Poulsbo Cruisers

Good review. I agree with your opinions. We took our first (and only) Viking cruise last September from Bergen to Barcelona. We were really looking forward to it after hearing so much good about Viking. We loved the ship and the service, but like you found the food, entertainment and excursions lacking at this price point. I don’t find it too much to ask when paying for a luxury cruise to have a luxury experience.

We’ve had aft facing balcony cabins and forward facing balcony cabins and they were wonderful. Most people make too much of being all the way forward or aft. We’ve never noticed that much movement on the newer ships. We did a British Isles cruise on the Royal with one of the forward facing deluxe balcony cabins. We enjoyed it a lot and it was very quiet. The balcony was huge.

Interesting. I can’t think of any interior cabin that would be better than a balcony in any location.

Pier 91 - Smith Cove cruise terminal

Princess EZ-Air is the best and easiest to navigate of all the cruise lines flight booking options. You don’t need to cancel your cruise or even your current airfare (as long as you haven’t already been ticketed) to review and change your flights including booking class. The problem I see is that you waited too long and you won’t find as low of fares for a cruise leaving at the end of May. We just booked our air for a cruise departing next February. We will continue to look at the fares and change our booking if fares come down. Besides, British Airways has some of the worst business class seats around. When we fly BA, we opt for their premium economy cabin, which gives you 38” of pitch at a fraction of the cost of business class.

I do too. I don’t understand how you thought I didn’t like it from what I wrote.

What we liked: Beautiful ship and cabins. Uncrowded with impeccable service. No kids, no casino, no pictures and no art auction. What we didn’t like: Entertainment left a lot to be desired. Included excursions were not very good. Wifi was very slow. Food was okay to good, but not what we were hoping for on a luxury cruise.

We are platinum with Princess and last January sailed on the Emerald Princess to the Panama Canal. We were very disappointed with this cruise. At that time, we decided to take a break from Princess and didn’t even purchase a FCC. Since then we have taken a river cruise with Avalon and tried Viking Ocean from Bergen to Barcelona. We also found things that disappointed us with both lines. And with the price we paid to cruise on Viking we determined we were one and done with them. Maybe we are too picky, but I don’t think that’s the case. I do believe food quality has dropped with everyone. We have now booked another Princess cruise on the Sky. We decided to not let one bad experience keep us from sailing with Princess. Hopefully, we will have a great experience. I do believe that the medallion is one of the best features any cruise line has introduced.

There was no issue getting the reservation. But, we couldn’t get one for four people prior to 9:00. I’m glad you didn’t have an issue.

We found this to be true on our recently completed Trade Routes cruise. There were four of us and the only times available at Manfredi’s were after 9:00. We can’t eat that late. My wife and I were able to eat at 6:00 because we had a cabin that allowed us to book before the others in our party. If one is in a regular veranda cabin they are out of luck unless they want to eat late.

There was nothing wrong with the breakfast. I would have just liked to see a little variety from day to day. I found the sausage very plain. People have different tastes in sausage and other cruise lines change up the sausage choice from day to day. The bacon was always exactly the same. I would have liked to see some bacon not so crispy. This is another area in which people disagree so why not have some bacon less cooked? The bread for toasting was very plain white or wheat (not whole) bread every morning. How about some sourdough or rye or multi-grain? Again, none of these are biggies, just my observation and what I meant by boring.

I wasn’t trying to do an unhappy review. I was trying to give my honest perspective. I rated Viking high in many areas. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the type of Viking cheerleader you prefer.

In Summary: Regardless of some of the negatives covered above, we had a very nice experience on our first Viking Ocean cruise. The question for us is whether or not we would sail with Viking again. We have to balance the beautiful small ship experience and impeccable service that Viking offers with the fares they charge. We found the food to be good, but not exceptional. For us the entertainment was lacking and even though excursions were included, we didn’t find the included excursions that compelling. I can understand why some people love Viking, but for us, it’s one and done. The things Viking does very well does not justify, for us, the fares charged when including those areas we feel were lacking. We do not mind paying higher fares when we feel we are getting what we paid for and we hope to try other smaller ship cruise lines in the future.

Internet and Viking app: The internet is something that most cruise lines struggle with and Viking is no exception. I guess I was hoping for more at this price point. It was very slow and at times unusable. I was also disappointed in the Viking app. I believe it’s a mistake to only allow it to be used while using Viking’s internet. I wanted to check something on the schedule one day while off the ship only to find out I couldn’t do so. Why? I was able to do this type of thing on two other cruise lines this year. It’s not rocket science. Grade F Flights and transfers: We booked our flights through Viking even though we knew the charged a lot for their flights. We did this because we had credit to use up. I’m not going to ding Viking for their high airfares because we had a choice not to use them. Our flights worked out well and Viking’s transfers are exceptional. There were Viking crew all over the airport in Bergen to assure and easy transfer and the departure transfer was just as impressive. Grade A (To be continued)

Excursions: For us, this was an area of major disappointment. We took the included excursions in most ports. We paid for upgraded excursions in three ports, but one was canceled due to the ship arriving in Falmouth late due to wind. I will discuss each excursion separately. Bergen: This began with a bus tour of the city followed by a walking tour of the old town. There was way too much time spent on the bus tour and not enough time (20 minutes) exploring the old city. Our first stop on the bus was just to look across the water to the old city I’d rather be walking through. Then we stopped at someone’s statue and had a 15 minute history lesson of Bergen. All of that was a little too much for us. Amsterdam: Luckily, we have been in Amsterdam several times or this excursion would have been even more disappointing. We only went on it because our family members had never been to Amsterdam before. The excursion consisted of a canal cruise, which sounds just fine. It was raining hard, but I won’t let that fact impact my review. The problem was the boat they put us on. I don’t know if they ran out of boats, but we were put on a boat that must normally be used for dinner cruises. We all sat around tables with half the people facing backwards. The tour guide would often point out things by saying over there. Over where? In case, you feel I’m being too harsh we had a very recent experience with a similar excursion. Two months ago, we were in Amsterdam on an Avalon river cruise. The included excursion also consisted of a canal cruise. It was on a much nicer boat, the excursion was longer, we saw more canals and then ended with a walking tour. The Viking excursion paled in comparison. Bruges: We did the included Burges on your own excursion since we have been to Bruges before. We enjoyed this excursion and had plenty of time on our own. LaHavre: Canceled due to one day strike in France. We don’t hold this against Viking. Portsmouth: There isn’t a lot to see here. It’s a good port to take an optional tour to Bath, Stonehenge or Windsor Castle. Since we have already seen these places we just did the included excursion, which was an okay bus tour considering that there isn’t much here. Falmouth: The wind was blowing hard when the Jupiter was scheduled to leave Portsmouth. Our departure was delayed five hours resulting in a late arrival in Falmouth. Viking had to cancel all of the optional excursions as there was no time to complete them. We had booked an optional tour and Viking rebooked us on the included excursion. This was a complete waste of time. The bus trip was an hour each way only to park at a beach where you could view St. Michael’s Mount from a half mile away. Porto: The included excursion was just fine. Probably the best of the included excursions in our opinion. It was well organized and included a mix of bus and walking tours. We were able to leave the tour at the end and stay in Porto to make our own way back. Granada: We opted for the optional Alhambra Palace and Gardens tour. We knew this would be a long day and a demanding tour, but have always wanted to see the Alhambra. We enjoyed this tour, but felt we could have done without the included lunch buffet at a hotel near the Alhambra. We would have liked this excursion better if we were given free time in the old city of Granada to explore and get a meal if we so desired. Interestingly, my brother-in-law and his wife booked a private excursion to the Alhambra as the one offered by Viking was sold out. They were in a 15 person van, spent more time at the Alhambra, had free time in Granada for less than we spent. We did have a major incident on this excursion that impacted three couples. To get into the Alhambra, one must have a ticket with one’s name on it and it is matched against your passport. During the bus ride to the Alhambra, the tour guide gave out the tickets to the Alhambra. He had six tickets without a corresponding passenger and six passengers without tickets. Evidently, these six individuals were able to book this excursion a few weeks before the cruise when several people canceled. Even though Viking left the excursion ticket in their cabins allowing them to board the busses, Viking didn’t change the names provided to the Alhambra. Needless to say, there were six very angry people. They were not allowed to enter the Alhambra. They ended up having a long bus ride and a buffet lunch. Murcia: We didn’t do a Viking excursion here. The Jupiter docked close to town so we just walked in on our own and enjoyed this pleasant town and Roman ruins. Barcelona: We took the optional excursion to Montserrat Abbey since we have been to Barcelona several times in the past. It was well worth the money. One of our favorite excursions. Grade: D+ (To be continued)

Entertainment: This is probably an area with many different opinions. Everyone has different ideas as to what they like. For us, the entertainment was a letdown. There were some very good shows in the Star Theater. We loved the Abba and Beatles tributes. We also really liked the Decades show. But, there was little variety in the entertainment. There was a guitarist named Michael in the Explorers Lounge who was good, but it was the same thing night after night after night. There were two young ladies who played strings in the Atrium over and over and over. I was talking with a fellow passenger who was a retired music teacher. He said that these violinists were technically proficient, but he said their play told him they were bored. Probably no more so than the guests who had to listen to them. Viking doesn’t have formal nights and much of the vibe is very relaxed, which my wife and I appreciated. That’s why I can’t understand why their entertainment seemed so stuffy. The crowd went wild during the Decades show with the music from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Which tells me that being the age of the passengers most would have appreciated a more lively band playing rock and roll. And how about bringing a comedian on board? Grade C+ Food: This is another very subjective area. I will base this primarily on my tastes because my wife is a very picky eater and doesn’t like fish in any form. We ate twice in Manfredi’s. This is arguably the best food on the ship. We definitely were not disappointed. I thought the calamari, scampi and ribeye were excellent. My wife likes Italian food so she had no issue finding something to eat at this venue. We only had one disappointment here and it had nothing to do with the food or service. We couldn’t get a reservation that would allow my brother-in-law and his wife to join us at a reasonable time. The only dining times available for four were after 9:00 pm and that was too late for us and them. They never were able to eat at Manfredi’s. I had some very good meals in the Restaurant and some that were just okay. We never tried the Restaurant for breakfast or lunch. The food always arrived timely except for one night and that was the night that lobster was on the menu. We waited and waited for our meal and it was because I ordered the lobster. And then after waiting all that time, I was very disappointed. The lobster took up the entire plate and there was very little meat in it. I don’t know what kind of lobster they used, but it wasn’t worth the wait. We ate breakfast every morning in the World Cafe. This food was good, but dare I say, boring. The only thing that changed from day to day was the donut flavor. I’m a bacon, sausage and egg eater. I really appreciated the made to order eggs and omelettes. I didn’t like the sausage at all. It was flavorless and had a strange texture. And it was the same sausage every morning. Why not change it up? I was also disappointed in the bacon. It was very meaty and over cooked. For some people this may have been fine, but it wasn’t to my taste. We ate lunch at either the grill or the World Cafe. We both really like the grill. They make a great hamburger and hot dog. The food in the World Cafe was always good, but again, lacking somewhat in choices. My wife did like the pasta station and I loved the gelato. This is a smaller ship than we have usually sailed on so I can understand that they can’t prepare the type of spreads and have the variety found on larger ships. Grade B (To be continued)

My wife and I just completed our first Viking Ocean cruise. We did the Trade Routes of the Middle Ages on the Viking Jupiter, which departed Bergen on September 24th. I decided to share my thoughts on our experience to include what we liked and what we didn’t like. I realize that there are a lot of Viking cheerleaders on this site and I’m asking everyone to accept that these are my opinions. Please don’t put me down for having opinions that may differ from yours. I say this because while we were on the cruise, I posted how slow the internet was. I had people jumping on me for this and some asking why I even cared about the internet since I was on vacation. Everyone has different things that are important or not important. So without further ado here are my thoughts. Ship and cabins: The ship was absolutely beautiful. We loved the size of the ship and how easy it was to get around. It didn’t have all the bling of other cruise lines, but that was just fine with us. There was an understated elegance about the ship that is difficult to describe. Since we aren’t gamblers, we appreciated that we didn’t have to walk through a smoke filled casino. The other nice thing about this ship and it’s passenger/space ratio was the ease of getting an elevator. Our penthouse veranda cabin was roomy and comfortable. When we first got to our cabin and tried the beds, we felt the mattress may be too hard. But, after sleeping on it we found it very comfortable. The bathroom was very nice and the shower had plenty of room and water pressure. The only negative about the cabin was the closest storage space. The cabin had a lot of drawers, but the space to hang clothes was somewhat limited considering the size of the cabin. Grade A Staff and service: All of our service on the Jupiter was impeccable. The staff was friendly and quick to meet our every need. I’ve never been on any cruise with service that came close to what we experienced on the Jupiter. After saying this, I was surprised that in the two weeks we were on the ship, never once did our cabin steward come to our cabin and introduce himself. That doesn’t mean he didn’t do a good job; he did. It just means we never knew his name. I know, I know, we could have made the effort to introduce ourselves, but this just seemed a little strange to us. Grade A (To be continued)

This just out. https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2022-09-20/spain-makes-covid-19-travel-rule-u-turn/70460

The Netherlands also requires a form be completed. We left on a river cruise from Amsterdam two months ago. No one asked for this form. We will also be on the Trade Routes cruise with you. We are not sweating it. We figure Viking will let us know while on the ship of any forms to be completed.

Viking will continue to have this policy as long as Americans keep booking and paying for the full cruise over a year in advance. I believe you will find that Viking doesn’t have this policy in place for other countries. They are using Americans to finance new ships interest free. 🤔🤔

We boarded Avalon’s Imagery II on Thursday in Amsterdam. We are currently on the Moselle. We are scheduled for the Koblenz-Rhine Gorge in three days. It may be iffy that this occurs. While no announcements have been made, I’m planning on having to change boats.

Thanks for your less than optimistic outlook. 🤪 So far nothing has been said about changing ships. I would have thought that Avalon would have done so by now if that was the case. We will see.

We boarded the Imagery II in Amsterdam today leaving tomorrow for Basel. No word of any itinerary or ship changes.

I heard that Uniworld has already canceled cruises on the Rhine. We are scheduled to leave from Amsterdam on the Avalon Imagery II on July 28th. I’m wondering what the odds are that it will actually sail.

You will find that the majority of river cruises will not have children. Most children would be bored. You will find that most of the cruisers will be those in there 50s, 60s and 70s who are well traveled and fit. You won’t find wheel chairs or walkers. That doesn’t mean there won’t be the occasional grandparents traveling with their grandkids, the occasional family with older kids or the occasional younger couple. But, they are the exception.