New to Viking

[ronniemj]

I am new to viking and wondering since no casino or real shows if I will find enough to do.   We are leaving Nov 2023 to Greece, Israel, Rome    I need to cancel by the end of the week.   Anyone have experience with Viking Ocean Cruises.    

[CruiserBruce]

Good advice to look on the Viking board. 

 

We don't know you, what your interests are, what you need to entertain you. But if you require the cruise to entertain you full time, the small ship lines may not be for you. Perhaps the larger ships with several entertainment options might be better.

[Meander Ingwa]

wedged in between your trips ashore.  Daly lectures on destination ; topics of interest about a wide range of subjects that makes your time on shore better.  Free spa with sauna, cold plunge pool or snow room and hot pool, heated relaxing benches.  Art with recorded tour including a lot of Norwegian history and culture.  Live music soloists and combos in many areas.  Library with games areas for interactive and solo games like chess cards, backgammon , jigsaw puzzles etc.  Afternoon tea with cakes and sandwiches.  Outdoor pool deck and a  walking track.  Game deck with putting green etc.  Evening dancing in the lounge.  Small passenger numbers which may make social interaction easier and ample areas for quiet time.  Individual balcony for private escape.

 

Only you know if quieter, less in your face environment is right for you  

[Peregrina651]

<<This thread has now been moved to the Viking Oceans forum. >>

 

Meander, you forgot the gym on your list of included activities. 

 

Check out these two threads. After reading the first few pages of each of them you should be able to decide if Viking is right for you.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2381846-tell-me-why/

Tips for New Viking Ocean Cruisers

 

Edited June 25, 2023 by Peregrina651

[Meander Ingwa]

44 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

Meander, you forgot the gym on your list of included activities. 

GYM

haaa haaa haaa lol lol lol lol 

 

I am gym blind

 

🤪

[Peregrina651]

20 minutes ago, Meander Ingwa said:

GYM

haaa haaa haaa lol lol lol lol 

 

I am gym blind

 

🤪

 

Me, too.

 

Oh, and I forgot to add that two of the ships have a planetarium -- which is also no charge. 

 

I wonder what else we have forgotten. Movies in the theater, on at-sea days.

 

And of course, this is only the included activities. There are other activities, such as spa services, that you have to pay for.

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Me, too.

 

Oh, and I forgot to add that two of the ships have a planetarium -- which is also no charge. 

 

I wonder what else we have forgotten. Movies in the theater, on at-sea days.

 

And of course, this is only the included activities. There are other activities, such as spa services, that you have to pay for.

And sometimes they have cooking classes (for a fee) and wine and spirits tastings (fee) as well - but not necessarily on all itineraries.  Both are great!  

[Peregrina651]

9 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

And sometimes they have cooking classes (for a fee) and wine and spirits tastings (fee) as well - but not necessarily on all itineraries.  Both are great!  

 

Only scheduled on at-sea days. 

[Twitchly]

On our cruise last fall, there were trivia games and “name that tune” games in the Explorer Lounge. Not heavily attended. 
 

On another cruise I attended a class on different ways to tie a scarf. Scintillating stuff.
 

Viking onboard life is pretty quiet overall. We like that about it. 

[CCWineLover]

50 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Only scheduled on at-sea days. 

We had 5 at sea days and nothing scheduled.  Reason stayed was no viable chef to teach the classes, which the said does happen.  So one cannot count on classes even with sea days.

[Mackdogmolly]

8 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

Oh, and I forgot to add that two of the ships have a planetarium -- which is also no charge. 

Which ships?

[Frenchberet]

36 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Which ships?

Orion and Jupiter.  We attended a couple of the presentations on Orion and thought they were worthwhile.  We were doing the New Zealand and Australia cruise and wished the films would have been more site-specific.

[CCWineLover]

4 hours ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Which ships?

Jupiter/Orion.  Have been on both several times.  Didn't particularly care for the planetariums but to each his own.

Note:  Venus, built after Jupiter and Orion, was supposed to have it as well, but learned that after feedback it was not installed.

[Flatbush Flyer]

22 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Good advice to look on the Viking board. 

 

We don't know you, what your interests are, what you need to entertain you. But if you require the cruise to entertain you full time, the small ship lines may not be for you. Perhaps the larger ships with several entertainment options might be better.

“Small ship lines” (at least some of them) have plenty to do. Our preferred line has a “hands on” cooking school (on 3 of its 7 ships w/cooking demos on the others), an arts and crafts teaching space, stellar speakers and naturalists, wine and spirits tastings, a string quartet playing often in multiple occasions, a combo w/dancing, a show band, special events like “line crossing” ceremonies, a boat building contest and even a “country fair” with games and prizes. There’s also an excellent library and game room along with a small casino on each ship.

 

What is admittedly different is the size and scope of production shows due to the smaller venue size. In addition to invited guests (often in line with the visited ports), a small production company does some very decent song and dance shows.

 

And, what definitely is missing are phony art auctions, pesky photographers, incessant PA announcements, thundering herds of passengers with inadequate space ratios, mediocre-at-best food (with self-serving [yuck] buffets) and nickel-diming you for every little thing (pay for bottled water? LOL).

 

But, if it’s Broadway that you’re looking for, take a “small ship” cruise that begins/ends in NYC and do a Broadway binge! 

That’s what we do (including this July SF-NY- 3 weeks on Oceania Insignia).

[Twitchly]

14 hours ago, Frenchberet said:

Orion and Jupiter.  We attended a couple of the presentations on Orion and thought they were worthwhile.  We were doing the New Zealand and Australia cruise and wished the films would have been more site-specific.

That reminds me of another activity offered on one of our cruises: nighttime star-gazing on the top deck with an astronomer. He was one of the visiting lecturers. 

[AZ_Tim]

On 6/26/2023 at 7:31 PM, Twitchly said:

That reminds me of another activity offered on one of our cruises: nighttime star-gazing on the top deck with an astronomer. He was one of the visiting lecturers. 

That was one of the highlights of our South American Fjords cruise. We had the clearest view of the Southern Cross and Milky Way you could ask for.  The stargazing is the reason you will see red lights instead of white on the forward part of the Sports Deck.

[deec]

We also loved the star gazing on that cruise

[Clay Clayton]

On 6/26/2023 at 10:31 PM, Twitchly said:

That reminds me of another activity offered on one of our cruises: nighttime star-gazing on the top deck with an astronomer. He was one of the visiting lecturers. 

That was the best part about Orion having a planetarium-it came with the astronomer and that great telescope.  I actually saw Saturn's ring while we were sailing somewhere off of China !

[deec]

The astronomers were GREAT on both cruises that had them onboard!  We did not like the planetarium shows much, only one was relevant to where we were the other seems to "canned" shows which were Ok just not our thing!  We were happy that the builds after Jupiter did not put the planetariums on board.

[PasadenaDave]

We have only done two Viking Cruises, Ocean Istanbul to Venice and River-Nile Cruise.  Both of these cruises are port intensive and we were exhausted.  We actually wished to have had a sea day to lie about and read.

 

We are not entertainment types and we do enjoy sea days.  We did a Hawaii from San Pedro on Princess in 2018 in which at least half of the days were at sea which we loved.  We do read a lot and laying on the sofa with a book is a joy....especially with the sea outside your balcony door.

[Mike07]

I've never been on Viking either, and I have two trips planned this year. I know I'll have more than enough to do.

 

By today's standards, there was really nothing to do in the early 20th century for even the first-class passengers on the Titanic and like oceanliners. As a society, we've become too accustomed to the dopamine hits.

[longterm]

You could always try the water slides, the 40 bars, the line dancing, the zip line, or the karaoke bar.

 

But not on Viking!

 

If casinos and glitzy (aka cheesy) shows are your thing, you probably won't like Viking.