Top Things Right and Wrong on board the star

[CrusinSubMan]

Here are my top things right and wrong on the Star at this point in our 50 day maiden voyage (day 33). This is just my opinion, of course, and I suspect/expect others to add/subtract or comment. And I hope our Viking lurkers take this information and use it to keep trying to improve things. Also please note that even though most of this discusses negative aspects this is not meant to imply I am not enjoying this cruise immensely. I am. I just think a good list of right and wrong would be useful at this point to help Viking get the word completely.

 

Top things that are Right on the Star:)

1) Customer service- filled with smiling and happy customer-service oriented staff that make you feel welcome and appreciated on board. This is what has helped make this cruise simply awesome for us, regardless of the issues noted below. The single best thing that Viking clearly did was to hire an incredible staff. Almost every single worker and a good chunk of the management are simply awesome. They make this ship a wonderful place to live.

2) The Spa (but not its hours, see below)- The physical amenities of the SPA are excellent. I wish it were open 24 hours or at least open late every night and early every morning, though.

3) Food- the offerings, options and taste are great.

4) Aesthetics -The layout and beauty of the ship are superior. It is a great place to walk, sit, recline, eat, talk, etc.

5) Lack of Nickel and Dining- They promised this and delivered. Free food everywhere, free beer wine and soft drinks with lunch and dinner, free internet, free SPA, free included excursion in every port, lots of shuttle service for ports at a distance from main city, free in room beverages and snacks for certain room types etc and free room service.

 

Top things that are Wrong on the Star:(

1) Electronics and Equipment- Lots of electronic things and equipment on the Star still don't work right including:

a. WIFI: is inconsistent and usually slow. The planned system (two tiers with slower for free and faster for a fee)is still not implemented so it is free, but that means it is used by EVERYONE excessively which is probably adding to the problems and creating the slowness.

b. In-room Television System: Still no information on spa or dinner reservations or ability to differentiate between two guests in room. It also cuts in and out a lot and has to be reset. The TVs have come along way from the first few weeks though.

c. Ships data system: They often have charges on bills lacking payments or refunds, they often don't have accurate information on phones or available to guest services, etc. It has gotten better, but it has a ways to go yet.

d. Electronics in exercise room: The running machines etc have not even been connected to the ships IT system. So all of the features they have are not available. The televisions are not connected either.

e. Washing Machines- they only do hot water. So everyone's clothes are shrinking. I have reported this twice. This, however, maybe a problem that is not easily fixed. I say this because each washing machine has a hot water and cold water connection and I have verified they are all open. So either there is no cold water being delivered to the rooms (Or perhaps its pressure is too low), or they connected the backwards or the machines are faulty.

2) Excursions- They are terribly managed, and I mean terribly!. It seems like every port we have hit, they have managed to irritate or greatly upset at least half of those going on an excursion. We could fill pages with all the things they have messed up but here are the most glaring and constant problems that I hear many complaints about:

a. Poor quality- it as if no one actually tested any of the excursion nor even heard of things like Trip Advisor. It almost seems like they simply googled each port and grabbed the first operators they found. It definitely seems like they are using the maiden voyage to test everything.

b. Poor management.- The method they are using to manage excursions is rigid, in flexible and never deviated from. So people end up queuing, waiting, etc all the time.

c. Overcrowding- packed busses that are all treated as one big group for walking tours. End result is slow and fast people mixed together, LONG potty breaks, etc.

d. Poor planning- they have had to cancel and change all sorts of excursions for things that should have been foreseen or managed (like scheduling a tour to a museum on a day of the week that the museum is closed or scheduling a sunset meal on a day the ship leaves port before sunset.

3) Communication- is not great. They do not communicate anything negative or only when they absolutely have to. They don't send notes, they don't announce anything, etc. About the only thing that has improved is that when you register a complaint they are now mostly following up personally to see if it is fixed. But mostly only if it is a complaint about something in your room. I sense that the problem here is that the responsibilities on the ship are divided among several people that allows many things to fall into the zones between them. And certainly, Viking's approach is silence, overall. They probably need a complaint CZAR who is acceptable for all complaints regardless of whether they are about excursions, physical aspects of the ship, dining, entertainment, etc.

4) Wine - Much of the wine is not very good. The selections on board for purchase are not all that great as well. For those on the Silver Spirits package it is even worse of an experience since they are paying extra every day for a selection of nice wines to choose from that does not exist or barely exists.

4) Torshavn- this lounge has simply not been used like it was planned to be. In fact the description you can find on screens on board says it is supposed to be a like a Jazz Club. And, indeed, that is its decor. But it also has an awesome sound and light facility. And mostly all it has is a the ship's band (who are great, but not matched to that facility at all. They play waltzes and mellow rock and a bit of peppy rock.) The club should have some jazz players and singers or be used for more disco like dancing music or a combination of both. The end result right now is that it is often dead in there.

Edited May 13, 2015 by CrusinSubMan

[TERRIER1]

Thanks so much for your comprehensive review. I don't understand why Viking doesn't send one bus out with two guides and split up the tour into manageable groups. I also don't understand why the TV's don't work after all this time. You maiden voyage cruisers have my admiration for your patience. We sail in July and after my experience with Viking I would have to say they win the prize for absolute non-communication.

Edited May 13, 2015 by TERRIER1

[jlp879]

 

Washing Machines- they only do hot water.

So everyone's clothes are shrinking.

I have reported this twice. This, however, maybe a problem that is not easily fixed. I say this because each washing machine has a hot water and cold water connection and I have verified they are all open. So either there is no cold water being delivered to the rooms (Or perhaps its pressure is too low), or they connected the backwards or the machines are faulty.

 

I'm totally cracking up on this one! I'm sorry, I know you are reporting a legitimate problem, but I think this is a problem that all cruisers experience on every cruise, surrounded by all that great food!

Edited May 13, 2015 by jlp879

[WilliaFr]

This can be dependent on whether the machines are European or American style. I have experience of both. I have found most American machines have been cold water wash OR hot but with no temperature control. European machines are ONLY cold water fill, the temperature is then selected and the water heated within the washing machine. Nowadays 30 degrees Celsius is the normal selection for European detergents and clothes. Not knowing how the machines are plumbed in it is difficult to say whether there is a technical issue at play here or a user error error due to different expectations/experiences (Europe/USA). I live in Europe but have experienced the vagaries of American cold water washing machines in Japan.

 

On a less serious note ... my wife just said, somewhat tongue in cheek, that the clothes might not be shrinking ... maybe the food is so good and plentiful that you're all putting on weight [emoji3]

[algaes]

Type of washing machine is easy to settle. It is a Speed Queen brand and plate on dryer has model as LTSA7AWN3300. Marked made in the USA and maker is Alliance Laundry System of Ripon, WI.

 

Have amazing shock absorbtion system (at least in brand new use) and washer does a great job in extracting water at end of rinse cycle helping with drying times.

 

See http://www.speedqueencommercial.com/opl/en-ww/products/stack-washerdryers.aspx

[LadyVol1]

Thanks, CruisinSubMan. I don’t want to steal your thunder, but here’s my list!

 

 

Good things:

 

Cabin design – The Penthouse Junior Suite is the best-designed cabin I’ve had in my 500 nights of cruising. I’ve been in much larger suites, but the entire cabin (and bathroom) “works” great now that a floor lamp was installed on a separate switch.

 

Included tour departure times in the afternoon – I sleep in on cruises so I like that the included (free) tours are also usually offered in the afternoon. Regent gives passengers a choice of free tours but there is typically only one departure time per tour type. Viking “forces” the passenger into only one free tour, but it has several departures.

 

Laundry service (included with Penthouse Junior Suites and above) – We send our laundry out by 9 AM and it comes back by 7 PM the next day. It is weird that the folded items (undies and socks) are covered in heavy white plastic and then that bundle is put in a sturdy, reusable covered box. I think just using the covered box, which was what was done for the first 16 days, is quite sufficient and 100% less wasteful!

 

Internet – The internet was pretty good up until Barcelona (May 2). Then the IP addresses started dropping for the next three or four days. Then it was okay until Rouen (May 10) when it started crawling.

 

 

Bad things:

 

The inconsistencies everywhere are driving me batty (in no particular order) -

1) We still don’t know the policy for what a daily minibar restocking is to include. For example (and this is just one example), we can have zero candy bars in the minibar. After a restocking we may still have none. Or, we may have two of each or one Twix and two Mars. The beverages just make matters worse. We have asked three different levels of crew/officers, “What is the basic minibar restocking supposed to include?” and have literally gotten answers of “I wish I knew.”, “What do you want?” and “Let me know.”. These answers have been after we have left notes, talked to various people, etc. Someone working on this ship should be able to articulate what the daily restocking is supposed to include!

2) Around day 27 I called room service and asked for a champagne bucket full of ice to be delivered. The person answering the phone clearly understood the request. 10 minutes later Housekeeping knocked on the door and asked if we needed our small ice bucket refilled. No, we asked for a champagne bucket of ice. Housekeeping said, “I’ll let them know.” Nothing happened so 45 minutes later I called room service again and re-requested it and it was delivered within 10 minutes. Mind you, we’ve had this same issue several times and have met with a housekeeping supervisor and a room service supervisor about it and were told it was the responsibility of room service and that room service would be told.

3) On some sea days lunch is served until 3. On other sea days it is served until 2. Why?

On some sea days Team Trivia is at noon. On other sea days it is at 12:30 or 4:45. Why?

4) If you drink wine, you can easily get a refill without even asking. If you drink water or soda, forget about it.

5) Early morning announcements are made into the cabins of some things that are published in VD like the terminal switch in Barcelona and the 8 AM farewell to passengers in Venice. If something is published, why is it announced (in the morning)? In that case, why isn’t everything that is published announced daily (thank goodness that doesn’t happen, but that shows the inconsistency)?

6) Easy room service orders are delivered incomplete.

7) Tour tickets are sometimes handed out on the port side of Star Theatre and sometimes on starboard. I’ve asked why they keep changing it and no one knows. When the gangway is on Deck 2 by the Star Theatre I understand why they need to hand out the tour tickets on the other side. When the gangway is on Deck A, it seems like they could always hand out tickets on the same side. Consistency!!

8) The room service phone is frequently not answered and just rings and rings and rings. But, sometimes it is answered on the first ring. I can’t find any correlation to time of day for this.

9) Bottled water is not always available when you leave on a Viking tour.

10) Some times you get free shuttle service into the port and sometimes you have to pay for it and some times it is not available the second time at a port. Barcelona was free on May 1 and May 3 but not on May 2. There was no shuttle service to Dubrovnik the second time we were there on April 23. You can only find this out the night before via the VD so don’t assume anything.

 

Argumentative crew - I’ve never had crew “argue” with me before. One example is in Chef’s Table. I’m allergic to alcohol and notified Chef’s Table many days prior to our first reservation and also told the server when asked about allergies. One night though, even after telling the server about my allergy, she tried to give me a dessert that contained rum in the sorbet. I said “no” and she explained that I could eat the other parts of the dessert. While she continued to try to place the dessert in front of me, I explained again, more forcefully, that it is a health issue. She finally took it away.

Another example is that in the World Café I frequently find dirty dishes in the stacks of clean ones. When I do, I simply put the dirty dish on top of the sneeze hood so that the crew standing behind that buffet station can take it away. The ice cream server stopped what she was doing and looked at the two plates I put up there. She was wearing gloves and couldn’t feel the grit on the plates and explained to me that they weren’t dirty and that it was just water marks on the plates. I explained that they were gritty and therefore dirty. At that point, she took them away but wasn’t too happy about doing so. I know heavy water marks are on all of the wine glasses in World Café and that they aren’t dirty. Dried grit on plates, though, is dirt in my opinion and I don’t need a crew member trying to tell me otherwise.

 

Communication - We have reported issues to Explorers’ Desk, Karl Eckl and many crew members in between and rarely have we heard back from them or if we do, the immediate issue is fixed but the longer term problem isn’t solved since the same issue will crop up in a day or two. And, it seems hard to actually get a straight answer from some of the Explorers’ Desk personnel and from some of the officers. They tell you something but it doesn’t answer the question. For example, when I asked if room service could be ordered off of The Restaurant menu during dinner hours, I was told, “You can try.” I pushed back and asked, “Does that mean yes or no?” and was then told “No”. It seems like if the answer is something that a passenger might not want to hear, the staff tries to sugarcoat it or dance around the answer. We are all adults. Just answer the question.

 

No fixed dining - When we cruise we like to meet new people and share our days over dinner with those same people at the same table. We also like to have the same waiter each night so that person learns I don’t drink alcohol, I might order two desserts, etc., etc. Therefore we like to book late seating for a table of six. Viking advertised that fixed seating was available and when we showed up and asked what time it was (we forgot that the Viking email had said 8:30 PM) we were told that we were wrong and that there was no fixed seating on Viking. It was all open seating. We didn’t get what was advertised.

 

Video - Not having sports channels and first-run movies, as promised, is false advertising. Not planning on having a navigation channel, a view from the bridge or taped lectures shows that Viking didn’t know what ocean cruising passengers are used to. (When you are on an ocean, some people really, really, really like to know where they are so that they can identify that land mass “over there”. That’s what a navigation channel can provide.) Having a TV that says “Day 2, Barcelona” when you are at sea on May 13 is silly. Having the temperature show on the TV and never change is silly. Having channels that sometimes work, but usually not, is silly. Just get rid of the TVs. (We leave our two TVs off.)

 

Fitness center - Aerobic/”sweaty” fitness classes are “dance” based and I have two left feet and can’t do those types of classes. There should be a bigger variety (like circuit training, fab abs, resistance bands, etc.) and a class should be offered each day.

 

No pre-ordered distilled water available for sleep apnea – This is my biggest pet peeve and got the cruise off on the wrong foot BIG TIME. On every other cruise line you can pre-order distilled water. Sometimes it is free and sometimes it costs. It doesn’t matter to us. We need it so we pre-order it. Viking said “OK” to this request in 2014. We got on the ship and no one had a clue about it and we spent our first three days dealing with this issue that no one onboard seemed to care about. Luckily a passenger that is getting on in Stockholm heard about this issue and I got him a bottle of it in Dubrovnik and will make sure it gets to his cabin. Otherwise, he would be out of luck and would have to try to get it on his own in port.

 

 

Improvements:

 

However, Viking does seem to be trying since the following five items were implemented since April 27 after I (and others?) had suggested them on April 13:

- A floor lamp on a separate switch was installed.

- Sandwich bread is available at lunch in World Café.

- World Café lunch items are now labeled, including ice creams. Pool Grill items are sometimes labeled.

- A no sugar added dessert is available at World Café during lunch.

- There is a book exchange on Deck 1.

[sitraveler]

Although we disembarked at day 21, Concur with all your comments.

[OneBag]

...They tell you something but it doesn’t answer the question. For example, when I asked if room service could be ordered off of The Restaurant menu during dinner hours, I was told, “You can try.” I pushed back and asked, “Does that mean yes or no?” and was then told “No”. It seems like if the answer is something that a passenger might not want to hear, the staff tries to sugarcoat it or dance around the answer. We are all adults. Just answer the question....

 

I'm not even on the boat yet and I've already had it with Viking's singularly terrible communication -- not just lack of communication but erroneous, mistaken communication. This is not a failure because it's a new boat or Viking hasn't done the ocean yet. This is purely a management failure.

 

From what I've gleaned from speaking and emailing with Viking's "Travel Sales Support" staff, these are bright, energetic, hard-working, mainly inexperienced young people who get little or no support from Viking. I've had quite a number of interactions with quite a few different people and the number of times one has contradicted something another has said is too many to count. I don't think they are intentionally obfuscating because they are lazy or stupid. I think they have not been given the tools by Viking to solve problems or -- worse yet -- to get the info to the proper department, so in order to provide "support", they just make things up.

 

This, to me, is an enormous failure on Viking's part. This project is in beta and that's not a flaw, it's a fact of life. The most important thing in a beta is not to pretend there are no bugs or shrug one's shoulders and say, "It's not my job." The most important thing in beta is communication -- those with the power to change things need to know what isn't working and for that they need feedback. Off the ship pre-cruise, there is currently no mechanism to provide feedback to Viking beyond their Travel Sales Support. I know this because I have specifically asked them. Unfortunately, it sounds like the situation is no better on the ship. Very poor management.

 

BTW, LadyVol, we at home are still being offer the choice of either Open Seating or Fixed Seating "Fixed table and waiter for the entire cruise." So MVJ is doing one thing and the folks on board are doing another? Why? And btw, don't bother calling or emailing Viking. They will just tell you "there's a problem with the website."

 

I might add that the fact there there are multiple complaints (and even an old thread somewhere) here about Viking's lousy communication is evidence that there is no mechanism for feedback. If there were, someone would have learned about it, created a thread, and then every time somebody complained that Viking isn't listening, they'd be pointed toward that resource -- which would not simply listen and go have a drink, but actually get information that needs to be processed to the right department. Quite a few of the other complaints would likely fall away if this management failure were addressed.

Edited May 13, 2015 by OneBag

[LadyVol1]

BTW, LadyVol, we at home are still being offer the choice of either Open Seating or Fixed Seating "Fixed table and waiter for the entire cruise." So MVJ is doing one thing and the folks on board are doing another? Why?

 

OneBag - I couldn't have said it better -- your entire post about Viking's communication ineptitude. But, to answer your specific question about fixed vs. open seating: General Hotel Manager Karl Eckl told me during a sit-down meeting that the system (possibly PMS, the passenger management system or maybe it was a specific restaurant system -- I wasn't quite sure) does not allow reservations. They thought it would, but it doesn't so Viking will be all open seating. Prior to retiring, I was in system design and I would have been fired if such a basic requirement of my client didn't make it into the system. Alas, agreeing on the list of requirements seemed to not happen with regards to how The Restaurant would work. This is also why The Restaurant wait staff started using HP tablets for order taking and then after four days reverted to pen and paper and now there are two servers in The Restaurant testing Apple iPods!! It is painfully obvious that there was very little testing of any computer systems or manual processes prior to April 11.

[TERRIER1]

Cruise Critic's Member reviews is available for Viking Oceans now. The reviews should be posted there and perhaps others will see and have the option of cancelling cruises before final payment based on the information available.

[SeattleBB]

We are sailing on Viking on June 27th. How is Viking dealing with passengers with food allergies? I have a severe allergy to garlic and have made Viking aware of this through our TA and with numerous phone calls, from the time we made our initial reservation. Each time I have been told, "yes, that's been noted in our records and will be accommodated". After reading several posts about the inconsistencies in the dining areas I'm getting really worried. Garlic is a hidden ingredient in so many dishes I don't know how I'll be able to safely eat anything. On past cruises (on other lines) I've been well taken care of by the maitre'd and the wait staff. I've always made it a point to use fixed dining so I would always have the same staff. I was told that would be the case on Viking, but it doesn't sound at all that this is what will happen in reality.

 

Can those of you currently on board give me some idea of what I should expect? Is there anybody in particular I should speak to when we board? Any advice?

 

Thank you!

[Mr Top Cat]

Lady Vol1 you say "We still don’t know the policy for what a daily minibar restocking is to include. For example (and this is just one example), we can have zero candy bars in the minibar. After a restocking we may still have none. Or, we may have two of each or one Twix and two Mars. The beverages just make matters worse. We have asked three different levels of crew/officers, “What is the basic minibar restocking supposed to include?” and have literally gotten answers of “I wish I knew.”, “What do you want?” and “Let me know.”. These answers have been after we have left notes, talked to various people, etc. Someone working on this ship should be able to articulate what the daily restocking is supposed to include!"

 

CrusinSubMan you say "Lack of Nickel and Diming- They promised this and delivered. Free food everywhere, free beer wine and soft drinks with lunch and dinner, free internet, free SPA, free included excursion in every port, lots of shuttle service for ports at a distance from main city, free in room beverages and snacks for certain room types etc and free room service."

 

Thank both of you and many many others for taking the time to keep us future Viking Ocean Cruisers informed about your journey. I am scheduled to travel June 19, 2016 on Baltic Jewels & Midnight Sun in a DV1 room 4123. I am somewhat concerned in that when I originally signed up for my cruise in October of 2014 if I remember correctly the DV had Mini-bar with drinks & snacks, replenished daily and Complimentary Wi-Fi. I am wondering now is Viking nickle and diming on the mini-bar as well as now saying (subject to certain usage policies) on the Wi-Fi?

 

Also on a previous post someone on the 4th level had a diesel smell. Has anyone stayed in 4123 and experienced any smells as previously mentioned or had problems with the ship rolling due to the seas?

[sitraveler]

There was shuttle service in Dubrovnik both days. It was not printed in the daily, but announced on the speaker system. My complaint at the time was the lack of info being provided.

[OneBag]

...My complaint at the time was the lack of info being provided.

 

There it is again. Communication. It's less about being kept in the dark--though that is extremely annoying--than about what it seems to say about the competence of management and how that manifests on board.

 

Okay, I'd like room service to answer the phone when I call, and I'd rather not stand around for hours waiting for my tour to begin, etc., but the real problem with Viking's Keystone Kops routine is that it does not instill confidence. Eventually people end up questioning everything, including whether the Keystone Kops will be directing traffic in an emergency.

[avonglen]

We are sailing on Viking on June 27th. How is Viking dealing with passengers with food allergies? I have a severe allergy to garlic and have made Viking aware of this through our TA and with numerous phone calls, from the time we made our initial reservation. Each time I have been told, "yes, that's been noted in our records and will be accommodated". After reading several posts about the inconsistencies in the dining areas I'm getting really worried. Garlic is a hidden ingredient in so many dishes I don't know how I'll be able to safely eat anything. On past cruises (on other lines) I've been well taken care of by the maitre'd and the wait staff. I've always made it a point to use fixed dining so I would always have the same staff. I was told that would be the case on Viking, but it doesn't sound at all that this is what will happen in reality.

 

Can those of you currently on board give me some idea of what I should expect? Is there anybody in particular I should speak to when we board? Any advice?

 

Thank you!

 

Like you, I have a severe allergic reaction to two items, red wine and olive oil which I have advised to Viking on the Guest Information Form for my 50 Day cruise in March 2016. Reaction to red wine is easily avoided, but, as with the garlic, olive oil is a hidden ingredient. On past river cruises with Viking the maître d' would meet me at the restaurant door with menu in hand showing which meals were either cooked in or contained olive oil. Thus not once did I suffer a reaction to spoil the cruise.

Unfortunately, because Manfredi's is an Italian Restaurant in which use of olive oil is synonymous, it is off my culinary agenda and I accept that as a fact of life. But I need to have the confidence that any other food on the menu in any other of the restaurants is olive oil free....fingers crossed that the maître d' is up to speed with the info I have provided on the GFI and that Viking's communication skills improve manifold.

[coco-girl]

Cruise Critic's Member reviews is available for Viking Oceans now. The reviews should be posted there and perhaps others will see and have the option of cancelling cruises before final payment based on the information available.

 

 

We have taken the river cruises with Viking and always had a fabulous time, those trips have always exceeded our expectations.

So when they showed us the presentation of Viking Star we booked immediately (August 2013), imagining it would be of the same high standard.

 

We have today cancelled our Viking Star trip for September 2015.

We forfeit our deposit, which we were prepared to do rather than risk sailing with Viking Oceans this year.

 

Will perhaps rebook at some time in the future when the get their act together.

[Mrs Miggins]

This seems a severe reaction. Most people would not want to lose their substantial deposit based on the feelings of a few on the first stages of this new venture. We paid £1400 ($2200) last year. Our cruise has been cancelled - 24th June 2016 but we are happy with the way Viking have rebooked us in September.

I would wager that by September 2015 the glitches will have been largely fixed.

[Fuss]

That's what I'm counting on, as I leave 6/27/2015! The issues on board ship are minor annoyances- TV , reservation systems, movies, etc. they will iron those out in time, I am sure. I am more concerned with the excursions, frankly- all along I have had concerns, as it takes time to develop a product in various ports- this is why I recommend Holland America and Princess in Alaska as they have been there the longest and have it down to a science. Of all the issues I have read about and mostly not commented on, the one the would have fired me up the most was having an excursion in London cut short, because they started late. They may be included excursions, but we paid dearly for that right!

That being said, the chance to travel on a new ship, in her inaugural season outweighed the "risk" we might be taking with regards to ports and excursions-- Also, as a form of insurance, I booked independently in St Petersburg, Stavanger and Flam. I also booked optional excursions thru Viking and a couple included. I am sure we will have a great time. And as I said , Viking, in time will iron out these kinks, once they get used to dealing with the larger volume of the ship.

Happy Sailing , all!

[Mrs Miggins]

I think that those on the London trip were short changed - but it only needed for them to get on the tender and book a return Rivershuttle into Central London - a much better option than going by coach (which is ridiculous). We all need to do some preplanning and look at all available options.

[kathy9]

As far as the excursions go join your roll call, get together and book private excursions. We always enjoy them so much more than ship excursions anyway. You can find private tour guides on the port pages of Cruise Critic or on Tripadvisor. So much more fun that being on a bus with 46 other people......

 

I was very critical of many issues on the maiden voyage of The Star but I am sure these can be corrected with more training of the staff and just putting better practices in place. They are a team that needs to get use to working together. They need more hands on management at every level from my observation. Seems silly to cancel a cruise based on the observations made here. I would sail on Viking again, but my DH will not.

Kathy

Edited May 14, 2015 by kathy9

[Advisorj]

In 2000 we were on the opening season of Regent Marriner. A new small ship and almost a new cruise line. They had a ship in Tahiti but had never been to Alaska. But we came on after a couple months on the Alaska route and everything was fine. A really great cruise. So once Star gets to the Baltic and has a multiple stops in the same cities, things should improve.

To the 50 day cruisers all i can say is Thank You. You are getting the bugs out for the rest of us. 50 days is a real test and i cannot imagine the excitement and related stress of it. Though not as testing as a submarine deployment, there are similarities.

[TERRIER1]

We leave on July 25 and I am not getting that warm and fuzzy feeling that Viking will have their act together by then from either a management/service point of view or from the technology end.

 

We have scheduled a mix of private, DIY and included tours. If the included tour (which you pay as part of the cruise fare) turns out to be a fiasco we will just go out on our own. Waiting around for a couple of hours while Viking gets organized and missing a port's shore experience is not acceptable.

 

Are the issues being encountered a deal breaker? I don't think so but I wouldn't know until I go through the experience. However, from my dealings with Viking to date, in retrospect I would have taken my cruise dollars and placed them on another line such as Azamara or Oceania. Many of the issues being experience should have been rectified after two months of sailing. Communication is an easy fix. Oceans is a new endeavor for Viking and there will be hiccups but this isn't Viking's first rodeo when it comes to cruising or servicing passengers. You don't put a vessel out there without any forethought or planning. A Viking Oceans cruise is not exactly inexpensive so you would have expected something more that the service being rendered. A new ship is lovely but I would rather have an old ship with smooth operations and service.

[roothy123]

I know it's easy for me to say this, as I'm not on the ship right now, but many (but probably not all) of the lemons you've experienced could have been turned into lemonaid with a little pre-planning, flexibility and thinking outside the box. For example, while it's nice to have free excursions, if one is delayed, you can often just walk off the ship and do your own excursion. If it bothers you that sometimes there's a shuttle and sometime's there's not, go to the ports section of Cruise Critic (or email the port) to find out what others have experienced and plan accordingly. Availability of shuttles changes from day to day, as do cruise ship port assignments, internet access at sea, and a whole lot of things. If you want a fully-escorted, consistently executed vacation with the precision of a military drill, perhaps ocean cruising isn't for you. If you want nightlife, perhaps (or probably!!) Viking isn't for you.

 

I mean this sincerely and I'm truly not trying to offend anyone. However, I just gotta say that what I've read has not deterred me in the least with sailing on Star this fall. Even if the TV doesn't work, I have to use the WiFi in port, and there are no floor lamps in the suites (probably not the best thing on an ocean cruise liner anyway, in case weather turns nasty), the rest sounds wonderful so I know I'll have a great time. Quite honestly, I would love to be on that ship right now, and I know a lot of other people who would as well.

[washashorehouse]

Our primary issue with Viking has been a lack of COMMUNICATION—between the headquarters and passengers prior to sailing, headquarters and the personnel on the ship regarding requests made by the passengers, and more importantly between the “powers that be” on the ship and in the office and the PASSENGERS. Everyone hears a different answer and not all information is shared with EVERYONE. And often times when information is finally provided it is not done so in a timely fashion.

 

The first leg from Istanbul to Venice was a bit of a disaster. The ship and staff were NOT ready for passengers—and unfortunately we were paying for the privilege of being their captive “Guinea pigs”.

 

The size of the cabin is smaller than most comparable ships and the lack of storage is a challenge! (3 shallow drawers for 2 people is not sufficient)—have no idea where the designers intended passengers to put their underwear, sox, and similar non-hanging items.

 

The ship’s stability is less than desirable—it tends to rock, fish-tail and pitch even when the sea climate isn’t necessarily rough

 

The wait staff and room stewards are VERY friendly and personable. Unfortunately in the restaurant there are times when staff is short handed and service can be terribly slow. The variety of food selections in the World Café did improve over each leg. We know the sandwich options that were offered after Venice were a success and the seafood now available since Barcelona appear to be appreciated. We still wonder why both sides of the Café do not offer the same selections, often necessitating a complete walk around just to find a salad, ice cream or sandwich. We have not enjoyed the Restaurant, as the acoustics are just too noisy to even maintain a normal conversation and dine in a relaxed way. Manfredi’s and Chef’s Table are more intimate but again sound can reverberate when they are full of patrons.

 

The in- room bar service has been inconsistent—asking for our preferred soft drink (Diet Coke) seems to be difficult. We don’t drink alcohol so Diet Coke is our beverage for meals and daily use, however if we wish more than 2 sodas a day there will be a $2 per can charge. We find this a bit petty, especially since we are not drinking their more pricey wine and beer.

 

We still continue to experience very mixed and at times frustrating response, from the “main desk”. Phone calls are not answered, at times long lines to get a question answered because of limited manpower for desk coverage. This spotty coverage creates a bit of anxiety when one considers if we had an emergency in the room and required assistance and no one answered the phone! This is more than an inconvenience—it is a safety issue that needs to be addressed.

 

Another safety issue is the lengthy metal stairway used in some ports. Despite talking to 2 staff members about the need for markings on the edge of steps to denote where one step ends and another step will drop—nothing has been done.

 

Regarding entertainment we are quite delighted with the quality of their performers, especially the classical musicians onboard. The singing and dance troupe are also quite talented—we just wish there were more performance programs. Once you have seen their 4 or so shows the calendar just recycles through them again and again. Some speakers have been outstanding, others less so—but obviously tastes vary. We are thrilled to see the addition of more local cultural presentations since Barcelona—this is what we had expected from the beginning given Vikings’ advertisements. It was long overdue.

 

Given the repetitive nature of the live show cycle, in room entertainment is the only recourse. However, this option is a looser. Aside from the electronic issues that left the TV useless for almost the entire first leg, the on -screen entertainment offerings are pathetic. There are no first run movies (we also question the purpose the “cinemas” on the ship, since no movies have been shown there) and movies that are available “on demand” date from choices that are over 75 years old (“It Happened One Night’, “Gone with the Wind”) to ones over 50 years old (“Ben Hur”, “Singing in the Rain”, “Gigi”, “Some like it Hot”). The television “on demand” menu includes first season re-runs of “Friends” and “Law and Order” from the 1990s, certainly not something one would consider timely entertainment! Since headlines are not included in the publication of the Viking Daily and “live” TV is spotty we had been dependent on internet. However, now even that has been down for the last 5 days!!!

 

Our experience with the local excursions has been surprisingly positive. Some excursions, like Corfu, seem to have been an exercise in senseless transport while others have been outstanding. However, responses from the excursion desk personnel are more often inconsistent and contradictory to previous responses. It sometimes appears that the “right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing”. This is very confusing for the passengers when the written description does not match the verbal explanation which in turn does not match another personnel’s description of the excursion. An excursion should either include something or not, either requires something or not, and is consistently described as such by ALL shore excursion personnel! Organization of excursions departing from the ship also requires some serious attention—long lines that snake around the ship do not appear to be productive or efficient in moving and processing passengers for their excursions.

 

In conclusion, there is limited organization, poor to no communication and inconsistent responses (if any) to issues brought to their attention.

[OneBag]

I know it's easy for me to say this, as I'm not on the ship right now, but many (but probably not all) of the lemons you've experienced could have been turned into lemonaid with a little pre-planning, flexibility and thinking outside the box. For example, while it's nice to have free excursions, if one is delayed, you can often just walk off the ship and do your own excursion. If it bothers you that sometimes there's a shuttle and sometime's there's not, go to the ports section of Cruise Critic (or email the port) to find out what others have experienced and plan accordingly. Availability of shuttles changes from day to day, as do cruise ship port assignments, internet access at sea, and a whole lot of things. If you want a fully-escorted, consistently executed vacation with the precision of a military drill, perhaps ocean cruising isn't for you....

 

Probably 99% of the time I agree with you, Roothy. On this point, I don't.

 

I occasionally resort to hyperbole to make a point and I imagine that you don't actually think people here are expecting "the precision of military drill." This isn't about everything going perfectly, it's about failures in communication which make problems worse than they need to be and, in some cases, apparently unfixable. While things will occasionally go wrong, there is nothing to prevent Viking from communicating with its customers and internally other than Viking.

 

You and I have a lot in common. It appears that you, like me, very much enjoy the planning process and probably, like me, maybe spend a little too much time on it! Or at least others might think so. :) I have planned all our trips--family when there was one, and as a couple now that the kids have flown and the pets have died--without the help of any tours or travel agents for the last 35 years. We agreed to a river cruise in 2009 because another couple we were traveling with wanted that. Other than that, we have spent as long as 6 weeks traveling overseas, covering multiple countries using trains, planes and automobiles both leased and rented, all arranged by me, including making sure we can walk or take public trans and take cabs only when unavoidable because we enjoy that sort of thing. I could go on, but my point is that I really do understand that many if not most things can be done independently.

 

However, many people--and I know quite a few personally, young and old alike--book cruises, motor coach tours, etc. primarily because they do not enjoy the process of figuring out where to go and when and how. Or they have other things they'd rather do with their free time. Or they don't have the free time to do it. Or, in one specific case I know personally, they want to see the world but are intensely uncomfortable being on their own. These are all intelligent, successful people who choose to cruise because they do not want to "walk off the ship and do their own excursion", especially if it's a last-minute, unexpected punt due to a failed ship excursion. I totally get that, despite my control-freak propensity to balk at being herded in groups. In fact, our 5 week trip this summer will be broken up midway by our 2 weeks on the Viking and I was, quite frankly, looking forward to being taken care of during those two weeks and not have to figure out an excursion and transportation to/from a port (assuming it's not walkable) at the last minute. My husband and I are fortunately to be able to walk long and fast if necessary, but not everyone is so fortunate, and who knows, maybe I won't be that fortunate in July when our ship sails. My husband has intermittent knee problems and I am clumsy and occasionally find myself in a walking boot.

 

My point is that the very nature of a cruise like this will guarantee a large number of passengers who will be annoyed at having to punt and create their own excursion and figure out transportation on their own at the very last minute. And I do think it's reasonable to complain about waiting around 2+ hours for a tour to begin and then having it cut short. At the very least, let people go back to their rooms or walk around the ship while they wait. Don't keep them cooped up in the muster room or whatever its called, wasting time and getting more and more annoyed at the delay.

 

...In conclusion, there is limited organization, poor to no communication and inconsistent responses (if any) to issues brought to their attention.

 

Absolutely agree. Aside from what I expect are the sorts of things that, while frustrating, are the sorts of things that can go wrong with a new project, there is an enormous failure of communication not just amongst Viking and customers, but internally as well -- which is more worrisome to me than not communicating well with us, as opposed to not communicating well with each other, particularly in an emergency.

 

I'll repost something I've posted elsewhere, because I think it might be relevant:

 

I'm wondering if the appalling communication problems at Viking--not just between Viking and customers, but internally as well--will not improve until Viking fills this position: http://www.cruisejobfinder.com/jobce...7778.66&page=1