Viking Fontane review?

[Maimou]

:confused:Hi-DH and I are considering Viking's Vineyards & Vistas cruise. The cabin bed arrangement has me really leery, however. All cabins are fitted with one sofabed and one Pullman bed. Just how comfortable is this? I can pretty much sleep anywhere, but DH's back problems/arthritis pose a problem. Anybody out there cruised on this ship?

 

Also, we are a little concerned about what to wear. I certainly don't want to drag a whole wardrobe with me (I'm not a fancy clothes girl), and DH only wears jacket/tie to funerals. Are most cruise lines "business casual" (polo shirt/khakis or chinos) at dinner?

 

Thanks. This will be our first cruise together. Our trip to Greece a couple of years ago involved too many hotels in too short a time, so we are looking forward to unpacking just once.

[jacksonnh]

Hi Maimou,

We've sailed on two cruises with Viking and "dress casual" seemed to be the norm both times. I saw very few men with jackets and ties. On our second cruise, I didn't both taking any. Our first cruise was on the Clara Schumann which is similar to the Fontane in room design. There is no getting around it - the rooms and beds are small. I, like you, can sleep almost anywhere so it was ok with me. Recently, we were on Viking Sun and had a larger room with two twins push together. It was much more comfortable. If you want to spend alot of time in your room you may want a bigger space to relax in although when cruising, most people were on the top deck or in the observation lounge.

[parkie]

We took a Paris to Prague cruise in October of 2008 on this ship and also "enjoyed" the bedding arrangement. I am 6'2" and 225 lbs. and while it was a bit tight, I am a fairly solid sleeper and so it worked OK for us. My wife is much more petite and she drew the pullman bed and she was fine.

 

Neither jackets nor ties were required; there were a couple of gentlemen who wore them to dinner, but they were really in the minority.

 

Also, I agree with the previous poster; at this time of the year, my experience is that the sun deck is the place to be!

[Maimou]

Thank you both for your input. I think we will pass on this ship. My husband has had multiple spine surgeries and suffers from spinal arthritis, so an uncomfortable bed is a deal breaker for us. Too bad, because we really want to focus on Germany:(

[parkie]

Look at Avalon; we were on a Tulip Time cruise in late April/early May and found the beds to be quite acceptable. While I have not had spine surgery, I have had back issues in the past, and require a firm mattress, and the Avalon Poetry had good (twin pulled together) beds (cabin category B as I recall).

 

Good luck!