Viking Oceans Rating

I can't find a rating (other than 5 1/2 star on a travel agency website). Does anyone know which lines it compares to? Crystal, Seabourn, Regent. etc. or Oceania, Azamara, etc.? and why?

Thanks,

It is hard to rate Viking Oceans as The Star is still not complete and the first sailing is not till April, 2015. In some ways it seems to be a similair product to Azamara with due destination immersion and overnight stays. A larger number of passengers though. Time will tell......

Kathy9 is absolutely right -- until the ship actually launches, and both our editorial team and our own members actually cruise on the ship (and write reviews), we won't have any ratings at all. This is the challenge of waiting for an entirely new cruise line to launch!

Having said that, there's an interesting thread on this forum that asks those who are intrigued by Viking Oceans: Which cruise lines have you sailed on? It's all over the place, from someone who had a blast on Carnival to those who sail primarily on Regent Seven Seas and Silversea.

We're thinking that Viking Oceans will probably fall into the hybrid luxury/value category that is occupied at the moment by Oceania, Azamara, Ponant and Windstar but would love to hear your feedback, too.

Carolyn

They certainly seem to have taken a lot of clues from Oceania (and I imagine Azamara, although I haven't cruised on that line before), so I'm assuming they will be classified along those same lines in terms of ratings.

Ponant - Now that's a line I've never heard of! Interesting.

Kathy9 is absolutely right -- until the ship actually launches, and both our editorial team and our own members actually cruise on the ship (and write reviews), we won't have any ratings at all. This is the challenge of waiting for an entirely new cruise line to launch!

 

Having said that, there's an interesting thread on this forum that asks those who are intrigued by Viking Oceans: Which cruise lines have you sailed on? It's all over the place, from someone who had a blast on Carnival to those who sail primarily on Regent Seven Seas and Silversea.

 

We're thinking that Viking Oceans will probably fall into the hybrid luxury/value category that is occupied at the moment by Oceania, Azamara, Ponant and Windstar but would love to hear your feedback, too.

 

Carolyn

We have sailed Oceania on both their larger and smaller ships as well as Azamara. Never heard of Ponant. I think Viking Oceans will fall into the Oceania/Azamara category with it's size of 900+ passengers and semi all inclusive aspect with no assigned seating in the MDR. Also, the ship has the country club casual aspect. This is what drew us to try Viking Oceans.

We have sailed Oceania on both their larger and smaller ships as well as Azamara. Never heard of Ponant. I think Viking Oceans will fall into the Oceania/Azamara category with it's size of 900+ passengers and semi all inclusive aspect with no assigned seating in the MDR. Also, the ship has the country club casual aspect. This is what drew us to try Viking Oceans.

Yep, same for us, although we HAVE done several Viking river cruises, which we loved.

Waiting to book any cruise on them until I can accurate feed back. We love Oceania, which Viking seems to "maybe" partially copy. I just wonder if Viking will attempt to match Oceania's incredible food. Our last river cruise on Viking found the food to be Ok, not great. We put most of that blame on Viking's attempt to feed 185 passengers all at the same time in one sitting. Can they do better with a regular restaurant setting? Viking list prices for cruises is very reasonable and a lot lower than their targeted competition. Wondering what they may be giving up, if anything other than profits, to achieve those lower prices.

We don't mind the caste system of the cruise ships in that they have to manage embarkment chaos in some matter, and the caste system works as well as any, if people abide by the rules and times.

We're very interested on how the Midnight Sun cruise turns out, since that is the one we are most interested in. With the 2016 cruises for that trip now pretty well booked up, it will be 2017 before we could do the cruise with them. Hopefully, we will get lots of reports before we have to reserve that cruise.

Right now I'd give them a 0 + . The plus is for the agents who try hard to be as helpful as possible, but they don't have much more info than we do unfortunately. The "0" is for the confusing dibs and drab we get from Viking and the general lack of information. Personally I think their head of PR should be fired. JMHO.

Right now I'd give them a 0 + . The plus is for the agents who try hard to be as helpful as possible, but they don't have much more info than we do unfortunately. The "0" is for the confusing dibs and drab we get from Viking and the general lack of information. Personally I think their head of PR should be fired. JMHO.

Ditto. A big zero. We booked with the understanding that there would be free internet and be able to take a air deviation. They have now changed the rules and stated that they are allowed to. They also haven't published port times. There is absolutely no communication from Viking.

I'm not rating until I get on the ship and experience what they have to offer. Fortunately for me, that's a full 8 months away! I think their only mistake so far, if it really is a mistake, is that they started letting people book long before they had enough information to be able to satisfy some of their more anxious customers. They may run a great river cruise line, but ocean cruising with 930 passengers is a bit different. I say leave them alone for a while, give 'em a break, and let them spend the next few months ironing out the kinks and finalizing the plans! As my husband says, it's probably more important that they get everything running smoothly by mid-April than it is to satisfy a much smaller number of people who don't understand why they aren't operating as smoothly as cruise lines that have been plying the oceans for years. They'll get better!

As to their pricing and a comparison to Oceania pricing, I am a huge Oceania fan and I don't see Viking's prices all that different from O's when I try to compare Viking's oranges to Oceania's apples. Oceania almost always includes airfare in their price, which saves me quite a lot, particularly since O's trips are usually from one city and back to another. (I have few frequent flyer miles.) They typically include gratuities and sometimes internet. I can usually get some onboard credit from my travel agent, as well as a little discount on the cruise price (from the agency's pot though, don't think from O's!). It remains to be seen if he or any other travel agent will give me the same goodies on Viking!

On the other hand, Viking is giving me 7 free excursions, which could be a savings of almost a thousand dollars if I were to purchase 7 basic excursions on Oceania. They're also including free beer and wine, which has some monetary value.

Yep, we can't compare the food yet (and I agree, Viking River's is good but certainly not up to O's standards!) or the staterooms or the shipboard service.

We shall see...

root123;

I'm waiting to until I hear reviews from actual customers, before I decide anything about using Viking over Oceania.

As a side note, I was talking to a gentleman on our Viking river cruise last Fall that had already booked 3 Viking Oceans cruises! :eek: I am rather brave hearted, but would never book three cruises on a line with zero history!

root123;

 

I'm waiting to until I hear reviews from actual customers, before I decide anything about using Viking over Oceania.

 

As a side note, I was talking to a gentleman on our Viking river cruise last Fall that had already booked 3 Viking Oceans cruises! :eek: I am rather brave hearted, but would never book three cruises on a line with zero history!

We have sailed Oceania 6 times with number 7 & 8 coming up and Azamara once. We love both lines but thought we would this a try since it was a new build and only had 900 passengers which is a good size. However, dealing with Viking Oceans has been horrible. I would like to say it is because it is a new endeavor but I will no longer give them the benefit of the doubt. No communication, no information and changing amenities after booking. This cruise has better be great after all the nonsense we had to put up with so far.

root123;

 

I'm waiting to until I hear reviews from actual customers, before I decide anything about using Viking over Oceania.

 

As a side note, I was talking to a gentleman on our Viking river cruise last Fall that had already booked 3 Viking Oceans cruises! :eek: I am rather brave hearted, but would never book three cruises on a line with zero history!

Without one actual sailing or cruise review, the 2015 schedule is fully booked in most cases. Two more ships ordered, and 2016 is booked full in all its lowest categories.

I give a 10+ rating to all those who booked as true adventurers:)

I do notice that some are becoming worried, anxious, and excited as the first sailing is just a couple of months away.

I will be booking this Spring, but will hope there are still 2016 openings by then.

Well, we took a chance and deposited for a January 2016 cruise but no final payment until june 2015.

Will be interesting to see the reviews from you first timers cause if it is "too" bad I can pull out and stick with Crystal!;)

There have been enough glitches to make me regret booking, and of course paying for, the maiden voyage.

With Viking making a big deal out of the included tours I am extremely saddened by the descriptions provided. The details of those tours are terrible, not even a decent overview of the stops. I will see soon enough whether my pessimism is warranted.

But I would hesitate to book now.

There have been enough glitches to make me regret booking, and of course paying for, the maiden voyage.

With Viking making a big deal out of the included tours I am extremely saddened by the descriptions provided. The details of those tours are terrible, not even a decent overview of the stops. I will see soon enough whether my pessimism is warranted.

But I would hesitate to book now.

I feel the same. Unless this cruise Viking Homelands turns out awesome I would not book again.

I have to agree. After 4 wonderful Viking River Cruises, we were so excited to see the beautiful renderings of this ship and booked immediately for the first two legs of the maiden.

We too are Oceania cruisers (#20 coming up) but we loved the size - between the R ships and the O ships - the multi dining options, included wine with meals, and included tours.

However, after all these months of waiting the details of the offered tours vs. what one actually wants to see in these ports is very disappointing to say the least. We now find ourselves interested in taking only 4 included tours (over 22 days) and will either "wing it" on our own or be forced to take optionals or book private excursions for the rest of the ports.

This is not what we expected of Viking.

Without one actual sailing or cruise review, the 2015 schedule is fully booked in most cases. Two more ships ordered, and 2016 is booked full in all its lowest categories.

I give a 10+ rating to all those who booked as true adventurers:)

I do notice that some are becoming worried, anxious, and excited as the first sailing is just a couple of months away.

I will be booking this Spring, but will hope there are still 2016 openings by then.

I am not feeling like a true adventurer - more like a royal dupe (lol).

We sailed Viking Rivers Amsterdam-Budapest and loved the entire experience, so we booked the maiden voyage Barcelona- Stockholm.

Now our itinerary has been changed - and they haven't communicated this. Our overnight 'Immersion' experiences to London and Paris are now departing at midnight of day 1 out of different ports than originally stated. Ports have been deleted and changed - and Viking isn't communicating any of this to the 928 fully paid passengers. Their customer service is being given misinformation - they have provided our travel agent 4 different itinerary updates over the past 4 months. I have to put that blame on Viking Management. Not customer service.

I have turned from a huge Viking fan to a really disappointed customer who would have waited to book - if I ever did again - and planned something different for this vacation.

Total fiasco.

We sailed Viking Rivers Amsterdam-Budapest and loved the entire experience, so we booked the maiden voyage Barcelona- Stockholm.

 

Now our itinerary has been changed - and they haven't communicated this. Our overnight 'Immersion' experiences to London and Paris are now departing at midnight of day 1 out of different ports than originally stated. Ports have been deleted and changed - and Viking isn't communicating any of this to the 928 fully paid passengers. Their customer service is being given misinformation - they have provided our travel agent 4 different itinerary updates over the past 4 months. I have to put that blame on Viking Management. Not customer service.

 

I have turned from a huge Viking fan to a really disappointed customer who would have waited to book - if I ever did again - and planned something different for this vacation.

 

Total fiasco.

I would ask for my money back unless Viking can give you all of the firm information within seven days of asking.

I am waiting six months to see what goes on before booking.