Comparing Viking to Oceania

[Hobson1754]

8 hours ago, kahuna21 said:

The price difference quoted above is typical. V is way more costly for us than O. We do try to compare apples to apples on the suites. 

Prices in US I think must be a lot different to UK prices as I’ve looked a few times and mostly found Viking is less expensive - that’s taking into account cabin, location, etc. as you say ‘apples for apples’. I’ve just priced a similar itinerary on Oceania to one I have booked for next year with Viking & the price is pretty similar, however Oceania cruise is 12 nights & the one I’ve booked with Viking is 14.

[zalusky]

16 hours ago, SantaFe1 said:

Well, if butlers are what you like, then O is for you!  Viking specifically advertises that they DO NOT have butlers or white gloves.  We, personally, would rather die than have a butler hovering around.  But to each their own.  
 

We did have a butler on our O round Australia cruise last year.  It was our first experience with one.  The area where the butler was useful was food.  My wife is diabetic and looks for low carb options.  We discussed this with the butler and he asked if we wanted to talk with the head chef.  Within a minute of him leaving the room the head chef was on the phone with us.  He gave us his email address.

She discussed some low carb ways of making bread and the head chef said we would try some of them.   The next day the butler searched all the lounges for us.  He found us in the theater.   He said they had some we could try.  Upon getting back to our room he presented us with a hot plate of an almond flour version and was able to create my wife's egg version.

 

Also on a late excursion at Philips Island where we got back at 11PM.  He had a snack tray in our room with various low carb options including the bread we said we liked none of which we requested.

 

I doubt we would have gotten the same service with the traditional room steward.

[TableGirl]

DrKoob - I was on the Oceania Montreal to Miami cruise with you.  It was my first Oceania cruise, I have usually sailed with Holland America.  I prefer HAL’s larger ships for the specialty restaurants but I hate the large size because even at “just” 2,500 passengers most ports are totally overwhelmed.  I thought HAL made a huge mistake getting rid of their older smaller ships but I digress.  

 

I have now reserved my first cruise with Viking in March 2025 to see the Northern Lights.  I am not pleased about the PIF date because a lot can happen between then and the cruise that insurance won’t cover.  PIF is end of May 2024 but it is what it is.  Viking is the only good cruise line I found that has a Northern Lights cruise.  

 

I thought your observations were mostly spot on with regard to the Oceania cruise.  The ship is mostly beautiful but the layout was irritating and inefficient and the elevators were abominable,  I found myself sitting in Baristas often so I could get daylight and eat chocolate croissants.  I hadn’t realized why until you noted you can’t see the ocean from anywhere below deck 12.  I was always drawn upward from the 7th deck where I had an unusually large verandah but it was too cold to be outside for most of our trip.

 

I also loved that Oceania has self serve laundry and told them to get a bigger ironing board as one leg of the pants was on the floor while I ironed the other.  I’m 4 star on HAL so I get free laundry but I prefer to do my own laundry.

 

The one thing I disagree with you on is the food - at least on our cruise.  I will say I did not eat in the Aquamar Kitchen - clearly should have tried it.  I had high expectations since Oceania touts the best food at sea.  But I was disappointed in 80% of my meals.  I loved the chocolate croissants and the sorbets - they were consistently delicious but one cannot live on chocolate croissants and sorbet, though I tried.  I made the mistake of eating a pizza the night before we were to stop in Martha’s Vineyard when seas were getting rough.  I’ve never been seasick on 20 odd cruises but I sure was that night and I am sure the pizza -which was on the greasy side- is what caused me to be so sick.  I didn’t love the specialty restaurants either.  I loved the Polo Grill but could never get a 2nd reservation.  Toscana was good but heavy on pasta and I thought Red Ginger was only okay.  I was really disappointed in Ember.  Everything I ate in the Waves Grill and Terrace Cafe was pretty awful.

 

Another thing I didn’t like was that we rarely heard from the Captain.  And when we did, you couldn’t hear him he was so soft spoken.  I found that really irritating.

 

The best part of the cruise for me was afternoon trivia with Ray Carr (sp?) the cruise director.  He was such fun.  

 

It took me 3 hours to do my mid-cruise review/comments because of how they sent it out and how you had to reply.  HAL has an excellent app that you can use to send comments and requests all day long - and they’re typically very responsive.  I thought the new Starlink provided decent internet access but seriously Oceania - get an app!  That was one of my biggest beefs with them.  NCL is a big enough company to afford to have an app developed.  

 

I have a future deposit on cruise yet to be decided but it is fully refundable and I’m not sure I’ll take another Oceania cruise.  I’ve yet to find an itinerary I want to go on.  With only 6 or 7 ships in the fleet there isn’t a lot of choice.  

 

Now I set my high hopes on Viking.  

[CurlerRob]

1 hour ago, TableGirl said:

I have now reserved my first cruise with Viking in March 2025 to see the Northern Lights.  I am not pleased about the PIF date because a lot can happen between then and the cruise that insurance won’t cover.  PIF is end of May 2024 but it is what it is.  Viking is the only good cruise line I found that has a Northern Lights cruise.  

 

Just in case you were not aware - while your PIF date is +10 months from the cruise, cancellation penalties likely don't kick in until +4 months - reasonably similar to other lines.

 

The advanced PIF is irritating to many pax, but it doesn't create a financial exposure in itself. Best wishes for your trip! 🍺🥌

[lackcreativity]

10 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

The advanced PIF is irritating to many pax, but it doesn't create a financial exposure in itself. Best wishes for your trip! 🍺🥌

Also, just for your information, if you do enjoy your first Viking cruise (as we always have) then consider booking another while on the ship. When you do so, make sure to request the 6 month PIF date that is available onboard or anytime you already have another cruise booked. Many repeat Viking cruisers take advantage of that perk.

[benjaminnicholas]

On 1/17/2024 at 8:50 PM, kahuna21 said:

And O provides a butler, which for us is a significant upgrade. You don’t know how useful and fun it is to have a butler until you try it.

 

Unless it's a private yacht, a true butler does not really exist on a cruise ship (big or small).

 

In all of the cruises I've taken that tout 'butlers,' they've all been...  Window dressing.

 

I prefer the understated luxury that Viking provides, especially on the Expedition ships.

[CannyScotTor]

It seems to me that having a butler is one of those things that you either love or hate. Personally, it doesn’t appeal at all. We book PS  .cabins on VO, we like the space, a similar sized cabin on O comes with a butler, which is enough to put me off, I can’t see booking an O cruise solely because of that. My feeling is that it’s pretentious and potentially intrusive. 

 

I get it that some people are very appreciative of the service a butler can provide, it’s just not for me. I’m happy that there’s an option (viking) where I don’t have to put up with one.

 

I blame Sandals for starting this nonsense, we don’t book them anymore because of this, despite having enough loyalty points for a free vacation (but that’s another story).

 

As always, to each his/ her own. If you’re love ‘em, good on you.

 

[DrKoob]

11 hours ago, benjaminnicholas said:

 

Unless it's a private yacht, a true butler does not really exist on a cruise ship (big or small).

 

In all of the cruises I've taken that tout 'butlers,' they've all been...  Window dressing.

I have only had a butler once and that was on a Celebrity ship. And ours was amazing. He arranged things for us that we could have never pulled off ourselves. He acted more as a concierge than an actual butler. Example: We were traveling with two other couples, all of us in small suites. We were sailing to Hawaii out of San Diego RT. The night we overnighted in Kona we asked him if he could arrange a dinner for six on our balcony (which was large enough). He not only did it for us, he roped in the two butlers our friends had and they all served us. Dinner direct from the MDR. Piping hot and delicious. All three butlers got the largest tip I have ever given. A truly amazing experience I still remember today and it was at least 15 years ago. 

[DrKoob]

21 hours ago, TableGirl said:

DrKoob - I was on the Oceania Montreal to Miami cruise with you.  It was my first Oceania cruise, I have usually sailed with Holland America.  I prefer HAL’s larger ships for the specialty restaurants but I hate the large size because even at “just” 2,500 passengers most ports are totally overwhelmed.  I thought HAL made a huge mistake getting rid of their older smaller ships but I digress.  

 

I have now reserved my first cruise with Viking in March 2025 to see the Northern Lights.  I am not pleased about the PIF date because a lot can happen between then and the cruise that insurance won’t cover.  PIF is end of May 2024 but it is what it is.  Viking is the only good cruise line I found that has a Northern Lights cruise.  

 

I thought your observations were mostly spot on with regard to the Oceania cruise.  The ship is mostly beautiful but the layout was irritating and inefficient and the elevators were abominable,  I found myself sitting in Baristas often so I could get daylight and eat chocolate croissants.  I hadn’t realized why until you noted you can’t see the ocean from anywhere below deck 12.  I was always drawn upward from the 7th deck where I had an unusually large verandah but it was too cold to be outside for most of our trip.

 

I also loved that Oceania has self serve laundry and told them to get a bigger ironing board as one leg of the pants was on the floor while I ironed the other.  I’m 4 star on HAL so I get free laundry but I prefer to do my own laundry.

 

The one thing I disagree with you on is the food - at least on our cruise.  I will say I did not eat in the Aquamar Kitchen - clearly should have tried it.  I had high expectations since Oceania touts the best food at sea.  But I was disappointed in 80% of my meals.  I loved the chocolate croissants and the sorbets - they were consistently delicious but one cannot live on chocolate croissants and sorbet, though I tried.  I made the mistake of eating a pizza the night before we were to stop in Martha’s Vineyard when seas were getting rough.  I’ve never been seasick on 20 odd cruises but I sure was that night and I am sure the pizza -which was on the greasy side- is what caused me to be so sick.  I didn’t love the specialty restaurants either.  I loved the Polo Grill but could never get a 2nd reservation.  Toscana was good but heavy on pasta and I thought Red Ginger was only okay.  I was really disappointed in Ember.  Everything I ate in the Waves Grill and Terrace Cafe was pretty awful.

 

Another thing I didn’t like was that we rarely heard from the Captain.  And when we did, you couldn’t hear him he was so soft spoken.  I found that really irritating.

 

The best part of the cruise for me was afternoon trivia with Ray Carr (sp?) the cruise director.  He was such fun.  

 

It took me 3 hours to do my mid-cruise review/comments because of how they sent it out and how you had to reply.  HAL has an excellent app that you can use to send comments and requests all day long - and they’re typically very responsive.  I thought the new Starlink provided decent internet access but seriously Oceania - get an app!  That was one of my biggest beefs with them.  NCL is a big enough company to afford to have an app developed.  

 

I have a future deposit on cruise yet to be decided but it is fully refundable and I’m not sure I’ll take another Oceania cruise.  I’ve yet to find an itinerary I want to go on.  With only 6 or 7 ships in the fleet there isn’t a lot of choice.  

 

Now I set my high hopes on Viking.  

Hi TableGirl,

 

If you thought the food was just OK on Oceania, you might be fine with Viking but you will LOVE the ship itself. And we have sailed a number of times on HAL and I have to say I like Tamarind much better than Red Ginger, Pinnacle Grille as much as Polo. Ember is the worst specialty I have ever eaten in (maybe it's just because that's not my kind of food?) But Toscana wipes the floor with Canaletto. You should have tried the Aquamar Kitchen. Best lunches I have ever had on a ship. 

 

[odblnt]

I had the opportunity yesterday to do a "ship tour" of the Regatta while it spent the night in port. They hosted one of our local travel agencies as well as the local AAA office and they, in turn, invited interested customers. Now this was one of their old, small ships, but I really noticed several of those items in your review.

 

We started out in the lounge, and it sure was dark (granted, they were showing a PowerPoint presentation, but...). Even the stairs going up from the gangway level to the lounge were like an old hotel. We then split into small groups to see a variety of cabins. I noticed what you meant about size. I thought it was about European riverboat cabin size on some of those. I haven't been on VO yet (we are going this October), but we did do the Mississippi which has the same categories of cabins and we loved our PV. The V-Miss is sort of "VO Light" in its layout and we loved it. Last night I was looking at the website for the VO ships and we just loved the Scandinavian design. 

 

They did take us in for a very delightful lunch. If I was on an Oceania ship for any length of time, I'd have to spend a lot of time in the fitness center.

 

It would have to be a very good itinerary that would woo me away from Viking.

 

[lackcreativity]

12 hours ago, odblnt said:

It would have to be a very good itinerary that would woo me away from Viking.

 

That is my sentiment exactly, but unfortunately it seems that we may have reached that point. In our case, the problem is self-inflicted. We don't like cold weather, and we aren't beach fans. The Mediterranean is where my heart lies, and Viking's cruises there are now quite repetitive for us. Oceania has a number of appealing itineraries there, but so far, I haven't been ready to make the switch.

[DrKoob]

On 4/12/2024 at 6:42 PM, odblnt said:

I had the opportunity yesterday to do a "ship tour" of the Regatta while it spent the night in port. They hosted one of our local travel agencies as well as the local AAA office and they, in turn, invited interested customers. Now this was one of their old, small ships, but I really noticed several of those items in your review.

 

We started out in the lounge, and it sure was dark (granted, they were showing a PowerPoint presentation, but...). Even the stairs going up from the gangway level to the lounge were like an old hotel. We then split into small groups to see a variety of cabins. I noticed what you meant about size. I thought it was about European riverboat cabin size on some of those. I haven't been on VO yet (we are going this October), but we did do the Mississippi which has the same categories of cabins and we loved our PV. The V-Miss is sort of "VO Light" in its layout and we loved it. Last night I was looking at the website for the VO ships and we just loved the Scandinavian design. 

 

They did take us in for a very delightful lunch. If I was on an Oceania ship for any length of time, I'd have to spend a lot of time in the fitness center.

 

It would have to be a very good itinerary that would woo me away from Viking.

 

Viking's smaller ships are old R class ships once owned by Renaissance Cruises who went out of business long ago. They had quite a few of them. Azamara sails four of them, Princess used to have one and Oceania has three (of which Regatta is one). They were great ships once but kind of dated now and I would in no way compare them to Viking's fleet. Oceanias three newest ships including the Vista that we sailed on are much improved. I would never have done a comparison if those were just the only Oceania ship I had been on.

[Redtravel]

Just off Viking.  In January, we were on Vista.  
While both do a nice cruise, I would prefer Oceania.
 

[Vineyard View]

11 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Viking's smaller ships are old R class ships once owned by Renaissance Cruises who went out of business long ago. They had quite a few of them. Azamara sails four of them, 

I think that you meant Oceania’s smaller ships. Viking has no R class ships. 
We always very much enjoyed our Viking experiences. Ocean and River. We have not yet tried Oceania, however there are itineraries and price points that we are looking at for next year. I have followed both for quite a while, and I think we would enjoy Oceania.  Seabourn last year was a great experience.  I think we would sail on any of them given the right sailing, and price,  during our window of travel. I’ve also looked at Azamara due to their itineraries. Their ships give me hesitation as we would absolutely need to book a suite due to cabin size. 

Edited April 14 by Vineyard View

[Mike07]

50 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Just off Viking.  In January, we were on Vista.  
While both do a nice cruise, I would prefer Oceania.
 

 

 

I'd be curious what you thought was better. Food? Shorex? Ship design? service? Really, no judgement or push back from me on whatever your reasoning is.

[Breckski]

On 4/12/2024 at 7:42 PM, odblnt said:

I haven't been on VO yet (we are going this October), but we did do the Mississippi which has the same categories of cabins and we loved our PV. The V-Miss is sort of "VO Light" in its layout and we loved it. Last night I was looking at the website for the VO ships and we just loved the Scandinavian design. 

 

They did take us in for a very delightful lunch. If I was on an Oceania ship for any length of time, I'd have to spend a lot of time in the fitness center.

 

It would have to be a very good itinerary that would woo me away from Viking.

 

Not sure I'd be loyal to VO after doing a river cruise and walking through an older Oceania vessel.  This is like saying it'd be hard to sway me away from a 5/series because I like my 3/series.  Just like the car analogy, VR has similarities to VO, but there certainly are more differences than similarities.  

 

I don't say this as a negative to VO as we've been very pleased with our past VO cruises and enjoyed our one river cruise (but didn't like it enough to do another).  Just don't agree with the logic above especially when used to provide insight to a VO vs Oceania cruise.

[lackcreativity]

13 minutes ago, mwike said:

I don't say this as a negative to VO as we've been very pleased with our past VO cruises and enjoyed our one river cruise (but didn't like it enough to do another).  Just don't agree with the logic above especially when used to provide insight to a VO vs Oceania cruise.

I do understand the use of Viking River to make assumptions about Viking Ocean. In my opinion, if you like Viking River you will love VO. Of course, that is not universally true, but most often I would bet.

 

We have only sailed Viking, but are considering Oceania in search of a new itinerary. Before sailing, all you have to evaluate is pictures and videos and comments online. Based on those factors, Oceania seems to have a different feel. I expect we will like Oceania, and loving it would be a bonus!

[Redtravel]

54 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

I'd be curious what you thought was better. Food? Shorex? Ship design? service? Really, no judgement or push back from me on whatever your reasoning is.

Good food on Viking.  Most is ok, nothing special.  Maybe the waffles are memorable. 

Food on Oceania is amazing.  Oceania dining venues are all good.  I especially like that the Terrace buffet doesn’t let you place the food on your plate. Sharing the same serving utensil with other guests on Viking is really unsanitary.  

[Redtravel]

Just now, Redtravel said:

Good food on Viking.  Most is ok, nothing special.  Maybe the waffles are memorable. 

Food on Oceania is amazing.  Oceania dining venues are all good.  I especially like that the Terrace buffet doesn’t let you place the food on your plate. Sharing the same serving utensil with other guests on Viking is really unsanitary.  

Ship design on Viking is very modern.  I like it.  The space for our cabin was excellent. We had a Penthouse jr. suite. Complimentary laundry is excellent.

Oceania R ships are not my thing. Even suites are not big.   I prefer Marina, Riviera, or Vista.  I like the furnishings.  It is classy. Oceania has better bedding and linens.

[Breckski]

14 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

I do understand the use of Viking River to make assumptions about Viking Ocean. In my opinion, if you like Viking River you will love VO. Of course, that is not universally true, but most often I would bet.

 

We have only sailed Viking, but are considering Oceania in search of a new itinerary. Before sailing, all you have to evaluate is pictures and videos and comments online. Based on those factors, Oceania seems to have a different feel. I expect we will like Oceania, and loving it would be a bonus!

I do think River would provide general insight into VO, but to me it's like comparing Windstar or NCL to VO.  Just so many differences due to size.  I realize the comparison was using a large river ship, but still 1/2 the passengers.  And I certainly wouldn't use a river cruise experience to provide any meaningful comparison between VO and Oceania.

 

We thought our VR cruise was more like a land based, bus tour on a moving hotel/bus.  Not a bad concept, but still designed to provide a "common" experience for all on board - from dining to excursions to a certain extent.  I remember Gary Bembridge saying something to that effect prior to us taking a river cruise.  I didn't truly understand what he meant until I did one.  But some folks love and crave that type of experience.

[DrKoob]

2 hours ago, Vineyard View said:

I think that you meant Oceania’s smaller ships. Viking has no R class ships. 
We always very much enjoyed our Viking experiences. Ocean and River. We have not yet tried Oceania, however there are itineraries and price points that we are looking at for next year. I have followed both for quite a while, and I think we would enjoy Oceania.  Seabourn last year was a great experience.  I think we would sail on any of them given the right sailing, and price,  during our window of travel. I’ve also looked at Azamara due to their itineraries. Their ships give me hesitation as we would absolutely need to book a suite due to cabin size. 

You are correct. My mistake.

[don731]

Thanks so much for the information.  We were on two B2B cruises on Vista in February, and came away disappointed….nowhere near our previous experiences on Riviera.  Inconsistent food, regular back of the house failures, and poorly trained staff in some dining venues.  The experience was far below the 15% price difference from our last Seabourn cruise.  So we are looking at VO (several friends are long time fans) for our next warm weather cruise next winter.  

[TableGirl]

4 hours ago, don731 said:

So we are looking at VO

I am too!  VO next March.  I can't wait.  Meanwhile I still have to schedule another Viking cruise with a friend who insists it is a great cruise line.....  🤫

[slewis7]

We have taken a number of Viking ocean cruises and the food and service is pretty consistent and has varied from good to great.  Viking is an excellent line and we know what to expect when we take it.
 

Our one Oceania experience, aboard their smallest class of ship (the Insignia) was pretty disappointing: the food was just OK and if your tagline is “best cuisine at sea”, that is unacceptable.  Service was fine, but the ship was pretty dated.  It was our first butler experience and the only value we found was the one time we were served dinner in our cabin.  The Oceania entertainment was not even up to Viking standards.  We subsequently canceled our upcoming Vista cruise.

[DrKoob]

20 hours ago, slewis7 said:

We have taken a number of Viking ocean cruises and the food and service is pretty consistent and has varied from good to great.  Viking is an excellent line and we know what to expect when we take it.
 

Our one Oceania experience, aboard their smallest class of ship (the Insignia) was pretty disappointing: the food was just OK and if your tagline is “best cuisine at sea”, that is unacceptable.  Service was fine, but the ship was pretty dated. 

You should have at least tried Vista. Those older R class ships are just that...old. A brand new ship has a vibe of its own. And the food we had on Vista was better in the specialty restaurants...even Embers (that I didn't like that much) than in Manfredis (where my wife got food poisoning) and the Chef's Table (but that's just because I don't like fixed menus.