Food on Viking Embla is horrible

[E@syPe@zy]

Exactly what is your problem? I completely agree with you.... you stated your opinion and I stated mine and they are darn near identical so now exactly what did I do wrong in answering another poster ??? That answer was not meant for you but meant for the person I quoted. Thanks for reading

 

No...we don't agree at all. But that's okay. At least it is for me. :)

[Host Jazzbeau]

As the Host, in my OCD way, I feel I have to read every post on every thread. Why does anybody else feel that way?

[MikeyB]

Jazz-

As the host you should have closed this weeks ago. Everyone here argues over food. It's so subjective. And everyone can thoughtfully express their opinion. Not the OP. No one does this on the ocean cruise board that I read. The OP lit a flame that you didn't put out. Did the OP have an opinion of the service that Viking provided. What was the OP's opinion of the Viking tours? Was it all crap?

[Host Jazzbeau]

Jazz-

As the host you should have closed this weeks ago. Everyone here argues over food. It's so subjective. And everyone can thoughtfully express their opinion. Not the OP. No one does this on the ocean cruise board that I read. The OP lit a flame that you didn't put out. Did the OP have an opinion of the service that Viking provided. What was the OP's opinion of the Viking tours? Was it all crap?

 

Nope. Not my style. Stanford '69: Die Luft der Freiheit weht, baby!

[Got2Cruise]

Nope. Not my style. Stanford '69: Die Luft der Freiheit weht, baby!

 

 

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

 

 

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[MikeyB]

That is a very crappy reply.

[mskaufman]

Thanks for not closing this down. It is very entertaining and sometimes informative:)

[SuiteTraveler]

Jazz-

As the host you should have closed this weeks ago. Everyone here argues over food. It's so subjective. And everyone can thoughtfully express their opinion. Not the OP. No one does this on the ocean cruise board that I read. The OP lit a flame that you didn't put out. Did the OP have an opinion of the service that Viking provided. What was the OP's opinion of the Viking tours? Was it all crap?

 

Mikey, goldenrod said he was enjoying the tours and the other people he met on the cruise. His main complaints were: food and how regimented river cruising is. He also wanted suites to have some room service, but Viking doesn't provide that. What I found interesting about this thread was that Viking mostly serves American food - confirmed by the Viking menus I found online and also, just reading various blogs about Viking cruises, it appears many Viking customers go to various restaurants along the river and they share restaurant recommendations with each other - which I really think is a good idea.

[jeb_bud]

As the Host, in my OCD way, I feel I have to read every post on every thread. Why does anybody else feel that way?

 

 

FOMO

 

 

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[Hydrokitty]

FOMO

 

 

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?????? Fear of Missing what????

[BarbarianPaul]

Yes, in agreement as well! Since I'm booked on Viking, this thread has been a particularly interesting and amusing one. I'm glad it hasn't been closed down and I still enjoy reading it. And for all of goldenrod's hyperbole, he's made some good points.

 

 

 

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[Hoyaheel]

?????? Fear of Missing what????

FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out

[Shmoo here]

Thanks for not closing this down. It is very entertaining and sometimes informative:)

I agree, also. Aside from the fairly rude descriptions of the OP, getting feedback on specific issues, and the resulting comments to that feedback, is very informative.

[Canal archive]

Wonderful insite to Viking both good and bad. Didn't realise the food was so americanised. Fascinating food facts. Who thought so much information would come out of such a rant. Keep it going. CA

[ural guy]

Thanks for not closing this down. It is very entertaining and sometimes informative:)

 

Ditto. I had no idea how to ship wine back from Europe, now I know.

 

This thread was like free form Jazz for awhile, all over the place, but satisfying in the end.

[Roz]

This thread was like free form Jazz for awhile, all over the place, but satisfying in the end.

 

I love it! :D Very accurate description.

 

Roz

[Hydrokitty]

FOMO = Fear Of Missing Out

 

I got the Fear of Missing Out (my grandchildren keep me in the loop on the language) :D What I'm questioning is fear of missing out on...what??

[Shmoo here]

I got the Fear of Missing Out (my grandchildren keep me in the loop on the language) :D What I'm questioning is fear of missing out on...what??

Whatever may be happening (discussion-wise) on any given thread.

[lackcreativity]

Wonderful insite to Viking both good and bad. Didn't realise the food was so americanised. Fascinating food facts. Who thought so much information would come out of such a rant. Keep it going. CA

 

We have only taken one Viking River cruise (June 2015), and one just completed Viking Ocean cruise. I do not know if the river cruise menus have changed in the last two years, but I would not have said the food was "so Americanized". There were three standard, everyday options ( grilled chicken breast with a choice of sauce, steak, salmon) that may have been for less adventurous eaters. The other entrees (three or maybe four?) were more European in nature. Some were specific to the area we were touring. It certainly was not what I view as American food in the restaurant for dinner. (Not fried chicken, nor roast turkey, no meatloaf, not pot roast, etc.) I wish I could remember specific menus to support my information.

 

It was not the super gourmet type food served in highly ranked modern restaurants even here in America, where I sometimes have to look up on my phone what it is I am trying to order. There were, however, often foods or at least preparations of food that were new to me. The chef came to the nightly dinner and offered his recommendation for the evening. My husband followed his advice, and was never disappointed. Overall, I thought the food on both cruises was good to excellent.

[SuiteTraveler]

I just noticed something really interesting on the 2015 set of menus I found:

https://rivercruisenewbie.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/dinner_menus_viking.pdf

 

Scroll through and you will see at the bottom of each second page of the menu it says:

 

*Regional Specialty: Ask your server for details.

 

But if you look at all the food on the menu, never once is there any food item with an asterisk next to it. So that begs the question, is Viking actually ever serving regional specialties off the menu anymore OR is there the possibility of an regional specialty that is not listed on the menu and the ONLY way you can find out about it is to ask your server? I would really like to know what Viking has to say about this comment at the end of the menu. Is it a mistake on the menu or does it actually mean, there are things available that are not on the menu?

[jrkstl]

On our Rhine cruise last month with Viking, most menus included some items that were considered regional specialties, and these were marked with the asterisk.

 

The regional specialties were sometimes a starter, sometimes a main course and sometimes dessert. I really didn't pay that close attention to how many were offered during our cruise, but it seemed like the same quantity (and quality) of our Bordeaux and Danube cruises with them. We frequently ordered the cheese board during dinner, and this always included regional cheeses and accompaniments.

 

I didn't find the menu to be that "Americanized..."

 

Jeff

[Cyber Kat]

We have only taken one Viking River cruise (June 2015), and one just completed Viking Ocean cruise. I do not know if the river cruise menus have changed in the last two years, but I would not have said the food was "so Americanized". There were three standard, everyday options ( grilled chicken breast with a choice of sauce, steak, salmon) that may have been for less adventurous eaters. The other entrees (three or maybe four?) were more European in nature. Some were specific to the area we were touring. It certainly was not what I view as American food in the restaurant for dinner. (Not fried chicken, nor roast turkey, no meatloaf, not pot roast, etc.) I wish I could remember specific menus to support my information.

 

 

 

It was not the super gourmet type food served in highly ranked modern restaurants even here in America, where I sometimes have to look up on my phone what it is I am trying to order. There were, however, often foods or at least preparations of food that were new to me. The chef came to the nightly dinner and offered his recommendation for the evening. My husband followed his advice, and was never disappointed. Overall, I thought the food on both cruises was good to excellent.

 

 

This was my feeling exactly. Other than the lunch offerings of hamburgers and hot dogs ONE day from the grill - alongside German sausages, I might add - we didn't have anything I would call specifically American cuisine.

 

You're correct - we had no turkey, nor cranberry sauce, no cornbread, no pecan pie, no shrimp & grits, no clam chowder, no meatloaf, no Yankee Pot Roast, no baked beans, no barbecued ribs, no pulled pork, no peanut butter and jelly, no sloppy joes, no pizza (which almost seems more American than Italian with all our fast versions) nor one single slice of apple pie. This is what I think of as American food.

 

What we had was a variety of offerings that were well-prepared, nicely presented and tasted good.

 

We sat with different people most nights and only had American dinner companions once. We ate with Canadians, people from England, Ireland and Scotland. Every one commented positively on the food. We all enjoyed it. So quite frankly, I don't understand this whole brouhaha.

 

BTW we found hamburgers on the menu in Amsterdam. We had highly touted Swiss meatloaf in Lucerne. I had meatballs in brown gravy in Heidelberg (I saw others eating them and they looked good - they were) and Älpermagronen in Lucerne which is basically macaroni and cheese. Some food is just universal [emoji41]

 

 

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[goldenrod]

Well we are back home and the food in the third week was worse than the first two! Many of you have made negative comments about my postings, go for it that's your right Viking called me again yesterday afternoon with an offer of a voucher for future cruises I thanked the rep and declined and told her that the the food got worse but the wait staff was great! As was our room steward, it's just a shame we had a bad chef and poor quality food, but it's over and we're home safe! Looking forward to our next non Viking cruise!

 

 

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[Roz]

"It's over" - it's unfortunate that any cruise should end with these words. A cruise should be something that is enjoyed, not endured.

 

Roz

 

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[SuiteTraveler]

This was my feeling exactly. Other than the lunch offerings of hamburgers and hot dogs ONE day from the grill - alongside German sausages, I might add - we didn't have anything I would call specifically American cuisine.

 

You're correct - we had no turkey, nor cranberry sauce, no cornbread, no pecan pie, no shrimp & grits, no clam chowder, no meatloaf, no Yankee Pot Roast, no baked beans, no barbecued ribs, no pulled pork, no peanut butter and jelly, no sloppy joes, no pizza (which almost seems more American than Italian with all our fast versions) nor one single slice of apple pie. This is what I think of as American food.

 

What we had was a variety of offerings that were well-prepared, nicely presented and tasted good.

 

We sat with different people most nights and only had American dinner companions once. We ate with Canadians, people from England, Ireland and Scotland. Every one commented positively on the food. We all enjoyed it. So quite frankly, I don't understand this whole brouhaha.

 

BTW we found hamburgers on the menu in Amsterdam. We had highly touted Swiss meatloaf in Lucerne. I had meatballs in brown gravy in Heidelberg (I saw others eating them and they looked good - they were) and Älpermagronen in Lucerne which is basically macaroni and cheese. Some food is just universal [emoji41]

 

 

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Kath, you were on a different ship with a different chef. There might be a dozen chefs preparing the exact same menu from the same recipes, but if one of the chefs is not good at what he/she does, the food that chef prepares can be completely different. There are also other problems such as a chef who doesn't manage his/her kitchen properly. When that happens you see things like old food, rancid oil and the kitchen may be filthy. There may even be an insect infestation. All of these factors can affect the quality of food. We don't know what the chef onboard Embla was doing as we were not there nor do we know the condition of his galley.