Hobson1754

I would normally agree with you Kent about this however on our recent Saturn cruise we had the lobster one night and we enjoyed it - seemed better than we’ve had previously. Don’t know if I’d have cancelled reservation at Chefs Table for it however🤔

Well Kent - get shopping for that new bed

I’ve never seen a diffuser - there is a concentrator nozzle, but don’t suppose that helps you. I believe you can buy a Universal diffuser online at Amazon if that helps- would save you having to take a hairdryer.

We love the beds and have no problem sleeping whilst on board - wish I was now😂

Really only you can decide! We get it because I can no longer drink wine 😤 due to acid reflux, however G&Ts, cocktails, non alcoholic cocktails etc I don’t have a problem with and it works out well for us.

We’ve always been booked with KLM and other British passengers we’ve spoken to have also used KLM. Think they may also use BA. Whilst we’ve not been not overly impressed in recent years with BA, our experiences over our last 2 VO cruises flying with KLM have been less than satisfactory so think I would have preferred BA. Our difficulty will and has always been our need for connection from Newcastle so think KLM is their preferred option.

As I’ve said before on this forum - it still amazes me after COVID the amount of people who visit restrooms and walk out without washing their hands. On our last cruise in February, I lost count of the number of times my husband would tell me, of men who either walked out without washing or gave a quick rinse under a trickle of water. No lessons learnt😠

Yes we do the same - does make a little extra room

Love the bird sounds - cannot visit the rest rooms next to the Living Room without smiling😀 They were still on when we left Saturn 4 weeks ago.

My thoughts exactly 👍

Yes, Le Bon Marche is wonderful, however to miss seeing the architecture of Galleria Lafayette (it’s like being inside a wedding cake) & the view from the roof would be a great shame.

Hi Pappri - if you paid a bulk of it on your CC, which they won’t refund, can you not contact your CC provider who should fight this battle for you - I know in the UK if we have issues with a company & have paid by CC they will take up the issue for you.

Shocking - obviously his rules!! I personally wouldn’t have a problem with someone removing clothes from the washer/driers and placing them in the provided baskets if the cycle is finished & machine is needed - but definitely would if they’d been thrown on the floor!!!😤

I agree, we also had it 2 weeks or so ago on Saturn and it was my least favourite menu we’ve had in Chefs Table 😏

We’re on Viking Homelands, May ‘25 and we’ve been advised by letter (via our TA) that the port has changed to Tallin from Mariehamn.

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🤞

It took us less than an hour in the coach from the ship at Chioggia to Marco Polo - they estimate around 1 hour 10 min. but traffic was good on Wednesday so it took less. You’ll have to allow however for collecting your luggage & getting it on the transfer coach. I think you should be onboard by 6 - 6.30 if flight is on time - you may not have your luggage delivered to your stateroom by then though.

I’m going to post a précis of our cruise when I get myself sorted i.e. unpacked, laundry etc. but felt I had to jump in here in response to Kent’s post. We did the Barcelona to Venice legs of Kent’s cruise and I really don’t think there was any enforcement of dress code around the ship. One evening I saw 3 women leaving Manfredi’s all ‘dressed’ very casually to say the least. One of the women had on baggy jogging bottoms tucked into UGG boots and what I can only describe as a utility coat with lots of pockets that you’d wear to go fishing - they would have looked under dressed for the World Cafe!! There was a guy very casually dressed who always seemed to wear a knitted cap/hat in the restaurant. I also saw a man with his bath robe on (no trousers) standing at the bar in the Living Room, it was quite busy, talking to others for at least 20 mins. I could go on and on!!

It depends greatly on what & how much you drink. To my great dismay I no longer am able to drink wine because it doesn’t agree with me, however, cocktails, G&T’s, Mocktails etc. I’m ok with so the package for me is ideal.

We really like Chefs Table - ate there 3/4 times (can’t remember which) on last 15 day cruise. Not so keen on Manfredi’s.

Yes - 25% - none of it is refundable, so we need to be very, very certain if we’re booking a cruise 18 months out🤔

Oh dear - sorry about the many changes, hopefully it’s a little more positive with improved food. I’d be less than happy however if I’d spent all that money on a world cruise.

How the rest of the cruise now Jim - in particular the standard of food in restaurants & other glitches?

Thanks Linda - I’ve booked 4 cruises with Viking over the last 3 years & often wondered why my room number etc. wasn’t on MVJ, could never see it - now I’ve found it - mystery solved😀

Prices in US I think must be a lot different to UK prices as I’ve looked a few times and mostly found Viking is less expensive - that’s taking into account cabin, location, etc. as you say ‘apples for apples’. I’ve just priced a similar itinerary on Oceania to one I have booked for next year with Viking & the price is pretty similar, however Oceania cruise is 12 nights & the one I’ve booked with Viking is 14.