Thoughts on our recent Mediterranean and Italian Sojourn Cruise

[Hobson1754]

 

We have very recently returned from our 3rd Viking Ocean cruise and would like to give a brief summary of our impressions.

Firstly the Pros:-

We had been on Saturn last September and it was exactly as we remembered it. Felt a little like ‘coming home’, although I know that Viking ships are all exactly the same. Ship is beautiful and attention to detail, especially upkeep from housekeeping is second to none.

All Staff are exceptional in regards to service, courtesy and friendliness - it was really nice to see some crew who we met last September and who remembered us. Maitre D’ and waiters in Restaurant were excellent.

In our opinion the food in the Restaurant was better this cruise than on our previous cruises - not that it had been bad before - but it seemed as if they’d ‘upped their game’. There was a new Executive Chef and a new menu.  On our last cruise we ate 3 times in Chefs Table and twice in Manfredi’s - this time we only used them once each as we enjoyed the restaurant so much. Last cruise I’d had a problem with fish being over cooked on a few occasions - this cruise every time was perfect.

Whilst we don’t tend to use the theatre much we do like to sit and listen to the classical duo/artist, pianist, guitarist/singer and often the Viking Band in Torshavn. This cruise we felt was the best we’ve seen especially the classical duo Pablo and Zsofia (violinist and classical guitarist). They were so talented.

We were very pleasantly surprised by the good weather for a lot of the cruise - this was a real bonus in February and the roof was even opened on a couple of occasions on pool deck during lunch.

Loved a lot of the Ports even though we’d been to a lot of them before and most of the included tours were OK.  The walking tour of Naples was really good and we really enjoyed the paid for tour of Lucca. We ditched Venice tour as it poured and we didn’t fancy being there for hours getting soaked, so a bit of a disappointment there although we have visited before.

 

Now for the Cons.:-

Dress Code or lack of it!! I’ve never, in over 20 cruises, seen such a lack of dress code in restaurants on board a ship. I mentioned it to the Maitre D’ and was told that ‘Americans don’t like to dress up and as long as the jeans aren’t ripped they are allowed in’. It wasn’t just jeans. I’m certainly not advocating formal attire for Viking, but as I stated in another post, one night I saw 3 women all very casual, exiting Manfredi’s after dinner and one had on baggy joggers tucked into UGG boots. To say a lot of people were very casual is an understatement - what is the point of a dress code if it’s not being enforced. It is a slippery slope to allowing shorts & swim wear in.

 

We and others we spoke to, felt that the ship was very loud and noisy, more so than the other Viking cruises we’ve been on. Especially around the bar areas - there seemed to be people shouting & talking very loud and, if the guitarist or classical duo was performing their voices were raised even more so that it was difficult to hear the entertainment. So rude. At times we just left Torshavn or Explorers lounge.  Restaurant was also very loud - people can’t seem to talk in a normal voice and, I know I’m probably going to be lambasted for this, but the voices were always American. There seemed to be a different mix of ages on this cruise and lots of first time cruisers. I don’t know if it was to do with the 4 separate weeks/legs of this cruise - lots of people got off in Rome after just a week. I had heard that there were late offers for separate legs of this cruise so maybe that is related to dress & noise.

 

All in all we had a great time and, as we’re going on Viking Homelands in May ‘25, we can only hope that Viking can sort out the niggles otherwise don’t know if we’ll be booking another. Fingers crossed🤞

 

[longterm]

52 minutes ago, Hobson1754 said:

We and others we spoke to, felt that the ship was very loud and noisy, more so than the other Viking cruises we’ve been on. Especially around the bar areas - there seemed to be people shouting & talking very loud and, if the guitarist or classical duo was performing their voices were raised even more so that it was difficult to hear the entertainment. 

A few thoughts:

For the record, Torstein Hagen told USA Today that 82% of Viking's guests are from the United States; so, it would follow that most of the loud voices you'd hear would be American. Walk into any Irish pub, and you'll hear lots of loud voices, and strangely enough, almost all of them will be Irish. 🙂

Second, the bar area: back in my college days when I was a lounge musician, I played literally thousands of hours in bars--restaurant bars, dance clubs, you name it. I've also played lots of times in restaurants on solo piano. I've also played hundreds of nights in a jazz club in Austin (jazz clubs are supposed to be "listening" rooms, but this one certainly isn't).

Sometimes people listen, sometimes they drink and get noisy; it's the nature of rooms where alcohol is served. Sometimes people listen to the music, sometimes they talk so loud that they drown out the music--apparently their goal. Is it annoying to a musician or to someone trying to listen? Absolutely, but unless you're at a concert, it's just the way it is when alcohol is concerned.

I was on a Viking Caribbean cruise, sitting in the atrium talking to a friend; a woman got up and sang along with the pianist. She was mediocre at best, but because her friends wanted to hear her, they tried to shush me because I was sitting on a couch, having a polite conversation with a friend. I ignored them; it was my right to sit in the atrium and have a conversation; the atrium isn't a listening room, and I certainly didn't need to be quiet so that some maudlin barely-talented woman could belt out songs to the glee of her friends.

As someone who has been a professional musician all my life, you've managed to touch on something I've thought about countless times; in a jazz club, loud talking is considered the height of rudeness--yet some clubs, like the one in Austin, and another in Dallas, allow it to go on because they're more concerned about liquor sales than any sense of club integrity. It comes down to a club or bar setting the tone of a room; some enforce quiet conversation--or even silence--during a musical performance, some let patrons do what they want. Go into a jazz club in NYC and you'd better stay extremely quiet during a set; people are there to listen, not to talk.

On a cruise, however, the bar area is a place for passengers to mix and mingle, and the job of the musician is to provide ambient background music; it's a venue where being quiet isn't the order of the day, and shouldn't be expected. If it bothers you and you find the drunks too noisy--as I often do--the best thing to do is to avoid the bar--which is exactly what we do. 

Another thought: sometimes the musicians on cruises are so mediocre that talking over them is a gift to the people in the room; there was a cellist/violinist pair on our Med cruise that sounded like 2nd-year music students, and I couldn't bear to listen to them.

Funny thing is, when I was in college I made a living playing bars; I hated bars then and I still to now; we rarely go in the bar on Viking cruises, except in off-hours when it's quiet and sedate.

 

[duquephart]

2 hours ago, Hobson1754 said:

 

We have very recently returned from our 3rd Viking Ocean cruise and would like to give a brief summary of our impressions.

Firstly the Pros:-

We had been on Saturn last September and it was exactly as we remembered it. Felt a little like ‘coming home’, although I know that Viking ships are all exactly the same. Ship is beautiful and attention to detail, especially upkeep from housekeeping is second to none.

All Staff are exceptional in regards to service, courtesy and friendliness - it was really nice to see some crew who we met last September and who remembered us. Maitre D’ and waiters in Restaurant were excellent.

In our opinion the food in the Restaurant was better this cruise than on our previous cruises - not that it had been bad before - but it seemed as if they’d ‘upped their game’. There was a new Executive Chef and a new menu.  On our last cruise we ate 3 times in Chefs Table and twice in Manfredi’s - this time we only used them once each as we enjoyed the restaurant so much. Last cruise I’d had a problem with fish being over cooked on a few occasions - this cruise every time was perfect.

Whilst we don’t tend to use the theatre much we do like to sit and listen to the classical duo/artist, pianist, guitarist/singer and often the Viking Band in Torshavn. This cruise we felt was the best we’ve seen especially the classical duo Pablo and Zsofia (violinist and classical guitarist). They were so talented.

We were very pleasantly surprised by the good weather for a lot of the cruise - this was a real bonus in February and the roof was even opened on a couple of occasions on pool deck during lunch.

Loved a lot of the Ports even though we’d been to a lot of them before and most of the included tours were OK.  The walking tour of Naples was really good and we really enjoyed the paid for tour of Lucca. We ditched Venice tour as it poured and we didn’t fancy being there for hours getting soaked, so a bit of a disappointment there although we have visited before.

 

Now for the Cons.:-

Dress Code or lack of it!! I’ve never, in over 20 cruises, seen such a lack of dress code in restaurants on board a ship. I mentioned it to the Maitre D’ and was told that ‘Americans don’t like to dress up and as long as the jeans aren’t ripped they are allowed in’. It wasn’t just jeans. I’m certainly not advocating formal attire for Viking, but as I stated in another post, one night I saw 3 women all very casual, exiting Manfredi’s after dinner and one had on baggy joggers tucked into UGG boots. To say a lot of people were very casual is an understatement - what is the point of a dress code if it’s not being enforced. It is a slippery slope to allowing shorts & swim wear in.

 

We and others we spoke to, felt that the ship was very loud and noisy, more so than the other Viking cruises we’ve been on. Especially around the bar areas - there seemed to be people shouting & talking very loud and, if the guitarist or classical duo was performing their voices were raised even more so that it was difficult to hear the entertainment. So rude. At times we just left Torshavn or Explorers lounge.  Restaurant was also very loud - people can’t seem to talk in a normal voice and, I know I’m probably going to be lambasted for this, but the voices were always American. There seemed to be a different mix of ages on this cruise and lots of first time cruisers. I don’t know if it was to do with the 4 separate weeks/legs of this cruise - lots of people got off in Rome after just a week. I had heard that there were late offers for separate legs of this cruise so maybe that is related to dress & noise.

 

All in all we had a great time and, as we’re going on Viking Homelands in May ‘25, we can only hope that Viking can sort out the niggles otherwise don’t know if we’ll be booking another. Fingers crossed🤞

 

 

" ---  I know that Viking ships are all exactly the same."

Broad. And untrue.

[Azulann]

Thank you so much for  posting this summary of your latest cruise . 

Good to hear that the Restaurant is still very good. I loved eating there last June  on the Viking Jupiter. I always order seafood when ever it is on the menu .

[minka34]

Thank you for your review. 
We often sit on floor 2 or 3 above the atrium if we want quiet to listen to the music.  There are no guarantees, but it seems to be a more peaceful space to listen in comparison to right around the bar on the same floor as the musicians.  
We are heading for our first experience on an expedition ship in about 2 weeks.  It won't be the usual familiar Ocean ship layout, but hope that we will find the same Viking quality that we have appreciated so much in the past.  Excited to experience an expedition ship!

[tobique33040]

I agree about the dress code. Geez, they aren’t asking us to come in formal wear. But is it so difficult to at least take your joggers off and put a pair of decent slacks on? We saw a number of people who looked like they just crawled out of bed. I guess some of us are rules followers and others are egocentric, so only what they want matters. I observe, but it doesn’t ruin my holiday thankfully. 
 

[carolinetodd]

I don't get all the pearl-clutching about the dress code.  We were happy to comply, but I feel it's for Viking to set the standard and enforce it or not.  Other people's clothing has no relevance to whether or not I enjoy a restaurant or other venue, unless they actually smell - the perfume and fabric-softener cloud around some people can be pretty off-putting, but it's not something that can be policed.

We found the World Café much quieter than the Restaurant - a matter of acoustics, rather than rowdiness, I think.  We also found that different legs of our back-to-back-to-back had very different vibes, with the Istanbul-to-Athens pax more serious, less outgoing than the Athens-to-Rome group, who were much louder, but also much friendlier.

[May B]

On 3/3/2024 at 11:43 PM, minka34 said:

Thank you for your review. 
We often sit on floor 2 or 3 above the atrium if we want quiet to listen to the music.  There are no guarantees, but it seems to be a more peaceful space to listen in comparison to right around the bar on the same floor as the musicians.  
We are heading for our first experience on an expedition ship in about 2 weeks.  It won't be the usual familiar Ocean ship layout, but hope that we will find the same Viking quality that we have appreciated so much in the past.  Excited to experience an expedition ship!

Our first Viking was on Octantis in the Great Lakes. We loved it!

 

There were two bars, with the duo playing in one or the other before dinner. Lovely ambiance. Aft of the World Cafe, we’d take some of the shrimp/crab legs/sushi from the WC, to go with a drink. 
 

Bon voyage to you.

[Frenchberet]

On 3/4/2024 at 9:57 AM, tobique33040 said:

I agree about the dress code. Geez, they aren’t asking us to come in formal wear. But is it so difficult to at least take your joggers off and put a pair of decent slacks on? We saw a number of people who looked like they just crawled out of bed. I guess some of us are rules followers and others are egocentric, so only what they want matters. I observe, but it doesn’t ruin my holiday thankfully. 
 

We recently did legs 2, 3 & 4  of this itinerary (Rome-Istanbul).  This cruise definitely had a more “relaxed” passenger demographic than our other Viking cruises.  
 

The dress code was posted at the entrance to the restaurant, Chef’s Table and Manfredi’s but there were a number of people who just ignored it.  We observed several adult men wearing jeans and baseball caps in the restaurant and at Manfredi’s.  This puts the staff in an awkward position.  If I was working there, I’d point to the sign and tell them to change their pants and take their darn hats off.  I’d probably get fired.

[longterm]

I’d much rather jeans than clouds of cologne, perfume, or powder. Axe body spray will send me to the door.
 

Almost as bad as cigarette or cigar stench. 

Edited March 31 by longterm

[Frenchberet]

3 hours ago, longterm said:

I’d much rather jeans than clouds of cologne, perfume, or powder. Axe body spray will send me to the door.
 

Almost as bad as cigarette or cigar stench. 

Yes, but does it need to be an either/or situation?  Can a man come to dinner wearing pants, leave his ball cap in the room, and not stink?

[Breckski]

On 3/4/2024 at 10:26 AM, carolinetodd said:

We found the World Café much quieter than the Restaurant 

We also prefer the World Cafe to the Restaurant.  On our last two cruises (14 days each) we ate at the Restaurant once each cruise.  Manfredi's and Chef's Table are way quieter while we find the World Cafe to be marginally quieter.  We really hate the closeness of the two-top tables in the Restaurant and feel that adds to the loudness for us.  And we've found that many times the adjacent tables want to join in on our conversations.  We simply like private dinners. 

 

On our trip next month, we're going to try the Restaurant again but ask for a four-top if it's not busy.  

[WanderingBrit]

14 hours ago, mwike said:

We also prefer the World Cafe to the Restaurant.  On our last two cruises (14 days each) we ate at the Restaurant once each cruise.  Manfredi's and Chef's Table are way quieter while we find the World Cafe to be marginally quieter.  We really hate the closeness of the two-top tables in the Restaurant and feel that adds to the loudness for us.  And we've found that many times the adjacent tables want to join in on our conversations.  We simply like private dinners. 

 

On our trip next month, we're going to try the Restaurant again but ask for a four-top if it's not busy.  

That mirrors our experience, to add to which it seems many people get offended if you don't welcome their uninvited participation in your meal.

 

I've seen many responses along the lines of "well we go on cruises to meet people, so lighten up!" - yes but we don't, so leave us alone. This remains a concern I have about our first river cruise, where it seems there's much less chance for privacy during dining.

[Breckski]

53 minutes ago, WanderingBrit said:

That mirrors our experience, to add to which it seems many people get offended if you don't welcome their uninvited participation in your meal.

 

I've seen many responses along the lines of "well we go on cruises to meet people, so lighten up!" - yes but we don't, so leave us alone. This remains a concern I have about our first river cruise, where it seems there's much less chance for privacy during dining.

We've done one river cruise and enjoyed it more than we anticipated.  Really liked not having to drive, take train, hire taxi, etc. to get from town to town.  The mobile hotel concept has merit. 

 

But we did not enjoy the common dinners.  Reminded me of old school Carnival meals.  We ate off-ship if possible, with the departure time being the limiting factor.

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

3 hours ago, WanderingBrit said:

That mirrors our experience, to add to which it seems many people get offended if you don't welcome their uninvited participation in your meal.

 

I've seen many responses along the lines of "well we go on cruises to meet people, so lighten up!" - yes but we don't, so leave us alone. This remains a concern I have about our first river cruise, where it seems there's much less chance for privacy during dining.

We considered that when we researched our first river cruise, which is one of the reasons why we ended up with Scenic for next year - they have more than 1 dining venue AND room service for lunch and dinner, so when we're not feeling sociable, we can just eat in our room and watch the river go by from our balcony!

[CCWineLover]

5 hours ago, mwike said:

We've done one river cruise and enjoyed it more than we anticipated.  Really liked not having to drive, take train, hire taxi, etc. to get from town to town.  The mobile hotel concept has merit. 

 

But we did not enjoy the common dinners.  Reminded me of old school Carnival meals.  We ate off-ship if possible, with the departure time being the limiting factor.

We also enjoyed our one river cruise - except we agree with several people.  It will be one and done for us.  We now have 15 Ocean Cruises from Viking under our belt and will continue.  Main reason:  Dining.  At least on Ocean you can find a quiet place for a more private dinner.  On River it basically does not exist.  And it did remind me of those cruise dinners you were forced to do back in the 80's and 90's.  Each night at 7:00 reminded us of a big wedding dinner reception.  And for some that's great, but for some it isn't.  At least Ocean gives a choice.

 

[CCWineLover]

6 hours ago, WanderingBrit said:

That mirrors our experience, to add to which it seems many people get offended if you don't welcome their uninvited participation in your meal.

 

We've had that exact experience.  Whether World Cafe or Manfredi's or The Restaurant, most people seem to want to join your dinner conversation.  Even if they are well meaning, not everyone wishes that.

[CCWineLover]

21 hours ago, mwike said:

We also prefer the World Cafe to the Restaurant.  On our last two cruises (14 days each) we ate at the Restaurant once each cruise.  Manfredi's and Chef's Table are way quieter while we find the World Cafe to be marginally quieter.  We really hate the closeness of the two-top tables in the Restaurant and feel that adds to the loudness for us. 

mwike - we totally agree.  We also prefer the World Cafe (which is the quietest of the 4 restaurants to have dinner, other than room service 🙂)

And those 2 tops right close together seems to be the style these days.  With that tiny gap in between barely enough to squeeze yourself through, it definitely promotes interaction.  And if you happen to get seated in the middle seat of the 737 configuration at The Restaurant, watch out then!

I hope this is just a trial, but a friend on the Jupiter posted a picture that they just changed the World Cafe seating by separating the 4 some tables into two tables with that tiny gap in between.  Apparently there have been complaints of too many twosomes taking up a foursome table (so as to have a more private dinner - guilty as charged).  Not a good sign if they don't offer alternatives.

[carolinetodd]

We didn't experience this sort of unwelcome interaction (on Saturn, Jan-Feb.)  Once, at the Restaurant, we accidentally said yes to sharing a table, and had a pleasant meal with some people we never saw again, and occasionally we exchanged brief remarks with people seated near us in the World Café, but that was all.  Once or twice, when it was especially crowded, we shared a six-top with another couple, without talking to each other at all.  Y'all must just look a lot more interesting and approachable than we do.

[Deb922]

My husband and I have been on 2 Viking River cruises and we are now exploring an ocean cruise. 
 

one of the biggest attraction of ocean v river is the dining situation. It’s not that we were adverse to the communal dining atmosphere. It’s that we would have loved to have a choice. 
 

7 days felt like a lot to sit and converse with strangers. Lovely nice people but it was exhausting. 
 

I think on the rivers, there are exactly 3 tables in the aquavit terrace that are 2 tops. On our second river cruise, there were the same people who camped out night after night. 
 

I don’t blame them but I would have liked to have a chance to opt out of dinner conversations for a night. Or even lunch. On our first river cruise we had luck dining alone at lunch time but the second did not work out. 
 

Thinking that an ocean cruise would be a better fit. As we are happy meeting others and connecting but sometimes we just want to be alone. 
 

my husband’s hearing issues don’t help at all. 

Edited April 1 by Deb922

[tobique33040]

We always get to the Restaurant around 18:15 and the lines have disbursed a bit. We ask for a window seat so we at least have people on only one side. Sometimes they say no and we roll with it. Haven’t had too many unwanted conversations. 
At world Cafe we eat by the windows at the stern of the ship, next to the bar. Again, we only have people on one side of us, and often nobody is seated there. 
We are going on a river cruise at Christmas. Haven’t been on a Viking river in awhile. Before we could get tables for two but the last time there were large communal tables. Is that the norm now?

[Deb922]

The only tables for 2 on a river cruise are on the aquavit terrace. On our last river cruise, people got there and camped out a long time before dinner service. I think there were 3 tables for 2. 
 

at lunch, there were more tables for 2 set up in the lounge area next to the aquavit terrace. We sat there once but someone we knew joined us. It was fine but we were hoping for peace and quiet. 
 

I hear if you go to the back of the dining room, you might have more luck finding some open space to dine. But I found that a river cruise is very communal. Which was fine but I was alway relieved when the cruise ended tbh. 

[ural guy]

On 4/1/2024 at 6:18 PM, Deb922 said:

My husband and I have been on 2 Viking River cruises and we are now exploring an ocean cruise. 
 

one of the biggest attraction of ocean v river is the dining situation. It’s not that we were adverse to the communal dining atmosphere. It’s that we would have loved to have a choice. 
 

7 days felt like a lot to sit and converse with strangers. Lovely nice people but it was exhausting. 
 

I think on the rivers, there are exactly 3 tables in the aquavit terrace that are 2 tops. On our second river cruise, there were the same people who camped out night after night. 
 

I don’t blame them but I would have liked to have a chance to opt out of dinner conversations for a night. Or even lunch. On our first river cruise we had luck dining alone at lunch time but the second did not work out. 
 

Thinking that an ocean cruise would be a better fit. As we are happy meeting others and connecting but sometimes we just want to be alone. 
 

my husband’s hearing issues don’t help at all. 

Same on our last Viking cruise, the same people in the same tables in the Aquavit lounge.  One night a regular, two person couple found their table taken.  They talked to both waiter and his supervisor so they could sit and be served in the main lounge area.  Money was exchanged, everyone seemed happy.

 

I understand your husband's hearing issues...there are so many different conversations going on in the MDR, with the low ceiling I can't distinguish words and fail to follow conversations.  So I smile and nod, and try to get a table in the lounge.

[longterm]

On 3/31/2024 at 3:20 PM, Frenchberet said:

Yes, but does it need to be an either/or situation?  Can a man come to dinner wearing pants, leave his ball cap in the room, and not stink?

Depends on the cap. 🙂

[deec]

We did 3 River Cruises during the fall and I was exhausted from trying to smile and nod for that many meals!  viking Rivers I think should try and set up some 2 person tables or we may find ourselves looking for another River Experience if we are not cruising with friends.