Promenade Deck

[pickleball dRabbit]

He:
Viking Ocean is the place to be,
Promenadin'  is the life for me.
The atrium spreadin' out for a mile,
Keep Old Crystal, just give me that Viking style.

She:
New Crystal is where I'd rather stay,
The Stardust Lounge is where I like to sway.
I just adore a Sapphire view.
Darling I love you but give me Stars on the Avenue.

He: ...Viking Pride
She: ...Waterside
He: ... Manfredi's  
She: ...  The ladies

He: You are my mate.
She: Good bye, you cheapskate.
He and She: {Viking} {Crystal}, WE ARE THERE!
 

[ijkh]

3 minutes ago, pickleball dRabbit said:

He:
Viking Ocean is the place to be,
Promenadin'  is the life for me.
The atrium spreadin' out for a mile,
Keep Old Crystal, just give me that Viking style.

She:
New Crystal is where I'd rather stay,
The Stardust Lounge is where I like to sway.
I just adore a Sapphire view.
Darling I love you but give me Stars on the Avenue.

He: ...Viking Pride
She: ...Waterside
He: ... Manfredi's  
She: ...  The ladies

He: You are my mate.
She: Good bye, you cheapskate.
He and She: {Viking} {Crystal}, WE ARE THERE!
 

You can do both!  One of each, two of each.  Does Viking have pickleball?

 

[pickleball dRabbit]

6 minutes ago, ijkh said:

You can do both!  One of each, two of each.  Does Viking have pickleball?

 

 

I don't think so.

 

I've never sailed on any Viking product, but I've heard things, good things, about Viking Ocean. I knew it to have a full promenade deck, four laps equal one mile, though, and so that's what inspire the verse. They also have beautiful large spaces, like their two-story atrium, also mentioned in some Crystal wish lists for a new ship, and I believe their Explorer Lounge is two-story with a forward view.

 

[May B]

10 minutes ago, pickleball dRabbit said:

 

I don't think so.

 

I've never sailed on any Viking product, but I've heard things, good things, about Viking Ocean. I knew it to have a full promenade deck, four laps equal one mile, though, and so that's what inspire the verse. They also have beautiful large spaces, like their two-story atrium, also mentioned in some Crystal wish lists for a new ship, and I believe their Explorer Lounge is two-story with a forward view.

 

Two little changes. The Atrium is three stories high. There are chairs along the rails on two and three, for enjoying the music from deck one. Or the peace and quiet, depending on the time.

 

While the explorer lounge is two decks, the only opening is the stairway. The forward view is really nice, but the room isn’t as large as Palm Court.

[ijkh]

7 minutes ago, May B said:

Two little changes. The Atrium is three stories high. There are chairs along the rails on two and three, for enjoying the music from deck one. Or the peace and quiet, depending on the time.

 

While the explorer lounge is two decks, the only opening is the stairway. The forward view is really nice, but the room isn’t as large as Palm Court.

...and 930 passengers vs Serenity (our favorite) 740.   That is a positive in our opinion.  Everyone's budget is their own and there is no best answer for all.   For you and Zsa Zsa it sounds as though Serenity or Symphony might float your boat.

[Leejnd4]

17 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

And the promenade deck is now completely non-smoking. We suggested signage for this and hopefully this will be up soon.

 

Keith

 

GREAT! I will admit that it can be jarring when I'm running and breathing hard, and I have to pass through a cloud of cigarette smoke. Cough cough hack hack!

 

4 hours ago, Roland4 said:

I have never been able to figure out why the direction is counterclockwise, but it is the same on every ship we have ever sailed that had a walking/running track. A couple of newer ships we have sailed over the last 18 months even have that direction painted onto the track!

 

I've noticed they are always counter-clockwise too! And here's something funny - we are currently spending a month in a city where the best running is around a beautiful park with a dirt track circling it, each lap around the park is one mile. When we got here a couple weeks ago, I headed to that park, found the track and...turned right, which is counter-clockwise around the park, without even thinking about it. I ran that way every morning for several days, until one day I decided to reverse direction. It FELT WEIRD! So now I'm back to counter-clockwise. WHY IS THIS???? 😳

[Shorex]

Once upon a time long long ago the directional sign on the promenade deck was reversed each day. Then the sign got secured so that it was always the same direction. I suspect (but do not know) that the change was based on guest comments.

 

Since "everything" is explained on the world wide web I went sleuthing. And found this rational:

https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20786308/why-are-track-races-run-counterclockwise/

 

Blame it all on Rome's Circus Maximus!

 

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, May B said:

While the explorer lounge is two decks, the only opening is the stairway.

 

Nope.  There are two doors into the upper level of the Explorer lounge.  They lead in/out of the hallways by the staterooms on deck 8.  Just as there is an entry/exit door on the port side of deck 7 that lets you go in/out of Explorers without passing by Mamsen's.

 

They may look like crew-only doors, but they are fully available to passengers.

 

 

[Jinn]

19 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Some additional comments.

 

Yes, to Observer's point. Over the years on a very rare occasion someone has either made a rude comment about Anne Marie walking in the wrong direction or a few people have almost purposely waked into her. If I was there. Well maybe better I was not.  However, there are rude people on land and on sea and the good news is with the ship carrying less people we didn't encounter this issue on the seven cruise on-board Serenity in 2020 nor these two. If we are both together and waling the wrong way and others are coming we walk single file until we all pass staying very close to the right hand side.

 

As to the promenade deck this is something very special for us as it is for most. Anne Marie and I walk it together, by ourselves, in the past with others and I run on it.  It is also a great place for arrivals, departures, viewing scenery and getting away from it all and it was one of the selling points when we booked our first Crystal Cruise.

 

Very few ships compare to this.  On most the shady area is near a pool and that had issues and was pretty boring.  I believe the QM2 came the closest to this but we prefer Serenity and Symphony and Serenity more given the placement of the lifeboats.

 

And the promenade deck is now completely non-smoking. We suggested signage for this and hopefully this will be up soon.

 

Keith

So happy it is now non smoking.  No holding my breath.  Thanks, Julia

[Stickman1990]

5 hours ago, pickleball dRabbit said:

I've never sailed on any Viking product, but I've heard things, good things, about Viking Ocean

I did recently (they had an itinerary that worked for us) - certainly plenty of nice aspects but also things that didn’t work for us so it’s one and done for us - there are certainly better options out there at a similar price 

 

Interestingly we had two other lots of friends who also sailed Viking Ocean recently - one are of the same opinion as us while the other couple have booked another Viking cruise while onboard 

 

Choice is good 😉

[Stickman1990]

5 hours ago, ijkh said:

...and 930 passengers vs Serenity (our favorite) 740.   That is a positive in our opinion.  Everyone's budget is their own and there is no best answer for all.  

You might be surprised but we found the costs weren’t that different between Viking and Crystal (at least in the category we sail in) by the time you factor things like drinks packages in - I doubt it would come down to budget in terms of choosing between them and some other luxury lines

 

Interestingly the numbers discussion has only recently changed as they’ve reduced first numbers on Crystal - I don’t think Viking public areas could be considered crowded by any measure although there were a couple of times we couldn’t get seats in some locations like the afternoon tea in Wintergarden. We certainly loved upstairs in the Explorers lounge though - great spot on sea days 

 

Bags are out and ready to pack - time to cruise again

Edited August 21, 2023 by Stickman1990

[barcrab]

Tried Viking January around the horn this year. Attractive ship, mediocre food, good but not special service. One and done. Just off Silver Moon Iceland, beautiful ship, staterooms lovely, excellent service, pretty good excursions, food good. Looking so forward to being back on Crystal next year, with Silversea as a backup!

[nancygp]

47 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

I did recently (they had an itinerary that worked for us) - certainly plenty of nice aspects but also things that didn’t work for us so it’s one and done for us - there are certainly better options out there at a similar price 

 

Interestingly we had two other lots of friends who also sailed Viking Ocean recently - one are of the same opinion as us while the other couple have booked another Viking cruise while onboard 

 

Choice is good 😉

What things didn’t work for you?

 

Nancy

[Stickman1990]

17 minutes ago, nancygp said:

What things didn’t work for you?

It’s hard to put a finger on it - it certainly wasn’t catastrophically bad but we just didn’t gel with the overall feel. The hardware is lovely and the crew very attentive - no complaints there

 

Some examples of what we didn’t like:

 

1. Turning up for dinner at 7pm (don’t even think about earlier I believe although we wouldn’t eat then anyway) and having a 30 minute wait and then sitting cheek by jowl in the main restaurant 

2. The food was ok but not great - there were some exceptions we loved Chefs Table 

3. The process of having a drinks package and the rigamarole of ordering drinks was definitely something we didn’t like  

 

So I wouldn’t write them off - they’ll fit a lot of peoples tastes, as evidenced by have 10 or so x 900 person ships sailing with good loadings - they’re just not for us 

 

[Keith1010]

Back to Crystal.

 

An attribute of the two ships is the Promenade Deck.  It allows walking, running, enjoying beautiful views including arrivals and sail-aways. 

 

It is flat with no steps.

 

Anne Marie is often out there (weather permitting) two hours a day.

 

I will walk with her, with others, by myself and also run on it. 

 

It is an wonderful attribute and for us one of the reasons we decided to do our first World Cruise.

 

As I mentioned earlier, with reduced capacity we don't see that many people on it making it easy to go in either direction. Is it possible someone will say something to you if you go in the wrong direction?  Yes. Likely?  No.  With that said never accounted it on these cruises, on seven 2021 cruises or in 2020.

 

If you visit a city I would say you can be more challenged walking on sidewalks that are sized for no more than two people and the challenge is when two are coming at you and don't go into single file. And where we live when I took my workouts outside with runs and went onto the street I have gotten yelled on occasion by those in cars, suv's and golf carts.  But like most things this is the minority.

 

Sort of like CC where we have a few who yell in their own way. 😄

 

And one can adjust their times so they are on the deck at least crowded times. When there is a will there is away.

 

Another special attribute is the aft on most passenger decks where you can sit outside it is like being on a private yacht.

 

Keith

[Observer]

10 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

Another special attribute is the aft on most passenger decks where you can sit outside it is like being on a private yacht.

 

 

I am happy to have your information that smoking is not permitted on the promenade deck on Serenity.  

 

As I recall from my most recent Crystal cruise, several years ago, smoking was permitted on one side of the aft decks.  (I think it was the starboard side.)  Is this still the case?

 

On a related topic: is the exercise equipment still installed on the aft decks? I do not recall seeing it in recent photos.

 

TIA.

 

 

[May B]

16 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Nope.  There are two doors into the upper level of the Explorer lounge.  They lead in/out of the hallways by the staterooms on deck 8.  Just as there is an entry/exit door on the port side of deck 7 that lets you go in/out of Explorers without passing by Mamsen's.

 

They may look like crew-only doors, but they are fully available to passengers.

 

 

I meant there’s not really an opening from one deck to the next, so you don’t really overlook the lower deck from the upper. On the newer ships, I think, there are staterooms on deck eight. They have a very easy entry to the upper level.

[Keith1010]

57 minutes ago, Observer said:

 

I am happy to have your information that smoking is not permitted on the promenade deck on Serenity.  

 

As I recall from my most recent Crystal cruise, several years ago, smoking was permitted on one side of the aft decks.  (I think it was the starboard side.)  Is this still the case?

 

On a related topic: is the exercise equipment still installed on the aft decks? I do not recall seeing it in recent photos.

 

TIA.

 

 

On the aft of the guest decks most have a table on each side with an ashtray.  One of the aft desk has the shuffleboard court. Right now is no expertise equipment.

 

Kieth 

[Leejnd4]

18 hours ago, Shorex said:

Once upon a time long long ago the directional sign on the promenade deck was reversed each day. Then the sign got secured so that it was always the same direction. I suspect (but do not know) that the change was based on guest comments.

 

Since "everything" is explained on the world wide web I went sleuthing. And found this rational:

https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20786308/why-are-track-races-run-counterclockwise/

 

Blame it all on Rome's Circus Maximus!

 

 

Wow! Thanks for doing the research! That explains everything, including my own propensity for running counter-clockwise. I will wonder no more. 🙂 

[SusieQft]

On 8/21/2023 at 3:35 AM, Observer said:

On a related topic: is the exercise equipment still installed on the aft decks? I do not recall seeing it in recent photos.

I believe the exercise equipment on the aft decks was only on Symphony (OC).  So the answer to your question will probably be pending until we get observations/photos after Symphony's restart.

[crickette]

3 hours ago, SusieQft said:

I believe the exercise equipment on the aft decks was only on Symphony (OC).  So the answer to your question will probably be pending until we get observations/photos after Symphony's restart.

The Fitness Garden was removed before our cruises to Bermuda.

[BWIVince]

8 hours ago, crickette said:

The Fitness Garden was removed before our cruises to Bermuda.

Same…. They were showing their age in 2019, so I wasn’t surprised they didn’t survive the idle time in SE Asia.  We have a local park here that had similar equipment installed about a decade ago, and it was also removed when it was time for replacement, so I’m guessing that trend is over.  🤷🏻‍♂️ 

 

Vince