Viking vs. Princess for Baltic Cruise

[jbinbi]

Not sure this is the right place to post this, and maybe I should put this same post in the Princess section....

 

We are trying to decide between Viking and Princess for a 2 week Baltic (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany) cruise. Have been on princess a few times, but never Viking. But know a bunch of people who have done Viking. I am less interested in the meals/room than the places we stop and the things we can see. Viking is about 25% more for the same cabin type when including drinks, excursions, etc. for Princess.

 

What potentially appeals to me is that the ship is smaller, possibly making it easier to get on and off (1k vs. 3k people means 3x less bus loads to fill and empty etc.). Less people to bump into on the boat. Historian on the ship. Excursions included. But maybe this is really all hype, and it doesn't mean that much in reality, it just sounds good? For those who have gone on a Viking ocean cruise as well as used other lines, can you give me your impression if Viking is really worth it?

[May B]

If understated elegance, peace and quiet are valuable to you, then yes, Viking is worth it.

 

Each ocean ship carries 930 guests. My recent Scenic Scandinavia had 920 guests onboard. Easy to get off and on? Very!

 

One excursion is complimentary at every port. It will either be a walking tour or a bus tour with one or more stops. It may not be exactly what you were hoping to see; or it may be exactly what you were hoping to see. You can glance at the predicted excursions in the ports by clicking on the Itinerary tab and then on the arrow to the right of a port.

 

In two ports, we chose to go into town on our own, using the complimentary shuttle service but not a tour, preferring to wander on our own. On both occasions, we wanted the earliest bus, so we arrived 15 minutes prior to the stated time for departure. There weren’t more than ten guests on either of those buses.

 

I wrote a lengthy review of our recent cruise, and I had plenty more I could’ve said. We had a wonderful experience and have booked another Viking. Have fun deciding.
 

Beer, wine and soft drinks at meals, complimentary guest laundry, no charge for specialty restaurants are the other perks. Between the perks and the ambience and the small ship experience, yes, I think it’s worth it.

 

Viking has some policies that are not industry-standard. Don’t expect everything to be as you know it from Princess.

[dd57]

I used to be Elite on Princess, but started looking around when we got tired of the crowds onboard, lines everywhere, waiting for a table, squeezing past the tables full of cheap souvenirs,  waiting to get off the ship, nickel and diming for everything, etc.  We are now hooked on Viking.  We did both the Baltic and the Med on Princess.  The port talks were about where you can buy what and which stores would give Princess passengers a discount.  On Viking the port talks cover an overview of the port, details on the excursions, and tips for getting around and where to meet the shuttles.  This is in addition to history and culture talks onboard.  A completely different experience.

[flare3192]

i have only done Viking and the experience on the ship is great. However, from what I understand there are times that they are inflexible or their policies are not use friendly. Read this board to find out those things and go with your eyes open -- things like having to pay for the cruise way in advance, the Viking insurance is not one you want to use, vouchers are tricky -- one time use and if something happens you lose everything-- if they have a deal on air realize that the routing may not be preferred. I do think a GOOD travel agent familiar with Viking will help around the things to watch out for-- there are a lot of not very good agents out there so find a good one.

 

But we like the smaller ship -- there is no issue getting on or off -- the restaurants are all available without extra charge -- there are no children -- the staff are amazing. Included excursions are a hit or miss -- we did some and paid for some and used outside guides for some. I do not know how the price of additional excursions on Viking compares to additional excursions on Princess -- maybe someone else can help you here.

[CILCIANRQTS]

This seems to be a classic situation to bring up the What Viking Is Not list.

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/why-viking/viking-difference/viking-difference-wvin.html

 

These have sold us on Viking.

[Azulann]

12 hours ago, jbinbi said:

What potentially appeals to me is that the ship is smaller, possibly making it easier to get on and off (1k vs. 3k people means 3x less bus loads to fill and empty etc.). Less people to bump into on the boat. Historian on the ship. Excursions included.

All true !Just got back from  Baltic Sea cruise, called Scenic Scandinavia on Viking in Jun Too bad this same itinerary is not offered in the future.

Which cruise on Viking are you  looking at ?. 

1. Some times we were the only ship in port.  Easy to get off ship even for tendering in one port of call. 

2. Resident  Historian is  such a great  feature. Dr.  Livingston is an art historian and archealogist.  Gave  informative talks on Viking Era, Hanseatic League  that were excellent. We also had an astronomer on board  who gave talks. The Port talks were by the  ship excursion manager who explained the port of call and things to do on your own.

Viking  Oceans is marketed as a "thinking persons "cruise for the curious. It is true.

3. The included excursion are walking tours of the town or bus  tours with stops at  various locations. They also offer optional tours for prices from  $70 - 200+ per person. We did a combination of both.

I would definitely pick Viking over mass cruise lines like Princess or Celebrity to cruise anywhere in Europe.

 

[jbinbi]

Thanks. I think it called viking homelands, 15 days, stockholm to bergen. Only thing I am not happy with is 5 days in Norway. Wish it was a bit shorter or more places in other countries. Also, starts and ends in 2 different places, can't get to either directly. Princess starts ends in london.

 

Didn't see your cruise so not sure what the itinerary was.

[dd57]

If you like trains, there is a fantastic trip from Bergen to Oslo.  Lots of easy flight connections from Oslo.  You can easily do the train on your own or thru Viking.  We did this after our cruise ended in Bergen.  

[Azulann]

1 hour ago, jbinbi said:

Thanks. I think it called viking homelands, 15 days, stockholm to bergen. Only thing I am not happy with is 5 days in Norway. Wish it was a bit shorter or more places in other countries. Also, starts and ends in 2 different places, can't get to either directly. Princess starts ends in london.

 

Didn't see your cruise so not sure what the itinerary was.

On my Viking cruise which is not offered again we did overnight in Stockholm, Mariehamn Arland Island;Gotland Sweden;Gdansk Poland, Karlskrona Sweden, Bornholm  Denmark, Berlin ( Warnermunde) Germany,;Aarhus, Denmark  and overnight in Copenhagen. 

I loved every one of these ports of call .  My only regret is that we did not go to Norway. 

If you want to go to Nordic countries from the US , it does involve  more than one flight. If you stick to London, Rome, Barcelona you can get a direct flight from some cities in the US, but those are not Nordic countries.

Whatever yo decide to do,  enjoy your cruise in Europe. 🛥️

[Jim Avery]

Much has already been said so I shall be brief.  I have sailed both lines a number of times.  The only similarity I see between Princess and Viking is they both float....🍸

[Heidi13]

I both worked for and cruised with Princess for about 40 yrs. We have completed a World Cruise with both lines. On our travel blog I have a number of posts outlining our experience with the differences between both Lines.

 

Feel free to check out our posts - www.AndyandJudi.com

 

Unlike many blogs, I gain no benefit, financial or otherwise from others checking out our posts.

[biggerbearmom]

5 hours ago, jbinbi said:

Thanks. I think it called viking homelands, 15 days, stockholm to bergen. Only thing I am not happy with is 5 days in Norway. Wish it was a bit shorter or more places in other countries. Also, starts and ends in 2 different places, can't get to either directly. Princess starts ends in london.

 

Didn't see your cruise so not sure what the itinerary was.

I have been to Norway on four different occasions, I can never see enough of it. We leave out of Bergen on September 2, for the British Isles itinerary. KLM and SAS have very good connections to Bergen and Stockholm. I’d take Bergen or Stockholm over Heathrow any day. We have sailed with Princess many times over the years. If you enjoy lots of people, loud music, and children, then pick Princess.

Otherwise give Viking a try, you’ll be pleasantly surprised and likely realize it’s worth the extra cost.

Edited July 22, 2023 by biggerbearmom

[Baron Barracuda]

Though we prefer VO we booked a segment of Royal's world cruise aboard the Serenade next July.  Extremely port intensive hitting 13 in 15 days.  Includes all of the Baltic but no Norway.

[Squawkman]

7 hours ago, Azulann said:

If you stick to London, Rome, Barcelona you can get a direct flight from some cities in the US, but those are not Nordic countries.

Not true - we flew direct Oslo to NY (Newark) in April.

[rbslos18]

20 hours ago, dd57 said:

I used to be Elite on Princess, but started looking around when we got tired of the crowds onboard, lines everywhere, waiting for a table, squeezing past the tables full of cheap souvenirs,  waiting to get off the ship, nickel and diming for everything, etc.  We are now hooked on Viking.  We did both the Baltic and the Med on Princess.  The port talks were about where you can buy what and which stores would give Princess passengers a discount.  On Viking the port talks cover an overview of the port, details on the excursions, and tips for getting around and where to meet the shuttles.  This is in addition to history and culture talks onboard.  A completely different experience.

Dd57- You perfectly described our experience on Princess. We did over 30 cruises with Princess which has morphed into something not even remotely similar to Viking. Well said!

[junglejane]

Another Princess refugee here. We're Elite on Princess and trying Viking for the first time in October, doing a Panama Canal full transit. Princess has diluted the value of being Elite quite a bit. We have friends who are big Viking fans so we decided to give it a try. The smaller, less crowded ships sound very appealing. We did go to the production shows, comedians and concerts on Princess but we avoided most of the other types of entertainment (karakoke, marriage games, etc). Our Viking Panama canal cruise has a large number of sea days (9 on an 18 day cruise), so we look forward to relaxing and enjoying history and culture talks, but hope we don't get bored. We've also never been on a cruise longer than 14 days, so this will be extra long for us. Preparations for our daughter's September wedding has preoccupied us for months, and we decided that while they honeymoon (land trip) we would reward ourselves with a Viking cruise. 😁

[Azulann]

14 hours ago, Squawkman said:

Not true - we flew direct Oslo to NY (Newark) in April.

Sorry for my mistake,  that is good to know. Which airline flies direct to Oslo from NY? 

You are so lucky  to live on the coast.

Living in the Heartland we have very few direct flights to anywhere in Europe. MSP to AMS is daily but couple of others are seasonal.

But we do always have direct flights to Japan, Mexico and Costa Rica. 😌

[Squawkman]

4 minutes ago, Azulann said:

Sorry for my mistake,  that is good to know. Which airline flies direct to Oslo from NY? 

You are so lucky  to live on the coast.

Living in the Heartland we have very few direct flights to anywhere in Europe. MSP to AMS is daily but couple of others are seasonal.

But we do always have direct flights to Japan, Mexico and Costa Rica. 😌

SAS arranged through Viking included air.