Inaugural Cruise on Viking Sky

[garycarla]

From what I can tell, the Feb 25, 2017 cruise (Rome-Barcelona) will be the first cruise with paying passengers for this ship. They have an invite only just before that.

 

For Viking regulars, what are your thoughts about booking this cruise? Will they really be ready for passengers and will take care of us even if some things are not quite ready?

 

Are we taking a risk?

 

Thoughts?

[rjscott]

We were on the maiden voyage of the Viking Star, from Istanbul to Venice. So, not only a new ship, but new way of cruising for Viking. Yes, there were some glitches, but none that came close to making me wish we hadn't booked that first cruise. And since then, we have cruised on the Viking Sea, which showed me that Viking not only learned from the issues on the Star, but made sure to build upon them in the future. Our cruise on the Viking Sea was exceptional in every way.

 

So, will they be ready with the Sky? I would certainly think so. This is #3. If there are issues, will you be taken care of? I believe so, depending on your definition of an "issue". For example, on the Viking Star, there was a ship-wide issue with the televisions. Some passengers got intermittent reception and ability to review their accts online; others, like us, never did have use of the TV. Rather than deal with this on an individual basis, Viking gave each cabin a $100 credit across the board. I thought that was very generous, considering that particular issue was not even on my radar. :)

 

Becki

[garycarla]

Thanks. We went ahead and booked it, thinking mostly along the lines of your comments.

 

If it had been their "first" ocean ship, there would be more concern, but being #3 - we should be fine.

[Vineyard View]

We too were on the inaugural cruise of the Star from Barcelona to Stockholm. As Becki said, there were glitches, but it was their first ship - first cruise. We totally enjoyed our time on board - crew and ship top notch. I think you made a great choice - you will have a terrific time. We are booked again next year to The Amazon and Caribbean and totally looking forward to it. I would not hesitate to book another 'first ship trip' with them 👍

[lanememory]

Hello Everyone,

We are also on the 28 nt, inaugural voyage 25 Feb. This will be our 2nd Ocean and we completed our first river cruise last year Grand European part of which was with Viking. I also expect even anticipate some as we call glitches. Heck there are worse then glitches on most of these other cruise lines even with seasoned crews. The how bad can it be, with large cabins, I am sure decent to good food, a new ship, not crowded like the super ships, and good itinerary and hope to meet some wonderful new friends. So looking forward to meeting everyone. This is somewhere around 30 cruises for us across almost all lines.

[deec]

FIx the glitches and treat the crew with humor and good cheer so all will be fantastic when we board in mid April!

 

Have a great time!

[amyr]

We were on the maiden voyage of the Viking Star, from Istanbul to Venice. So, not only a new ship, but new way of cruising for Viking. Yes, there were some glitches, but none that came close to making me wish we hadn't booked that first cruise.

 

Becki

 

We were on this cruise as well. Istanbul to Venice was the first time they ever had paying passengers, and I thought it went fine considering they had never even been to any of the ports we visited. Most of us on CC realized that would probably be likely and made our own arrangements. I think the people that disliked it the most were people that were relying on the shore excursions. The only other thing I thought was a struggle was the slow service in the dining room at dinner, but that was also no surprise considering it was all brand new. I expect you'll have none of that - they're probably moving experienced Viking people over to the new ship to mix with the new crew. We didn't have any of those :)

 

We were also lucky that there were (deliberately) only 700 passengers on board for that leg. After we disembarked in Venice and the ship went on to Barcelona and eventually Bergen, they filled it up to capacity. Maybe they'll have a smaller group on your maiden as well. It was nice.

[garycarla]

....We were also lucky that there were (deliberately) only 700 passengers on board for that leg. After we disembarked in Venice and the ship went on to Barcelona and eventually Bergen, they filled it up to capacity. Maybe they'll have a smaller group on your maiden as well. It was nice.

 

I have heard that cruise lines often do their first cruise(s) with less than full load of passengers. Not the reason we took it, but that would of course help make sure things flow better.

[abbykate]

Thanks. We went ahead and booked it, thinking mostly along the lines of your comments.

 

If it had been their "first" ocean ship, there would be more concern, but being #3 - we should be fine.

 

We are right behind you on the Barcelona to Rome "Romantic" cruise...hubba hubba...:D I have high hopes and a really good gut feeling :p that it's going to be amazing.

[lanememory]

So is anyone on the 25 Feb Rome to Athens (28 night) with us?

[H2Otstr]

So is anyone on the 25 Feb Rome to Athens (28 night) with us?

 

No, just Rome to Barcelona.

[lucyd]

Looking forward to your review....we are booked on the Oct 5, 2017 Eastern Seaboard cruise.