First Viking Cruise Review

[deec]

I agree...Paper maps were great.  I had difficulty downloading the maps that Viking provide with the scanable code and the phone screen is so much smaller!  i guess I should practice!

 

[Rusty Scupper]

Excellent review. My thoughts after a recent Mars cruise: Vessel, food tops of any cruise (except Chef's Table). Ship cast shows better than any other, but range of entertainment, indeed,  less. Overall service good, but not as friendly or competent as on river cruises. Included excursion model works great on river, not same ease or quality on ocean.  Viking app: C-. 

[Kentishincanada]

1 hour ago, CCWineLover said:

 

We asked about maps on our July cruise.  We told that from now on all Viking ships will not produce maps.  1. Too many complaine the maps were poor quality and 2. Too many use their phones for maps or have their own.  Many apparently told Viking to not waste the effort for a very small few.  Their words not mine.  I like paper maps

We board Sky on 22 Oct. and the lack of maps will be exceedingly irritating to me.  It seems like gross penny pinching (which Viking advertises it is not) to avoid printing a few paper maps for those of us who prefer them.  We only travel with one mobile so should either of us wish to separate during a port visit one of us is without a map.  After all, so many of the ports are replicated over a season, it wouldn’t be too difficult for Viking.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

On 10/13/2022 at 8:21 AM, Jim Avery said:

That's why we pay up front.  Actually I am happy to see unhappy reviews.  Think about how crowded and hard to get, not to mention even more expensive, Viking could be.  It's terrible!  Gross food!  Nasty people doing belly flop contests in the pool.  Stay away from Viking...  Far, far away.  Now we wait for the 2 for one sale....🍸

I wasn’t trying to do an unhappy review. I was trying to give my honest perspective. I rated Viking high in many areas. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the type of Viking cheerleader you prefer. 

[Jim Avery]

5 minutes ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

I wasn’t trying to do an unhappy review. I was trying to give my honest perspective. I rated Viking high in many areas. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the type of Viking cheerleader you prefer. 

Wow! Someone else with no sense of humor 🤮

[gwesq]

On 10/12/2022 at 10:11 AM, OneSixtyToOne said:

I’m surprised you didn’t enjoy Portsmouth. It was one of our favorite stops. We took the included tour and near the end, we were dropped off right at the gate to the navy base. There we visited the incredible Mary Rose Museum  and toured Nelson’s flagship the HMS Victory.

The museum contains the wreck of Henry VIII’s ship propped up on it’s side in a climate controlled room, where they project video of what a day in the life was like on each deck. Also there are incredible artifacts, including the remains of the ship’s dog. You can read more about it here: https://the-past.com/review/whats-on/the-mary-rose-museum-portsmouth/

 

Frequent Crystal cruiser looking at a cruise for this Jan/Feb, and I came across this thread about Viking.   Enjoyed your post about Portsmouth & the Mary Rose museum.  My boss was Knighted for his work on raising the MAry ROse & supporting the museum. Our World HQ was in Portsmouth, so a visit there was a "requirement" when visiting the Portsmouth HQ.  Definitely worth a visit.  And if you like this museum, then the Vasa Museum will be a must when in Stockholm.

[sonnycruises]

On 10/15/2022 at 3:57 PM, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

I wasn’t trying to do an unhappy review. I was trying to give my honest perspective. I rated Viking high in many areas. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the type of Viking cheerleader you prefer. 

Thank you for your detailed review. We've done 20+ cruises on Celebrity with the last dozen in suites. Our last 2 were on Viking Ocean and I was wondering what specifically you would want Viking to add to their WC breakfast menu? Did you try Mamsens? We loved their waffle. I guess what I'm saying there are only so many choices for breakfast and I thought Viking had it covered with 2 long buffet lines.

 

 

[lackcreativity]

On 10/15/2022 at 9:41 AM, deec said:

I agree...Paper maps were great.  I had difficulty downloading the maps that Viking provide with the scanable code and the phone screen is so much smaller!  i guess I should practice!

 

I am usually stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place on this topic. The Viking maps back in the day were not detailed enough for me, as I usually had specific places I wanted to find that didn't show up on their maps.

 

Downloading Google maps with my places of interest starred so that I could use the map without Wi-Fi seemed a great idea, but the phone maps were too small to be of use. I tried the same thing with my tablet, which was more easily visible, but got heavy on a long day.

 

I finally resorted to printing my own maps of specific areas at home before leaving. It's a good thing I book cruises so far in advance that I have time for all this research and preparation!

Edited October 17, 2022 by lackcreativity

[JollyJacqTar]

@OneSixtyToOne Thank you for highlighting the Historic Dockyard and all that can be seen there. Portsmouth is just along the coast from our home town so my mouth dropped open at the OP comment that there was nothing much to do and was delighted to spot your comment praising the Victory and Mary Rose. Disappointing for you OP (sorry it won’t let me @ you) that you weren’t given any information onboard to consider this as an option. I can see that a bus tour of the town (not the most attractive of places) did not hit the spot. 

[Azulann]

Many times at the port terminal they have a kiosk or table with tourist information. If they have a map of the town, I pick it up. I definitely like paper maps over using my iPhone map, it always gets wonky on me. 

[OneSixtyToOne]

4 hours ago, JollyJacqTar said:

@OneSixtyToOne Thank you for highlighting the Historic Dockyard and all that can be seen there. Portsmouth is just along the coast from our home town so my mouth dropped open at the OP comment that there was nothing much to do and was delighted to spot your comment praising the Victory and Mary Rose. Disappointing for you OP (sorry it won’t let me @ you) that you weren’t given any information onboard to consider this as an option. I can see that a bus tour of the town (not the most attractive of places) did not hit the spot. 

I always do research about local attractions and when I read about the navy yard it was near the top of what we wanted to see on our cruise. I just wish I had more time to visit the other ships. We will be in London next spring for 10 days and we are considering taking the train to Portsmouth for a day excursion. So much history, so little time.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

On 10/16/2022 at 10:07 PM, sonnycruises said:

Thank you for your detailed review. We've done 20+ cruises on Celebrity with the last dozen in suites. Our last 2 were on Viking Ocean and I was wondering what specifically you would want Viking to add to their WC breakfast menu? Did you try Mamsens? We loved their waffle. I guess what I'm saying there are only so many choices for breakfast and I thought Viking had it covered with 2 long buffet lines.

 

 

There was nothing wrong with the breakfast. I would have just liked to see a little variety from day to day. I found the sausage very plain. People have different tastes in sausage and other cruise lines change up the sausage choice from day to day. The bacon was always exactly the same. I would have liked to see some bacon not so crispy. This is another area in which people disagree so why not have some bacon less cooked? The bread for toasting was very plain white or wheat (not whole) bread every morning. How about some sourdough or rye or multi-grain? Again, none of these are biggies, just my observation and what I meant by boring. 

[sonnycruises]

6 hours ago, Poulsbo Cruisers said:

There was nothing wrong with the breakfast. I would have just liked to see a little variety from day to day. I found the sausage very plain. People have different tastes in sausage and other cruise lines change up the sausage choice from day to day. The bacon was always exactly the same. I would have liked to see some bacon not so crispy. This is another area in which people disagree so why not have some bacon less cooked? The bread for toasting was very plain white or wheat (not whole) bread every morning. How about some sourdough or rye or multi-grain? Again, none of these are biggies, just my observation and what I meant by boring. 

Got it. Made some good points

 

[Mrs Miggins]

The Bacon onboard Sky was also bad.  Two choices "English Bacon"  pale, wet, undercooked and nasty.  It had certainly not been grilled or fried or even baked.  I asked for it to be cooked more and the lovely crew tried to fry it in a pan.  Not terribly successful but better than nothing.  The "crispy" bacon varied from being so crispy that it shattered when cut, to being undercooked in the same serving dish.  Hunt the bacon that suited the individual was a morning ritual with lots of people.    The offering being turned over and over in order to select an acceptable serving from the tray.

I guess the toast problem is because it is DIY and the basket next to the toaster only had two choices.  I guess it would be possible to toast other bread which was in baskets but not cut in suitable slices.

 

 

[LindaS272]

7 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

The Bacon onboard Sky was also bad.  Two choices "English Bacon"  pale, wet, undercooked and nasty.  It had certainly not been grilled or fried or even baked.  I asked for it to be cooked more and the lovely crew tried to fry it in a pan.  Not terribly successful but better than nothing.  The "crispy" bacon varied from being so crispy that it shattered when cut, to being undercooked in the same serving dish.  Hunt the bacon that suited the individual was a morning ritual with lots of people.    The offering being turned over and over in order to select an acceptable serving from the tray.

I guess the toast problem is because it is DIY and the basket next to the toaster only had two choices.  I guess it would be possible to toast other bread which was in baskets but not cut in suitable slices.

 

 

Wow. Very weird on the bacon situation. One shouldn’t have to, but when there’s a situation like this with food, I seek out the manager for that dining venue and ask to convey the problems to the chef. The manager has always followed up with me later or the chef has come out to get further information to explain or fix the problem.

[CCWineLover]

25 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

Wow. Very weird on the bacon situation. One shouldn’t have to, but when there’s a situation like this with food, I seek out the manager for that dining venue and ask to convey the problems to the chef. The manager has always followed up with me later or the chef has come out to get further information to explain or fix the problem.

Agree, Linda.   If there was a problem, better to contact the chef or restaurant manager.

As for the bacon, maybe we were lucky or have different tastes.  We found the bacon to be perfect for us.  Yes there were some overcooked crumbly pieces (not many) and some undercooked (not many), but most were absolutely perfectly done.  Had it every morning - with delight!

 

As for toast, I often had the person behind the counter cut some of their bread into pieces that could be put in the rolling toaster - especially the fresh long baguettes.   Good point though - they should have multigrain bread.  Sometimes they had multigrain rolls, which I cut and toasted though.

 

Food definitely is an individual taste!  If Viking catered though to every person's specific preferences, there wouldn't be room to serve enough varieties of items and cooking temps.   Also, if you do ask them, you can pretty much get anything done the way you want (for example, eggs cooked to order rather than dishing out of the pan).

[Iloveketo]

8 hours ago, Mrs Miggins said:

 The "crispy" bacon varied from being so crispy that it shattered when cut, to being undercooked in the same serving dish.

This may have been intentional to try and have different levels of crispness. 

[SJD117]

7 hours ago, Iloveketo said:

This may have been intentional to try and have different levels of crispness. 

I'm quite happy with different levels of crispness. In fact, I hadn't given the issue any thought at all -- including on five Viking cruises -- until I read this thread.

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, SJD117 said:

I'm quite happy with different levels of crispness. In fact, I hadn't given the issue any thought at all -- including on five Viking cruises -- until I read this thread.

Me neither!  In fact, compared to most buffets I've been to (on other cruise ships and hotels, etc) it struck me how good the bacon serving was - just the right crispness for the most part!!

I guess each to his own.  On our cruises it certainly was a popular place for people to fill up so to speak!  So I'd say the majority like it.

[KBs mum]

On 10/20/2022 at 8:27 AM, Mrs Miggins said:

The Bacon onboard Sky was also bad.  Two choices "English Bacon"  pale, wet, undercooked and nasty.  It had certainly not been grilled or fried or even baked.  I asked for it to be cooked more and the lovely crew tried to fry it in a pan.  Not terribly successful but better than nothing.  The "crispy" bacon varied from being so crispy that it shattered when cut, to being undercooked in the same serving dish.  Hunt the bacon that suited the individual was a morning ritual with lots of people.    The offering being turned over and over in order to select an acceptable serving from the tray.

 

 

 

Agreed, the 'English' bacon is nasty onboard. Its cheap salt water injected not properly cured (the giveaway is the white sludge) and is not cooked properly. It can be cooked in an oven, pan or grill, just need to have a bit of basic knowledge. 

We gave up on it and now go for the 'American style' crispy streaky. 

The British bangers on our last cruise amused us. They were nice, but a German type. By the way, for non British people, 'bangers' was originally a slang term for a cheap low quality product that often burst when cooked. 

 

Would like to see kedgeree on the breakfast menu, along with black pudding, haggis, fried bread and potato scones. Smoked mackerel/haddock and salmon would be nice as well

Edited October 22, 2022 by KBs mum

[Heidi13]

9 hours ago, KBs mum said:

Would like to see kedgeree on the breakfast menu, along with black pudding, haggis, fried bread and potato scones. Smoked mackerel/haddock and salmon would be nice as well

 

Wow, that's getting close to the perfect brekky - tattie scones, smoked back bacon (none of that green bacon or streaky), black pudding/haggis, lorne sausage (Scottish square sausage) or bangers, beans, fried bread and a couple of fried eggs. Might even add a fried tomato.

 

Another addition to the brekky menu should be bubble & squeak, which was often served on British ships.

[Mrs Miggins]

Haven't seen bubble and squeak on an English  menu for many many years and it would never have featured with breakfast in the south.    More likely home cooked on a Monday if there was left over Potato and cabbage from the Sunday dinner.   Perhaps it still exists in Scotland or the North of England in restaurants.

I am sure it is still cooked in some homes and is perhaps due a comeback although in a restaurant it would probably command a fancy price.

 

However your menu sounds delicious although I would have to lay down for a couple of hours afterwards. In fact at home, since we rarely have a cooked breakfast, we sometimes have a "fry up" for dinner.

[KBs mum]

14 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Wow, that's getting close to the perfect brekky - tattie scones, smoked back bacon (none of that green bacon or streaky), black pudding/haggis, lorne sausage (Scottish square sausage) or bangers, beans, fried bread and a couple of fried eggs. Might even add a fried tomato.

 

Another addition to the brekky menu should be bubble & squeak, which was often served on British ships.

Sorry to say I'm one of those heathens that prefers baked beans to tomatoes and mushrooms. Cumberland or pork and leek would be my preference before lorne sausage, but wouldn't complain either way. 

By the way we are mystified by the 'English muffins' not too bad, but are they muffins that went wrong, or crumpets that went wrong? 

[CurlerRob]

7 hours ago, KBs mum said:

By the way we are mystified by the 'English muffins' not too bad, but are they muffins that went wrong, or crumpets that went wrong? 

Your statement's cleverness sparked my curiosity - which led me to the following article:    https://www.thekitchn.com/the-english-muffin-is-not-english-at-all-234056

 

On reading the reference to "toaster crumpets", I think my vote would be for "failed crumpet".

 

I also think I desperately need a real life ... 🍺🥌

[Mrs Miggins]

I first encountered "English" Muffins in the US in the 1980's.  Of course I didnt recognise anything English about them - although they are quite nice.  Now they are on sale everywhere (Waitrose : pack of 4 English Muffins £1.50).  Not to be confused with "Muffins" which are the individual cake like products often with blueberries or chocolate chips, available from the bar in the Living Room.  Everything is so complicated !

 

Actually I prefer crumpets since they absorb more butter and do not require splitting in two before being toasted.    I know, I know some Muffins come ready cut,   

I also need a life.  No cruises booked til 2023.