On board The Star

[boomerone]

Help!!!!!

 

I have been following this thread with great interest as Janie and I will be embarking in Bergen on May 16. I have tried numerous times to nail down the time the Viking Star christening ceremony will occur. Sadly, Viking agents at their telephone reservation center and at the customer service number have either expressed no knowledge of the ceremony or simply cannot answer the question. My latest correspondence from Viking tells me the ceremony is scheduled for 10pm---that's right, 10pm---on the night of the 16 May. Is it just me thinking this is a nutty time for such a big deal or are you folks in disbelief as well? The Viking Ocean Cruises website says it will be on the 17th in conjunction with Norway's Constitution Day. Inside of a week of this event I would think everyone at Viking would have a handle on the ceremony.

 

Thanks to all of you who have been so nice to distribute good info on the new ship. See you soon! John and Janie

Edited May 11, 2015 by boomerone
sp

[Azulann]

Help!!!!!

 

I have been following this thread with great interest as Janie and I will be embarking in Bergen on May 16. I have tried numerous times to nail down the time the Viking Star christening ceremony will occur. Sadly, Viking agents at their telephone reservation center and at the customer service number have either expressed no knowledge of the ceremony or simply cannot answer the question. My latest correspondence from Viking tells me the ceremony is scheduled for 10pm---that's right, 10pm---on the night of the 16 May. Is it just me thinking this is a nutty time for such a big deal or are you folks in disbelief as well? The Viking Ocean Cruises website says it will be on the 17th in conjunction with Norway's Constitution Day. Inside of a week of this event I would think everyone at Viking would have a handle on the ceremony.

 

Thanks to all of you who have been so nice to distribute good info on the new ship. See you soon! John and Janie

 

Bookmark the twitter page for Viking cruise.

Here is the first video....stay tuned... you all are in for a treat.:D

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq7jzSbT_xw&feature=youtu.be

[LadyVol1]

For people boarding in Bergen, please bring any extra books that you want to donate to the ship's paperback exchange on Deck 1. I was able to get a paperback exchange area designated but there are very, very few books in it (like 1-2!). It's probably because passengers don't know about it. (I've asked for it to be mentioned in the VD but that hasn't happened.) Anyway, please put a couple of paperbacks that you no longer want in your luggage to help out your fellow passengers. Thanks a lot!!

[id4elizabeth]

Yesterday afternoon, British authorities came on board and pre-cleared us through immigration. We had to go to the Star Theater with our passports and personally present ourselves to authorities. This was to speed up disembarkation today.

 

Well, that hasn't worked out as expected. Our tour was supposed to leave at 8:30. We are still waiting onboard and it's now close to 10:30. Supposed to be going to Canteberry Cathedral. Those tours that were supposed to leave at 7:30 finally got off about 9:45. Still waiting.....

[LadyVol1]

id4elizabeth - I have no idea if this is true or not, but I heard from another passenger that it took much longer than expected for the Viking Star to get anchored/moored due to the Thames current. This is supposedly the first time this big of ship has been this far up the Thames and the current was fast. (A shopkeeper we spoke with said it's the first time she's seen a ship this big here.) It sounds like this could have been the reason for the delay, but then I would have expected an announcement to those of you waiting. We were asleep until 8:30 AM and only heard the 9:15 announcement saying that the ship was now ready to let people start tendering. I sure assumed that a crew member would have informed tour goers what the delay was all about but as those of us onboard are only too aware, communication is NOT Viking's strong suit.

 

We are experiencing another wonderful day weather wise. It might be our coolest port to-date (there is some wind which makes it feel cooler) and a bit more cloudy than sunny, but it's London and NOT raining!!!

 

Also, we had no video on our TV this morning. My husband felt compelled to turn on BBC and we only had audio. It might have been like this for many days since we don't watch the news on cruises. Another TV issue for Viking to work on...

[cassandra44]

LadyVol1 mentioned you are fairly far up the Thames...can you say where the berth is located?

[LadyVol1]

The Viking Star is moored in the middle of the Thames and then we take a very short tender ride to Greenwich Pier. Cutty Sark DLR (Docklands Light Railway) train station is 1 block from Greenwich Pier. I'm starboard and from my cabin I can easily see the red ball on top of the Royal Observatory that drops at 1 PM each day. We are basically as close to the city of Greenwich as is possible.

[cassandra44]

The Viking Star is moored in the middle of the Thames and then we take a very short tender ride to Greenwich Pier. Cutty Sark DLR (Docklands Light Railway) train station is 1 block from Greenwich Pier. I'm starboard and from my cabin I can easily see the red ball on top of the Royal Observatory that drops at 1 PM each day. We are basically as close to the city of Greenwich as is possible.

 

Here is a link to the Telegraph which discusses the use of this new berth.

Only smaller ships initially ...sounds great!

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/cruise-news/11386176/Large-cruise-ships-coming-to-London-within-two-years.html

[washashorehouse]

Well, the 8am assembly group for the 4 hour complimentary London tour didn't get on the bus until after 10:30 --with no explanation for the delay. Then after we got on the bus we were told by the tour leader that the bus had to be back by 12:30 for another tour so the 4hr tour would be 1.5 hrs!!!! He made the best of a bad situation, which was not his doing---but again only reinforces the fact that Viking STILL can't get their act together.

 

And Janet when you talk to Paul about TV you might want to ask when he thinks we'll get it back. Haven't had it for 2 days now and the desk is saying it may be a couple of days before we get it back!!!

 

Not happy captives

[washashorehouse]

We were on Oceania, docked in this exact same location, several years ago--so medium size boats do come up the Thames.

[id4elizabeth]

Don't know exactly what time we were anchored, but we seemed to be tied up to a floating fixed port dock of some sort, before we embarked on the tenders. One group did get off early and that was the Private Viewing of the Crown Jewels tour. Then there was a long wait. I think it might have something to do with the large tenders that they used which took a long time to load and unload passengers. There seemed to be only one of them, but might have been 2. We finally boarded our bus at 11:00 for a tour that was supposed to leave at 8:30. We were lucky though in that our guide did not cut our tour short - but that meant we did not get back to the tendering pier until 6:00 and the tendering people said they were not leaving until 6:30. Our London Eye tour meeting time was 6:30 in the Star Theater, which meant we'd have no time to eat. So we elected to stay ashore and grab a bite to eat and meet up with the busses there. All worked out and we thoroughly enjoyed the London Eye.

 

As LadyVol says though, it would have been useful if there had been some sort of announcement and we could have stayed in our cabins instead of waiting at our mustering stations. I could have enjoyed another cup of tea.

[Mrs Miggins]

We have a home in Greenwich so it was great to see Viking Star on Tuesday. Shame it was rather windy and chilly but of course it was really hot and sunny all day on Monday and today. I believe there is a law about that! i.e. you should have been here yesterday!

We wandered around at Greenwich but there appeared to be no Viking Star presence on the quayside. Whenever we have tendered from any ship there has always been a "tent" or flags possibly offering drinks etc but there was nothing visible when we were there at around lunchtime.

The ship looked great but I note that there seem to have been logistical problems with the tours. It is such a shame as Greenwich itself is a World Heritage site and the lost hours could have been spent in some wonderful and historic sites within minutes of the ship.

We were booked on 24th June 2016 which is one of the cancelled cruises. We have rebooked for September but do have some concerns about the wide variety of reviews we are reading. Hopefully by then Viking may have the TV's working!

[id4elizabeth]

Back to my unsweetned iced tea woes. There had FINALLY been one tap on the juice machine on the port side that dispensed cold tea. Several days ago it disappeared. I was told that was "temporary" and now I should order iced tea from a server. This works OK if you can find a server and can take from 10 to 20 minutes to arrive. The other night in Manfredi's I was told "let me check if that is available tonight." It did finally appear about 30 minutes later. I'm envisioning a staff person in some central location making a glass at a time, tea bag at a time. It's more dependable in the World Cafe and the Restaurant - takes much longer in the Chef's Table and Manfredis - very iffy if you order in a bar, and then they might charge you for it. The real problem is in the off house when all the restaurants are closed. Then I'm back to making my own. Can't figure out why this is so hard?!?!

[id4elizabeth]

So I've mentioned before on these boards about the slamming door that leads to the sun deck that happens to be located right outside our cabin, and makes a terrible bang at all hours of the day and night. Here's two more reasons to avoid these particular two cabins.

 

First, if they have a sail away party in the pool area with live entertainment, the sound travels pretty well through the side wall that separates your cabin from the sun deck. At 11:00 pm the other night it was hard to sleep with the constant boom-ditty-boom. Went on about 45 minutes.

 

Third reason to avoid these two cabins is that your private balcony is not so private. We were sitting on our balcony in the Mediterranean, fortunately in our bathing suits, when someone cleary said "hello" and were waving at us through the riser in the steps that go up to the 9th deck. The stair case was made with open risers that you can see through if you're looking straight ahead when you go up the stairs. One of the risers clearly overlooks our balcony, so anyone who goes up the stairs has a clear view of our balcony. In addition, SOME people feel compelled to look around the barrier that separates our balcony from the sun deck, I guess just to see what's on the other side. It's not unusual at all for a head to be popping around. So if you are in one of these cabins, make sure you're always dressed, even when you are just standing at cabin window door.

 

These issues only apply to these 2 cabins - I love our room - lots of space, lots of storage room, we can both easily pass by one another at the foot of our beds (no one-at-a-tme, no having to stand sideways), love the 2 sinks and larger shower. And now that they've installed the floor lamp it works much better as "two rooms."

[LadyVol1]

We are 50-day maiden voyage passengers that are in a PS3 Penthouse Junior Suite and we paid our deposit on June 3, 2013 via a travel agent and we are not prior Viking passengers.

 

About 1.5 years ago, we received in the mail a commemorative coin marking the striking of the ship's keel. While on this cruise, we've heard people saying that they got another coin for the sea trials and possibly a third coin. If you have received one or two additional coins, could you please let me know and also let me know if you booked directly with Viking, are a past passenger, cabin type, cruise duration, etc. I'm trying to figure out the parameters for why some people were given coins and some weren't given any at all. It might just be another example of Viking's inconsistency, but maybe not. Thanks a lot.

 

Janet

[LadyVol1]

Back to my unsweetned iced tea woes. ... Can't figure out why this is so hard?!?!

 

id4elizabeth - I'm guessing that Viking changes these (seemingly) "easy" things to see which passenger gets irritated first and jumps ship. I bet they have a $$$ pool going! My irritant is the bottled still water that is advertised on every bar menu but is not in stock (although they hand it out for some tours -- just stock that at the bars!!)... I'm not sure whether you or I will be the first to crack, but it's close!! ;)

Edited May 14, 2015 by LadyVol1

[TERRIER1]

We are 50-day maiden voyage passengers that are in a PS3 Penthouse Junior Suite and we paid our deposit on June 3, 2013 via a travel agent and we are not prior Viking passengers.

 

About 1.5 years ago, we received in the mail a commemorative coin marking the striking of the ship's keel. While on this cruise, we've heard people saying that they got another coin for the sea trials and possibly a third coin. If you have received one or two additional coins, could you please let me know and also let me know if you booked directly with Viking, are a past passenger, cabin type, cruise duration, etc. I'm trying to figure out the parameters for why some people were given coins and some weren't given any at all. It might just be another example of Viking's inconsistency, but maybe not. Thanks a lot.

 

Janet

 

We got a second coin but I can't be sure when we received it - I think it was for sea trials perhaps a month or two ago. I don't keep them. We never sailed with Viking and are not past customers. We booked with Viking and then immediately moved the booking to our TA. Our booking was July 2013. Hope this helps.

[kathy9]

We got the two coins .... booked with a TA. We had a DV cabin booked May 2013. Sailed Istanbul to Venice April 11, 2015. Never have sailed on Viking before and per DH never again!

Kathy

Edited May 14, 2015 by kathy9

[TERRIER1]

We got the two coins .... booked with a TA. We had a DV cabin booked May 2013. Sailed Istanbul to Venice April 11, 2015. Never have sailed on Viking before and per DH never again!

Kathy

 

Hi Kathy. What are your husband's reasons for never stepping on a Viking ship again? Thanks.

[kathy9]

Hi Kathy. What are your husband's reasons for never stepping on a Viking ship again? Thanks

.

 

My DH had many issues on the maiden voyage....not getting lunch one day in The Restaurant after waiting 1 1/2 hours one example but what really got him was the paid excursion which we showed up on time for that had left early with out us.

He feels if we are going to pay our hard earned money for a cruise he wants to sail on AZ, Windstar or Oceania which we are trying next summer.

Kathy

Edited May 14, 2015 by kathy9

[PopsA]

Elizabeth, I close that door like it's on my grandmothers china hutch every time. Barely a click is heard.

 

You got me on looking at your veranda. I've had a webcam going since Barcelona. Would you like me to stop the feed?

 

I can happily report the medical center is excellent! Smooth transition to an awaiting ambulance and local hospital if needed. Even plenty of time to get you back on the ship before the next mornings sailing.

 

I'm still looking for patient zero!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[id4elizabeth]

Nah - don't bother - we're dressed now.

 

How much though to destroy the existing tapes?

[PopsA]

Chocolate bar.

 

We are in the Explorers Lounge having an impromptu wine and chocolate tasting if you and your Mr. would like to join us. We are at 5 now. All you need is you.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Azulann]

Chocolate bar.

 

We are in the Explorers Lounge having an impromptu wine and chocolate tasting if you and your Mr. would like to join us. We are at 5 now. All you need is you.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I see in your first posts since being on board, you are enjoying yourself.:)

I look forward to a trip review when you return to the US.

Until then, have the time of your life, you are maiden voyage of a new ship and getting ready to have some fun in Bergen Norway.;)

Edited May 14, 2015 by Azulann

[toby4352]

Back to my unsweetned iced tea woes. There had FINALLY been one tap on the juice machine on the port side that dispensed cold tea. Several days ago it disappeared. I was told that was "temporary" and now I should order iced tea from a server. This works OK if you can find a server and can take from 10 to 20 minutes to arrive. The other night in Manfredi's I was told "let me check if that is available tonight." It did finally appear about 30 minutes later. I'm envisioning a staff person in some central location making a glass at a time, tea bag at a time. It's more dependable in the World Cafe and the Restaurant - takes much longer in the Chef's Table and Manfredis - very iffy if you order in a bar, and then they might charge you for it. The real problem is in the off house when all the restaurants are closed. Then I'm back to making my own. Can't figure out why this is so hard?!?!

Wow this cold, unsweetened iced tea saga is a real puzzler. Can't Viking figure out a way to keep it flowing? On each cruise, from here on out, there will be multiple passengers asking for this. Step up Viking, this should be an Easy Fix!

 

And, once again so many of us are in, all you first time cruisers, debt. You are doing the tough job of sorting all these rough spots out with Viking. I sure hope Viking is listening & refining their methods.

 

And tho' I said you have a tough job (1st timers) the views and food sure must help smooth over the rough spots. ⭐️