REVIEW - Viking Sky - Athens to Venice - March 25th to April 3rd - On the ship now!

As the thread title indicates - Viking Sky - Athens to Venice - NOW.

This is either the third of fourth sailing of this ship.

What a GREAT EXPERIENCE! Every person (Crew) that we have walked past or come in any kind of contact with are amazing! Simply amazing. We could not ask for better in service, attitude, and the desire to please. I think that Viking serve the Crew "happy pills" (Joking) because they are all so happy and smiling all the time.

We did the Galley Tour yesterday and Chef commented on the such good care Viking take with the Crew and his comment was exactly this: "Happy Crew - Happy Guests" and he was/is completely right.

The staff that I am going to give a shoutout to are:

Willy - Our Stateroom Steward

Rizalina - Server in The World Cafe

Darko - Server in The Chef's Table and The World Cafe

John - Server in The World Cafe

JoJo - Guest Services Manager (Hope I spelled this right)

All Managers and Officers

All Crew that I don't know the names of...

The above are outstanding in their approach, attitude, ability to remember our names and Stateroom number... Knowing that we like to start with Sparkling Wine then move to Red Wine... Little things and most of all their genuine smile and greeting. Simply makes the Cruise that much more enjoyable.

Hats off to Viking Ocean and the entire Crew of Viking Sky. Our TV did not respond correctly on Embarkation and not only was it fixed we were called by Guest Services to ensure that we were pleased with the result. I made a slight negative comment on the first excursion feedback form and I got a call from Guest Services... This means that they actually read what you write.

Overall amazing experience and we will Cruise again - hopefully many times - on Viking ocean.

Wonderful to see you are having a great time,we sail June 3rd on the Sky. Will keep an eye for the crew you have mentioned . Do you happen to know what beer it is they serve for free with lunch and dinner? Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

So happy to hear that you are enjoying your trip. We will be right behind you, on the same itinerary on the Star beginning April 1. How is the weather so far?

New Staff Shoutouts - did not remember their names yesterday when I posted this:

Romney - The Explorers Lounge

Vicky - The Restaurant

Giselle - The Restaurant

The weather for us has been perfect. So far sun each day and in the 65-75F range or 18-22C. Nights are cool to cold but the days warm nicely. We don't enjoy the hot of summer so this time of the year is perfect for us... A little cooler....

Recommend you dress in layers on excursions and take off when you need to... I was laughing quietly yesterday when we were visiting Olympia and some folks were getting off the ship in short sleeve shirts and shorts - I think they were anticipating that it would warm nicely. I never felt the need to remove my light wind breaker and some of these folks were noticeably cold...

Wonderful to see you are having a great time,we sail June 3rd on the Sky. Will keep an eye for the crew you have mentioned . Do you happen to know what beer it is they serve for free with lunch and dinner? Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Sorry - missed your question about beer. We don't drink beer at all. We are drinking the wine on the Silver Spirits Package.

I have seen Coors Light bottles and what looks like Guiness in a glass but other than that I am not sure. I will see today if I can get a menu of the beer menu and post it.

Can you report on the Viking tours you take in each port? Which one? What you saw. If you had enough time at the various stops. Was it what you expected from the description? The more we hear from people who have taken the tours, the better.

Thanks in advance

Can you report on the Viking tours you take in each port? Which one? What you saw. If you had enough time at the various stops. Was it what you expected from the description? The more we hear from people who have taken the tours, the better.

 

Thanks in advance

Of course...

We booked ONLY the included tours in each Port. Here is our reasoning... We have never visited any of these countries before and our reasoning told us that Viking would get us to the must see destinations in each Port. Is this the case? Not entirely sure, but we have been VERY PLEASED with all the excursions to date.

The included tours each have a guide that is very knowledgable and you will receive a lot of information from them. The included tours seem to be very knowledge rich which is great!

If you are boarding in Athens and staying overnight then the included tour does NOT take you to the Parthenon

But you will get city views of this site.

Other than this we have been very pleased with all the included tours!

Wonderful to see you are having a great time,we sail June 3rd on the Sky. Will keep an eye for the crew you have mentioned . Do you happen to know what beer it is they serve for free with lunch and dinner? Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

Here is the beer list. Beer and house wine are included at lunch and dinner but perhaps not

all beers. Only house wines are included and there are many other wines on the list. I will see if I can find what beers are included.

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Funny that they have Brooklyn larger. Made right here and I can testify that it's a very you'd beer.

CDNPolar,

Thanks so much for taking the time to provide all this information. The weather report is just what I had hoped for: warmish, but not hot. I was thinking of layers too, fearing that the early morning tours might be chilly.

Hope you continue to enjoy your trip!

Lol, meant good beer

Lol, meant good beer

Viking really cater to the USA market. I would say that 3/4 of the guests on board are American. The tour guides on the excursions will ask if there are any non Americans. Haha.

Viking really cater to the USA market. I would say that 3/4 of the guests on board are American. The tour guides on the excursions will ask if there are any non Americans. Haha.

I've seen comments from european guests who are not so happy about this, lol

Tour guides will know at a glance by the stndard of dress who is American and who European. The speech volume will also be an indication. Only joking so please don't rise to the bait.

Tour guides will know at a glance by the stndard of dress who is American and who European. The speech volume will also be an indication. Only joking so please don't rise to the bait.

Ok, ok, I know I have a thick Brooklyn accent and get pegged every time but you don't have to rub it in, lol

HA, I live in MN and can pass for a Canadian when need be, you betcha:cool:

HA, I live in MN and can pass for a Canadian when need be, you betcha:cool:

Lol, lol

Thank you CDNPolar for the beer list,good to see craft beers on the list. Hope your trip is going well.

Viking really cater to the USA market. I would say that 3/4 of the guests on board are American. The tour guides on the excursions will ask if there are any non Americans. Haha.

They certainly aren't trying to entice the Canadian market with their pricing, that is for sure. Time for them to re-think their pricing scheme considering how unfavorable the exchange rate is.

As far as the stats go, I would expect the US to make up the majority of the guests simply because the US population is that much greater than that of the other countries where Viking markets combine. Ignoring everything to the right of the first comma, US population is 324 million compared to 130 million for Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand combined--and that is just raw numbers. Sorry to say it, but aiming at the US market was a logical business decision.

They certainly aren't trying to entice the Canadian market with their pricing, that is for sure. Time for them to re-think their pricing scheme considering how unfavorable the exchange rate is.

 

 

As far as the stats go, I would expect the US to make up the majority of the guests simply because the US population is that much greater than that of the other countries where Viking markets combine. Ignoring everything to the right of the first comma, US population is 324 million compared to 130 million for Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand combined--and that is just raw numbers. Sorry to say it, but aiming at the US market was a logical business decision.

Yes, I would agree that the pricing is not as favourable for Canadian guests, but it is equal to the USD/CDN exchange rate so from that perspective it is fair. Everything on board is calculated/sold in USD so that is what Viking are obviously basing their pricing on.

If you go to any hotel website and see a hotel room in Euros and then ask for the CDN equivalent you will get the current exchange from Euro to CDN - this is just what it is.

The fact is that Viking is not the budget Cruise line and dollar for dollar in my opinion it is worth it. You won't see this Canadian boasting about any big ship cruise now or in the future - even if it is cheaper.

As far as the stats go, I would expect the US to make up the majority of the guests simply because the US population is that much greater than that of the other countries where Viking markets combine. Ignoring everything to the right of the first comma, US population is 324 million compared to 130 million for Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand combined--and that is just raw numbers. Sorry to say it, but aiming at the US market was a logical business decision.

For 2015 the number of people actually cruising were:

USA: 11.28 million.

Germany: 1.81 million.

UK: 1.61 million.

Australia: 1.1 million

China: 986,000.

Canada: 724,000.

https://www.cruising.org/docs/default-source/research/clia-2017-state-of-the-industry.pdf?sfvrsn=0

We just got off this ship! We boarded in Rome and disembarked in Athens. Amazing seems like such a paltry description but I'll tell ya' what ... it was amazing! :) The service, the ship, the food, the personnel, the cabins (that heated bathroom floor was worth all the cost!) We did purchase the Silver Package and I'm pretty sure we put them in the red on this one. I don't know how they can afford it for that price. We purchased several excursions to places that we were more interested in but all excursions were handled in a timely manner and only the best tour guides. One of the best cruises we've ever experienced! We spent many of our evenings in the living room listening to the amazing pianist, Andras.

We just got off this ship! We boarded in Rome and disembarked in Athens. Amazing seems like such a paltry description but I'll tell ya' what ... it was amazing! :) The service, the ship, the food, the personnel, the cabins (that heated bathroom floor was worth all the cost!) We did purchase the Silver Package and I'm pretty sure we put them in the red on this one. I don't know how they can afford it for that price. We purchased several excursions to places that we were more interested in but all excursions were handled in a timely manner and only the best tour guides. One of the best cruises we've ever experienced! We spent many of our evenings in the living room listening to the amazing pianist, Andras.

Thanks We purchased the silver spirits package and we are going to try all the different drinks, lol.

Lol, lol

For all the LOL and HAHA, I am American. and save each year for a really nice trip. I dress well, don't speak loudly, and have traveled to many destinations to learn and appreciate other nationalities and cultures. I have found that my fellow Viking cruisers have the same mindset. I don't feel the need to apologize that Viking caters to Americans. I like it. I have met many new friends who I now keep in contact with. I also have met cruisers from other countries who like/don't like Americans. They kind of take us as a curiosity! Oh well...If you don't care to travel with Americans there are other cruise lines who cater more to the European/Canadian/Australian markets. Can't do anything about the currency exchange rate. I've been burned many times over the years, but the pendulum swings. I've never looked back and said, my trip in (random year) 1994 would have been better if the UDS was stronger. Don't know how many Americans you know, but you might like us :)

For 2015 the number of people actually cruising were:

 

USA: 11.28 million.

 

Germany: 1.81 million.

 

UK: 1.61 million.

 

Australia: 1.1 million

 

China: 986,000.

 

Canada: 724,000.

 

https://www.cruising.org/docs/default-source/research/clia-2017-state-of-the-industry.pdf?sfvrsn=0

English Voyager, thank you for the numbers. I haven't had much time the past couple of days and wasn't even thinking about the actual travel stats but now that I see them, they are fascinating.

I also apologize for hijacking conversation, and for not being able to make my point clearly, which I think is that once you target an English speaking market, simply by the size of the various populations in the targeted countries, it is logical that the US will be the largest percentage of guests.