Myrtle Ave. Mayhem

@DrKoob Your thread over on the O board has been very interesting & illuminating. Your perspectives & explanations are appreciated. Between the two, I'm going to stick with Viking. As a ship design nut, I'm head over heels with the Viking Ocean ships. Those ships are well thought out for the enjoyment & comfort of the passengers. Oceania Vista has missed the boat(bad pun intended) with limited lounge space & lack of connection to the sea. It's annoying to me that so many new ships don't have good views out to the ocean, wrap around promenade decks, quiet nook & cranny spaces. The only two spaces aboard Vista that look like they would appeal to me are the Grand Dining Room & Horizons Lounge. Viking dining is good enough but can be hit or miss. Based on your experience, it seems that not only does Oceania have better dining, but that the service in the dining venues is more on point.

In my cruising fantasies, that would be Sitmar!! Now back to present day reality, I'm very intrigued with the Silversea Silver Nova & soon to be sister ship Silver Ray. Different ship design than Viking, yet excitingly modern. There's a trans-Atlantic with a reasonable 25% solo supplement, very enticing! My major disappointment with Viking is the steep solo supps. Silversea was founded by the Vlasov group, so there is direct lineage to Sitmar.

Nothing in the service & product delivery industries is what it used to be. This is across the board in transportation, health care, hospitality. Sadly a reality we have to accept. Has anyone been to Nordstrom, flown American Airlines, traveled on Amtrak, or tried to get an MRI approved by Aetna lately? This is even happening at gasp, Viking, of all cruise lines. My first Viking Ocean cruise was in 2019, my seventh & most recent was December 2022. Unquestionably a let down in terms of dining, crew, service, & attention to detail(lack thereof). First time I stepped off a Viking ship underwhelmed & disappointed. Historically this isn't anything new in the cruising world. If any members here remember when Sitmar was absorbed by P & O, becoming Princess ships. Princess had many an unhappy passenger for some time. When Kloster purchased Royal Viking Line, that didn't go over well either.

@PhD-iva Will do! Regent Regent is also on my radar! Thanks!

@DrKoob - Just found your thread & blog & am reading(devouring) every word. Huge Viking fan who's looking for another line to give a whirl. Originally was interested in Oceania after seeing renderings of Vista until I saw actual interiors from her maiden voyage. Here's the dilemma I'm seeing as a frequent Viking cruiser who has yet to try Oceania. Oceania clearly seems to win for dining in every way. Viking food can be very good, rarely excellent. Viking Ocean's cookie cutter ship design is perfect in every way(IMHO). LOVE the glorious light filled public rooms chock-a-full of floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to sea! All the quiet nooks & crannies with varried seating. As you mentioned, the full wrap around promenade deck is most enjoyable for daily walks. The Scandinavian Modern design of Viking vrs. Country Club of Oceania. Viking big win. It seems that Vista, having many more dining options has less lounge/bar space. Aboard Viking, The Living Room & Explorers Lounge are my daily & hangouts. Somehow Vista looks cold in comparison.

Amtrak dining car attendant here, this is true & funny! It's the same on the train!

Viking guy here, who likes to read other boards & get a feel for whats happening aboard other upper premium & luxury lines. Disclaimer: I've never sailed with Oceania so I'm not in a position to say how wonderful they may/may not be. Over the years I've grown increasingly disappointed with my previous "home at sea lines", Princess, Holland America, Cunard. From my perspective, as the ships have gotten bigger, the focus on food, service, crew, ext. had become watered down. Hotel department operations becoming hit or miss. I've seen this also on other lines that I've sailed less frequently, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Carnival, Norwegian. A 2021 Discovery Princess cruise to Mexico confirmed that the mass market lines with increasingly larger ships that lack wrap around promenade decks, forward observation lounge, quiet nook & cranny seating public rooms, no longer offer the type of cruise product I'm willing to pay for. Not that these are bad products, just no longer a maritime match for me. I'm willing to pay more upfront for an elevated(in my perspective) shipboard experience. Enter Viking Ocean. My first Viking in 2019. Seven VO's in, with an eighth coming up in a few months. It's as if Torstein Hagen saw my personal wish list for a cruise line then went to work. The ship design alone, out of the ballpark home run! Then there's the dining, crew, service, & general Zen palace at sea onboard atmosphere. That being said, there were a few things off aboard my Neptune trans-Atlantic last December. Enough for me face the reality that no cruise company can reach perfection all the time. Some days & cruises can have their off moments, even on the best(subjective!) ships. As Oceania being in my mind the closest competitor to Viking, I was excited about Vista......until I saw the photos of her first cruise. Somehow the ship doesn't appeal to me. The lack of a promenade deck & what appears to be limited lounge space are part of it. Aside from the MDR, none of the public spaces look inviting. Again, so I don't get flamed for stating my opinion, this is all based on my perspective as a person who's never been aboard Oceania. Now I've got an eye on Silversea Silver Nova & Silver Ray. Pricing a solo occupancy trans-Atlantic for only about $1000 more than Viking......

Not since the days of Sitmar & Royal Viking Line have I felt such love for a cruise line. Mr. Hagen, it's as if you saw my personal wish list for a cruise line then went to work. I thank you! Having said that, here is my list of "needs improvement". 1) Cap your solo supplement at 25%. The current rates are excessive & discriminatory. Shame on you! 2) Focus on maintaining high standards in your hotel operations department. As your fleet has rapidly expanded, I feel that standards are slipping in terms of dining, service, & crew interaction. My Neptune trans-Atlantic was case & point with a general lack of attention to detail. 3) A few of your Eastern European bar/lounge servers come across as taciturn & unwelcoming. I respect that there are cultural differences, but this is in stark contrast to to the clearly warm approach from your Asian crew. 4) Music - Lower the decibel of live music, be it production shows or the guitarist. Last cruise I stopped going to Explorers Lounge because the volume was obtrusive, making conversations impossible. Lounge music should be background, not stadium arena main event. Limit the piped music. The Classic Duo playing several sets a night in The Living Room is overkill. Once a night is plenty. 5) Senior Officers should be more interactive with passengers. Aboard Neptune I got the distinct impression that Officers had the goal to get across any public room as quickly as possible. Officer interaction was perfunctory at best. Same could be said for the cruise director. 6) Create new itineraries. Your Mediterranean & Scandinavia fixation is getting stale. Continue the seasonal trans-Atlantic crossings for those of us who live for sea days, but instead of Funchal & St. Maarten, call at say Hamilton, Tortola, & Ponta Delgada. Have an annual New York-Bermuda season. Viking & Bermuda are the perfect match. Bermuda sorely needs a regular upper premium/luxury line calling. 7) Up your game! Canapés served in Explorers Lounge & The Living Room nightly at 5-6 pm & chocolates on the pillows at turndown.

I miss those pouches & the travel book.

My thoughts & prayers for this person that they make a full recovery.

My favorite itinerary are the two week Trans-Atlantic crossings. Have sailed three w/ Viking & a fourth coming up in March. The ship becomes the destination & what a GLORIOUS destination Viking Ocean ships are. I'm besotted with the entire shipboard experience & how Viking has created a unique atmosphere aboard. The port-a'-day intensive itineraries have me exhausted just thinking about them. Not my idea of a relaxing vacation. My favorite Viking experience overall was my summer of 2021 Viking Orion Bermuda season. I was aboard two back-to-back, June/July then again when Viking opened up more dates for September & WAIVED the single supplement! Let it be said that Viking & Bermuda are the perfect match of cruise line & destination. The fine tuned on point attention to detail with all hotel related aspects was the best I've experienced in over 30 years of cruising. To have crew remember individual preferences & the level of catering & coddling was practically a spiritual experience. Talk about gratitude for the wonderful crew! As one example Executive Chef Gary would canvas the different restaurants each night stopping by to chat, get feedback from nearly everyone, & ask for recommendations & requests. Hotel General Manager Wendy clearly had her heart on her sleeve & felt like the ships Momma! I almost got the impression that I owned the ship, but the truth is that everyone was treated in the like.

@LewiLewi - Hopefully you give Viking another whirl & your next cruise is more on point. I have to agree with you regarding the food, which is so subjective. We were on the December trans-Atlantic Neptune crossing & the food was exactly as you described. One lunch in The Restaurant looked like it came from county hospital cafeteria. Much of the food was over salted. The lack of fresh vegetable selection & the same breads every night grew irritating. Other things were off the mark of Viking's usual high standard. Pool side drink service was practically non existent unless one waved the server down. In The Living Room & Explorers Lounge at night during peak cocktail hour the servers were under staffed with usually only two servers working the entire room, rushing from table to table. The senior officers avoided random passenger interaction, moving from one side of a room to the other as quickly as possible. The smiles & greetings only at official functions. I would have enjoyed the Officers Question & Answer that were on previous Viking trans-Atlantics - not to be had this cruise. One of the featured lecturers gave a navigation talk which I think would have been better from one of the navigation officers. It would also have been nice to have a presentation by the crew explaining the process the maiden crew have for readying a new ship from shipyard to first sailing. These slight grievances are a matter of luxury problems, of the not enough cream in my coffee sort. Although I have a higher expectation with Viking due to their price point, they are still hands down the best overall cruise line I've experienced in over 30 years of cruising.

@Azulann , May, & Kent - Viking & Bermuda was/would be a match made in Heaven! I'm thoroughly onboard, pun intended.

Every time I board a Viking ship it feels like coming back to home & family. My great aunt's husband was Danish & their house & everything in it was Scandinavian Modern. Furniture, tapestries, ect. I'll never tire of the Viking Ocean ships. It feels just like spending summers with Aunt Louise & Uncle Vern. Another aspect I love about Viking is their lineage to the former Royal Viking Line. Although Royal Viking was admittedly more formal than Viking Ocean & was considered a luxury brand, the Viking ships are like a modern day Royal Viking Star, Sky, or Sea.

True indeed. Thank goodness for options. I'm looking at giving O a whirl aboard their new Vista to experience & compare.

I'm planning to sail aboard Vista in 2024, which will be my first O cruise. I have to admit your experience could be mine.

Exactly Ken! It is the onboard atmosphere distinctive to Viking that is the premium for me.

Whew, aren't you tedious! Sending you the Queens NY version of "bless your heart"!

Viking, Holland America, Cunard, Princess, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, MSC 52 sailings amongst these lines.

Been cruising 35 years & I'm absolutely besotted with Viking Ocean! The total experience of ship design, service, dining, & onboard atmosphere tick all of my admittedly persnickety preferences for cruise travel! Cannot recommend Viking enough.

Viking fanatic here! I like to occasionally check the boards of other lines just to read what people are saying. This post caught my attention. As much as I absolutely love Viking, Vista is calling me.

This reminds me of the controversial move Royal Viking made by lengthening Royal Viking Star, Sky, Sea in the early 80's. Didn't please the core RVL fans. Restaurant enlargement is a start, but I'd want this to include lounges & pools.

That would be fantastic Kent!

Would love to see these ports on a trans-Atlantic! Funchal & St. Maarten are old news. I sail a crossing once a year. I was thinking Ponta Delgada & Tortola, B.V.I. Our Neptune crossing in December diverted to Gran Canaria & I couldn't have been happier.

Hi Kent - Great to see your blog & you bringing us along! Sorry that some of the itinerary has changed. Still a wonderful adventure! We also had Russell Lee & Verity Brown on the Neptune trans-Atlantic in December. The first thing that caught my attention aboard Neptune was the missing glass encased ship models on deck 8 of Explorers Lounge. As others have mentioned, this makes the room look a little different, less specifically nautical. This picture is from my Sky trans-Atlantic a few years ago. Those models are missed!