What type of Viking cruise would you suggest for a first-timer (interested in trying Viking)?

[OnTheJourney]

A friend of mine who cruises frequently has gotten increasingly interested in trying Viking based on several of my experiences. So now, as a first time venture, he booked an 8-day Mississippi cruise for '24. I'm just a bit concerned that this particular cruise experience might not be the best introduction to Viking? I'd hate to see him come away with a less than all-around positive feeling and then maybe not want to try another cruise.

 

My feeling would be that an ocean voyage would likely give a far better and more generalized feel for what Viking offers.  Anyone else agree? The Mississippi, I assume, is more of a unique experience and thus less representative of much of what Viking has been known for and can offer. While I've not done one, not sure I'd suggest an expedition cruise either for a first Viking trip. Reviews of some of the Mississippi trips would seem to support some of my assumptions.

 

I don't want to discourage him but I'm just wondering what sort of impact it will have. After my talking up Viking considerably over the years, it'd be unfortunate for him to complete this short river trip not feeling that it lived up to all I've mentioned (based on our 3 ocean voyages).

Edited September 1, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[MSEm]

I agree that Viking Mississippi is not the best Viking cruise to begin with.  I would suggest a European River cruise or an ocean cruise to an area they would like to explore.

We have completed many Viking Ocean and Viking River cruises.  Viking has entered the Mississippi River Cruise late. We found that the food on Viking Mississippi (Dec 2022) was below Viking River and Ocean cruises.  Also Viking (unless just recently added)  did not have the Story Tellers found on the American

Queen Cruises.

Viking Mississippi cabins are great with no noise from adjacent cabins.

[OnTheJourney]

2 minutes ago, MSEm said:

I would suggest a European River cruise or an ocean cruise to an area they would like to explore.

the latter for sure...

[CDNPolar]

Our first Viking Cruise was Empires of the Mediterranean, and we still reflect on what a great Viking experience that was.

 

We love Viking River and Ocean, but I would start personally with Ocean. 

[Catlover54]

Viking ocean in Scandinavia, its home.

[SantaFe1]

1 hour ago, OnTheJourney said:

he booked an 8-day Mississippi cruise for '24. I'm just a bit concerned that this particular cruise experience might not be the best introduction to Viking?

We were booked on a Mississippi Heart of the Delta cruise but canceled it when Viking turned it into a cruise tour, when it could no longer sail all the way up to Memphis.  It had, I believe, a two night hotel stay on each end.  And at the end, you had to get off the ship and drive to Memphis on a bus.  This just wasn’t appealing to us.  Now, I must say that we are currently booked on a Douro River cruise tour, with a Lisbon hotel stay at the beginning, and then a bus up to Porto.  But that will be our 10th Viking cruise.  It will certainly not give the flavor of the Viking cruises that got us up to ten,

Edited September 1, 2023 by SantaFe1

[SantaFe1]

1 minute ago, Catlover54 said:

Viking ocean in Scandinavia, its home.

I think the current most popular ocean cruise is British Isles Explorer.  It took over as top spot from Viking Homelands after all the changes were made last year and St. Petersburg dropped.  

[OnTheJourney]

43 minutes ago, Catlover54 said:

Viking ocean in Scandinavia, its home.

I, also, would recommend this idea for sure. We loved our northern lights cruise over there (well, at least until things got crazy towards the end)!

Edited September 1, 2023 by OnTheJourney

[OnTheJourney]

42 minutes ago, SantaFe1 said:

you had to get off the ship and drive to Memphis on a bus.

Of course, this is one of the potential issues with any river trip especially depending on river levels.

[TayanaLorna]

I would suggest Ocean - something Scandinavian.  Midnight Sun or Homelands.  Scenery is spectacular and it is Viking land.

[KBs mum]

Viking is now no different from most other small ship premium /luxury lines. They aren't the line they were pre covid. Are they a decent choice, yes, probably, for the right itinerary and price.

But not if you want a holiday with excellent customer service from booking to getting home, and good food with no 'muzak' on board.

Time in port has been shortened, making independent excursions more difficult. The latest catalogue we got stated that itineraries are subject to change. We accept that occasionally a port may need to be cancelled, but being unable to confirm a planned itinerary makes booking guesswork at best. 

 

Having gone from Viking as first choice to looking at other options, there is no obvious reason to book with them instead of any other. Caveat emptor. 

. 

Edited September 1, 2023 by KBs mum

[LindaS272]

Not in our experience.

[aungrl]

1 hour ago, Catlover54 said:

Viking ocean in Scandinavia, its home.

100% agree.

 

Our very first Viking experience was a European river cruise many years ago, long before they had an Ocean product.  It was just fine, but in comparison to the Ocean cruises we've taken since, we far prefer the Ocean experience, FWIW.  

[CDNPolar]

14 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

Now, I must say that we are currently booked on a Douro River cruise tour, with a Lisbon hotel stay at the beginning, and then a bus up to Porto.  But that will be our 10th Viking cruise.  It will certainly not give the flavor of the Viking cruises that got us up to ten,

 

We did the Douro cruise and it was one of our most memorable cruises with Viking - now at 7 with Viking.

 

Our bus ride to Porto was a day excursion on route, so it was not like a deadhead ride from one city to another.

 

I hope that you enjoy this cruise and that this portion does not harm your experience.

 

We have done a few cruises now with Viking where there is hotel at the beginning, the end, or both and they have all been great for their own reasons.

 

We just came off Passage to Eastern Europe that had a one night stay in Bucharest and a two night stay after in Budapest.  All was good with this.

[CDNPolar]

14 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

Viking ocean in Scandinavia, its home.

 

We have done Viking Homelands and it was a wonderful cruise and created great memories as well.

 

BUT, when we booked it included Finland, St. Petersburg, and Estonia, which were all dropped because of the Ukraine war.

 

The cruise was still spectacular in every way.

[CDNPolar]

12 hours ago, KBs mum said:

Viking is now no different from most other small ship premium /luxury lines. They aren't the line they were pre covid. Are they a decent choice, yes, probably, for the right itinerary and price.

But not if you want a holiday with excellent customer service from booking to getting home, and good food with no 'muzak' on board.

Time in port has been shortened, making independent excursions more difficult. The latest catalogue we got stated that itineraries are subject to change. We accept that occasionally a port may need to be cancelled, but being unable to confirm a planned itinerary makes booking guesswork at best. 

 

Having gone from Viking as first choice to looking at other options, there is no obvious reason to book with them instead of any other. Caveat emptor. 

. 

 

Although I agree with you that Viking customer service pre and post cruise is not the same as they were, we still have had excellent onboard experiences and can overlook the other as we have learned how to navigate the issues that we have had in the past with customer service.

 

[KBs mum]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

 

Although I agree with you that Viking customer service pre and post cruise is not the same as they were, we still have had excellent onboard experiences and can overlook the other as we have learned how to navigate the issues that we have had in the past with customer service.

 

We thought the room stewards and bar staff to be as good as usual, and the wait staff to be a bit better than in the past. The actual customer service desk people were, however, useless when we had a health and safety issue.

They told us to sort it ourselves with the room stewards. The best 'solution' available was not something considered safe, an actual safe solution was possible but not permitted. It's an area I have training in. No way would I be happy if any of my department behaved like that. 

The hotel manager was seen briefly, moving at speed, and was never available. The Captain was a top bloke, but had enough to deal with, so we didn't bother him with it. 

We've not had to go to the desks much in the past, usually just for excursion changes, but they had allways seemed competent, unlike now

Edited September 2, 2023 by KBs mum

[CDNPolar]

1 minute ago, KBs mum said:

We thought the room stewards and bar staff to be as good as usual, and the wait staff to be a bit better than in the past. The actual customer service desk people were, however, useless when we had a health and safety issue.

They told us to sort it ourselves with the room stewards. The best 'solution' available was not something considered safe, an actual safe solution was possible but not permitted. It's an area I have training in. No way would I be happy if any of my department behaved like that. 

The hotel manager was seen briefly, moving at speed, and was never available. The Captain was a top bloke, but had enough to deal with, so we didn't bother him with it. 

We've not had to go to the desks much in the past, usually just for excursion changes, but they allways seemed competent. 

 

This is disappointing to hear.  I thought initially you were talking about on land customer service.  We have always been pleased with the the customer service folks on the ship.  Sorry to hear this.

[KBs mum]

4 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

 

This is disappointing to hear.  I thought initially you were talking about on land customer service.  We have always been pleased with the the customer service folks on the ship.  Sorry to hear this.

Unfortunately the land customer service has declined in the same way, not bad enough to be a complete deal breaker, but outsourcing it means they are next to useless if the question is not something they have a script for. 

Particularly annoying as it used to be a Viking strength in the UK

[Clay Clayton]

If they are experienced cruisers, I'd recommend a transatlantic.  They'd get to experience and enjoy all the ship has to offer. After sailing last fall on HAL on a Vancouver to Hawai'i roundtrip with 5 sea days each way, we were reminded how much we enjoy all the amenities included on a Viking ship. 

[MSEm]

I have found the way to resolve a problem, before the cruise or especially on the cruise is to send an email to tellus@vikingcruises.com.  Tellus are the problem solvers.

I agree that Viking and other cruise line lost many competent employees during the Covid shut down.  Cabin stewards have always been excellent.  Having completed 4 cruises since Viking restarted cruises after the lockdown, service on the river and ocean cruises have improved.  The cruise with the most service problems was the Viking Mississippi New Orleans to Memphis.  I think Viking Mississippi will have continuing service problems since the wait staff are mostly college age people looking for a job and adventure. Some of these USA hired employee told me that the job was not the fun job they thought it would be.  As Viking Mississippi continues to operate I am sure that the wait staff will always be improving.

All on board staff on our March 2023 South American cruise were excellent.  I am positive the staff on our Great Lakes cruise will also be excellent.

[KBs mum]

2 hours ago, MSEm said:

I have found the way to resolve a problem, before the cruise or especially on the cruise is to send an email to tellus@vikingcruises.com.  Tellus are the problem solvers.

 

We sent a feedback email when we returned, praising as many crew as possible by name, and explaining the problems. 

The reply was chat bot generated, and half of it was a reply about the storm related delays. We hadn't mentioned them, other than praising the Captain and crew for how they handled it. 

The reply to the problems was a word for word cut and paste from the website on the same subject, not an answer. 

Disappointing as the praise wouldn't have gone to the crew records as positive feedback, as we hoped. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by KBs mum

[MSEm]

send praise & problems to tellus@vikingcruises.com.

the chat bot is just that A Bot, not a real person.

[Clay Clayton]

1 hour ago, KBs mum said:

We sent a feedback email when we returned, praising as many crew as possible by name, and explaining the problems. 

The reply was chat bot generated, and half of it was a reply about the storm related delays. We hadn't mentioned them, other than praising the Captain and crew for how they handled it. 

The reply to the problems was a word for word cut and paste from the website on the same subject, not an answer. 

Disappointing as the praise wouldn't have gone to the crew records as positive feedback, as we hoped. 

 

1 hour ago, MSEm said:

send praise & problems to tellus@vikingcruises.com.

the chat bot is just that A Bot, not a real person.

It's my understanding that completing and returning the hard copy survey while onboard is the most effective way to praise those crew members who deserve it. 
 

Similarly, we have found that expressing concern about an issue while onboard often results in being resolved. Case in point, last month on Saturn a particular member is the culinary staff was not up to the usual Viking standard. We mentioned it to the Restaurant Manager who thanked us and said she would look into it, that perhaps additional training was needed.  We didn't see this crew member again, until near the end of the cruise when the attitude and service being provided while not as wonderful as some (looking at you Christian from Mexico), was certainly helpful and not surly as was the case initially. 

[MSEm]

I agree that completing the on Board survey is a very good way to praise excellent service.

At least 2 times I have been contacted by on board personnel about an items on the survey I completed on board.