Thoughts on Viking Sky Tarragona to Civitavecchia

[Mrs Miggins]

We have just returned from the above 7 day cruise.  It is our 4th Viking Ocean cruise.  There were approx 800 passengers with about 35 from the UK.  

 

Ship:  Beautiful as ever, Spa great except not all the water jets working in the large pool.  Never fixed during the week.

We were in a DV6 3072.  Cabin great and well looked after.

Crew:  Plentiful and willing if not always quite on the ball.

Entertainment - patchy.  The 4 singers from the UK were good but there was only one "Abba show" in the Theatre, One deck party, a few songs on the Viking 25th anniversary in the Atrium on our last day timed at 8 p.m. after a promotional film.   At 9 they showed a film in the theatre. The assistant CD did a show at 8 in the Atrium but for us that is right in the middle of dinner.  There were two shows by a 'pickpocket/magician' both at 9.15.  Pretty bad we didnt go to the second show which was apparently even worse.  Great 'Night at the Opera" show by David Righeschi and Maria Salvini.  We have seen them before on Azamara.

Torshaven with Viking Band from 9 p.m. onwards was great.  Why are these talented artists seemingly locked underground ?  Most people never went to Torshaven.  On the last night they were playing their hearts out to 12 people at 11 p.m.  I know that was our last night, but many others were staying onboard.

King the Guitarist was splendid.  Playing in the Explorers Lounge at 6 p.m.  Difficult to find a seat.  He also had other sets around the ship.  Very popular.

The Classical duet in the Atrium were largely playing to an empty room.  

Excursions:  We did the included Tarragona, OK but I just wished the likeable guide would stop and draw breath occasionally.  In Sete we did an optional excursion to the Chateau Florgergues.  A tour of the house, a glimpse of the lovely gardens and a wine tasting hosted by the very engaging 10th generation owner.  Then on to Monpelier. Lovely" Place de la Comedie" main square.  Bailed out on the walking tour as wanted at least some time to drink coffee and people watch in lovely surroundings.  From Marseilles we did the optional Aix en Provence, but really just used it as a bus service  since we had been many times before we wanted to go it alone.  Really lovely town.

Monaco:  We missed, despite being anchored in the morning it was decided the tender operation could not go ahead due to wind and swell.  Many, many disappointed passengers as for some this was meant to be the highlight.  We just sailed very slowly towards our last port Livorno.  Actually the weather was lovely so an enforced sea day.   The CD read out some words to make us all feel better.  It certainly contained the words "We are Vikings, we have salt in our hair, we will go forth despite setbacks" etc etc.  Just a tad over the top!  However a game of "baggy "  crew against passengers was quickly set up and we all felt so much better.

Livorno:  Weather had turned.  The whole day tours to Florence were too much for us, as happily we have been several times before.  So we just stayed in Livorno in the morning and returned to the Spa in the afternoon.  Decided that was too boring for the last day so booked the included Pisa excursion for the last afternoon.  Sadly the weather was awful.  We had heavy rain.  The walk from the coach park was difficult for some.  We were handed over to a Tour Guide and walked around the "Piazza dei Miracoli" in the rain.  We had done this tour before with Viking pre covid and had been taken inside the Duomo and the Baptistry with an excellent guide.  This time we just stood outside.  Very poor in my opinion and the value of the included excursions seems to be diminishing.

Buses/Coaches  All very acceptable and comfortable.

Dining  Breakfast in the World Cafe :  Good choice but I wish someone would learn how to cook "English" bacon.  That awful tray of wet, pale, slices.

What do they do with it ? I asked a couple of times for some to be fried for me.  That really didnt work.  I will say the crispy bacon was often not very crispy either.

The Restaurant:  First visit was really bad.  Staff just seemed untrained.  They had difficulty with the silver spirits wine.  My husband's Chicken Kiev was huge, dry,, and contained not a hint of garlic.  We did mention this and then everybody came to apologise including the Chief Chef.  Very apologetic.  Apart from anything else it was served on a bed of wet braised cabbage.  We asked why and were told that the menus were all designed by Head Office and the Chef had no input at all.  We did visit the Restaurant later in the cruise and were served by an entirely different team and all was well.

Philip the Maitre d' in Manfredi's squeezed us in 3 times.  The restaurant did not appear busy although said to be fully booked.  Wine service was good.  Food acceptable but this is not 'Fine' Dining .  No real presentation involved.  Food was fine, not great.  Waitresses charming.

We had one visit to the Chef's Table, and despite liking it on our previous cruises, this time the menu did not really suit.  I am not a fish lover.  I did eat the some of the 'prawns' in the Oriental menu but the dessert was poor.  I am sure some of the other menus would have been fine but I really dislike the lack of choice.  I understand of course that it is a set menu.  On talking with other guests I am not alone in wishing there was at least an either/or for each course.  Again the restaurant did not seem full.

 

All in all we enjoyed our cruise but for the first time we have not booked anything else whilst onboard. 

 

[minka34]

Mrs Miggins, Thank you for the summary review.  It's great to get a flavor for your trip.  I'm sorry for some of the disappointment.  For me, in the World Cafe it's the coffee that needs an upgrade.  I feel it is sour, so I drink a lot in the room before going to breakfast!   I expect that many cruise lines and tour companies are reinventing themselves a bit with staff and procedures as things finally get back to normal (whatever that may be going forward).  I hope the bugs get worked out quickly.

Wishing for you another great Viking adventure (and not the kind that was described by the CD🙄 ), just a great cruise that makes you want to book the next while on board!  Thanks again for taking time to review!

[Sleep7]

👋Hi MrsMiggins (Old pal from the Azamara board)

I really enjoyed reading your review as we just took the same cruise about a year ago.

That's a shame about that Monaco had to be skipped and that you had rainy weather in Pisa.

I just googled the game "Baggy" and that looks like fun!

Thanks for taking time to post your thoughts.. welcome home!😊

[Azulann]

Thank you for your trip report. I think maybe Viking needs to step  up the menu for Manfredi's, and  give a newer version to Chef table. Your idea to have two choices  would help.  

I cannot believe that the Chef cannot twist the dish a little. I do understand they should be some consistency across the line, but at the same time some tweaking  a recipe might just be the difference between ok dinner and an outstanding dinner. 

I will be cruising   for the 4th time on Viking next June. I will have been waiting a year and a half!

 You can still get the  on board discount for the next 30 days, if you see something you like  and want to book it.   

[MikeyB]

24 minutes ago, Azulann said:

 

 You can still get the  on board discount for the next 30 days, if you see something you like  and want to book it.   

Since I have some experience with this...

Your Viking agent must call you after the cruise to be eligible for the discount.  And it's only for a 14 day period.  And they don't call everyone.  I have never been called.

[Azulann]

57 minutes ago, MikeyB said:

Since I have some experience with this...

Your Viking agent must call you after the cruise to be eligible for the discount.  And it's only for a 14 day period.  And they don't call everyone.  I have never been called.

Mikey B , thank you for the clarification about the number of days. I  was wrong. I do  remember the cruise consultant saying we could get the benefit even if we did not book on the last night of our cruise. We used a TA . It was not  needed ,he could fit us into the last  night schedule at 8:30 pm.  

[DrKoob]

7 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

We have just returned from the above 7 day cruise.  It is our 4th Viking Ocean cruise.  There were approx 800 passengers with about 35 from the UK.  

 

Ship:  Beautiful as ever, Spa great except not all the water jets working in the large pool.  Never fixed during the week.

We were in a DV6 3072.  Cabin great and well looked after.

Crew:  Plentiful and willing if not always quite on the ball.

Entertainment - patchy.  The 4 singers from the UK were good but there was only one "Abba show" in the Theatre, One deck party, a few songs on the Viking 25th anniversary in the Atrium on our last day timed at 8 p.m. after a promotional film.   At 9 they showed a film in the theatre. The assistant CD did a show at 8 in the Atrium but for us that is right in the middle of dinner.  There were two shows by a 'pickpocket/magician' both at 9.15.  Pretty bad we didnt go to the second show which was apparently even worse.  Great 'Night at the Opera" show by David Righeschi and Maria Salvini.  We have seen them before on Azamara.

Torshaven with Viking Band from 9 p.m. onwards was great.  Why are these talented artists seemingly locked underground ?  Most people never went to Torshaven.  On the last night they were playing their hearts out to 12 people at 11 p.m.  I know that was our last night, but many others were staying onboard.

King the Guitarist was splendid.  Playing in the Explorers Lounge at 6 p.m.  Difficult to find a seat.  He also had other sets around the ship.  Very popular.

The Classical duet in the Atrium were largely playing to an empty room.  

Excursions:  We did the included Tarragona, OK but I just wished the likeable guide would stop and draw breath occasionally.  In Sete we did an optional excursion to the Chateau Florgergues.  A tour of the house, a glimpse of the lovely gardens and a wine tasting hosted by the very engaging 10th generation owner.  Then on to Monpelier. Lovely" Place de la Comedie" main square.  Bailed out on the walking tour as wanted at least some time to drink coffee and people watch in lovely surroundings.  From Marseilles we did the optional Aix en Provence, but really just used it as a bus service  since we had been many times before we wanted to go it alone.  Really lovely town.

Monaco:  We missed, despite being anchored in the morning it was decided the tender operation could not go ahead due to wind and swell.  Many, many disappointed passengers as for some this was meant to be the highlight.  We just sailed very slowly towards our last port Livorno.  Actually the weather was lovely so an enforced sea day.   The CD read out some words to make us all feel better.  It certainly contained the words "We are Vikings, we have salt in our hair, we will go forth despite setbacks" etc etc.  Just a tad over the top!  However a game of "baggy "  crew against passengers was quickly set up and we all felt so much better.

Livorno:  Weather had turned.  The whole day tours to Florence were too much for us, as happily we have been several times before.  So we just stayed in Livorno in the morning and returned to the Spa in the afternoon.  Decided that was too boring for the last day so booked the included Pisa excursion for the last afternoon.  Sadly the weather was awful.  We had heavy rain.  The walk from the coach park was difficult for some.  We were handed over to a Tour Guide and walked around the "Piazza dei Miracoli" in the rain.  We had done this tour before with Viking pre covid and had been taken inside the Duomo and the Baptistry with an excellent guide.  This time we just stood outside.  Very poor in my opinion and the value of the included excursions seems to be diminishing.

Buses/Coaches  All very acceptable and comfortable.

Dining  Breakfast in the World Cafe :  Good choice but I wish someone would learn how to cook "English" bacon.  That awful tray of wet, pale, slices.

What do they do with it ? I asked a couple of times for some to be fried for me.  That really didnt work.  I will say the crispy bacon was often not very crispy either.

The Restaurant:  First visit was really bad.  Staff just seemed untrained.  They had difficulty with the silver spirits wine.  My husband's Chicken Kiev was huge, dry,, and contained not a hint of garlic.  We did mention this and then everybody came to apologise including the Chief Chef.  Very apologetic.  Apart from anything else it was served on a bed of wet braised cabbage.  We asked why and were told that the menus were all designed by Head Office and the Chef had no input at all.  We did visit the Restaurant later in the cruise and were served by an entirely different team and all was well.

Philip the Maitre d' in Manfredi's squeezed us in 3 times.  The restaurant did not appear busy although said to be fully booked.  Wine service was good.  Food acceptable but this is not 'Fine' Dining .  No real presentation involved.  Food was fine, not great.  Waitresses charming.

We had one visit to the Chef's Table, and despite liking it on our previous cruises, this time the menu did not really suit.  I am not a fish lover.  I did eat the some of the 'prawns' in the Oriental menu but the dessert was poor.  I am sure some of the other menus would have been fine but I really dislike the lack of choice.  I understand of course that it is a set menu.  On talking with other guests I am not alone in wishing there was at least an either/or for each course.  Again the restaurant did not seem full.

 

All in all we enjoyed our cruise but for the first time we have not booked anything else whilst onboard. 

 

Nice review Mrs Miggins. We seem to agree on a lot of things. Sorry about your weather. But a bad day on a cruise is better than most days at home. 

 

Jim

[Squawkman]

14 hours ago, MikeyB said:

Since I have some experience with this...

Your Viking agent must call you after the cruise to be eligible for the discount.  And it's only for a 14 day period.  And they don't call everyone.  I have never been called.

Other than the 14 day period, this has not been the case with our Viking agent. We can call him and ALWAYS got $200pp SBC for both river and ocean. He called us the first time  to years ago, but we’ve called him every other time since. 

[MikeyB]

Was it shipboard credit or was it the "Past guest level 1 discount?  This discount of $200 (or $400 when it was offered when Viking started sailing again after Covid) is when you book another cruise within one year of your prior sailing.  There is a level 2 discount of $100 when a new cruise is booked within 2 years.

 

It is deducted from your new booking and is not an onboard credit.

[Mrs Miggins]

I dont want long flights any more so we have stayed in the Med East and West and Northern Europe for the past few years..  Problem with Viking is they repeat their cruises itineraries on this region.  No new destinations.  

Whilst we did have a good time on  the cruise, our Azamara in April and our Scenic River Cruise in July were both better in terms of food, destinations, entertainment etc etc.  The perfect ocean cruise would be on a Viking ship with everything else Azamara.  We have tried Oceania, food is really excellent, so I guess we could try them again.

We have a wonderful itinerary on Azamara next June.  Barcelona to lovely Bordeaux.  Incidentally we were given a $500 future cruise credit because we docked in Ravenna instead of Venice in April.  We didn't get anything from Viking for starting in Tarragona as opposed to Barcelona.

We may well book Viking again but a $200 discount is not enough to persuade me at the moment.

[Laurie S.]

I'm on that cruise right now, going the whole distance to Istanbul.  I agree with most of which was said.  After our second night in The Restaurant where they brought both of us the wrong dinners and it took forever, I said no more.  We are thoroughly enjoying the World Cafe.  As for Pisa, it was only sprinkling at times for us and very pleasant.  The cloudiness only added to the scene.  The thermal pool is wonderful and not finding any problem getting enough bubbles.  LOL

 

Unfortunately, we also missed Crotone today due to strong winds.  That was a major disappointment for me since I am a professional archaeologist and wanted to see the Archaeological Museum there.  Next stop is Bari and it doesn't sound too thrilling.

[Squawkman]

16 hours ago, MikeyB said:

Was it shipboard credit or was it the "Past guest level 1 discount?  This discount of $200 (or $400 when it was offered when Viking started sailing again after Covid) is when you book another cruise within one year of your prior sailing.  There is a level 2 discount of $100 when a new cruise is booked within 2 years.

 

It is deducted from your new booking and is not an onboard credit.

I’m referring to the welcome back offer - $200pp on any cruise booked within 14 days of disembarkation. Totally separate from and in addition to past level discounts.

[Mrs Miggins]

5 hours ago, Laurie S. said:

I'm on that cruise right now, going the whole distance to Istanbul.  I agree with most of which was said.  After our second night in The Restaurant where they brought both of us the wrong dinners and it took forever, I said no more.  We are thoroughly enjoying the World Cafe.  As for Pisa, it was only sprinkling at times for us and very pleasant.  The cloudiness only added to the scene.  The thermal pool is wonderful and not finding any problem getting enough bubbles.  LOL

 

Unfortunately, we also missed Crotone today due to strong winds.  That was a major disappointment for me since I am a professional archaeologist and wanted to see the Archaeological Museum there.  Next stop is Bari and it doesn't sound too thrilling.

We went to Pisa on Friday afternoon - it poured - not Viking's fault but my point was that on a previous Viking included tour to Pisa we were taken inside both the Duomo and the Baptistry by the Trumpy Tours guide.  This time we were only walked around the outside. That is a significant decline in the tour.

 

The main jets in the spa pool were working but the two additional ones to the left and right were not.  No bid deal but it shows a lack of attention.  After my first spa visit the two showers in the changing rooms had no shampoo, conditioner or body wash in the containers.  Waited for an attendant who had to go away and get big containers to refill them.  Another guest was in a hurry to get out as she had a hair appointment so it was very frustrating for her.  I do not remember any incidents like this previously as again it shows lack of attention.

I do love Viking but not quite as much as I did.

[MikeyB]

5 hours ago, Squawkman said:

I’m referring to the welcome back offer - $200pp on any cruise booked within 14 days of disembarkation. Totally separate from and in addition to past level discounts.

Okay, I understand.

However that is the type of offer that I inquired about.  I called Customer Relations and ended up speaking to a Senior Manager in the Sales department.  She confirmed what my agent said.

That the offers are targeted and not offered to everyone.  I then explained the concept of Loyalty.  The senior manager could only apologize.  I hate when they do that. 

[Squawkman]

2 hours ago, MikeyB said:

Okay, I understand.

However that is the type of offer that I inquired about.  I called Customer Relations and ended up speaking to a Senior Manager in the Sales department.  She confirmed what my agent said.

That the offers are targeted and not offered to everyone.  I then explained the concept of Loyalty.  The senior manager could only apologize.  I hate when they do that. 

I plan to speak with my Viking rep next week. I’ll ask and report back here.

[Laurie S.]

On 10/4/2022 at 6:17 AM, Mrs Miggins said:

We went to Pisa on Friday afternoon - it poured - not Viking's fault but my point was that on a previous Viking included tour to Pisa we were taken inside both the Duomo and the Baptistry by the Trumpy Tours guide.  This time we were only walked around the outside. That is a significant decline in the tour.

 

The main jets in the spa pool were working but the two additional ones to the left and right were not.  No bid deal but it shows a lack of attention.  After my first spa visit the two showers in the changing rooms had no shampoo, conditioner or body wash in the containers.  Waited for an attendant who had to go away and get big containers to refill them.  Another guest was in a hurry to get out as she had a hair appointment so it was very frustrating for her.  I do not remember any incidents like this previously as again it shows lack of attention.

I do love Viking but not quite as much as I did.

We were in Pisa on Thursday, better weather.  No interest in going inside either building since this was my third time here.  I've even climbed the bell tower in the past.  I never use the showers in the changing room, prefer my own room.  In fact, I never have a need to use the changing room.  But, there should be supplies there for the guests who want to use them.  I prefer my own products.  This is my first time on Viking.  We have another one next year on the southern Nile.  I'd rather be on Carnival where there are so many more fun activities.  I would kill for some karaoke!

[Mrs Miggins]

Actually the products in the Spa changing rooms are fabulous and from the range that they sell at very high prices.

 

[OneSixtyToOne]

10 hours ago, Laurie S. said:

I'd rather be on Carnival where there are so many more fun activities.  I would kill for some karaoke!

Lack of all of that is the big reason I travel with Viking.

[Laurie S.]

On 10/5/2022 at 11:41 AM, OneSixtyToOne said:

Lack of all of that is the big reason I travel with Viking.

Let me rephrase.  There are NO fun activities on Viking.  Boring......

[Squawkman]

1 hour ago, Laurie S. said:

Let me rephrase.  There are NO fun activities on Viking.  Boring......

Maybe you should cancel the Nile. If you think Viking Ocean is boring, you’ll most likely be less impressed with a river cruise.

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, Laurie S. said:

Let me rephrase.  There are NO fun activities on Viking.  Boring......

C’est la vie. To each their own. Live and learn. Surprised a Carnival cruiser would choose Viking. 🤷‍♀️

[deec]

yes Apples and Okra!!!

but some people like Okra

[OneSixtyToOne]

1 hour ago, deec said:

yes Apples and Okra!!!

but some people like Okra

My worst fear is being forced fed okra at a karaoke bar. 😉

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, Laurie S. said:

Let me rephrase.  There are NO fun activities on Viking.  Boring......

 

Clearly you never participated in the Pax v's Officers Baggo or Liars Club.

[Mrs Miggins]

What is the Liars Club?  I did witness the Baggo - crew and one of the Captains apparently enjoyed it very much.