Who is Viking Ocean Cruises for?

[Nemanoxer]

Hi there.

 

Having cruised with Celebrity for the last 10 years and growing older (50) and having made a little to middle fortune out of Covid (sorry for that), I am wondering which cruise line I shall test in the future.

 

Viking Ocean Cruises reputation is so good that they are hard to avoid when looking around. But... Who would I meet on board? I guess that even in the Caribbean, a Viking ship will not be a party ship, right? But maybe they are very stiff, and nobody is under 65-70 years old? I heard that, for example, Silversea has quite a relaxed style, but Viking?

Well, I don´t love prejudice too much. So I thought why not ask you guys. Who do you usually come across on Viking Cruises, and how is their overall feel?  

[Jim Avery]

Hi Nemanoxer,

I will start at the end.  The overall feel is comfortable and relaxed.  The ship's decor is beautiful and Scandinavian inspired.  Much nicer than the French Bordello look or fake Titanic of some other lines.  In other words a genuine ship at sea.  Passengers we have met include nice fun travelers,  grumpy complainers,  quiet loners, know it alls, in short a little bit of what you might see on any passenger ship.  Well, except children of course.  We have met couples in their '50s and others in their '90s.  Even one 100 year old.  Most in their '60s and '70s. Almost all well traveled.  One consistency is the crew.  As good or better than I have found on any ship anywhere.  Welcome aboard.🍸

[Heidi13]

Welcome to the Viking Ocean Board.

 

We completed a similar exercise to what you are doing after our last P&O/Princess cruise in 2015. I had both worked for that company and cruised with them for almost 40 years, but the Carnivalisation process reduced their standards below our minimum.

 

May I suggest completing a Statement of Requirements of what you are looking for in a new cruise line - number of pax, size of ship, food quality/variety, ship design/decor, type/age of pax, entertainment, lectures, time in port, costs, formal/smart-casual, etc.

 

I completed my SoR, then researched all the premium, luxury and top mega lines, short-listing to Viking & Oceania. I then thoroughly researched both and Viking was the clear winner for us. Reading posts in Cruise Critic gives you a great feel for the onboard experience.

 

Now to answer your question'

 

Our experience is very similar to Jim's response above. I was brought up on the opulent British liners in the 1970's, which then became increasingly fake with the newer ships. Viking is way different, with clean, bright Scandinavian design, with lots of open space. Even with a full ship of 900+ pax you rarely see queues, or feel crowded.

 

Type of pax. Well you will generally always see all sorts, but compared to Princess, we had way less obnoxious and unruly types. Even on a World Cruise, which has an older demographic we had everything from 18 to 90's. In addition to a couple of teenagers, we had a few in their 20's/30's/40's & 50's. Most were probably 60's/70's. All were well travelled.

 

Got to agree with Jim's report on the crew - simply amazing. Viking treat the crew very well, with free internet on board, shorter contracts, more leave and schedules known about 3 contracts ahead. They also pay better and provide training for promotions. How well they treat the crew reflects the great service received by pax.

 

Having worked for a cruise line, I can compare the Viking standard to the industry norms.

 

Hope to see you on a Viking ship.

[philw1776]

Guess we're the exception. Other than a few families with kids, Silversea which I like for 2nd place is not more relaxed but conversely more formal which I do not embrace.  Good small ship 2nd choice though. My granddaughters sailed on Viking River (France) in 2019 before the age upgrade and the older one at 18 joined us for Viking Iceland (obviously ocean) last year. They loved it. Girl got to climb fjords on her own and reveled in the 4PM Wintergarden Tea. 
I'm also not a fan of the French bordello/funeral parlor decor of Uniworld although I enjoyed their Portugal river cruise.

 

Edited March 21, 2022 by philw1776

[Mich3554]

We did what Andy did when we started cruising.  We looked at what we wanted in a cruise vacation, and eliminated a lot of cruise lines this way.  The biggie for DH was that he did not want to have to dress up.  The biggie for me was a smaller ship.  The advantage for both of us was no children, no casinos.  Once you figure out what you don’t want, it narrows down considerably.  
Both of us were in our 50s when we first tried Viking.  That was about 6 cruises ago, 3 of which were back to backs last year.  We are not the youngest on these cruises, nor are we the oldest.  Right now, we have 5 cruises on the books, one of which is a world cruise.   

[Heidi13]

58 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

Guess we're the exception. Other than a few families with kids, Silversea which I like for 2nd place is not more relaxed but conversely more formal which I do not embrace.  Good small ship 2nd choice though. My granddaughters sailed on Viking River (France) in 2019 before the age upgrade and the older one at 18 joined us for Viking Iceland (obviously ocean) last year. They loved it. Girl got to climb fjords on her own and reveled in the 4PM Wintergarden Tea. 
I'm also not a fan of the French bordello/funeral parlor decor of Uniworld although I enjoyed their Portugal river cruise.

 

My research, provided a similar result to your experience on Silversea, with respect to them being more formal and stuffy than Viking. With all cruise lines I compared the published "Rig of the Day" or dress code to what pax on cruise critic posted. Silversea had quite the disparity between the published standard and what pax were discribing, which to me meant the cruise line did not enforce the standard.

 

Viking were one of the few that pax reports were very consistent with the cruise line's published standard.

[Twitchly]

We were in our 50s when we took our first (and only, so far) Viking cruise. We felt we were on the younger side of the demographic. 
 

If I were to guess, I would say that the demographic Viking courts is: retired, well-heeled, active, college educated, professional, frequent cruiser/comfort traveler, native English speaker. There are of course many exceptions (we aren’t retired, for example), but that covers the majority of people we met. Viking advertises heavily on PBS in the US, and it shows. (In case you’re not from the US, PBS defines itself as “the most prominent provider of educational programming to [publicly funded] TV stations in the United States.”)
 

You’re correct that Viking doesn’t have a big party atmosphere. Hanging out with new friends over a drink is common; conga lines are not. There’s no casino or disco. There’s a lounge that stays open late and offers dancing; we didn’t go, so I can’t speak to that. Most of the shows during our cruise felt geared toward people a decade or more older than us: lots of Beatles/Abba/show tunes. Most evenings we opted for jazz or classical music in other locations around the ship.
 

Most people seemed to retire early so they could get up in time for exploring first thing in the morning. Ours was a port-heavy cruise, and the focus was definitely on the places we were visiting. I think Viking really emphasizes experiencing the world in comfort (and in bite-sized increments). So it draws people who love the ships, yes, but also who are excited by new (brief) travel experiences around the world.

 

We didn’t encounter any stuffiness, but I’m not sure how you’re defining that. We found the large majority of people to be very warm and friendly. Discussion mostly revolved around places visited. 
 

Viking is a good fit for us, but it’s certainly not for everyone. 

Edited March 21, 2022 by Twitchly

[Nemanoxer]

Thank you all for your comments.

 

I empathize I might be a tiny bit too young(ish) for VOC for the time being and might be best off continuing with Celebrity during the next years 🤔

[Eggtuary]

25 minutes ago, Nemanoxer said:

Thank you all for your comments.

 

I empathize I might be a tiny bit too young(ish) for VOC for the time being and might be best off continuing with Celebrity during the next years 🤔

I agree, this discussion has been very helpful. For me, though, it sounds like I have aged into the target demographic. 😀

[Nemanoxer]

Just now, Eggtuary said:

I agree, this discussion has been very helpful. For me, though, it sounds like I have aged into the target demographic. 😀

 

And I can't wait to age, Viking sounds so good.

[Eggtuary]

3 minutes ago, Nemanoxer said:

 

And I can't wait to age, Viking sounds so good.

Oh, I would take your time on the aging. 😅 But take comfort from the fact that you will have new pleasures like Viking to look forward to in your older ages. 🙂

[SailorPaulH]

5 hours ago, Nemanoxer said:

Hi there.

 

Having cruised with Celebrity for the last 10 years and growing older (50) and having made a little to middle fortune out of Covid (sorry for that), I am wondering which cruise line I shall test in the future.

 

Viking Ocean Cruises reputation is so good that they are hard to avoid when looking around. But... Who would I meet on board? I guess that even in the Caribbean, a Viking ship will not be a party ship, right? But maybe they are very stiff, and nobody is under 65-70 years old? I heard that, for example, Silversea has quite a relaxed style, but Viking?

Well, I don´t love prejudice too much. So I thought why not ask you guys. Who do you usually come across on Viking Cruises, and how is their overall feel?  

 

My wife and I will soon be going on our first VOC (we have been on some VRC previously), and while we may fit some of the usual demographics that you see VOC advertise to (early 60s, college educated, travel experienced, retired/semi-retired etc., etc.), what made it appealing for us was:

 

Low key - small ship, no casinos, no children, no commercial onslaught onboard, all-inclusive dining.

Destination intensive - this was the main thing: we are not experts, but we appreciate art, architecture, history, nature, and different culture and language. To me a beach is a beach, a bar is a bar .... but there is only one Geirangerfjord, one Strasbourg Cathedral, one Heidelberg Castle - and Viking does a great job of putting me in the thick of it. Most of the people I met on VRC had similar interests and curiosity about the part of the world we were in.

[Moonlion]

1 hour ago, SailorPaulH said:

 

My wife and I will soon be going on our first VOC (we have been on some VRC previously), and while we may fit some of the usual demographics that you see VOC advertise to (early 60s, college educated, travel experienced, retired/semi-retired etc., etc.), what made it appealing for us was:

 

Low key - small ship, no casinos, no children, no commercial onslaught onboard, all-inclusive dining.

Destination intensive - this was the main thing: we are not experts, but we appreciate art, architecture, history, nature, and different culture and language. To me a beach is a beach, a bar is a bar .... but there is only one Geirangerfjord, one Strasbourg Cathedral, one Heidelberg Castle - and Viking does a great job of putting me in the thick of it. Most of the people I met on VRC had similar interests and curiosity about the part of the world we were in.

Couldn't agree more.  I don't think it's not so much about the age of passengers but about what one looks for in travel.  DH and I took our first VRC about 5 years when we were in our 50s and early 60s.  Some would call us "nerds" but we loved the focus on the destination, and learning about the history, culture and natural wonders of the locations we visited.  I think Viking excels at this. VOC doesn't do casinos or excel in discos, shows or other onboard entertainment. It's much more low keyed but we've really enjoyed learning about the locations we've visited. 

[Ladyface]

If it's any comfort, my husband and I are in our 40s (no kids) and are going on our first Viking Ocean cruise on the Venus at the end of April. We both work full time and are far from retirement age. We have sailed on Princess and Norwegian (via cruises with parents) in the past, and feel that Viking focuses more on the things we want while avoiding the stuff we dislike about some cruise lines. We're not looking for a "constant party" atmosphere, we're there to explore and learn about the places we're visiting and get some private relaxing/unwinding time in comfort. We don't care *at all* about casinos, jewelry sales, shopping in general, art auctions, buying unsolicited photos from pushy salespeople, or any of the typical mainstream group-activity cruise stuff. Who cares if we're not the typical demographic? Viking provides everything we want and lets us enjoy the places we're visiting on our own terms. 

Our closest friends are in their late 30s and also prefer cruising with Viking. They went on a Viking River cruise with us on the Rhine last summer and loved it. It was like their third Viking River cruise I think. At no point did we feel out of place for being younger. There's room for everyone!

 

The main limitation about being in the not-yet-retired crowd, as we see it, is just not having enough vacation time to enjoy a satisfying cruise more than once a year. Until then, we are motivated to set up our retirement investments such that we can afford to go more often when we're older. 🙂

Edited March 21, 2022 by Ladyface

[ssaxsma]

2 hours ago, Ladyface said:

If it's any comfort, my husband and I are in our 40s (no kids) and are going on our first Viking Ocean cruise on the Venus at the end of April. We both work full time and are far from retirement age. We have sailed on Princess and Norwegian (via cruises with parents) in the past, and feel that Viking focuses more on the things we want while avoiding the stuff we dislike about some cruise lines. We're not looking for a "constant party" atmosphere, we're there to explore and learn about the places we're visiting and get some private relaxing/unwinding time in comfort. We don't care *at all* about casinos, jewelry sales, shopping in general, art auctions, buying unsolicited photos from pushy salespeople, or any of the typical mainstream group-activity cruise stuff. Who cares if we're not the typical demographic? Viking provides everything we want and lets us enjoy the places we're visiting on our own terms. 

Our closest friends are in their late 30s and also prefer cruising with Viking. They went on a Viking River cruise with us on the Rhine last summer and loved it. It was like their third Viking River cruise I think. At no point did we feel out of place for being younger. There's room for everyone!

 

The main limitation about being in the not-yet-retired crowd, as we see it, is just not having enough vacation time to enjoy a satisfying cruise more than once a year. Until then, we are motivated to set up our retirement investments such that we can afford to go more often when we're older. 🙂

Agree wholeheartedly. We are in our 30s and love Viking (done both River and Ocean - with Expedition booked)

[Cienfuegos]

I want to reaffirm the delight of walking around the ship in the evening, and hearing a range of live music. Perhaps a piano player in the Atrium, a keyboardist or guitar player in the Explorer lounge,  a lounge singer and quartet in Torshaven, etc.

[Squawkman]

Totally agree with the last few posts. My first trip to Europe was in 1974. It was not a cruise, but rather 3 weeks mostly by bus, but with one intra Europe flight and hydrofoil. We were a group of about 60 with ages ranging from 20 to 80. We were interested in the things Viking emphasizes, and we found ourselves hanging out with older folks as we were not looking to go clubbing, etc. On our last Viking Ocean cruise (2019), we hung with a couple in their 30s who reminded me of how I was in my 30s. Bottom line - what difference does the age of cruisers make in deciding which cruise line to use?

[PWRWAGN]

My wife and I are in our late 40s.  We have cruised on Norwegian and Royal Caribbean (own stock in RC actually) and this (in 10 days!) will be our first with Viking.  We are not ones to frequent casinos, discos etc. on board and look for cruises with a focus on ports - not water slides, climbing walls etc.  I understand the typical demographic of Viking is older than us but based on our experience with other cruise lines and what we understand the Viking cruising is like it seems like a better fit.  

 

Since we aren't retired and still have a child at home we are limited on length of cruises/trips however.  I would expect that as the length of a cruise increases so does the average age with all cruise lines. Two weeks is about our max at this point in our lives.

 

So who is Viking for?  Seems to me that its for those who don't need/want a party atmosphere.  Aren't cruising with kids.  Likely are more interested in ports and excursions than just cruising.  Are willing to pay a little more for an upscale experience.  I guess we will find out in a few days if its for us.

[FolsomMike]

Speaking of demographics…we are taking a Viking cruise in July that leaves from Bergen. Any idea how many Norwegians are likely to be on board? I’ve become a big fan of Norwegian TV. and would love to talk with some local folks. 🙂 

[Cienfuegos]

I want to mention the quality of the expert lecturers, and port introductions. First class, university level presentations. You have a basic understanding before you go ashore.

 

The port talks sometimes become an opportunity to sell excursion tickets, but most are top notch.

[Nemanoxer]

All the comments about the shore excursions keep me curious.

I wish I was older 😂

[Jim Avery]

1 hour ago, Nemanoxer said:

All the comments about the shore excursions keep me curious.

I wish I was older 😂

It will get there much sooner than you think....😱

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, Nemanoxer said:

All the comments about the shore excursions keep me curious.

I wish I was older 😂

Why do you seem to think you HAVE to be older?  There are usually some folks in their 30s and 40s and we allow them to speak to us 😂.  Sometimes even have a drink or three with them.  

[aungrl]

On our second VO cruise, there was a honey-mooning couple in their mid-20s.  They fit right in.  We enjoyed spending time with them, and when we observed them around the ship, they seemed to be enjoying the company of many others, as well.  My best advice is not to get hung up on the age question at all.  If every other VO factor appeals to you, then I'm pretty sure how old you - and everyone else is - won't matter at all.  (On our second VO cruise, a woman was celebrating her 100th birthday and she was often the life of the party in whatever circle she was in.)

[Nemanoxer]

Have you guys ever tried one of those other lesser known cruise lines in the segment?

 

Like maybe Ponant or Windstar or so?