Viking Orion Alaska and the Inside Passage

[jasardeax]

Currently on the Orion. 
Alaska and the Inside Passage

 

Embarkation was a breeze on

Tuesday. Got a negative 

Anti-Gen test in Vancouver on

Monday (5/2). Check-in person hardly looked at it. It did have Negative in huge block letters on the hard copy we showed. 
We were on the ship by

10:30 Am. An announcement that all cabins were ready came on at 12 noon!

Only 485 people on board!!

 

We booked a GTY cabin, and received a DV, about midship. 
Cabin, as expected, was exactly like the cabins we hade on 3 previous VO cruises   

Lots of hits and misses, regarding food and service so far. I will detail later. 
 

Weather has been great, and surprisingly warm to this point.(in Skagway now)

[Jjg34219]

Looking forward to your input. We are doing our first VO cruise in August Seward to Vancouver…enjoy!

[jasardeax]

So far we have had dinner at;

 

The Restaurant- 2 nights. 
Menu choice and quality were

good. Sea bass was a big hit. 

 

The Chefs Table - 2 nights

Had the Asian menu for the first dinner. Consisted of

chilled crab (excellent)

dumplings (good)

duck (very good)

We had no problem snagging a second reservation. This was the California Cuisine dinner. Very good overall with an excellent halibut as the main course. 

 

Manfredi’s - 1 night

Even though our experience with Manfredi’s had not been good on 3 previous cruises, we decided to give it another try. We were once again disappointed. This time with

chewy tasteless veal and dry 

bream. This is our 6th trip to Manfredi’s, over 4 cruises. We have ordered almost everything on the menu, and have been dissatisfied, to varying degrees, each time. 

[Jjg34219]

How have the shore excursion choices been?

[SJD117]

20 minutes ago, jasardeax said:

So far we have had dinner at;

 

The Restaurant- 2 nights. 
Menu choice and quality were

good. Sea bass was a big hit. 

 

The Chefs Table - 2 nights

Had the Asian menu for the first dinner. Consisted of

chilled crab (excellent)

dumplings (good)

duck (very good)

We had no problem snagging a second reservation. This was the California Cuisine dinner. Very good overall with an excellent halibut as the main course. 

 

Manfredi’s - 1 night

Even though our experience with Manfredi’s had not been good on 3 previous cruises, we decided to give it another try. We were once again disappointed. This time with

chewy tasteless veal and dry 

bream. This is our 6th trip to Manfredi’s, over 4 cruises. We have ordered almost everything on the menu, and have been dissatisfied, to varying degrees, each time. 

I’ve been on five Viking cruises, and I don’t believe I’ve ever ordered beef or veal. My tastes run toward chicken, fish, and anything ethnic.

[jasardeax]

With only 485 mostly old passengers 

onboard, the vibe on the ship has been very laid back. 
Shows and lounge guitarist/singer have been entertaining. 
The crew, for the most part, have been doing an excellent job. Few minor missteps, toiletries not restocked in bath, bed made with still damp sheets out of the dryer too soon, wrong drinks delivered to our table. These missteps were resolved quickly. 
 

Spitting in a tube every morning, not pleasant, but not

that big an inconvenience. 

[RMMcC]

We are on the Orions next north bound and am curious about any highlight shore excursions or event on board.  Sorry about your Manfredi's experiences we have been looking forward to the much touted rib eye steak .... Great to hear the weather has been warm .... This will be our first Viking cruise so any other comments or suggestions would be appreciated.  

[jasardeax]

16 hours ago, Jjg34219 said:

How have the shore excursion choices been?

Many shore excursions offered at each port. Great variety from Sea Plane tours, very active tours like zip lining, 4x4’s, Kayaking, to easier tours like railroad ride, general sightseeing, etc. 

Most tours have been available, even for late booking. 

[jasardeax]

Not really doing a detailed trip report, but if there is anything you would like to know about the cruise or the ship, I will try to answer. 
In Icy Straight Point today. 
Supposed to be 53 degrees by noon. Just doing the included excursion, “Hoonah on your Own” today. 

[duquephart]

Whale watching out of Icy Point, if they stiil have it, is excellent.

[Camden lady]

2 hours ago, jasardeax said:

Many shore excursions offered at each port. Great variety from Sea Plane tours, very active tours like zip lining, 4x4’s, Kayaking, to easier tours like railroad ride, general sightseeing, etc. 

Most tours have been available, even for late booking. 

Sea Plane trip to Misty Fjord is fantastic.  We used Sea Wind Aviation and Steve was fantastic.  We booked outside of the cruise and they picked us up at dock and brought us right back after the flight.  

 

[Clay Clayton]

18 hours ago, RMMcC said:

We are on the Orions next north bound and am curious about any highlight shore excursions or event on board.  Sorry about your Manfredi's experiences we have been looking forward to the much touted rib eye steak .... Great to hear the weather has been warm .... This will be our first Viking cruise so any other comments or suggestions would be appreciated.  

If you haven’t already, this thread provides lots of information: 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/page/62/#comment-62141739

[nanabeth]

We're doing Seward to Vancouver in August. Looking for recommendations for the best excursion to see brown bears in the wild.

[jasardeax]

Icy Straight Point yesterday. 
Gondolas were fun. Great picture taking ops. 
Sailed past Hubbard Glacier this morning, spectacular!

 

Sea Day, but ship still feels empty with only 485 aboard. 

[doobee55]

We will be on the next northbound sailing. Looking at the route into Valdez across Prince William Sound, I am wondering if it is worth it to then also to take a 6-hour boat excursion to the Columbia Glacier from Valdez? I read that Prince William Sound is spectacular and wonder if we will see some of that anyway from the Orion.

[jasardeax]

On 5/10/2022 at 1:07 PM, doobee55 said:

We will be on the next northbound sailing. Looking at the route into Valdez across Prince William Sound, I am wondering if it is worth it to then also to take a 6-hour boat excursion to the Columbia Glacier from Valdez? I read that Prince William Sound is spectacular and wonder if we will see some of that anyway from the Orion.

Cruising through Prince William Sound was very picturesque. Get up early to enjoy it. 
The Columbia Glacier excursion should be spectacular. 
We didn’t take it and just did 

Valdez on your own. 
3 interesting museums shuttle bus between them, or not a difficult walk. 

[duquephart]

The excursion to Wrangell-St. Elias was very nice. Maybe not offered?

[jasardeax]

We are back from this voyage. 
Overall experience was very good, and we thought that overall, the service from the crew was just as good as previous 3 VO cruises. Only 485 passengers onboard. 
 

The daily testing requirement was only a slight inconvenience, and it was easy to fall into this morning routine. 
 

Food was, as usual, very good. 
For us the Chefs Table stood our (dined there 4 times), The Restaurant had some hits and misses, but mostly hits.Manfredi’s was, once again, disappointing. 
 

Excursions were varied, and appeared to be very well run. 
The ones we were on were fun and a decent value. Didn’t do any seaplane ones, but several couples we talked to raved about them. 
 

Entertainment in the Star Theater, the lounge, Explorers Lounge, and Atrium was good. 
 

Mask wearing was, I would estimate, less than 10%, and brings up the only real negative of this cruise. We were “mask shamed” on two different occasions. 
Once in the Star Theater, when we were just being seated, by a group of 2 couples behind us. 

One of the men said very loudly,
“Oh God, here comes those two with the face diapers on”

The rest of the group responded with uproarious laughter. 
The other time was in the elevator with 2 women who felt it was necessary to confront me and tell me that face masks did no good and I was misinformed if I believed otherwise. I didn’t respond to either occurrence. Why do people feel it’s OK to act that way. If I choose to wear a mask how does that distract from their cruise experience?

Anyway, in spite of these two occasions, we found our shipmates to be a very friendly group of interesting travelers. 
 

 

[Azulann]

Thank  you for your  review of your Alaska Cruise. 

 

 Sorry you had to run into the 6  rude passengers out of 485. Cannot believe some cruisers act like they are in middle school. 

 

Did this cruise seem to have more seafood than normal? Seeing it was in Alaskan watesr I wold think seafood  would be abundant  on every menu. 

 

[jasardeax]

1 hour ago, Azulann said:

Thank  you for your  review of your Alaska Cruise. 

 

 Sorry you had to run into the 6  rude passengers out of 485. Cannot believe some cruisers act like they are in middle school. 

 

Did this cruise seem to have more seafood than normal? Seeing it was in Alaskan watesr I wold think seafood  would be abundant  on every menu. 

 

Norwegian Salmon only. 
But, excellent halibut and sea bass were on the menu in various forms several times. 
Great halibut was the main entree on one of the Chefs table menus. 
Also Dover sole, soft crab appetizer, and seafood chowder. 
There was a destination menu one evening in the Restaurant that featured sea bass. 
No king crab legs or Dungeness crab. Plenty available on shore. 

[duquephart]

Sea bass = Toothfish.

[Jjg34219]

1 hour ago, jasardeax said:

Norwegian Salmon only. 
But, excellent halibut and sea bass were on the menu in various forms several times. 
Great halibut was the main entree on one of the Chefs table menus. 
Also Dover sole, soft crab appetizer, and seafood chowder. 
There was a destination menu one evening in the Restaurant that featured sea bass. 
No king crab legs or Dungeness crab. Plenty available on shore. 

No crab is interesting! 

[sabrefan]

Jasardeax, thank you for your review. Going on this same cruise departing Vancouver of June 12th. So sorry to hear you had to put up with ignorant people who must have gotten the memo that the virus has disappeared. Maybe they had not lost any family members to this terrible disease. Going to Vancouver a few days before the cruise so just hoping our antigen tests the day before the cruise goes okay so we can board with no problems. I don’t know if you flew in from the U.S. to Vancouver but since I know Canada has tighter rules around covid, did passengers on the plane have to wear masks? I hope they do.

[jasardeax]

8 minutes ago, sabrefan said:

Jasardeax, thank you for your review. Going on this same cruise departing Vancouver of June 12th. So sorry to hear you had to put up with ignorant people who must have gotten the memo that the virus has disappeared. Maybe they had not lost any family members to this terrible disease. Going to Vancouver a few days before the cruise so just hoping our antigen tests the day before the cruise goes okay so we can board with no problems. I don’t know if you flew in from the U.S. to Vancouver but since I know Canada has tighter rules around covid, did passengers on the plane have to wear masks? I hope they do.

The last leg of our flight was from LAX to Vancouver via

United. They announced on board that masks were optional to wear, but just before we landed in Vancouver they reminded everyone that a mask must be worn in the terminal. 
We stayed in Vancouver for a couple of nights on our own 

Pre cruise, and got an

Antigen test in Vancouver the day before boarding. 
Loved Vancouver. 
Best wishes for a great cruise!

[Clay Clayton]

7 hours ago, jasardeax said:

We are back from this voyage. 
Overall experience was very good, and we thought that overall, the service from the crew was just as good as previous 3 VO cruises. Only 485 passengers onboard. 
 

The daily testing requirement was only a slight inconvenience, and it was easy to fall into this morning routine. 
 

Food was, as usual, very good. 
For us the Chefs Table stood our (dined there 4 times), The Restaurant had some hits and misses, but mostly hits.Manfredi’s was, once again, disappointing. 
 

Excursions were varied, and appeared to be very well run. 
The ones we were on were fun and a decent value. Didn’t do any seaplane ones, but several couples we talked to raved about them. 
 

Entertainment in the Star Theater, the lounge, Explorers Lounge, and Atrium was good. 
 

Mask wearing was, I would estimate, less than 10%, and brings up the only real negative of this cruise. We were “mask shamed” on two different occasions. 
Once in the Star Theater, when we were just being seated, by a group of 2 couples behind us. 

One of the men said very loudly,
“Oh God, here comes those two with the face diapers on”

The rest of the group responded with uproarious laughter. 
The other time was in the elevator with 2 women who felt it was necessary to confront me and tell me that face masks did no good and I was misinformed if I believed otherwise. I didn’t respond to either occurrence. Why do people feel it’s OK to act that way. If I choose to wear a mask how does that distract from their cruise experience?

Anyway, in spite of these two occasions, we found our shipmates to be a very friendly group of interesting travelers. 
 

 

Thanks for the review. It appears that some of the service issues which plagued Orion on her trips to Alaska May have been overcome. Did you have any instances of poor or slow service?