A Cruise on Viking Orion from the Perspective of an Inveterate Cunard “Rower”

[bluemarble]

As I promised on the “Cunard Cruisers - How are things where you are?” thread, here is my take on our recently completed Viking Orion cruise, as a first timer on Viking Ocean Cruises but a frequent cruiser on Cunard Line. I hope this will prove of some value to those of you on this Cunard forum who might be wondering what Viking Ocean Cruises is all about.

Please note, as the word “rower” implies in the thread title, this is from the perspective of someone who has only ever booked Britannia grade accommodations on Cunard. I can’t offer any insight into how the Viking Ocean cruise experience compares to the Grill Suite experience on Cunard.

 

The Cruise

 

I booked a 16-night “Hawaiian Islands Sojourn” cruise from Los Angeles on Viking Orion, sailing over Christmas and New Year, since that was one of the few almost entirely US ocean cruise itineraries I could find for that timeframe. That seems like a relatively safe way to get us as Americans back into cruising since we haven’t been on any cruises since the shutdown in early 2020.

 

In the event, even though Hawaii had reopened for tourists, they were not yet ready to accept cruise ships. As a result, the itinerary was changed to a “Mexican Riviera Sojourn” cruise instead with calls scheduled for La Paz, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta (overnight), Manzanillo, and Cabo San Lucas (overnight).

Although we didn’t feel the same level of comfort with that new Mexico itinerary, we had both recently received our COVID booster shots and had never been to any of those ports in Mexico before, so we chose to stay with the revised cruise. Viking’s stringent COVID protocols, the offer of $1200 in on board credit from Viking as incentive to keep the cruise, and the likelihood that the cruise would be less than half full helped with our decision.

 

Our Cabin

 

All guest cabins on Viking Ocean ships have Balconies (Verandas). There aren’t any Inside or Oceanview guest cabins on Viking.

I chose a Deluxe Veranda cabin which is one step up from the entry-level Veranda cabin category. I decided on a Deluxe Veranda because it offers the choice of a midships location as well as free soft drinks and snacks from the in-room minibar replenished daily. The next step up to Penthouse Veranda would have included free alcoholic beverages from the minibar replenished daily, but that was not much of an attraction for us since we drink very little alcohol beyond wine with our meals. We usually purchase the basic soft drinks package on Cunard. No need for a soft drinks a package on Viking (none is offered) considering soft drinks as well as house wines and beers are included at no extra charge with meals.

Our cabin compared quite favorably to a glass-fronted Britannia balcony on Cunard. It was comfortable, well maintained, and immaculate. The shower had a glass door rather than the much-maligned shower curtains found in regular Britannia cabins on Cunard.

Storage space can be a bit of a challenge in a Deluxe Veranda cabin, but we had picked up enough tips and tricks from the Viking forum here that we managed pretty well in that regard.

Power outlets are better positioned at the bedside tables on Viking compared to Britannia Balcony cabins on QM2. No need for an extension cord to plug in a CPAP machine next to the bed on Viking. Viking also provides USB ports for device charging in addition to the standard power outlets which proved helpful.

 

The Ship

All of the Viking Ocean ships have a passenger capacity of 930. As such they are inherently smaller than the Cunard ships, especially QM2 which we sail on the most often. That gives the Viking Ocean ships a more personal and homier feel, but naturally it does mean some of the venues found on QM2 are smaller or have no counterpart on Viking.

For example, you won’t find equivalents to the Clarendon Fine Art Gallery, Churchill’s Cigar Lounge, the Photo Gallery, the Fairways golf simulatior, Kennels, or a Casino on Viking. You also won’t find separate dining rooms or lounges for Suite guests on Viking as Grill Suite guests have on Cunard.

Of special note to our many dedicated Cunard ballroom dancers, I don’t think you will find a venue similar to the Queens Room on Viking which is suitable for ballroom dancing.

There isn’t a central library on Viking, but you will find a large selection of books on bookshelves located throughout the ship. The book selection was more than adequate for this occasional reader.

Viking Orion is one of the two Viking Ocean ships that have a planetarium, called the Explorers’ Dome (Viking Jupiter is the other ship). Four different planetarium shows were shown during our cruise. The experience wasn’t quite as grand as with the larger planetarium dome on QM2, but it still proved to be an engaging and immersive experience for this Viking newbie. I did find it odd though that two of the shows were actually formatted for a rectangular screen rather than filling the entire 360-degree dome screen.

There are some lovely sitting areas throughout Viking Orion including the Living Room in the Atrium and the Lanai with its loungers which I suppose is roughly equivalent to QM2’s Relaxation Lounge only available to spa users.

Many of the other facilities on board Viking Ocean ships are similar to Cunard. For example, there is both a main swimming pool and a smaller infinity pool on Viking Orion, functionally comparable to the larger Pavilion Pool and smaller Terrace Pool on QM2.

The Viking Ocean ships do have a full 1/4-mile wrap-around promenade deck.

 

Activities/Entertainment

 

The activities and entertainment on our Viking Orion cruise were remarkably similar to our experiences on Cunard. The Enrichment Lectures on our cruise were outstanding and there were at least as many as on Cunard. There were six different lecturers with four lectures held on most sea days and one early evening lecture on most port days.

There were felting craft workshops which DW found very enjoyable.

For bridge players, there were bridge lessons and duplicate bridge play each sea day.

There were trivia contests, but I imagine die-hard Cunard trivia aficionados might be disappointed in finding only one trivia session per day on the schedule.

The Sports Deck on Viking Orion offers shuffleboard, table tennis, a skittles bowling court, and a set of small undulating putting greens which, with a little creativity, could also serve as a miniature golf course.

Afternoon Tea was available in the Wintergarden on Viking Orion. It didn’t come with all the flourishes of the white glove service or as elegant a setting as the Queens Room on Cunard. But there were no queues to get in, the service was more personal, and the selection of teas and food items (both sweet and savory) was at least as good in the view of this American who is admittedly unsophisticated in matters as consequential as what constitutes an authentic Afternoon Tea experience.

Evening theater shows were of a similar quality and variety to those on Cunard. I would give an edge to the Cunard Singers and Dancers though for their more elaborate production shows.

Musical entertainment was offered throughout the ship. That included a classical string duo, a guitarist, and a pianist in addition to the Viking Band.

One bonus activity we particularly enjoyed on Viking Orion was the “Bayeux Tapestry Tour”. The Viking Resident Historian led us on a tour explaining the Bayeux Tapestry murals displayed in the two main stairwells on board.

 

Dining

Of course dining is very subjective, but we found the food on Viking to be of a similar high quality to standard Britannia-class dining on Cunard. The restaurant décor on Viking is no match to the splendor of the Britannia Restaurant on QM2, but we found the food to be of excellent quality and variety. I felt the service on Viking was prompter and more attentive than we’ve experienced lately on Cunard. And just as an aside, unlike Cunard, Viking actually lists the always available items on their dinner menus.

DW has special dietary requirements because of food allergies. The same level of attention to those requirements we are used to on Cunard is present on Viking as well. Each night, the next evening’s dinner menu was delivered to our cabin for DW to make her selections for that evening. As a helpful bonus on Viking, allergen information is printed on the labels of the foods in the buffet.

In terms of alternative dining options, they are similar on both Cunard and Viking. There is one fixed-menu alternative dining option on Viking: Manfredi’s (similar to the Verandah on Cunard), and one rotating-menu alternative dining option: The Chef’s Table (similar to the Kings Court/Lido alternative dining venue on Cunard). One welcome difference with Viking is that those two alternative dining options come at no additional charge.

Other dining options on Viking include the World Café (buffet) with its exterior extension called the Aquavit Terrace; the Pool Grill which is similar in concept to QM2’s Boardwalk Café (on the rare occasions when the Boardwalk Café on QM2 is actually open); and Mamsen’s which is hard to compare to any individual food venue on Cunard.

The evening dress code on Viking is described as “elegant casual” for all dining venues (other than the buffet), performances and special events. Viking makes it clear that there are no “formal nights” on a Viking cruise. Specifically, the Viking dress code says “required attire for ladies includes a dress, skirt or slacks with a sweater or blouse; for gentlemen, trousers and a collared shirt. A tie and jacket are optional; jeans are not permitted.”

 

Shore Excursions

A bonus when booking a Viking cruise is that one of the shore excursions offered at each port is available to book at no additional charge. Typically, the free excursion is a general overview of the port, with more specialized and/or more active excursions such as snorkeling, off-roading, horseback riding, whale watching and the like being available to book as extra-charge excursions. During our cruise we took advantage of both included free excursions and optional extra-charge excursions.

 

Information Technology

I’m not sure how far along Cunard has progressed with its automation in response to COVID. I’ve been reading about the Cunard “My Voyage” digital planner app (more of a website than an app) which has been recently introduced on the Cunard fleet. I’ve also been reading that’s apparently still very much a work in progress. Add to that, Cunard’s less than stellar reputation for expensive and unreliable internet access and Viking wins hands down in the category of information technology.

 

Viking’s onboard “Viking Voyager” app and interactive in-room TV’s are both highly functional. I also had no issues at all with Viking’s included free unlimited onboard internet access which provided solid connectivity and reasonable speeds for all of my (non-streaming) internet requirements.

 

COVID Protocols

 

Viking has set the gold-standard in terms of their COVID protocols. Those protocols include the following to actively monitor and promote the health and well-being of their guests.

1. Proof of a negative COVID test taken within two days of embarkation at a US port (a CDC requirement).
2. COVID test (via saliva sample) taken on board after embarkation but before the ship departs.
3. COVID test (via saliva sample) taken each morning of the voyage.
4. Daily temperature checks.
5. Daily health surveys to self-report symptoms via the in-room TV or the Viking Voyager app.
6. Contact tracing devices warn at all times when outside of the cabin.
7. Mask wearing at all times when outside the cabin except when eating or drinking.
8. Numerous hand sanitizing stations throughout the ship with staff monitoring guest compliance.

 

Interestingly there was one COVID protocol I was expecting to be in place on Viking but it was not. We were allowed to serve ourselves most of the items at the World Café buffet using shared tongs and other shared serving utensils.

 

We had two positive COVID cases on our voyage identified within the first day or two at sea. Presumably those guests were infected during travel to the ship. I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to credit Viking’s daily testing regimen with helping to quickly identify those cases and reduce the possibility of further spread throughout the ship. I heard a second-hand report of a third positive case during our cruise, but it’s clear there was no significant outbreak during our cruise unlike many other cruise ships that were not so lucky during that same Christmas/New Year time period. The relatively small size of our cruise (estimated to be only 350 guests) undoubtedly also played a significant role in keeping us relatively COVID free.

 

Our Itinerary

 

As it turned out, our first two ports of call, La Paz and Mazatlan did not grant us permission to dock. The call at La Paz ended up being a sea day, but Viking was able to secure an extra day in Puerto Vallarta to replace the call at Mazatlan. As a result, our originally scheduled overnight call at Puerto Vallarta turned into a three-day call there instead.

Similarly, Manzanillo did not grant us permission to dock, but Viking was able to add an extra day in Cabo San Lucas instead. Once again, our originally scheduled overnight call in Cabo San Lucas became a three-day call there instead.

Paraphrasing another member from our roll call, in the spirit of making a limoncello martini from lemons, our original ambitious itinerary with seven port days in five different ports ended up as six port days in only two different ports. But it was still a remarkable cruise under what had to be very trying circumstances for Viking. I give high marks to Viking for making the best out of a bad situation dealt them by Hawaii's refusal to allow cruise ships, the recent COVID surge, and various Mexican port authorities.

 

Conclusion

 

Will we be switching from Cunard to sail exclusively on Viking Ocean in the future? Not a chance! In my view QM2 still has no competition as the most remarkable ship in the world today and a Cunard transatlantic crossing on QM2 is still the quintessential cruising experience. We look forward to sailing on QM2 again out of New York in the not-too-distant future.

Will we be sailing Viking Ocean again? Highly likely! We can definitely appreciate why Viking is consistently ranked at the top of ocean cruise line ratings. In fact, DW is already suggesting a Viking Ocean cruise to Alaska might be a good idea. A Viking River cruise has also been on our wish list for several years now. Maybe that will happen before too much longer as well.

[LadyL1]

Thank you for this enlightening read!
We have been considering a Viking Caribbean cruise after lockdown, but the downside for us is they are generally only 12 days, and would rather cruise for longer after the stretch of air travel, which is not direct for embarkation port.

[sfred]

Thanks @bluemarble.  Interesting comparisons.  A pity your Mazatlan call was cancelled.  That is one of the remaining "unseen" Cunard ports in the "Where in the World" discussion.  It would have been great to restart that thread, if only for a single port.  Glad you had a good voyage!

[portofrome]

Thank you for your review and comparisons.

[Reuben's 3rd]

Thank you so much, Blue Marble.  I was especially interested in your read on the lectures, since that is a great favourite of ours.  We too always book Britannia class, deck 5, midships aft, and have a DV, deck 4, midships aft booked on the Viking Venus next January (one year plus a day! ).  We have been eying Viking's repositioning trips as a possible future venture once Covid is tamed.  It is good to hear that in your opinion Viking has the gold standard on managing Covid.  

I also have some food allergies, that QM2 has always kindly managed .  Sounds like Viking also handled those well.  

Like you, we do not intend to give up on QM2 and the crossing, but Viking, with its lectures, quiet spaces, promenade and thoughtful cabins sounds like a contender.

Karen

[bluemarble]

3 hours ago, sfred said:

...  A pity your Mazatlan call was cancelled.  That is one of the remaining "unseen" Cunard ports in the "Where in the World" discussion.  It would have been great to restart that thread, if only for a single port. ...

 

Yes, indeed. Our original "Hawaiian Islands" itinerary wasn't going to visit any unseen ports for the "Where in the World?" thread. But when it was rescheduled as a "Mexican Riviera" cruise, one consolation was I thought I was going to be able to revive that thread with a photo of Mazatlan. Unfortunately, it turned out that was not in the cards after all.

[naturelovergirl]

Excellent review with comparisons to Cunard. Thanks!

[Bigmike911]

Blue Marble. This has been invaluable. I am booked for a River Cruise on the new Viking Mississippi in June of next year. Traveling from Memphis to New Orleans over eight days.

 

The Mississippi, is more like the Viking Ocean ships than the European Viking River boats. It even has an infinity pool. As you experienced there are included and optional excursions in each port city and I wonder if you can further comment on the quality of those port excursions you took ? 

 

Your comments on Food generally compare with others I have heard from Viking and I am sure the food will be satisfactory. One of Viking's propositions is the included wine at dinner. Did you find it of good quality?

 

The River Boat will have a two floor Explorer Lounge forward, which I am lead to believe is on the Ocean Ships as well. Did you use it and how did it compare with the Commodore Club on QM2? 

 

Thank you for your comments. I too am an inveterate QM2 fan with fourteen Cruises on her. One of those in 2009 was a cruise around the UK with a call at Cherbourg. We took a tour to Bayeaux to see the tapestry.

[bluemarble]

@Bigmike911, here is a follow-up to address your questions.

 

Excursions

 

We took four Viking shore excursions at the two ports where we were allowed to dock during our cruise, Puerto Vallarta and Cabos San Lucas.

 

The included tour at Puerto Vallarta was called "Puerto Vallarta Highlights". It involved a coach ride into the heart of the city where we took a pleasant walk along the Malecón. Then we walked to the central square and visited inside the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. After that, there was about a half an hour to shop on our own. That was followed by a long drive for a brief photo stop overlooking Playa Mismaloya before returning to the ship. The excursion lasted four hours. I thought it was a very good introduction to Puerto Vallarta. I'm not sure that long drive over congested roads to Playa Mismaloya was really worth it though.

 

Our second excursion at Puerto Vallarta was an optional one called "Mexican Fiesta and Tequila Tasting". That started out with a repetition of some of the sites in central Puerto Vallarta we had seen in the free highlights tour. We were then herded into one specific opal shop in an obvious attempt to get us to shop there. After that, we drove to Hacienda Doña Engracia which was the main focus of the excursion. There we were given a tour of the tequila distillery, a tasting of the various flavors of tequila they produce there, and not surprisingly an opportunity to purchase their product to take with us. That was followed by a buffer lunch and a folkloric show. The show was inherently touristy but I found it enjoyable nonetheless. The lunch was very good. That excursion was five hours in length.

 

For Cabo San Lucas, the included tour was called "San José del Cabo City Tour". That involved a 45-minute coach ride to nearby San José del Cabo where we given about an hour to look around on our own. We visited the mission there and then inevitably spent some time at the many souvenir shops around the main square. Our tour guide made a point of suggesting specific shops operated by relatives of his. I suppose that excursion might just as well have been called "San José del Cabo on Your Own".

 

Our second excursion at Cabo San Lucas was "Whale Watching in the Sea of Cortez". That excursion began by taking us to the famous El Arco landmark for a photo opportunity. Then we spent about two hours doing some serious searching for whales. We saw plenty of whales breaching in the distance and were lucky enough to have a couple close encounters with whales as well.

 

Overall, I was happy with the Viking excursions after ignoring some of the blatant salesmanship going on during a couple of them.

 

Wine

 

I'm anything but an expert on wine. But I can say I found the included house wines (at both lunch and dinner) to be quite satisfactory. There was always one red and one white house wine on offer at each meal and the selection varied each day.

 

Explorers' Lounge

 

While working on my original posting, I had considered compiling a list comparing Viking Orion venues to equivalent QM2 venues. That list would have included the Explorers' Lounge as a close equivalent to the Commodore Club. The Explorers' Lounge's forward location with its views over the bow naturally lead to that comparison. Perhaps because our cruise only sailed at about 40% capacity, the Explorers' Lounge never seemed to be all that busy when we were there, especially when compared to the usual bustle in the Commodore Club around dinner time.

 

The Explorers' Dome (the planetarium) takes up a large portion of the upper level of the Explorers' Lounge on Viking Orion. There are some tables in the upper level, but I didn't see any of them in use when I was there during the day. I took advantage of that tranquility in the upper level to read some of the books found on the bookshelves up there.

[Jack E Dawson]

bluemarble, 

I forwarded a link to your posting to a good friend who sails exclusively Viking and has 7 cruises under his belt. He said your assessment of Viking was dead-on. He is also considering booking his first QM2 cruise and said your review was very helpful as it provided exceptions that he could relate to.

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post this excellent review, 

Jack

[Bigmike911]

6 hours ago, bluemarble said:

@Bigmike911, here is a follow-up to address your questions.

 

Excursions

 

We took four Viking shore excursions at the two ports where we were allowed to dock during our cruise, Puerto Vallarta and Cabos San Lucas.

 

The included tour at Puerto Vallarta was called "Puerto Vallarta Highlights". It involved a coach ride into the heart of the city where we took a pleasant walk along the Malecón. Then we walked to the central square and visited inside the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. After that, there was about a half an hour to shop on our own. That was followed by a long drive for a brief photo stop overlooking Playa Mismaloya before returning to the ship. The excursion lasted four hours. I thought it was a very good introduction to Puerto Vallarta. I'm not sure that long drive over congested roads to Playa Mismaloya was really worth it though.

 

Our second excursion at Puerto Vallarta was an optional one called "Mexican Fiesta and Tequila Tasting". That started out with a repetition of some of the sites in central Puerto Vallarta we had seen in the free highlights tour. We were then herded into one specific opal shop in an obvious attempt to get us to shop there. After that, we drove to Hacienda Doña Engracia which was the main focus of the excursion. There we were given a tour of the tequila distillery, a tasting of the various flavors of tequila they produce there, and not surprisingly an opportunity to purchase their product to take with us. That was followed by a buffer lunch and a folkloric show. The show was inherently touristy but I found it enjoyable nonetheless. The lunch was very good. That excursion was five hours in length.

 

For Cabo San Lucas, the included tour was called "San José del Cabo City Tour". That involved a 45-minute coach ride to nearby San José del Cabo where we given about an hour to look around on our own. We visited the mission there and then inevitably spent some time at the many souvenir shops around the main square. Our tour guide made a point of suggesting specific shops operated by relatives of his. I suppose that excursion might just as well have been called "San José del Cabo on Your Own".

 

Our second excursion at Cabo San Lucas was "Whale Watching in the Sea of Cortez". That excursion began by taking us to the famous El Arco landmark for a photo opportunity. Then we spent about two hours doing some serious searching for whales. We saw plenty of whales breaching in the distance and were lucky enough to have a couple close encounters with whales as well.

 

Overall, I was happy with the Viking excursions after ignoring some of the blatant salesmanship going on during a couple of them.

 

Wine

 

I'm anything but an expert on wine. But I can say I found the included house wines (at both lunch and dinner) to be quite satisfactory. There was always one red and one white house wine on offer at each meal and the selection varied each day.

 

Explorers' Lounge

 

While working on my original posting, I had considered compiling a list comparing Viking Orion venues to equivalent QM2 venues. That list would have included the Explorers' Lounge as a close equivalent to the Commodore Club. The Explorers' Lounge's forward location with its views over the bow naturally lead to that comparison. Perhaps because our cruise only sailed at about 40% capacity, the Explorers' Lounge never seemed to be all that busy when we were there, especially when compared to the usual bustle in the Commodore Club around dinner time.

 

The Explorers' Dome (the planetarium) takes up a large portion of the upper level of the Explorers' Lounge on Viking Orion. There are some tables in the upper level, but I didn't see any of them in use when I was there during the day. I took advantage of that tranquility in the upper level to read some of the books found on the bookshelves up there.

Thanks Blue Marble, I think I will find the Mississippi a good stateside alternative to the Queen, and least for the near future. I will still get back to QM2 eventually, I hope. 

[Host Hattie]

Thanks for your great report @bluemarble