Food on Viking Embla is horrible

[pacmom]

In reading back over this thread, discovered that Viking was not OP's first choice. originally booked on Uniworld. Now suites on Uniworld have butler service. He might have thought all lines had this perk, but they don't. Yes booking a suite, insurance and first class flights can come to his quoted price. Such a shame to have a great marriage milestone spoiled. Pat

[BarbarianPaul]

We've been on the 2850 passenger Celebrity Solstice where the food in the MDR wasn't incredible, but good enough, and we were fine with it. So for me the size of the Star Princess doesn't justify what was, frankly, cheap bad food. And my wife and I are not foodies, and not difficult to please!

 

 

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[kathy9]

On board the Viking Kaldin and the infamous fish n chips showed up on the lunch menu. My DH ate it with no complaints....

French?

Also they served Chicken ala King as an entree last night no comments on that one!

[notamermaid]

Hello kathy9,

 

I hope you are having a great cruise. Are you on the Seine or in the South of France? What was the other option, instead of the fish?

 

Are you having a choice of wines from Europe, French, or mostly "global"?

 

notamermaid

[nancyevans]

On board the Viking Kaldin and the infamous fish n chips showed up on the lunch menu. My DH ate it with no complaints....

French?

Also they served Chicken ala King as an entree last night no comments on that one!

 

 

Chicken ala King? The creamy stuff with small pieces of chicken??

 

 

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[goldenrod]

Well our Viking three week trip ended yesterday the Chefs going away dinner was even worse than the going away dinner for the people who got off in two weeks! Once again no lobster, no Scallops, not even a shrimp cocktail over cooked tenderloins, which I sent back twice only to be told they could not give me one medium rare so the brought me my seventh rib eye. Never in our 37 cruises have we and others been so disappointed with the food! Not one, lobster tail or shrimp cocktail in three weeks but of course we did get spaghetti with cauliflower in the meat sauce! 25k to eat bad food for three weeks, the pastry chef was good but if we wanted to eat bread and pastries for 3 weeks we would have gone to our local bakery and save 25k as we said the waiters and staff were great but it's a shame they had to serve such poor quality and badly prepared food! Shame on Viking!

 

 

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[H2Otstr]

Well our Viking three week trip ended yesterday the Chefs going away dinner was even worse than the going away dinner for the people who got off in two weeks! Once again no lobster, no Scallops, not even a shrimp cocktail over cooked tenderloins, which I sent back twice only to be told they could not give me one medium rare so the brought me my seventh rib eye. Never in our 37 cruises have we and others been so disappointed with the food! Not one, lobster tail or shrimp cocktail in three weeks but of course we did get spaghetti with cauliflower in the meat sauce! 25k to eat bad food for three weeks, the pastry chef was good but if we wanted to eat bread and pastries for 3 weeks we would have gone to our local bakery and save 25k as we said the waiters and staff were great but it's a shame they had to serve such poor quality and badly prepared food! Shame on Viking!

 

 

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It's really a shame that you are still complaining after Viking has tried to reach out to you and satisfy your complaints. You made your point a long time ago. Hope you enjoy your next large ship cruise.

[dolllover]

Sorry to hear your food was so bad. I guess I'll find out if I have a decent chef on my upcoming Viking cruise. On my Avalon cruise the food was good but not great and we did get lobster so I don't get why Viking had to be so cheap and not serve seafood.

[goldenrod]

It's really a shame that you are still complaining after Viking has tried to reach out to you and satisfy your complaints. You made your point a long time ago. Hope you enjoy your next large ship cruise.

 

 

No what's really a shame is that I wish I was exaggerating, Viking is the one that took My money and compensated us by giving us a $200 obc and a one week drink package, and believe me when we get home, I'll be posting on Trip Advisor, Yelp and more!

 

 

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[KathyK13]

Well our Viking three week trip ended yesterday the Chefs going away dinner was even worse than the going away dinner for the people who got off in two weeks! Once again no lobster, no Scallops, not even a shrimp cocktail over cooked tenderloins, which I sent back twice only to be told they could not give me one medium rare so the brought me my seventh rib eye. Never in our 37 cruises have we and others been so disappointed with the food! Not one, lobster tail or shrimp cocktail in three weeks but of course we did get spaghetti with cauliflower in the meat sauce! 25k to eat bad food for three weeks, the pastry chef was good but if we wanted to eat bread and pastries for 3 weeks we would have gone to our local bakery and save 25k as we said the waiters and staff were great but it's a shame they had to serve such poor quality and badly prepared food! Shame on Viking!

 

 

 

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Why were you expecting lobster, scallops, or shrimp cocktail? Were they on any of the Viking menus?

[Hoyaheel]

compensated us by giving us a $200 obc and a one week drink package,

 

If you were in a suite, you should have been given that extended drinks package (at least according to the website). What did you get that was above your suite passenger perk?

[BarbarianPaul]

Do you have any pics of the food, goldenrod? And I fear you'll be looking back on those meals fondly after you try to eat what Princess puts in front of you.

 

 

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[ExpatBride]

Viking is the one that took My money and compensated us by giving us a $200 obc and a one week drink package, and believe me when we get home, I'll be posting on Trip Advisor, Yelp and more!

 

But on the 21st, you posted:

 

Had a good conversation yesterday at 3 pm with Viking rep... We were given other perks which I promised not to disclose, so we shall complete the trip to Bucharest where we are staying an extra 3 days in a first class hotel suite and say farewell to Viking River cruises! Case closed!

 

Now you're still raising a ruckus and have disclosed the perks. This isn't adding up.

[goldenrod]

If you were in a suite, you should have been given that extended drinks package (at least according to the website). What did you get that was above your suite passenger perk?

 

 

Wrong the drink package is only free for the 2 Explorer suite not the seven other suites!

 

 

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[goldenrod]

But on the 21st, you posted:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now you're still raising a ruckus and have disclosed the perks. This isn't adding up.

 

 

Yes because the last week was worse than the first two! If that's possible. And I'll post and keep posting how bad their food was!

 

 

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[E@syPe@zy]

goldenrod...keep us posted...would like to know more about the menu and quality of meals.

Edited April 28, 2017 by E@syPe@zy
duplicate post

[E@syPe@zy]

Well our Viking three week trip ended yesterday the Chefs going away dinner was even worse than the going away dinner for the people who got off in two weeks! Once again no lobster, no Scallops, not even a shrimp cocktail over cooked tenderloins, which I sent back twice only to be told they could not give me one medium rare so the brought me my seventh rib eye. Never in our 37 cruises have we and others been so disappointed with the food! Not one, lobster tail or shrimp cocktail in three weeks but of course we did get spaghetti with cauliflower in the meat sauce! 25k to eat bad food for three weeks, the pastry chef was good but if we wanted to eat bread and pastries for 3 weeks we would have gone to our local bakery and save 25k as we said the waiters and staff were great but it's a shame they had to serve such poor quality and badly prepared food! Shame on Viking!

 

 

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Sorry for your experience....what a shame!

Was the tenderloin beef or pork??

Did you also have the "chicken a la king" as mentioned by a previous poster??

Hopefully you can end this journey on a positive note, now that you are off the boat, and will have more opportunities for a decent meal.

Safe travels home.

[TravelerThom]

Great. No only did you do no research, complain the entire time, and accepted money with a non-disclosure agreement just to shut you up, you are now violating that non-disclosure agreement. I assume you have returned the benefits to Viking. Yeah - when pigs fly.

 

I am truly glad I (and I am not the only one) did not have to endure a cruise with you.

[goldenrod]

goldenrod...such a absolute shame about the quality and choice of food offered. Was the tenderloin that they served beef or pork? Did you also have chicken ala king as another poster mentioned?

Enjoy the rest of your trip and safe travels home.

 

 

Yes we had chicken ala king twice one day we had baby back ribs but they were beef short ribs the burgers were all like hockey pucks and the buns were stale and no yellow mustard the fish was strong tasting and the sauces this chef made were so bad as were his soupes salty and no body except one and the wine was the same for 10 days. Look I'm 72 and if you look at my 2700 post on Cruise Critic you'll find none complaining about bad food except for a couple so when I say this was bad it was really bad and it was a shame as this was our 50th anniversary cruise!

 

 

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Edited April 28, 2017 by goldenrod

[kathy9]

Chicken ala King? The creamy stuff with small pieces of chicken??

 

 

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Yes with white chicken pieces, peas and carrots on toast points .... not kidding!

Entree on a Viking River Criuise two nights ago!

[ExpatBride]

no yellow mustard

 

Boo hoo! I've lived in Denmark for 7 years and the only time I've had yellow mustard is when I brought it back from abroad or found it as part of an Oktoberfest deal. It's ridiculous to travel to a different continent and expect to have what you're used to at home. If that's what you're after, book an ocean cruise on an American line... I do that once a year for a taste of home without actually having to go home.

 

I am truly glad I (and I am not the only one) did not have to endure a cruise with you.

Amen!

[kathy9]

Hello kathy9,

 

I hope you are having a great cruise. Are you on the Seine or in the South of France? What was the other option, instead of the fish?

 

Are you having a choice of wines from Europe, French, or mostly "global"?

 

notamermaid

Hi Notamermaid,

We did the Le Pec to Normandy Beachs Viking River Cruise.

There was another option instead of the fish and chips but I don't remember what it was....I eat salad from the buffet for lunch.

It is interesting, I don't drink wine and nobody seem to be complaining about the wines.

But the other night at dinner a table mate asked the waiter if the wines had sulifates and he said yes they did. He went on to explain if you went and bought a good bottle of French wine locally it would not have sulfilates but since Viking buys so much it must be mass produced hence have sulifates added also for longer satibilty.

Kathy

[SuiteTraveler]

Yes we had chicken ala king twice one day we had baby back ribs but they were beef short ribs the burgers were all like hockey pucks and the buns were stale and no yellow mustard the fish was strong tasting and the sauces this chef made were so bad as were his soupes salty and no body except one and the wine was the same for 10 days. Look I'm 72 and if you look at my 2700 post on Cruise Critic you'll find none complaining about bad food except for a couple so when I say this was bad it was really bad and it was a shame as this was our 50th anniversary cruise!

 

 

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There was a poster on Yelp who posted about stale bread buns being served on their Viking cruise as well.

 

I hope that at least you and your wife enjoyed seeing some of Europe. It is a shame about how bad the food was.

[SuiteTraveler]

Yes we had chicken ala king twice one day we had baby back ribs but they were beef short ribs the burgers were all like hockey pucks and the buns were stale and no yellow mustard the fish was strong tasting and the sauces this chef made were so bad as were his soupes salty and no body except one and the wine was the same for 10 days. Look I'm 72 and if you look at my 2700 post on Cruise Critic you'll find none complaining about bad food except for a couple so when I say this was bad it was really bad and it was a shame as this was our 50th anniversary cruise!

 

 

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Chicken a la King is a British dish.

 

I would not expect that they would have yellow mustard in Europe - especially not on a river cruise. Did they have brown spicy mustard or dijon? I would expect them to have either of those considering where you were sailing. Believe it or not, ancient Romans first invented mustard, which to them was ground mustard seed with wine. There are 40 species of mustard plants and they make seeds that are either black, brown or white. Mustards made with black seeds are most popular in the Middle East. Mustards made with brown seeds are most popular in China and Europe. Mustards made with white seeds make the yellow mustard you are familiar with in the US but that type of mustard is not popular outside of the US. Yellow mustard is only yellow because tumeric is added to it. Yellow mustard is the 7th most popular condiment in the US and Dijon is the 11th most popular. French's mustard ranks 17 and Gulden's ranks 20

[goldenrod]

Why were you expecting lobster, scallops, or shrimp cocktail? Were they on any of the Viking menus?

 

 

Your joking right? We have never been on a cruise where you can't get a scrimp cocktail and lobster is not served at least one day in three weeks cruise especially a cruise costing a $1000 per day!

 

 

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