Viking Ocean as an alternative to Oceania?

[Busy Mum]

Hi all, I’m reading this thread with interest. We have cruised on Princess & Celebrity & not on Oceania & Viking but would definitely like to try both, when the world allows us. 🙏 DH & I much prefer the smaller ships & that’s something Princess are very limited in now & also Celebrity. Go away Covid, we are keen to do more exploring. Stay well & safe everyone. Vicki. 😀

[eldercruser1]

On 7/8/2021 at 4:21 AM, Marmaduke said:

Apologies, yes  I meant Viking's specialty restaurants were disappointing.  Oceania's are far superior both in terms of quality, choice and service. 

We have just come home from the Viking Sky Iceland cruise.  It was our first Viking cruise although we have sailed several lines over the past 25 years.  Basically, we were disappointed in several aspects of the cruise, also realizing that Covid added some real stressors.  The Italian specialty restaurant was no different from the the normal dining room which we found very ordinary.  We have a Viking British Isles cruise booked for next summer (2022), but are considering switching to Oceania.

[bradpole]

23 hours ago, eldercruser1 said:

We have just come home from the Viking Sky Iceland cruise.  It was our first Viking cruise although we have sailed several lines over the past 25 years.  Basically, we were disappointed in several aspects of the cruise, also realizing that Covid added some real stressors.  The Italian specialty restaurant was no different from the the normal dining room which we found very ordinary.  We have a Viking British Isles cruise booked for next summer (2022), but are considering switching to Oceania.

I agree with your statement about being disappointed with several aspects of the cruise.  We were onboard the Viking Star in 2019 Venice to Athens.  We loved the physical ship, the layout, the size of the venues, the overall decor, and overall cabin size.  The crew were truly some of the most friendly crew we have ever encountered, but the service overall was lacking which I blame on poor training.  

 

Viking loves to hype their food, but that was truly the biggest disappointment.  There was nothing "wrong" with their food, just nothing special.  We dined once in the Italian speciality and although the food was fine, it wasn't worth coming back for our second reservation.  The pool grill was also a disappointment, everything was pre or par cooked and they simply warmed it up or finished cooking it.  That's something that is acceptable on a big ship, not a ship with less than a 1,000 guests.  I don't mind waiting a few minutes longer for a freshly cooked burger!

 

While we had a very enjoyable cruise (the ports were wonderful!) we agreed we'd stick with Oceania in the future.  One thing we learned while onboard is Viking has a very devoted customer base who fiercely defend the company and the product!  We met several people onboard who seemed genuinely shocked that we had cruise with other companies and would consider other companies for future voyages!

 

To end on a positive note, I will say the way Viking dispatches their tours, they operate like a well oiled machine!  We prefer to explore on our own so with exception of 2 ports we didn't utilize the included walking tours.  

 

Regardless of who you choose for your next cruise, enjoy!

 

[LHT28]

3 hours ago, bradpole said:

 One thing we learned while onboard is Viking has a very devoted customer base who fiercely defend the company and the product! 

I think that goes with any cruise line 

You will see that on the Oceania forum as well 😉