Unfortunately, that's one and done for us.

[Blackduck59]

Like I said it's almost like Orion is traveling under it's own black cloud. The weather has been nice although showering the last couple of days. Last time she was here it was blowing a gale and it took 2 tugs to help her berth. The day before she arrived it was a gorgeous sunshiny day and clear views of the Olympic mountains and Mount Baker.

Hopefully you will get a nice sunrise when you do your approach and transit of The Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver. Viking seems to manage to do the famous bridges (Lions Gate, Golden Gate) in the dark. So many things are about timing. I use the term "situational awareness" it is a valuable tool for those that have it.

[rbslos18]

14 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

I could have written this from the week before!  
Prepare for the disparaging comments to begin, but you are not alone.

 

I hope there are not disparaging comments. Too often there is blind loyalty to our favorite cruise lines and products. There clearly is a noteworthy consistency in the criticism of the Orion experience. My guess is due to the pandemic there are staffing issues impacting the quality of the product.

 

Our first Viking cruise in the Mediterranean last December was a totally different experience. This does not negate what you experienced. It was the finest cruise experience that we have had on a Premium or Luxury line. None of the issues raised were experienced but we were on the Sky. And our ship had 270 passengers. I can't imagine that Viking does not monitor this board and hopefully the issues raised will be addressed. It might be worth giving Viking a second look down the road after Viking has time to hire new staff and to train them.  While I do not question or doubt any concerns raised, my experience suggests there is the capacity to provide a first rate cruise experience.

[Azulann]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

Like I said it's almost like Orion is traveling under it's own black cloud.

Something is not up to par beyond the terrible weather, I agree 

I was on the Orion in July 2021 for the first time . It was one of the Welcome Back   Bermuda cruise. I was blown away by the officers who were out and about everyday, interacting with the passengers , asking for feedback, answering questions. We had about 340 passengers 

I remember the executive chef, Gary  Potiphar, stopped by our table in the Restaurant to ask how our meal was! We talked about desserts etc. Saw beverage manager ,Jasna Randelovic ,walking through  the Aquavit bar area inside and out  talking to passengers every day. . Same with Game Dejan, Restaurant manager on his morning walks around he ship.

I was duly impressed by Wendy Gouws, general manager. She and two  of her assailants were walking around outside the World Cafe seating area. I was sitting in the shade reading book. It was about 11:00 am.. It was in the 80's every day in Bermuda. She greeted me. and those at another table. Then I heard her tell one of her assistants that she wanted a waiter to bring water in the blues glass to everyone sitting out by infinity pool during the day. About ten minutes later, here comes a waiter doing exactly that simple task.

 I kept the Viking daily that listed the listed the officers and their pictures. I was so impressed. Never did that before in all my cruises. 

I do know the  staff does move from ship to ship and each get two months off between contracts. Hope  I run into those great crew members again on my future Viking cruises. 

The individual  waiters, bartenders and cabin attendants  I interacted  with were  superb on this sailing. 

Sorry  many of you had the exact opposite on Orion doing the Pacific Coastal cruise.

Hope things  improve for the Alaska cruises  coming up.

 

Edited May 1, 2022 by Azulann

[jtwind]

I may also be one and done.  On almost every excursion, Viking people made their own crowd.  They'd have 5 buses going to the same place at the same time.  Museums were packed with Viking people.

[Squawkman]

18 minutes ago, jtwind said:

I may also be one and done.  On almost every excursion, Viking people made their own crowd.  They'd have 5 buses going to the same place at the same time.  Museums were packed with Viking people.

I think that’s an exaggeration. In my past 6 VO and VR cruises (2 post Covid), I have never seen more than around 50 people on an excursion bus. So you’re saying 300 Viking people were “packing” museums? 

[jtwind]

Yes.  We were always in the same areas within the museums.

[Blackduck59]

Well I thought I would share this as part of my one and done reasoning. I did a quick comparison for our next adventure. Which is New England/East Coast Canada. The closest comparison I could do was a 13 night Viking (with 2 overnights) compared to an 11 night on HAL (No overnights).  The price for the Viking Cruise is $8,999.00 per person in a deluxe veranda, making it $17,998.00 per couple. To contrast the HAL cruise we booked was $5,542.50 per person for a vista suite (similar to a penthouse veranda on Viking) making it $11,085.00 per couple, that's almost $7,000.00 difference. The cruise we booked was with "have it all" pricing which includes a beverage package, Wi Fi, and 1 dinner for each of us in The Pinnacle Grill and Canaletto, these reservations can be made in advance so we shouldn't have to beg to get a table before 8:00 o'clock which is well past an appropriate dining hour for my diabetic wife. There are also excursion credits.

Just for argument's sake the beverage package on HAL is for drinks up to $11.00 in any venue at anytime. This includes spirits and specialty coffees (with or without liquor), not just beer and wine during meal hours.

For a variety of reasons we are unable to use the thermal suite so that "included in the fare" perk on Viking is lost on us.

I must admit Zaandam is a much older ship but not much bigger than Viking Star but Zaandam has a higher passenger capacity.

So with the difference in the fare we can pay for our flights, an overnight in Boston pre cruise a couple nights in Montreal post cruise as well as our train fare to Ottawa with a couple nights there before we fly home.

Like I said we wanted to be wowed by Viking and we weren't, as it turns out we weren't the only ones who were not happy with their Viking Orion experience, and that was on all 3 of the Pacific Coastal cruises that were completed before the start of the Alaska season.

Edited May 7, 2022 by Blackduck59

[duquephart]

No pom poms for you.

[CurlerRob]

11 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

Well I thought I would share this as part of my one and done reasoning. I did a quick comparison for our next adventure. Which is New England/East Coast Canada. The closest comparison I could do was a 13 night Viking (with 2 overnights) compared to an 11 night on HAL (No overnights).  The price for the Viking Cruise is $8,999.00 per person in a deluxe veranda, making it $17,998.00 per couple. To contrast the HAL cruise we booked was $5,542.50 per person for a vista suite (similar to a penthouse veranda on Viking) making it $11,085.00 per couple, that's almost $7,000.00 difference. The cruise we booked was with "have it all" pricing which includes a beverage package, Wi Fi, and 1 dinner for each of us in The Pinnacle Grill and Canaletto, these reservations can be made in advance so we shouldn't have to beg to get a table before 8:00 o'clock which is well past an appropriate dining hour for my diabetic wife. There are also excursion credits.

Just for argument's sake the beverage package on HAL is for drinks up to $11.00 in any venue at anytime. This includes spirits and specialty coffees (with or without liquor), not just beer and wine during meal hours.

For a variety of reasons we are unable to use the thermal suite so that "included in the fare" perk on Viking is lost on us.

I must admit Zaandam is a much older ship but not much bigger than Viking Star but Zaandam has a higher passenger capacity.

So with the difference in the fare we can pay for our flights, an overnight in Boston pre cruise a couple nights in Montreal post cruise as well as our train fare to Ottawa with a couple nights there before we fly home.

Like I said we wanted to be wowed by Viking and we weren't, as it turns out we weren't the only ones who were not happy with their Viking Orion experience, and that was on all 3 of the Pacific Coastal cruises that were completed before the start of the Alaska season.

 

@Blackduck59 I understand and respect your opinions regarding Viking's value equation as it applies to you, but I'd like to draw your attention to a few items in your current post.
 

A HAL Vista Suite is not comparable to a Viking Penthouse Verandah. If you are unfamiliar with HAL, you may have been misled by their statement that Vista Suites on Zaandam are 297-379 sq ft. There are only a couple of Vista Suites that are 379 sq ft and they are all reserved for pax needing accessible cabins. We found the Viking DV cabins virtually identical in size to the HAL Vista Suite - the tradeoffs were more storage on HAL (closet location and desk drawers) versus the much-lauded larger bathroom on Viking. The better comparison to a Viking PV would be a HAL Signature Suite, but Zaandam does not have them.
 

The included internet service level in your HAL promotion is quite bare bones. Our experience with  HAL's internet is that it is notoriously slow and frequently MIA. Even the costly upgrade didn't help. Viking's service (in 2019) was outstanding by comparison, but I note more grumbling about it since the restart. If connectivity is not a big issue for you, then this is not a major concern.
 

The Pinnacle Grill is HAL's steak and seafood venue. If you happen to want to go a second time, the cost will be $92 USD per couple. Canaletto is not a separate restaurant, it is a part of the Lido portioned off in the evening. Cost for a second visit will be $45 USD. Book your included visits as soon as you can - both venues will fill up and you'll suffer from the same timing problems your mentioned.
 

Your drink package is superior to the included Viking option in that it's available at any time, not just meals. Note that the 'cap' pricing is really not comparable. HAL's per drink charges are higher than Viking's - as an example, when we last sailed, a basic beer on Viking was $5 US (gratuity included), while HAL was about $8.25 US. As long as you find libations to your taste in the HAL package (which is likely), you'll benefit from the broader availability.
 

Lastly, when converted to a daily cost, I calculate Viking as about 38% more expensive, or $4150 for an 11-day comparison. That's not trivial, and doesn't negate your point about what can be done with the extra funds, but it's a bit more accurate.

 

If this will be your first HAL experience, I hope you enjoy it! 🍺🥌

[Blackduck59]

@CurlerRob Thank you for your valuable observations.

While I may be wrong about the cabin comparison in my post, the price comparison was Vista Suite in Zaandam to Deluxe veranda in Viking ocean so that comparison is still valid. As a matter of fact we could have booked a Neptune suite with "have it all" for less than the cost of a Veranda cabin in Viking Ocean. 

For the drinks package I have looked at the bar lists and pretty much everything I want fits under the price cap including Grahams 6 grapes port. There is an interesting story around that port on our one and only Viking Voyage. @Heidi13had mentioned I should ask for it as nice finish to a good meal. So thinking it would be readily available wherever drinks are served in Orion. I asked for it in Explorers lounge and was promptly told that it was only available in "Chef's Table" I thought okay I'll get it when we go to chef's table. I assumed wrongly that getting a reservation at Chef's table would not be a problem...WRONG. So after we finally got our one "Guaranteed" reservation for Manfredi's I thought I would ask for the port there (being so close to Chef's Table) and imagine my surprise when the wine steward came with a brand new bottle and made a full pour which I tasted and he topped up. I was impressed, he got a nice cash gratuity. We didn't have Silver Spirits and I was surprised when the charge was only $7.00 on our account (well worth the price). So we managed to get our "Guaranteed" dinner in Chef's Table for what was our last night on the cruise. The "included in the fare" port was Sandeman, so I asked for the 6 Grapes as a replacement. After quite a long delay someone came to me and said that port was only available by the bottle. I didn't bother getting into the fact that I got it by the glass next door the night before (I didn't want to get the excellent wine steward in trouble).

For the specialty dining, it's all well and nice that they are "Included in the fare" but if you want to dine before 8:00 good luck to you getting you "Guaranteed" reservation let alone more than once. I can book my specialty dining in advance and once for each is enough for us. Of course if we booked the Neptune Suite (priced less than a veranda on Viking) the specialty dining rules are different.

We took a chance on Viking, paid a premium price and didn't receive value for our dollar. We'll take a chance on HAL and see what happens and hope we receive an experience that is appropriate for the price we paid.

[takemewithyou]

@Blackduck59

You are going to love the Neptune suite!  They are very spacious and the veranda is also very large.  Enjoy! 

[Heidi13]

21 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

@CurlerRob Thank you for your valuable observations.

While I may be wrong about the cabin comparison in my post, the price comparison was Vista Suite in Zaandam to Deluxe veranda in Viking ocean so that comparison is still valid. As a matter of fact we could have booked a Neptune suite with "have it all" for less than the cost of a Veranda cabin in Viking Ocean. 

For the drinks package I have looked at the bar lists and pretty much everything I want fits under the price cap including Grahams 6 grapes port. There is an interesting story around that port on our one and only Viking Voyage. @Heidi13had mentioned I should ask for it as nice finish to a good meal. So thinking it would be readily available wherever drinks are served in Orion. I asked for it in Explorers lounge and was promptly told that it was only available in "Chef's Table" I thought okay I'll get it when we go to chef's table. I assumed wrongly that getting a reservation at Chef's table would not be a problem...WRONG. So after we finally got our one "Guaranteed" reservation for Manfredi's I thought I would ask for the port there (being so close to Chef's Table) and imagine my surprise when the wine steward came with a brand new bottle and made a full pour which I tasted and he topped up. I was impressed, he got a nice cash gratuity. We didn't have Silver Spirits and I was surprised when the charge was only $7.00 on our account (well worth the price). So we managed to get our "Guaranteed" dinner in Chef's Table for what was our last night on the cruise. The "included in the fare" port was Sandeman, so I asked for the 6 Grapes as a replacement. After quite a long delay someone came to me and said that port was only available by the bottle. I didn't bother getting into the fact that I got it by the glass next door the night before (I didn't want to get the excellent wine steward in trouble).

For the specialty dining, it's all well and nice that they are "Included in the fare" but if you want to dine before 8:00 good luck to you getting you "Guaranteed" reservation let alone more than once. I can book my specialty dining in advance and once for each is enough for us. Of course if we booked the Neptune Suite (priced less than a veranda on Viking) the specialty dining rules are different.

We took a chance on Viking, paid a premium price and didn't receive value for our dollar. We'll take a chance on HAL and see what happens and hope we receive an experience that is appropriate for the price we paid.

 

Wow, you really didn't experience the Viking level of service, which is most unfortunate. The 6-Grapes wasn't available in all the bars, but they normally send an employee off to score a bottle, if not in stock at that particular bar.

 

After a few days, each bar had a bottle of 6-Grapes with my name on it.

[Messybill]

On 4/22/2022 at 4:16 PM, Jim Avery said:

Viking crew personality and service have been the best thing about Viking.  It sounds like not only are there lots of new crew training but with the lower passenger loads I bet there are cuts to staffing going on.  Most other lines (and businesses) reduce staff when business levels decline.  Passenger loads pre covid were near full for most cruises.  Not so much now.  

 

We are on Jupiter now in Norway.  The service and the food are just as good as they were before Covid.  The staff are happy to be back and to be re-employed and that shows.  We anticipated some issues given what we have read on CC, but in fact other that the testing fiasco, we see everything as back to normal. We are very happy to find that.

 

[Messybill]

14 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

Well I thought I would share this as part of my one and done reasoning. I did a quick comparison for our next adventure. Which is New England/East Coast Canada. The closest comparison I could do was a 13 night Viking (with 2 overnights) compared to an 11 night on HAL (No overnights).  The price for the Viking Cruise is $8,999.00 per person in a deluxe veranda, making it $17,998.00 per couple. To contrast the HAL cruise we booked was $5,542.50 per person for a vista suite (similar to a penthouse veranda on Viking) making it $11,085.00 per couple, that's almost $7,000.00 difference. The cruise we booked was with "have it all" pricing which includes a beverage package, Wi Fi, and 1 dinner for each of us in The Pinnacle Grill and Canaletto, these reservations can be made in advance so we shouldn't have to beg to get a table before 8:00 o'clock which is well past an appropriate dining hour for my diabetic wife. There are also excursion credits.

Just for argument's sake the beverage package on HAL is for drinks up to $11.00 in any venue at anytime. This includes spirits and specialty coffees (with or without liquor), not just beer and wine during meal hours.

For a variety of reasons we are unable to use the thermal suite so that "included in the fare" perk on Viking is lost on us.

I must admit Zaandam is a much older ship but not much bigger than Viking Star but Zaandam has a higher passenger capacity.

So with the difference in the fare we can pay for our flights, an overnight in Boston pre cruise a couple nights in Montreal post cruise as well as our train fare to Ottawa with a couple nights there before we fly home.

Like I said we wanted to be wowed by Viking and we weren't, as it turns out we weren't the only ones who were not happy with their Viking Orion experience, and that was on all 3 of the Pacific Coastal cruises that were completed before the start of the Alaska season.

 

Enjoy the screaming kids and the casino

 

[takemewithyou]

1 minute ago, Messybill said:

 

Enjoy the screaming kids and the casino

 

Screaming kids on Holland America?  Have never seen that…..sorry.

[Messybill]

5 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Screaming kids on Holland America?  Have never seen that…..sorry.

Dogs bark.  Children scream.

[Jim Avery]

11 minutes ago, takemewithyou said:

Screaming kids on Holland America?  Have never seen that…..sorry.

Haha, take HAL out of San Diego for Mexico and you will...😱

[takemewithyou]

5 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Haha, take HAL out of San Diego for Mexico and you will...😱

I have.  I don’t cruise during school  vacation time, though, and I don’t do 7 day cruises.  Mine was a longer Sea of Cortez cruise.

Edited May 7, 2022 by takemewithyou

[SJD117]

45 minutes ago, Messybill said:

 

We are on Jupiter now in Norway.  The service and the food are just as good as they were before Covid.  The staff are happy to be back and to be re-employed and that shows.  We anticipated some issues given what we have read on CC, but in fact other that the testing fiasco, we see everything as back to normal. We are very happy to find that.

 

That was our experience, too, on our recent Viking transatlantic cruise. The food and service were superb. Other than testing, there was no discernable difference between that trip and our last pre-pandemic cruise with Viking in February-March 2020.

[CurlerRob]

2 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

@CurlerRob Thank you for your valuable observations.

While I may be wrong about the cabin comparison in my post, the price comparison was Vista Suite in Zaandam to Deluxe veranda in Viking ocean so that comparison is still valid. As a matter of fact we could have booked a Neptune suite with "have it all" for less than the cost of a Veranda cabin in Viking Ocean.       <snip>

 

You're quite welcome. My point on the cabin size was only made to ensure that you didn't receive an unwelcome surprise had you expected the HAL Vista to be the same size as a Viking PV. Your pricing was for comparable cabins.

 

I'll be interested in your view of the HAL experience - are you going this fall or 2023 (so I can watch for your review)? Cheers. 🍺🥌

[rbslos18]

17 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

I’m curious about the price differential. When I compared our initial Viking cruise with very similar Princess and  HAL cruises, I did not find the gap so wide. This was three years ago, so the gap may have grown.
 

I do hope if the itinerary is right, you will reconsider Viking. Your experience seems to have been the unfortunate perfect storm, perhaps ship specific…but an anomaly from what we have experienced. Our 2021 Mediterranean cruise was so impressive, my DW will not consider any other line.
 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2022 by rbslos18

[Blackduck59]

4 hours ago, takemewithyou said:

@Blackduck59

You are going to love the Neptune suite!  They are very spacious and the veranda is also very large.  Enjoy! 

 

Cheers, takemewithyou just to be clear we didn't book the Neptune suite, we chose a Vista suite instead. We will use the substantial savings on the cruise to cover airfare and pre/post cruise activities. I only mentioned the Neptune suites because you can book one of those for the cruise we chose for less than a veranda cabin on a similar (but less desirable for us) itinerary on Viking.

[Blackduck59]

3 hours ago, Messybill said:

 

Enjoy the screaming kids and the casino

 

 

For us the casino is simply a wide hallway on must pass through to get to the theatre. Unfortunately smoking is allowed in there so we will have to do the deck up or deck down detour for that. I've been on ships with kids and barely knew they were there. I suspect that there will be some but there really isn't anything for kids to do on Zaandam and I dare say most people travelling with kids will choose a less expensive option with many more distractions on board. If there are a bunch of kids...oh well. Maybe they will learn that Canadians don't live in igloos and Canada isn't covered in snow all year.😉

[Blackduck59]

@rbslos18The price I quoted for the HAL 11 day is from our actual invoice. The price I quoted for the Viking cruise was from Viking's website. Full disclosure the Viking voyage is 13 days but the 2 extra days are overnights so in essence a very expensive floating hotel room with included meals which many will choose to dine ashore during those long port stays.

The HAL cruise is also a more interesting itinerary for us with stops in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland. Viking only visits Nova Scotia (Halifax) and Quebec in Canada. The only places on the Viking itinerary that aren't on the HAL cruise are Gaspe, and New York.

[Blackduck59]

3 hours ago, CurlerRob said:

You're quite welcome. My point on the cabin size was only made to ensure that you didn't receive an unwelcome surprise had you expected the HAL Vista to be the same size as a Viking PV. Your pricing was for comparable cabins.

 

I'll be interested in your view of the HAL experience - are you going this fall or 2023 (so I can watch for your review)? Cheers. 🍺🥌

 

Thank you, we will be cruising on the August 23rd 2023 departure from Boston. We are hoping for a pleasant experience but the reduced cost compared to Viking gives HAL a fair amount of slack. With Viking I spent Volvo money but got a Mitsubishi experience. With HAL we are paying Subaru money and hope for a Subaru experience (We like Subaru and have a Forrester as our weekend and road trip car 😉)

Whatever our experience I will be happy to share.