Viking Sun World Cruise ongoing review/comments

[stretchcruz]

I'm following several world cruiser blogs, but not sure if they are the same ones. Can you post the links to yours? I don't think that's against cc rules. Thanks!

[helenandfrank]

I'm following several world cruiser blogs, but not sure if they are the same ones. Can you post the links to yours? I don't think that's against cc rules. Thanks!

 

I re-read the 'Posting Rules' on the side of the page and assume I am not breaking any (hopefully !) .. :)

 

This is them -

 

https://baschieltz.blogspot.com.au/

 

https://wordwrite.wixsite.com/passepartoutparttwo

 

http://ourwideworld.com/

[stretchcruz]

Thanks! Had the first 2 not the third.

[Cyber Kat]

Cyber Kat, do you have a link to the other conversation about the ceremony?

 

 

 

It’s not allowed to post links to that site - the one that rhymes with space cook - here or I would have.

 

 

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[Cyber Kat]

Sorry Cyber Kat but what about Eches?

 

It seems that not only worldcruisr was upset.

 

 

You do know that there are 900+ other passengers on the ship? I have heard from 3. I’m just reserving judgment until I’ve heard from quite a few more - that’s all. Seems to be wise.

 

 

 

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[Redwarrior68]

Cyber Kat. I posted my assessment as #508 on this forum. As an update I know for a fact that there was an informal discussion with Karine by a group of passengers in junior suites and above. She listened attentively and appeared supportive of comments regarding both the ceremony and the handling of the passengers versus the guests. Apparently, the entire event was contracted out to a third party at a very high cost. Karine said she would discuss the issues at the next senior level Viking leadership meeting. The group's hope was that something would be communicated to all guests in the near term. So far, nothing heard.

Viking has a window of opportunity here but one senses it is closing as we leave China in the next few days.

[Wagnerite]

I’m not as cynical as some “around the ship” but hearing that they spent a lot on this pointless (to me) event interjected into a cruise for which we spent about what our condo cost, makes me think that’s why there was no shuttle in Hong Kong from Hoboken where we are docked to Star Ferry pier as I heard it was “too expensive.” Also why we are two plus hours away from both Sài Gòn and Bangkok. Viking gets four stars for PR that’s for sure

[Jim Avery]

Those who are interested in the debacle at the christening are encouraged to continue on the thread discussing it in detail. Suffice to say it was a poorly handled event. Some Vikings fault, some caused by the Chinese bureaucrats. Now just for a second imagine you are interested in a World Cruise at considerable expense. Then you read "In Shanghai, you will be required to vacate the ship while we entertain 500 persons more important than you. We will bus you one block to a crowded buffet (not nearly as nice as our everyday World Cafe buffet--which will not be available to you lot) and retained there till after our ceremony which you will only be able to see on the tv. Thank you for your cooperation." Would this statement affect your booking? Maybe, maybe not. But we were promised for months in advance "a special evening event with a secret surprise (a Norwegian singer probably 90% of the passengers had never heard of) just for our valued passengers".. And, as Forrest once said, "and that's all I have to say about that". Now Hong Kong has been an event. As Wagnerite correctly stated, we have some obstacles to overcome due to being docked in the Outback but will go more into our Hong Kong adventures a bit later.:cool:

[Azulann]

I am an armchair observer of the Viking Sun World Cruise. 144 days, with the half way point when you were in Bali or had just left. BTW, did you know that the FBI took over a huge yacht in Bali on March 1 in payment for the fraud done by one of the ministers against the people. The US goverment now owns a yacht. wonder who is sailing it back to US waters?

I enjoy the three blogs of your fellow travellers, the# MY Viking Story pictures posts by some really good photograhers.

The ins and out of everyday life are often hinted at and helpful coversations about the ship, service, food etc is welcomed.

Now the debacle of the naming event is taking over this thread for the last four days.

I remember Jim when you mentioned a dentist on board who brought expertise and has helped some passengers.

Maybe there is a Licenced Clinical Psychologist who can help those who are still angry, and want more than the talk with Karine Hagen and her taking your views and experiences of this debacle to senior managment. Or maybe it is the life of a 144 day cruise when people's outlook change and negative things start to pile up more than the positive?

Cynicism is spreading like the "cough" ( imfamous troll posts which have been deleted) and complaining about where the ship is docked at the pier now and in the future.... I see the tone has changed in the last week on this thread.

Fair winds and calm seas to all of you.

FYI, the singer at the event was Sissel.

She is a world famous soprano! I have three of her albums. She is a very big deal in music world.

Here is a song from one of her concerts, she dedicated to saliors she knew in Norway and on all ships.

 

Peace, over and out. :cool:

[SantaFe1]

Those who are interested in the debacle at the christening are encouraged to continue on the thread discussing it in detail. Suffice to say it was a poorly handled event. Some Vikings fault, some caused by the Chinese bureaucrats. Now just for a second imagine you are interested in a World Cruise at considerable expense. Then you read "In Shanghai, you will be required to vacate the ship while we entertain 500 persons more important than you. We will bus you one block to a crowded buffet (not nearly as nice as our everyday World Cafe buffet--which will not be available to you lot) and retained there till after our ceremony which you will only be able to see on the tv. Thank you for your cooperation." Would this statement affect your booking? Maybe, maybe not. But we were promised for months in advance "a special evening event with a secret surprise (a Norwegian singer probably 90% of the passengers had never heard of) just for our valued passengers".. And, as Forrest once said, "and that's all I have to say about that". Now Hong Kong has been an event. As Wagnerite correctly stated, we have some obstacles to overcome due to being docked in the Outback but will go more into our Hong Kong adventures a bit later.:cool:

 

Jim, you have hit it on the head, as usual. Yes, that kind of statement would indeed be transparency. And of course they would never make it, because people would immediately go looking for another WC. And therein lies the rub. If there is something you are not willing to be transparent about, it should not be done. There are many other ways to have accomplished this naming. But when you put your passengers second, you are going to lose your base. Viking take note. This is not acceptable. We will keep our 2019 WC booking for now. We love the route, and there will not be a naming ceremony. But Viking beware, we wil be watching...

[Twitchly]

FYI, the singer at the event was Sissel.

She is a world famous soprano! I have three of her albums. She is a very big deal in music world.

Here is a song from one of her concerts, she dedicated to saliors she knew in Norway and on all ships.

 

Peace, over and out. :cool:

 

 

Wow, beautiful voice! She sang at the off-site dinner? Impressive.

[Jim Avery]

Wow, beautiful voice! She sang at the off-site dinner? Impressive.

No, she sang at the event we watched on tv.

[Wagnerite]

No, she sang at the event we watched on tv.

 

I googled her and she is a “crossover soprano” which basically means a classically trained singer who sings pop.

[BruceLovesSailing]

Viking Sun -Ship Cam

 

I just discovered that Viking has a panoramic camera on the Sun.

They have recorded panoramic photos about every 30 minutes since Los Angeles. It is a way for us voyeurs not on the WC to follow along.

 

Go to Vikingoceans.com

Select “SHIPS”

Select “Viking Sun”

Scroll down to “Viking Sun Ship Cam” and click on the picture.

This will give access to a variety of options for looking at past photos.

 

Enjoy

[BruceLovesSailing]

After exploring the Sun Cam further, I found out the archives go all the way back to the shipyard in Italy.

[TrapperZimmy]

Hey Jim, how about if you and Lois stand in front of the camera for about half an hour so all your SeaDream friends can see you.

[Jim Avery]

Hey Jim, how about if you and Lois stand in front of the camera for about half an hour so all your SeaDream friends can see you.

Camera? We have a camera?? No evidence. Don't need any evidence if you please....:cool: Say hello to Zimmy. Y'all having Spring yet? Oh right, Chicago..... Spring will be in June right? All the best,

J & L :tropical-drink:

[Jim Avery]

I am sort of behind on notes. Seems like we have been amazingly busy. China was spectacular and beyond what I expected. They are far ahead of most places in building, architecture, and economy with people everywhere bustling about. Seems to be quite a prosperous place. I guess us buying most of our stuff from them helps. So, Hong Kong was a blast. I of course had seen videos, movies, books, etc. on Hong Kong all my life but had no conception of how vast and spread out it is. In my mind it was a crowded compact place with Macau just across the harbor. Wrong again! Macau is some 40 miles from the middle of HK and HK/Kowloon is spread out all over the place. We lucked out in that one of our new pals on the ship retired from Publix grocery chain where he was in charge of buying housewares and other items and has been to China 62 times! He became our tour director for a group of 8 of us and led us at a blistering pace. We took the underground trains, busses, taxis, Star Ferry all like locals. The trains are really intuitive and efficient. The trick is knowing where the entries to the stations are. Some are easily visible but others might be in an underground parking area at a mall so local knowledge saves lots of time. We took off on the trains to central HK hiked about a bit then caught the 6 bus to Stanley. A really nice twisty scenic drive over the mountain to the Stanley Market. Mooched about the alleyways finding treasures at great prices then ended up at Smuggler's Pub on HK Beach for beer and lunch. A dive type bar but good food, beer, and friendly staff. Overall, all the public we were around were friendly towards us. We felt very safe everywhere we went in China. After lunch taxis to the Conrad with a trip down to the high end mall below. After stocking up on junk at the grocery (amazing how you miss M&Ms and pretzels) we hiked to the Star Ferry over to Kowloon side. Ended at the Ladies Night Market which seems to have near give away prices on tons of stuff you just have to have. We must have travelled hundreds of miles........At least that is how our feet felt but a great day in HK. Of course that is such a tiny bit of what is available in the HK area. It would take a year to feel like we really "knew" Hong Kong. Thanks to Stu and Lisa for their great help herding the rookies around. ;p

[Jim Avery]

Yesterday we stopped in at Haikou on Hainan Island. Another rapidly building area but with a more spacious feel and less hectic pace than Shanghai and Hong Kong. The shuttle dropped us in the Old Town area which was full of interesting old buildings full of small shops and various eateries. A drizzly day but not so much as to stop us. After a few hours doing walkabout we found a restaurant up one floor that had an owner that managed to communicate a bit of what each dish was. I like trying new food but really like to know at least a bit about what is in it. We had quite a few dishes that were very flavorful and filled us up. One beef, one shrimp, one ground "mystery meat" in a fried wrapper similar to a spring roll but much meatier. It was so good we had a second order. After that walked off some calories and managed to escape a jewelry store because all the bracelets were a bit too short for Western wrists. Saved again!:eek: Today is a much welcomed sea day enroute to Viet Nam. Supposed to be 95F or so in Viet Nam. Back to the tropics. I think we all enjoyed the cool weather in China but no more cool till probably London. Hard to believe we are down to only 51 days left. We have some very port intensive stretches coming up so time will fly by even faster. More from Viet Nam in a couple of days. :cool:

[stretchcruz]

Awww wow!!! Wow!! ...is all I have to say. Fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing and keeping this going.

[Eaches]

Yesterday we stopped in at Haikou on Hainan Island. Another rapidly building area but with a more spacious feel and less hectic pace than Shanghai and Hong Kong. The shuttle dropped us in the Old Town area which was full of interesting old buildings full of small shops and various eateries. A drizzly day but not so much as to stop us. After a few hours doing walkabout we found a restaurant up one floor that had an owner that managed to communicate a bit of what each dish was. I like trying new food but really like to know at least a bit about what is in it. We had quite a few dishes that were very flavorful and filled us up. One beef, one shrimp, one ground "mystery meat" in a fried wrapper similar to a spring roll but much meatier. It was so good we had a second order. After that walked off some calories and managed to escape a jewelry store because all the bracelets were a bit too short for Western wrists. Saved again!:eek: Today is a much welcomed sea day enroute to Viet Nam. Supposed to be 95F or so in Viet Nam. Back to the tropics. I think we all enjoyed the cool weather in China but no more cool till probably London. Hard to believe we are down to only 51 days left. We have some very port intensive stretches coming up so time will fly by even faster. More from Viet Nam in a couple of days. :cool:

 

Jim,

Sorry I was going to add additional photos but we must be limiting output . Will try later ! Good photos

 

 

 

 

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[deec]

Haikou was great. City was so very welcoming. There was a concert and puppet show put on by local citizens in the park and we were told they had been practicing for 3 months. Our tour guide sang a song on our return ride to the ship. Some of the guides even exchanged money for us since some of the merchants did not want USD (understandably ) and credit cards were not accepted. Perhaps Eaches has some photos of the bronze statues that were on the street.

Viking has done a great job with shuttles except in Hong Kong where our location was not the greatest!

[Eaches]

Haikou was great. City was so very welcoming. There was a concert and puppet show put on by local citizens in the park and we were told they had been practicing for 3 months. Our tour guide sang a song on our return ride to the ship. Some of the guides even exchanged money for us since some of the merchants did not want USD (understandably ) and credit cards were not accepted. Perhaps Eaches has some photos of the bronze statues that were on the street.

Viking has done a great job with shuttles except in Hong Kong where our location was not the greatest!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Jim Avery]

Great pix! Lots of good photo ops in that Old Town area.

[Eaches]

Great pix! Lots of good photo ops in that Old Town area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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