Review Viking Star 28th Dec Western Mediterranean

This was our second Viking Ocean Cruise having done Empires of the Mediterranean in September 2016.

Good flight from Heathrow on BA although their onboard paid catering is dismal. Arrival in Barcelona with almost an overkill of meeters and greeters at all points. Efficient transfer. Quick check in and onboard with drinks on arrival.

Straight to Speciality Restaurant booking desk. Both specialities booked. We were in a V2 so no advance restaurant reservations. Only 1 reservation per restaurant was allowed but we did make a further reservation later in the cruise in Manfredi's. Manfredi's was busy and it was difficult for some to get in. Chef's Table was not so popular.

Stateroom and Steward excellent. We could live without the coffee machine we had previously in a DV cabin and in fact it freed up some space. No drawers in the wardrobe which I understand have been added in other categories. My feeling is that the bed is situated rather too close to the wardrobe (closet) but of course it has to line up with the fixed headboard. I think the coffee table is an irrelevance and gets in the way. We only had room service once but I guess the table would be needed if you could not use the balcony in poor weather.

Ship is as beautiful, spacious and delightful as I remember. Love the style of decor which makes some other cruise lines look very out of date. Love the books everywhere. Full ship but lovely spacious lounges. Where was everyone?

We attended the Cruise Critic Meet and Greet but I much prefer the way Azamara do this. They have someone from the ship, usually the CD, say a few words about the importance of CC then introduces other staff present, then asks each group to give their Cruise Critic name. I find this much more useful than the Viking way of doing and saying nothing. When I arrived there were already several groups and its difficult, even for outgoing me, to barge in so I still dont really know who was who. I did of course make it my mission to locate Peregrina who is a mine of Viking information. I had also been trying to find Simon and Kirsty from the UK who had previously said look for a Balding Man in Tweeds. I did approach several likely candidates both at the airport and onboard only to be met with "whats Cruise Critic". We did find them later in the cruise but only after several embarrassing mistakes. As it happens they were newlyweds and did not in fact attend the CC Meet and Greet. We had dinner with them twice. Fantastic company so I am glad I persisted in my quest.

Fellow passengers were friendly but as I noted on our previous cruise many were new to the area we visited and had done little or no research. One example was the lovely young couple who thought they could nip into Florence from Livorno on rented mopeds. Whilst I applaud anyone doing their own thing, unless a little research is done then disappointment is inevitable.

I think there was a good mix of ages onboard with many youngish and middle aged groups. I imagine that family groups were able to travel together due to the Holiday season.

We had the Silver Spirits package which was great. Who knew I could drink so many Lemon Drop Martini's!. Service was excellent everywhere although the MDR did seem to be a little patchy.

Food was excellent. DH loved the Sea Food Buffet in the World Cafe. There was also a splendid similar lunch buffet on in the Wintergarden on New Years Day. We loved Manfredi's. We enjoyed the 'theatre' of the Chefs Table but DH had to fill up later in Mamsens.

We know the area very well but did do 4 included excursions which I have reviewed on the Live from the Western Mediterranean thread. They were a bit hit and miss so I would recommend either a private tour or one of the paid excursions. Prices for these are significantly less than on our other favourite line Azamara. However the Viking roll calls are much less active so organising shared private tours may be more difficult.

Entertainment: Well DH loved the splendid Viking Band (4 excellent musicians 2 great singers) They play in Torshaven every night plus backing for the 4 Viking Singers. (reduced from 6 on our previous cruise also no dancers which we had enjoyed previously) Great New Years Eve party in the atrium.

Splendid Deck Party. Live music, trio, guitarist, pianist all enjoyable but sometimes not many people listening.

Shows in the Theatre: 2 local groups: Catalan Gypsy show on Day 1 and Livorno Orchestra Day 6.

Enjoyed the first, but didnt see the second as we were enjoying dinner and the company too much.

Day 2: Welcome Event in the Atrium

Day 3: Beatles and Abba plus excellent Deck Party

Day 4: Cirque du Soleil film (weird, saw it on our last cruise) Plus New Years Eve Party - excellent

Day 5: Songs from Las Vegas Strip - excellent

Day 6: Orchestra

Day 7: Can't remember ! Not much on apart from Torshaven I think. Everyone a little down as most were leaving next morning.

Transfer to airport in Rome, efficient and timely. BA flight good with fantastic smooth landing bearing in mind the dreadful windy weather on arrival.

Conclusion: Great Cruise, lovely weather, splendid ports, nice people, We booked onboard for next New Year's cruise. Some confusion as to the actual itinerary but we are a year away and in the end we will have a great time anyway.

Forgot to say, Great selection of movies and music on TV in room.

Thank you for your detailed review/report.

Keith

Great review, thank you. We are onboard on 8/2/2018 so great to read your review. Our 1st Viking after quite a few Azamara so will be interesting !!

Lovely trip report with good details. Bringing on local talent by Viking is nice touch.

As a relentless reseracher, I am always amazed at those who are carefree when it comes to what should we do today and where should we go at each port.

Our roll call will be bringing names tags for the M&M so we know who is who. We have 40 folks signed up so far for our event in March.

Always nice to have another cruise to look forward to. when you get home

Thank you for your report, it mimics our thoughts that Viking are at the moment a class act, long may it continue, we are tempted by a New Year cruise.

Thanks so much for this great review. Appreciate you taking the time to share you thoughts on the Viking Star. We are our first Viking cruise next month on the Star, so these recent reviews are very helpful.

What time did you usually have dinner in the MDR? On various reviews, I have seen occasional comments about sluggish service and was curious if the dining late vs. early would make a difference. We usually like to arrive around 7:30-8:00pm.

We would normally eat at 8 - 8.30. That seemed to be much later than those from the US would normally choose. We never had to wait for a seat. We were always shown to a table for two but the tables are relatively close so conversation is possible between tables. The MDR is like a series of rooms rather than one huge expanse of tables so you cannot really see if it is really busy or not.

I didnt mention in my review that there were two guest lecturers on board. The timings of the lectures were not good for me but you can access them on the room TV. Very good. Also there were "open desk and roundtable chats available with the lecturers but the timings did not suit me.

In addition there was a showing of the Metropolitan Opera's La Boheme in the Theatre on New Year's Eve. Viking really seem to try to please everyone.

We loved the spa and we went several times in the late afternoon.

Good additional information. We always had second seating in MDR on Celebrity so ate at 8:30. We also always had table mates who were from Enlgand or Scotland at our table.:cool: Glad it will be easy to eat dinner at this time on Viking.

Where do you suggest a pre dinner martini?