What cruise lines are you coming from?

We are Gold in Regent and we love Seabourn as well.

Considering Viking but still not sure....

We're President's Club members at Holland America; Platinum on cunard and princess. Can hardly wait for the VIKING STAR

Have only sailed on Celebrity.

Ready to try a small ship and the Viking Star fits the bill perfectly.

Just achieved Celebrity elite status and like the line and will continue to sail it. We have been looking into Azamara and Oceania for a change, but Viking Oceans seems to be offering much nicer accommodations than Azamara and certainly competitive pricing compared to them and O.

The last time I took a "real" cruise was on Royal Viking, which of course was some time ago :-) I also sailed on SS United States and SS America on trans-Atlantic runs: I'm an old codger. Anyway, since Royal Viking in the late 70's, my only cruise ship experience has been on 3-4 day cruises out of Los Angeles on NCL.

I basically hated what cruising was becoming, and started doing bare-boat charters instead, sailboats. But I'm a bit long in the tooth for that now, and this new Viking Oceans business came along at just the right time to rope me in...

Gold on Regent and lots of days on Silversea too. We have done AMA for river cruises as well.

Regent and Silversea. Ready to try Viking and considering Oceania.

Azamara. When they dropped their 50% discount off shore tours and would not grandfather in those of us who were already under deposit or paid in full, they lost me as a passenger. When they charged us a cancellation fee for cancelling due to their change in benefits, they lost me forever (or until there is a change of their top mgt.).

Also trying Oceania next Spring...large ships are, well, too large. We returned from a Hawaii cruise last months and our passengers were merged with passengers from two other ships at the San Diego airport. It sooooo crowded, Southwest airlines wouldn't allow anyone to check luggage until two hours before flight time. No place to sit, barely a place to stand to wait two hours til we could check in...ugggghhhh

Oceania regulars, although we did one cruise each with Princess and Celebrity. I'm an oldie too - sailed on the SS America to Europe as a kid when the family was assigned to Bonn (State Dept.) Sailed once on the United States, too. Viking Star sounds very much like Oceania.

I also sailed on SS United States and SS America on trans-Atlantic runs.

My wife also sailed on the SS United States and SS America. That was in the 50's. First time we have come across anyone else who was on either of them.

Celebrity, on which we have Elite status, has been our line of choice for the past 5 years but we have booked a variety of other lines for distinctive itineraries.

-- roy --

We have sailed on Celebrity, HAL and Azamara. We love the smaller ships, we don't go to the casino at all.

Kathy

My wife also sailed on the SS United States and SS America. That was in the 50's. First time we have come across anyone else who was on either of them.

Likewise for me. Pity our paths won't cross on Star; we're on the maiden, Istanbul to Barcelona. Would have been fun to swap memories. I crossed on America June of 1957, going East, and came back on United States August of 1960. Wonderful, wonderful ships. There's something about an honest-to-gosh LINER that makes the blood sing.

Likewise for me. Pity our paths won't cross on Star; we're on the maiden, Istanbul to Barcelona. Would have been fun to swap memories. I crossed on America June of 1957, going East, and came back on United States August of 1960. Wonderful, wonderful ships. There's something about an honest-to-gosh LINER that makes the blood sing.

I'm not sure how old I was when I was on the SS America (first) and then some time later (within 4 years) on the United States. However, attached is a picture of my family on the SS America in 1959. Cruising has changed a bit since 1959, and I bet Viking is not going to provide party hats - or at least I hope not! I may have looked cute in my polka dots at age 8 or whatever, but I seldom wear a dress any more, and avoid cruise lines that have formal nights.

I still have 3 plastic swizzle sticks that say, "United States Lines."

roothy123...what a cool picture!

I remember we went to pick up my Aunt in NYC after she returned on The United States...it was very exciting.

Kathy

Roothy, thanks for that. Those were the days :-)

Sorry; deleting my post! Went off-target to show how Oceania's prices are very similar (not higher) to Viking Star (as best I could - difficult to do as lines won't be identical, plus some things you can't quantify in $$). Bottom line is that Oceania's prices are high, but they include a LOT.

However, that's a bit too far off topic, so deleting!

I'm not sure how old I was when I was on the SS America (first) and then some time later (within 4 years) on the United States. However, attached is a picture of my family on the SS America in 1959. Cruising has changed a bit since 1959, and I bet Viking is not going to provide party hats - or at least I hope not! I may have looked cute in my polka dots at age 8 or whatever, but I seldom wear a dress any more, and avoid cruise lines that have formal nights.

 

I still have 3 plastic swizzle sticks that say, "United States Lines."

Nice picture. My wife has several menus from the first class dining room from 1958 or 1959. I'd post copies but they are in storage now as we are starting a major renovation on our house. On the eastbound crossing in December they had very rough weather, described as the worst in 15 years. Waves up to the promenade deck. She and her family were the only ones to take dinner in the main dining room throughout the cruise. In the dining room, chairs were strapped to the tables, table edges were turned up and table clothes dampened to prevent things from sliding off. Velvet ropes in the corridors and public rooms to hold onto. She has fond memories of the adventure. Modern stabilizers would have ruined it all.

We loved our on board experience with the Journey for three years. Sadly, from shore side behavior even prior to the "enhancements", last year was our final Azamara cruise. WE are very excited about Viking. So much so, that in anticipation of the ocean cruise, we may be taking a river cruise with Viking to wet our appetites.

We loved our on board experience with the Journey for three years. Sadly, from shore side behavior even prior to the "enhancements", last year was our final Azamara cruise. WE are very excited about Viking. So much so, that in anticipation of the ocean cruise, we may be taking a river cruise with Viking to wet our appetites.

We did the Danube last year with Viking and just got back from the Rhine this year with Viking. Have not gone with anyone else but have no complaints. They really treated us wonderfully and yes, we have booked the Star for 2015. They just make travel SO easy and we love meeting people on the smaller ships. By the end of the week, we felt like we had 200 new best friends.

We have cruised multiple times with Princess and twice with Celebrity. We preferrred Princess over Celebrity but that was mainly because of the food. We really liked the river cruises.

Though we've done a couple on Princess and Celebrity in the distant past, we're now Gold level on Oceania and have traveled quite a few times on Viking for River Cruises.

The Viking Star looks wonderful and we have booked two segments. We love the design of the ship, the itineraries and Viking's policy of included city tours. The hard part is waiting until 2015 to actually experience it!

... yes, we have booked the Star for 2015.

Curious which cruise you are booked for.

We are Elite on Celebrity. Like the Century class (sailed them all), the Millennium Class (only Infinity but 6 times) and we have done the Solstice once and found it to be a bit big. Doing Eclipse a week from today and giving it another try. May have just been the fact that Solstice was in the Caribbean and I really don't like the Caribbean. We stick with X for two HUGE reasons--the service and the smoking policy. I am a vehement anti-smoker. If I get within 100 feet of cigarette smoke, I get a sinus headache that lasts all day. X is the closest we can get to totally smoke free.

Did one on Azamara Quest in SE Asia and LOVED it but new pricing is off the charts. Would go again in a minute. Love that size of ship and the great ports they go into.

Do HAL because they are one of the few west coast cruises but too much smoke. Our first cruise was on the original Westerdam--a traditional ocean liner.

And one (the cruise from hell) on Carnival. Our TA warned us we would hate it and she was right. NEVER AGAIN! Actually felt unsafe.

Jim

But, Jim, are you coming to VIKING? That's what this thread is about. We've all of us cruised elsewhere, and we're all trying out Viking's new venture in 2015. Seems to be 100% smoke-free, BTW...

DH and I are 3-Star Holland America Mariners. We never venture into the casino, even

when it is closed, due to the smoke smell. When the casino is open, the nearby shops are inundated with smoke and the jangling sounds from the slot machines. We were worried about their still allowing smoking on balconies but had no problem with it on our last cruise. Otherwise we love HAL's more traditional style of cruising and their wonderful crew. We were sorry to learn that their new ship will be 99,000 tons.

Viking Star attracts us with her small size, no casino, smoking restrictions, included tours, ship layout with the wraparound Promenade Deck, enrichment programs and the brand name. And the intineraries so far.

My sister is Elite on Princess and says ship size isn't an issue for her. She prefers port days to sea days and likes anytime dining. We are joining her on a Princess Baltic cruise in August. I cruised with Princess on the Love Boats four times in the mid-1970s and am curious to experience the much larger, whale-bowed Emerald Princess. Anyway, my sister booked Viking Star's Empires of the Mediterranean mostly to travel with us, as she and I are best friends as well as sisters.

But, Jim, are you coming to VIKING? That's what this thread is about. We've all of us cruised elsewhere, and we're all trying out Viking's new venture in 2015. Seems to be 100% smoke-free, BTW...

Not quite. On page 84 of the catalogue/brochure it states "each ship has an outdoor smoking area".