Viking Sun World Cruise ongoing review/comments

Another beautiful sea day halfway between The Marquesas and Tahiti. There are no annoying announcements on board just important messages and the Noon position report from the Captain. He always refers to himself as “your designated driver “. The Captain and officers are visible and approachable. Our wonderful cabin attendant is going home from Auckland so I guess we will have to break in another.[emoji102][emoji41]

Thank You Viking Management for letting us see the NFL games this week! What a treat under the beautiful skies of the South Pacific we got to watch both the Playoff games ! Just Wonderful !

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Thank You Viking Management for letting us see the NFL games this week! What a treat under the beautiful skies of the South Pacific we got to watch both the Playoff games ! Just Wonderful !

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Very nice!!!

Across multiple Cruise Critic forums around this time of year, I always see threads about whether or not guess will be able to view US football playoff or bowl games. Not everyone is as lucky as you guys. Enjoy!!!

Very nice!!!

 

 

 

Across multiple Cruise Critic forums around this time of year, I always see threads about whether or not guess will be able to view US football playoff or bowl games. Not everyone is as lucky as you guys. Enjoy!!!

Yes, Viking came thru !

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Yes, Viking came thru !

 

 

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Rumor has it that we will also get the Super Bowl live - to make it even better -it’s a SEA DAY !

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I'm on the Sky and they made sure to show all 4 playoff games with appropriate food (dogs and burgers) and drink (beer).

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Thank You Viking Management for letting us see the NFL games this week! What a treat under the beautiful skies of the South Pacific we got to watch both the Playoff games ! Just Wonderful !

 

 

 

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And just look at the crowd in attendance!

When a sports game is shown on the large screen how do passengers hear the sound? Are they given headphones or is the sound coming from large speakers on deck?

And just look at the crowd in attendance!

They where there , many where in the WinterGarden in air conditioning. We sat under the overhangs to use the shade , the sun and heat were tough to take for a whole game !

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I can attest the games were well attended. Speakers provided the commentary at a reasonable volume. The games were also available on the big screen tvs in the staterooms. Stretched out flat in air conditioning after several hours in equatorial heat and humidity can be quite a draw. Arriving in Papeetee Tahiti today but not until 6pm so pretty much another sea day. We overnight and all day tomorrow at Tahiti. Seems a lot of sea days but if you are going to cross the Pacific Ocean then they are necessary. No worries Mate, soon we get to 7 stops in New Zealand, 7 stops in Australia and few sea days at all. The time will come, after many long days ashore at fantastic places, when we will beg for a quiet sea day.....:cool:

When a sports game is shown on the large screen how do passengers hear the sound? Are they given headphones or is the sound coming from large speakers on deck?

On this screen there was no sound but if you viewed in your room or other locations they had sound !

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And a couple of guys near us had some type of radio link we could just hear. ;p

On this screen there was no sound but if you viewed in your room or other locations they had sound !

 

 

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Speaking from our experience on the Sky this past weekend, it was broadcast live into our rooms OR if you wanted the group experience you could watch the games with others with some games shown in the movie rooms on deck 2, or in the Star Theater, or the Pool Deck. When they did it on the Pool Deck they didn't have us use the Bose earphones but broadcast the sound into the area so we could share our cheers and groans (that was the Pats-Titans).

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And a couple of guys near us had some type of radio link we could just hear. ;p

Jim and his crew of reporters are rapidly approaching Tahiti this afternoon. Enclosed are a few pictures of the island

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Tahiti sounds so exotic... Moby Dick ... Paul Gauguin.... etc.

Re Tahiti pix -wow!

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On this screen there was no sound but if you viewed in your room or other locations they had sound !

 

 

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Most of the time , no sound coming from the sports announcers is a blessing! And in this case it was an extremely Wonderful event

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Right Eaches. It was not intrusive to those not watching at all. They are doing a great job of making us all comfortable. Well, except not having the Alabama/Georgia game....:eek::cool:

This is an excellent thread and vehicle for reporting on and keeping up with the 2017/18 WC. For those of us considering the 2019 WC can I ask a few questions?

1) How would you rate the sea days activities? What type of activities have been offered? I assume you have had a fair share of enrichment lectures and of course the afternoon bridge games, but any other type of action?

2) How would you rate the evening after dinner entertainment? Has Viking mixed guest entertainers with their on-board ensemble of singers and dancers (1,2 or 3 dance couples?). What type of guest entertainers have you had? Magicians, comedians, singers ( of course Heather is included and well appreciated).

3) How has the table service been in the main dining room in terms of time? Exceptional, adequate, or needs to improve? The staff on our Amazon cruise worked their tails off but IMHO just has too many tables to handle and so things sometimes dragged out.

4) Same question about service at lunch out on the open deck 7 aft of the buffet. We were often finished eating our meal before the beverages arrived or we had even seen a waiter to ask for something. It was a little better at the pool bar.

5) Later as time progresses it would be interesting to get an evaluation of the Chef's Table fixed menus. If I recall correctly, the more traditional include Venetian, Marco Polo, a Chinese one with Peking duck, and a few Nordic offerings. I understand Viking intends to bring aboard new chefs along the way to make new menus available.

Last, when any of you see Heather, could you ask her if she is scheduled for the 2019 WC, and if not, does she think viking will continue to follow the formula used on your cruise? It's very different I hope from what they follow for shorter 1-2 week voyages.

Many thanks for any input, and we'll continue to follow this thread and your comments with great interest as we approach final payment for the 2019 WC.

I'll be another "lurker" who is thinking seriously about the 2019 WC! Thanks for your posts! :)

I will follow with interest too. We booked last Friday and I have so many questions before final big payment in July. Thanks to all on this year’s WC who are sharing so freely. Love the lengthy reports and photos!

If you are doing the Tahiti jeep adventure this afternoon I must warn you that some vehicles are much better than others. None are jeeps as advertised, they are Toyota trucks with metal benches in the back. If it all possible avoid the truck whose license plate ends in 758P.

Try for the one with 834P. It has the most padding in the seat and the best guide as a driver. A’RATAI SAFARI on the doors.

Here is a post from the Chef’s table thread that I think responds to Shoalwater’s post. I for one would love cooking classes, computer classes, bridge or language lessons on sea days. My husband would love photography workshops. Hopefully Viking is monitoring these threads and will take up some of these ideas for long cruises.

“Take Holland America for example, they have the Lincoln Center sent newly qualified students to form a "quintet" with a pianist and four other instrumentalists performed classical music sessions serveral times daily. And their theatre shows were so much more professional than on Viking- on our last Viking cruise, the theatre show like some kind of a High School Amateur production - plus only 4 performers, where on many other ships, they have 6-8 performers. Like Torshavn on Vikinghave their band music , HAL also have their musical band music too, and at another venue , a pianist to play bar piano music. On top of that, there were talks, PLUS Cooking classes AND a Microsoft Computer workshop which offered free lessons on several subjects on computer and internet usage several times a day.

On Oceania, they did not have a Trio, but they have a Quartet and they performed at the afternoon tea buffet daily, and then , I think at the atrium or somewhere on the ship. Think they also had a pianist. They also had free Art Classes. Talks are quite "standard" on almost all cruise lines these days.

On another cruise line on our South American cruise, they had a Classical Quartet, Broadway Shows/Guest Artists, A Classical Guitarist (with his own show), and a South American Harpist (with his own show). Not to mention the Pianist in the bar. On top of that, they had free art classes, PLUS free Spanish Classes (both beginners and moderate level). Plus free Cooking demonstrations and other classes. And of course, their talks.”

Shoalwater, I will try to answer your questions soon. All this doing nothing is taking a lot of time..:cool: We have a local Polynesian dance troupe on board doing an encore performance before sailaway later today.

Shoalwater, I will try to answer your questions soon. All this doing nothing is taking a lot of time..:cool: We have a local Polynesian dance troupe on board doing an encore performance before sailaway later today.

Jim,

Appreciate any input, and take your time...you have plenty of it. Looks like all are having a good cruise.

This is an excellent thread and vehicle for reporting on and keeping up with the 2017/18 WC. For those of us considering the 2019 WC can I ask a few questions?

1) How would you rate the sea days activities? What type of activities have been offered? I assume you have had a fair share of enrichment lectures and of course the afternoon bridge games, but any other type of action?

 

2) How would you rate the evening after dinner entertainment? Has Viking mixed guest entertainers with their on-board ensemble of singers and dancers (1,2 or 3 dance couples?). What type of guest entertainers have you had? Magicians, comedians, singers ( of course Heather is included and well appreciated).

 

3) How has the table service been in the main dining room in terms of time? Exceptional, adequate, or needs to improve? The staff on our Amazon cruise worked their tails off but IMHO just has too many tables to handle and so things sometimes dragged out.

 

4) Same question about service at lunch out on the open deck 7 aft of the buffet. We were often finished eating our meal before the beverages arrived or we had even seen a waiter to ask for something. It was a little better at the pool bar.

 

5) Later as time progresses it would be interesting to get an evaluation of the Chef's Table fixed menus. If I recall correctly, the more traditional include Venetian, Marco Polo, a Chinese one with Peking duck, and a few Nordic offerings. I understand Viking intends to bring aboard new chefs along the way to make new menus available.

 

Last, when any of you see Heather, could you ask her if she is scheduled for the 2019 WC, and if not, does she think viking will continue to follow the formula used on your cruise? It's very different I hope from what they follow for shorter 1-2 week voyages.

 

Many thanks for any input, and we'll continue to follow this thread and your comments with great interest as we approach final payment for the 2019 WC.

The shore activities are good - the first two stops after LA are not major ports with areas of interest but Viking made the best of it and brought in some locals to explain their vocations . I think Tahiti is very similar to Aruba. Beautiful but commercial.

The nightly entertainment is good - only limited to the size of the Star Theatre. The few acts where good , but we are not looking for any Broadway Acts on this cruise . The shows could be called entertaining. The show in Tahiti was sold out but a second one was scheduled and it was fantastic.

Just do yourself a favor and write the check - you will love the 1st Class 2019 WC

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