives for sea days, the repositioning trans-Atlantic crossings are a match made in Heaven. The beautiful & glorious Viking ship becomes the destination. Absolutely relaxing, if that appeals to you. My next, in March with 10 sea days!

Princess & Holland America used to be my go-to cruise lines. I'd been cruising with Princess over 30 years since the days of the original Pacific/Island & Fair/Dawn Princess. Everything I say here is all IMHO based on MY preferences, perceptions, & expectations. Back in the day Princess was considered an upscale or upper premium line. Over the years as the ships have become increasingly larger & of different design the focus on food & service have deteriorated. Clearly the focus of Princess is onboard revenue production. Princess has a very impersonal corporate hotel feel to it. A lot like some midwestern airport chain hotel. A 2022 Discovery Princess cruise was confirmation that Princess no longer offers the type of cruise product I'm willing to pay money for. Ship design being a huge factor. No high up observation lounge, fully encircling promenade deck, no quiet away from the crowds & music nooks & crannies. The main pool area with constant loud pop music & daily action/special effects laden MUTS blaring obnoxious decibels. The adults only & aft pool either too shallow or small for actual swimming. Service in lounges & dining venues hit & miss. Nothing intimate in the approach to service delivery. No remembering drink preferences & being addressed by name. Cabin attendant making it very clear under no uncertain circumstances that cabins would be only serviced in the morning. Don't appreciate coming back from dinner with trash not emptied & used towels not cleared & replaced. All of this is nothing bad per se, but it's also certainly not a fine tuned hospitality industry experience. I say this as not only a frequent cruiser, but also a person who works in the transportation industry. The transportation/hospitality industry isn't what it was. We're in a different world than say 10, 20+ years ago. Princess is at the price point it is & delivers an experience that matches. This will meet the needs & expectations of many, just not me. I will give Princess another try with the new Sun Princess.....she looks amazing. Who knows, I might love it. In the meantime my new(since 2019) home at sea is Viking Ocean. Clearly a higher price point. Worth every penny as Viking is an elevated ship design, service, dining, & onboard atmosphere.

Yes, the Silver Nova looks stunning in her own way & is the reason I was looking at Silversea. Seven Seas Grandeur is the winner IMHO. Everything looks more high end luxe.

Wow factor in spades! Your photo tours never fail to impress. As an avid Viking cruiser I've been looking to test the "ultra luxury" segment. Regent & Silversea, the choice. Looks like Regent Seven Seas Grandeur is the winner. The finished interiors much more stunning than pre build renderings. Especially Compass Rose! Although thoroughly modern, there's so much in the decor that looks 1920's/1930's classic ocean liner.

Wonderful! Glad you've discovered Viking! In a league all their own.

Wow, sorry you experienced these glitches that aren't excusable for a high end luxury product. The lack of attention to detail on the first day is concerning. Hope things go better soon. I'm a devout Viking Ocean guy looking to branch out & try either Regent or Silversea. Seven Seas Grandeur is on the top of my list. I'll be following your reports in rapt attention.

Absolutely! If I could, I would personally open the gangway to a Viking Ocean ship. It's been sad to experience the death by 1000 cuts that has occurred with Celebrity, Princess, & HAL. Ghostly shadows of their former selves. Once the ships kept getting bigger the focus became more on revenue production instead of passenger enjoyment & experience. These lines no longer offer the type of cruise product I'm willing to spend money on. Food quality, ship design, lack of attention to detail, hit or miss service, ect. A Discovery Princess cruise in 2021 was the proverbial nail in the mass market lines for me. DISCLAIMER: This is MY opinion based on my preferences & perceptions. Enter Viking Ocean! This line has restored my faith in the cruise travel industry. Admittedly the per diem price point is higher so there is no obnoxious pesky onboard marketing. The entire ship is designed for your enjoyment & relaxation. Compared to the mainstream lines, everything on Viking feels several notches above. Onboard the vibe is the most chill blissed out atmosphere I've ever experienced on a ship. What a relief it is to sail aboard a rellaxed(ing) ship. These aren't party ships, yet it's never boring, as there's always a buzz of activity just around the corner. For those who care to dance the night away there's a nightclub with live band making all the noise needed! I'm eight Viking Ocean cruises in & cannot recommend them enough. When speaking of Viking I say Viking Ocean as that's the only experience I have. Haven't sailed a river or expedition.

Smaller ships. I miss the original RCCL sisters Song of Norway, Nordic Prince, & Sun Viking.

Queen Mary 2 is in the top five ships I've sailed aboard in over 30 years of cruising. Love the decor & design. That being said I'm not impressed with Cunard food(Britannia class) or some of the service. Nothing bad, just not particularly memorable. Anyone interested in cruising should try Cunard for the experience of sailing aboard a grand ocean liner. My favorite cruise line of all time is hands down Viking Ocean. Although I enjoy the traditional ocean liner feel to Queen Mary 2, at this stage, I prefer the Scandinavian Modern design & oh-so Zen at sea onboard atmosphere of Viking. Every space on the cookie cutter similar ships is for the comfort & enjoyment of passengers. No revenue production casino, art sales, ect. Perfect sized ships. Chock-a-full of floor-to-ceiling windows in most public rooms. My only real gripe with Viking(not their fault whatsoever) is the penchant for many of my fellow Americans to take liberal interpretation of "resort casual" dress code guidelines. The mainstream lines with the giant condo/theme park look aren't an option. Thank goodness there are options, so different cruise experiences please different clientele. Princess, Holland America, & Celebrity used to be my go-to premium middle market lines, but sadly their product presentation is a shadow of it's former self.

Apparently Cruise Critic won't let me mention the site which in hindsight I understand why. Won't let me delete the post. Sorry

Go to ***** & search your itinerary. Port times listed on their site.

You will do & enjoy a Viking Ocean cruise just fine. The onboard vibe is chill & friendly. Embarkation day strangers quickly become new friends. One thing's for sure; you'll be treated like royalty by the crew. Get ready for the catering & coddling, lol. I'm still in the working world, as a train attendant aboard Amtrak, live in an apartment, & feel perfectly at home & welcome aboard Viking.

My grandparents & great aunt were frequent Sitmar & Princess cruisers in the 70's & 80's. Their stories, pictures, & the brochures gave me the cruise bug way before "The Love Boat" came on TV. For my first cruise I originally booked the Sitmar Fairwind, but by the time I sailed she was in full Dawn Princess mode. Absolutely LOVED Princess back in the day. Pacific/Island Princess in my top five ships I've ever been privileged to sail aboard. It's been sad to experience the slow decline of Princess. A shadow of it's former self. A 2021 cruise aboard Discovery Princess was the final nail in the Princess coffin. With Viking it's as if I've discovered my cruise heaven. The onboard ambiance, service, & attention to detail have me besotted with this line. To have crew remember me from previous sailings call out my name & welcome me back feels like a homecoming. Viking Ocean ships remind me so much of Pacific/Island Princess, but in an updated form. The Viking loyalty program isn't wildly generous as I've only sailed seven Viking Ocean so far. After all, Viking is the higher price point. I hope you go with Viking & experience for yourself this glorious line!

Viking ships are perfectly designed for sea days! Lots of public areas full of floor to ceiling windows, a full wrap around promenade deck, Infinity pool, Explorers Lounge. I can't think of any other ships currently sailing that are better designed for sea days, & that includes Queen Mary 2(she's grand, glamorous, & huge, yet I prefer Viking). Full of quiet nooks & crannies, yet never boring. There's always a buzz of activity somewhere. Another incredible benefit to a trans-Atlantic crossing is that you experience your shipboard community differently because there isn't the daily on-off. The social fabric is different. There's a wonderful connection made with your fellow passengers & the lovely crew. It's a phenomenon that has to be experienced by anyone who loves cruising. One sea day gloriously unfolds into the next. My favorite way to describe a Viking Ocean ship is how I experience it - a floating Zen palace at sea. I work in the transportation industry, so everything is time & schedule sensitive. All that unstructured time to do absolutely nothing is the ultimate of a relaxing vacation. Bonus points that The Restaurant is open for lunch!

I understand your logic & it makes sense. What I'm about to say is simply my perspective based on my preferences & style of cruising. There is something tacky & unnerving about the constant drum beat of onboard revenue production experienced aboard the mainstream lines like Princess, Holland America, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, ect. Actually, it's obnoxious & cheapens the cruise experience. Even the design of the new ships is revenue production focused. Forward & aft deck views are monetized into prime real estate. You don't see things like libraries, card rooms, promenade decks because this takes away from anything generating moo la, God forbid if someone is just relaxing in a public room. Walking from the forward show lounge through the casino, then the shops, before entering the dining room is case & point. On the mostly inclusive lines the ships are designed for passenger comfort & experience. I also don't drink alcohol or use ship shore ex, but I'd rather pay the premium to sail a line(in my case Viking as my go-to) where I'm left to simply enjoy the ship. This creates a much more dignified onboard atmosphere.