Live from Viking Sky on Mediterannean & Adriatic Sojourn

[DrKoob]

6 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Thank you for taking the time to write a very honest, detailed, and long review, and for making it so well organized by various topics.   Very impressive.  

Again, I only know you from you many helpful previous posts on Cruise Critic and your knowledge of travel ins and outs and tips.

 

We've been on 4 Ocean Cruises pre-COVID and 6 post-COVID.  And there certainly is a large difference.  Some good and some not so good.  I for one appreciated the fact that, like myself, you can enjoy a cruise line and even a specific cruise for many aspects, but do have some that you wished were different or were improved.  As you said it is all about expectations.   

 

I think you will enjoy the London-Bergen cruise, which we just finished, as it likely will be completely different from what you encountered.  (Particularly as it is not the Back To Back to Back variety.  We have been on those and do agree with you vis a vis the different groups and personalities that get on board).

 

Also appreciate that you discovered the World Cafe for dinner - we feel the same as you regarding it versus The Restaurant.  And the views are spectacular.  Remember that when you go to the Fjords!  Just a tip - we would always go sit down first (before getting food), order some drinks, and then get the food.  Also, as I'm sure you may have noticed, there are certain main dishes (such as NY Steak) that you can order at the counter, and they will bring them, along with side dishes, right to your table - steaming hot!  We learned to appreciate that!   And also not having 2.5 hour meals!   

I like too, your description of comparing restaurants to ones at home and would you go back.  We do feel that way about Manfredi's (would not return).   So sorry regarding the allergies for you at Chef's Table.  That restaurant, which we enjoy sometimes, is definitely different.  Seems people either really like it or really don't like it.  My impression is that it was fantastic pre-COVD and has gone downhill and a bit tired post-COVID.  I'm wary of it now.

 

All in all - one of the best reviews I've seen written. 

Thank you again!  (from an ex-Seattleite - near UW).

Thank you so much for your kind words. Hope we run into each other on a ship someday. Our next cruise isn't for a year—Montreal to Miami on Oceania. Comparing them all.

[Mr Luxury]

Well done Koob.

A very well done review.

Would I cruise with Viking now?

It's a big No from me.

You loved the room that you had but to me it was bland and a very small bathroom with only one basin.

Food inside the restaurants was obviously way below par but seemed better in the casual outside options.

In a nutshell too many guests and not much luxury on the ship.

Never do included tours as you are much better doing your own and at your own pace.

Viking now crossed off the list.

I'll stick to Seabourn 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Mr Luxury

[xiphoid76]

3 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Well done Koob.

A very well done review.

Would I cruise with Viking now?

It's a big No from me.

You loved the room that you had but to me it was bland and a very small bathroom with only one basin.

Food inside the restaurants was obviously way below par but seemed better in the casual outside options.

In a nutshell too many guests and not much luxury on the ship.

Never do included tours as you are much better doing your own and at your own pace.

Viking now crossed off the list.

I'll stick to Seabourn 

We are sailing first time with Viking, can you elaborate more on why you won't sail with them again...will we notice any of this if we have never sailed on them before?  Appreciate your advice as we still have tie to cancel if needed.  We have sailed multiple times with Carnival, RCCL, NCL, HAL and too many with Disney so we are trying to find another line that is a little nicer 🙂

[SantaFe1]

I would never cancel a cruise I was looking forward to because of the opinion of a total stranger.  As you read through here, many people have a few things they don’t like or would change.  We do too.  But it is a lovely ship.  The service is great.  What they don’t have is the best:  no kids, casinos, photographers, etc. etc.  Viking was just voted number one again in its size class.  For the second year in a row.  Really, try it.  I’m sure you will find much to like!  And I am the pickiest of people!

[DrKoob]

39 minutes ago, xiphoid76 said:

We are sailing first time with Viking, can you elaborate more on why you won't sail with them again...will we notice any of this if we have never sailed on them before?  Appreciate your advice as we still have tie to cancel if needed.  We have sailed multiple times with Carnival, RCCL, NCL, HAL and too many with Disney so we are trying to find another line that is a little nicer 🙂

Mr. Luxury has the luxury of more funds than we do. Seabourne is a VERY expensive cruise line that caters to the Mr. Luxurys of the world. He has some things he likes that Viking doesn't. If you have salied those other lines the biggest differences are going to be:

Carnival: Not even close in terms of party atmosphere.

RCCL: Biggest difference will be no kids, no major entertainment, focus on travel and not the ship.

HAL: This is about as close as you will get to what we experience on Viking. Just less entertainment and a few kids on HAL. 

NCL:You really will get everything included. NCL says they have free this and free that but every thing they give you costs money.

[LindaS272]

4 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Well done Koob.

A very well done review.

Would I cruise with Viking now?

It's a big No from me.

You loved the room that you had but to me it was bland and a very small bathroom with only one basin.

Food inside the restaurants was obviously way below par but seemed better in the casual outside options.

In a nutshell too many guests and not much luxury on the ship.

Never do included tours as you are much better doing your own and at your own pace.

Viking now crossed off the list.

I'll stick to Seabourn 

Have you cruised with Viking before @Mr Luxury? This whole thread is one guy’s opinion on his first Viking cruise. I’ve cruised Viking several times and don’t agree with most of his assessment of what he found to be negative. But to each his own. More room for the rest of us who don’t plan to cruise with any other line.

[CCWineLover]

7 hours ago, Mr Luxury said:

Well done Koob.

A very well done review.

Would I cruise with Viking now?

It's a big No from me.

You loved the room that you had but to me it was bland and a very small bathroom with only one basin.

Food inside the restaurants was obviously way below par but seemed better in the casual outside options.

In a nutshell too many guests and not much luxury on the ship.

Never do included tours as you are much better doing your own and at your own pace.

Viking now crossed off the list.

I'll stick to Seabourn 

At least you are honest that it is your opinion.  Everyone has a different one and really, it is all about expectations.  Better that you leave and go back to Seabourn and that makes one less to compete with for those of us whose experience tells us that Viking meets our expectations and lifestyle.  Good that you recognize your preferences now.

[bottomfeeder]

I don't believe "Mr. Luxury" has sailed on Viking.  I think he was just reading Dr. Koob's review to see if he WANTED to sail on Viking, and concluded from the review that he doesn't.

[Vineyard View]

10 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Mr. Luxury has the luxury of more funds than we do. Seabourne is a VERY expensive cruise line that caters to the Mr. Luxurys of the world. He has some things he likes that Viking doesn't. If you have salied those other lines the biggest differences are going to be:

Carnival: Not even close in terms of party atmosphere.

RCCL: Biggest difference will be no kids, no major entertainment, focus on travel and not the ship.

HAL: This is about as close as you will get to what we experience on Viking. Just less entertainment and a few kids on HAL. 

NCL:You really will get everything included. NCL says they have free this and free that but every thing they give you costs money.

We are pretty big fans of Viking. We have sailed with them several times and have never been disappointed. Ever. 
We just booked our first Seabourn cruise. It was first about the itinerary - Viking did not offer a similar one - but also I would argue the price/value that was offered. They had a great summer promotion. It was actually about the same cost pp pax per day as Viking - and actually a little bit less. Yes, I crunched the numbers - - including all the perks. We booked a similar total sized stateroom (SB with balcony larger than PV on Viking resulting in larger sq). Much smaller ship  and unique ports. And yes, two sinks - but that wasn’t what sold us. Reputation of both lines sold us. 
That all said, I am reading about issues with service and food on the ship we will be sailing next year on SB…..just as I am reading with most lines post pandemic, including Viking. I will wait to see future reposts on how that shakes out as to whether we continue forward with SB, but feel that most lines will have much more experienced crew by next year post pandemic. 
I think my point is that we have not at all walked away from Viking, and I would never encourage anyone thinking about them to do so. We look at itineraries now first. Hopefully different itineraries in the future on Viking would will present themselves with new ships, and we will not hesitate to book. We are watching a few existing ones. So our new experience on SB will be a good stretch and grow and we will most assuredly sail with Viking again for a whole lot of reasons. 

[Mrs Miggins]

I think itineraries are one of the major problems with Viking in the area we want to travel in.  Their Mediterranean offerings are to places we have been to on numerous occasions   However I understand because their demographic is largely North American then these "must see" ports will appeal to first time visitors because they have heard of them and are fairly near the most well known historical sites and cities.  

[Kentishincanada]

I agree, and  I think viking will need to appeal to the adventurer in us.  It is probably difficult as they need to turn around crew, provisioning, etc., but the embarkation ports usually being Barcelona, Athens etc., are difficult if one wants to have a good pre-cruise experience somewhere new.

 

We are due to board Sky in Istanbul on 22 Oct., so I was reading your review and Dr. Koob’s with much interest.  It would have been difficult for Viking to keep up the standard without the Covid intervention.  I know that you, like us, enjoyed the Sea cruise in 2016 when everything as almost perfect.  We went on to take the Southern Atlantic Crossing in 2019 and already things were not quite as good: As an example,  the melt in the mouth steak in Manfredi’s in 2016 was thinner and sometimes half went back although the dover sole was still good and we did enjoy consistently excellent dinners in Chef’s Table.    Food is an important part of the cruise for us so I do hope we find some of that star quality from our first Viking cruise.  We certainly didn’t have the multiple server problems which are being encountered recently and always developed  a good rapport with a certain server in the restaurant.  We also enjoy the spa very much so hopefully those jets are working now.

 

We are looking to book a couple of cruises for next year and if this one does not measure up, we may look at Oceania if the itineraries are different as we have no interest in the large ships.  However, from reading the blogs, all the lines are having difficulties keeping up the standard.  In any event, I am sure that the staff on our upcoming cruise will still be Viking terrific which makes up for a lot.  
 

I will write a review when we return.

 

 

[Vineyard View]

16 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

I think itineraries are one of the major problems with Viking in the area we want to travel in.  Their Mediterranean offerings are to places we have been to on numerous occasions   However I understand because their demographic is largely North American then these "must see" ports will appeal to first time visitors because they have heard of them and are fairly near the most well known historical sites and cities.  

That pretty much sums up, given two lines with excellent reputations, why we ended up booking the  Seabourn cruise that we did. 

[SEACRUZER]

We just got off of the Viking Sky yesterday 11/19/22 on the Ionic Western Med sailing out of Barcelona.  I don't have time to read you whole post now, but you description of you experience at the main dining room on the first night echoed our experiences.  The service in all the dining areas was just off.  Thanks for your write-up; I can't wait to read more.  You get to the point where you start thinking, "maybe it's just us".  It's nice to know that it wasn't.

[Vineyard View]

Sorry to hear that. Thinking through all these threads, on a couple different lines, and I have to think that truth is, that the industry overall will do better post Covid with more positive reviews, regardless of line. 
I sure hope we all start seeing that on our multiple favored cruise lines. 

[katieaz]

Your photos are wonderful.You've made us so excited about our visit to Chioggia.  We are on the Sky in late May. We arrive at noon and are taking the Venice on Your Own which departs at 12:45PM and returns at 8:45PM.  I was hoping to hav time to go to Peggy Guggenheim and then meet a private guide who tell stories of Venice while on a walk. I would appreciate your anwering a few questions. 

• Is the trip to Venice by Boat? 
• Should we plan 90 minutes to arrive in Venice?  
• I am speculating that this means we arrive at Venice around 2:30 and depart Venice 7:00 PM. 

If this is true. I think I will need to adjust our plans to limit ourselves to the walking tour.

I can't begin to thank you for this post. The logistics of the Venice portion of our tour have been making me a bit crazy. Kathy

 

[DrKoob]

6 hours ago, katieaz said:

 

• Is the trip to Venice by Boat? 
• Should we plan 90 minutes to arrive in Venice?  
• I am speculating that this means we arrive at Venice around 2:30 and depart Venice 7:00 PM. 

If this is true. I think I will need to adjust our plans to limit ourselves to the walking tour.

 

Thanks for the compliments. You can see even more pics over on my blog at www.jimbellomo.com.

 

Yes, the trip to Venice is by boat. Are you only there for one day? We were there for three. It does take about 90 minutes to get in. Your itinerary should tell you when you will arrive in Chioggia. We were off the ship and on the boat in minutes after the ship was cleared. Of course, if you read my review, we took our luggage and stayed in the city for two nights. I would think you could do the Guggenheim fairly quickly. It's not that big a museum. Just know that when you get off the boat coming from Chioggia you will either have to walk to the Guggenheim or take the #2 vaporretto and get off at the Accademia bridge stop. Depending on the lines to get tickets, this will be faster. 

 

Feel free to ask any other questions. 

Jim