Feeling the love from Viking

[millybess]

We are on the Viking Sea enroute to Brazil.  Many on our roll call had a very difficult and stressful experience attempting to  obtain a Brazil visa.  Some succeeded and some did not.  But eventually Brazil moved the goalpost.  The group of people that contributed to the roll call all helped each other with the details of the application process.

 

When we boarded a couple of days ago, we asked Viking if we could have a get together for the “e-visa survivors”.  They were more than happy to oblige and, in fact, took over hosting the event, providing drinks and food.

 

The turnout was great and it was clear from the Viking staff attendees that Cruise Critic is important to them, and to paraphrase our Cruise Director’s comments, Cruise Critic has been important to bringing back the cruise industry after Covid and continues to be very influential.

 

Many thanks to Guest Services Manager Liesl and the rest of the team of Viking Sea.

[Nurse1920]

So happy that you all made it and you are underway.  I love that Viking once again goes above and beyond to make this a special trip.  Congratulations to all the "e-Visa" survivors.  We leave this Thursday from Seattle to start the trek toward Manaus. We will spend a few days there before we board the Viking Sea on January 31.  This roll call has been very helpful.  We did finally get our Visa's but what a mess it was.  Smooth sailing and hopefully some of you will post about the cruise on Facebook

[millybess]

This morning we did a laundry tour. This aft is the bridge tour. Our galley tour is on Wednesday. 
 

We’ve been on Viking Sea 3 times in the last 10 months. One of the most remarkable things about the Sea is how happy the staff are. Unsolicited, we often hear what a great company Viking is to work for.  It’s a happy ship!

 

BTW, the rib eye at Manfredis the other night was just as delicious as ever  

 

One minor complaint is that The Restaurant doesn’t take reservations and the line up is past the elevators even before it opens. 

[Messybill]

This is our seventh Viking cruise but the first time we have managed to get tours of the ship.  The laundry tour is impressive, and the bridge tour is super cool.  The guest services people arrange these as circumstances permit and by request.   Definitely worth doing.

Edited January 22 by Messybill

[CCWineLover]

5 hours ago, millybess said:

This morning we did a laundry tour. This aft is the bridge tour. Our galley tour is on Wednesday. 
 

We’ve been on Viking Sea 3 times in the last 10 months. One of the most remarkable things about the Sea is how happy the staff are. Unsolicited, we often hear what a great company Viking is to work for.  It’s a happy ship!

 

BTW, the rib eye at Manfredis the other night was just as delicious as ever  

 

One minor complaint is that The Restaurant doesn’t take reservations and the line up is past the elevators even before it opens. 

I agree with all you said!  And the galley tours we've done are also fantastic!   Gives you a new appreciation for what it takes to serve all these meals to people!

Another fun thing we've done is to do the $69 cooking classes - done on sea days usually 9:30 or 10:00 to 1:30 or 2:00 and features different regional lunches (like Mexican, Californian, Italian, French, etc).  Need to book like an excursion at the Guest Services Desk.  Limit is 12.

 

Funny thing about The Restaurant.   We've also noticed lately the Long Lines ahead of opening.  Before COVID one never saw that and after COVID either, until about 9 months ago, and each cruise we are on seems to get worse.  People would line up at 5:30 for 6:00 dinner!!  What's even stranger, is they would line up for Manfredi's way early too - so much so that it stretched into the Attrium bar area (and Manfredi's you'd have a reservation so no fear of not getting a spot!).  Guess everyone these days is just anxious to get on with dinner!

 

Strangely, the same early bird behavior seems to occur at World Cafe as well.  Before you'd get there at 6 PM and be one of the first.  Our last cruise at 6 PM there'd be maybe 20 people already sitting down at tables waiting to get up and get their food!!  

[Mich3554]

38 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

I agree with all you said!  And the galley tours we've done are also fantastic!   Gives you a new appreciation for what it takes to serve all these meals to people!

Another fun thing we've done is to do the $69 cooking classes - done on sea days usually 9:30 or 10:00 to 1:30 or 2:00 and features different regional lunches (like Mexican, Californian, Italian, French, etc).  Need to book like an excursion at the Guest Services Desk.  Limit is 12.

 

Funny thing about The Restaurant.   We've also noticed lately the Long Lines ahead of opening.  Before COVID one never saw that and after COVID either, until about 9 months ago, and each cruise we are on seems to get worse.  People would line up at 5:30 for 6:00 dinner!!  What's even stranger, is they would line up for Manfredi's way early too - so much so that it stretched into the Attrium bar area (and Manfredi's you'd have a reservation so no fear of not getting a spot!).  Guess everyone these days is just anxious to get on with dinner!

 

Strangely, the same early bird behavior seems to occur at World Cafe as well.  Before you'd get there at 6 PM and be one of the first.  Our last cruise at 6 PM there'd be maybe 20 people already sitting down at tables waiting to get up and get their food!!  

I have found it faster to book these excursions on the TV instead of haunting guest services for when they drop.  You can find them listed in EXCURSIONS on sea days.  

Never really noticed the restaurant lines, but we get on the Venus the day after tomorrow so will take note.  It might be that we do not go anywhere near any restaurants when they open.  Our sweet spot seems to be in the 7-7:30 range.  

[farmecologist]

22 minutes ago, Mich3554 said:

I have found it faster to book these excursions on the TV instead of haunting guest services for when they drop.  You can find them listed in EXCURSIONS on sea days.  

Never really noticed the restaurant lines, but we get on the Venus the day after tomorrow so will take note.  It might be that we do not go anywhere near any restaurants when they open.  Our sweet spot seems to be in the 7-7:30 range.  

 

We like eating later as well....the later the better, in fact.  

 

Anyone know how late each venue is open in the evening?

 

 

[millybess]

35 minutes ago, farmecologist said:

 

We like eating later as well....the later the better, in fact.  

 

Anyone know how late each venue is open in the evening?

 

 

If nobody comes up with an answer on last seatings, I will check it out after our BBQ in the rain on Aquavit. Great fun!!

[millybess]

9:00 is the last seating for both restaurants and they ask that you arrive early. 

[CCWineLover]

1 hour ago, Mich3554 said:

I have found it faster to book these excursions on the TV instead of haunting guest services for when they drop.  You can find them listed in EXCURSIONS on sea days.  

Never really noticed the restaurant lines, but we get on the Venus the day after tomorrow so will take note.  It might be that we do not go anywhere near any restaurants when they open.  Our sweet spot seems to be in the 7-7:30 range.  

Michelle -

I agree with you - eating later is better for us as well.

 

Interesting - in our past three cruises, they had not set the dates or menus for the cooking classes when we had boarded.  So there was nothing on the app or TV.  Going to Guest Services, we were able to be put on the list to be contacted by Viking when they finalized the classes.  It worked out fine.  This was on all three cruises (including last month).

[Mich3554]

9 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Michelle -

I agree with you - eating later is better for us as well.

 

Interesting - in our past three cruises, they had not set the dates or menus for the cooking classes when we had boarded.  So there was nothing on the app or TV.  Going to Guest Services, we were able to be put on the list to be contacted by Viking when they finalized the classes.  It worked out fine.  This was on all three cruises (including last month).

We have 2 sea days when we leave Bergen.  I’ll have to check out the TV to see when they show up.  

[farmecologist]

16 hours ago, millybess said:

9:00 is the last seating for both restaurants and they ask that you arrive early. 

 

Wow..that is later than I thought it would be!  That works well for us though.  👍

 

I'm hoping the later it gets, the fewer people there will be...true?  That is usually the case on other lines we have been on anyway.  

 

[formernuke]

Later is generally less busy in the restaurants.

[Peregrina651]

On 1/22/2024 at 9:36 AM, millybess said:

One minor complaint is that The Restaurant doesn’t take reservations and the line up is past the elevators even before it opens. 

 

The solution is simple. Don't arrive at 6pm. Arrive after the line has been seated, 6:30ish.  Or go to the World Cafe for a sushi appetizer (and maybe a glass of wine/beer) and then head to The Restaurant when you are ready. Doors open at 6pm but you can arrive whenever you want -- without fear that they will be kicking you out at 9pm.

[millybess]

3 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

The solution is simple. Don't arrive at 6pm. Arrive after the line has been seated, 6:30ish.  Or go to the World Cafe for a sushi appetizer (and maybe a glass of wine/beer) and then head to The Restaurant when you are ready. Doors open at 6pm but you can arrive whenever you want -- without fear that they will be kicking you out at 9pm.

Haha, no not that simple.  We went back at 6:30 -- same thing.  Around 7:00 is our cut off for eating.  It has turned out to be"not a problem".  😉

[CCWineLover]

17 minutes ago, millybess said:

Haha, no not that simple.  We went back at 6:30 -- same thing.  Around 7:00 is our cut off for eating.  It has turned out to be"not a problem".  😉

millybess - I have to agree with you and we've done many many Viking cruises.  The magic time really starts at around 7:00 (not 6:30) in our observations.  It wasn't always this way but since COVID the Viking cruise traveler age group has gotten a lot older and thus the heavier emphasis on eating at 6 PM for dinner.

We do often go to World Cafe for some relaxing sushi appetizers at 6:00 PM and then do dinner somewhere at 7 to 7:15.

[millybess]

Today we went on Ronnie Carrington's photography tour.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  Quite an entertaining and knowledgeable person.

 

Thank you @CCWineLover and @TayanaLorna for your long ago posts about this excursion.

 

He talked about enjoying working with Viking because Viking's  passengers make him think, rather than just smile.  We really enjoyed spending time with him and thanks again for bringing him to our attention.  

[CCWineLover]

4 hours ago, millybess said:

Today we went on Ronnie Carrington's photography tour.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  Quite an entertaining and knowledgeable person.

 

Thank you @CCWineLover and @TayanaLorna for your long ago posts about this excursion.

 

He talked about enjoying working with Viking because Viking's  passengers make him think, rather than just smile.  We really enjoyed spending time with him and thanks again for bringing him to our attention.  

I'm so glad you had a wonderful time!  And glad to hear that Ronnie is still going strong and doing the tour!  Yes, we made him think 🙂

 

[Peregrina651]

On 1/21/2024 at 6:03 PM, millybess said:

We are on the Viking Sea enroute to Brazil.  Many on our roll call had a very difficult and stressful experience attempting to  obtain a Brazil visa.  Some succeeded and some did not.  But eventually Brazil moved the goalpost.  The group of people that contributed to the roll call all helped each other with the details of the application process.

 

When we boarded a couple of days ago, we asked Viking if we could have a get together for the “e-visa survivors”.  They were more than happy to oblige and, in fact, took over hosting the event, providing drinks and food.

 

The turnout was great and it was clear from the Viking staff attendees that Cruise Critic is important to them, and to paraphrase our Cruise Director’s comments, Cruise Critic has been important to bringing back the cruise industry after Covid and continues to be very influential.

 

Many thanks to Guest Services Manager Liesl and the rest of the team of Viking Sea.

 

I just love this post and the thread it has engendered. Puts a big smile on my face.

 

I sent a link to the post to LauraS because I thought she and her staff would enjoy the kind words of the CD. I hope she got it and read it and shared it. It was so hard writing a subject line that didn't sound like SPAM!

[TayanaLorna]

15 hours ago, millybess said:

Today we went on Ronnie Carrington's photography tour.  We thoroughly enjoyed it.  Quite an entertaining and knowledgeable person.

 

Thank you @CCWineLover and @TayanaLorna for your long ago posts about this excursion.

 

He talked about enjoying working with Viking because Viking's  passengers make him think, rather than just smile.  We really enjoyed spending time with him and thanks again for bringing him to our attention.  

One thing Ronnie said that made me laugh - when he was talking about how and why local folk painted or did not paint their homes and then complained about how they were now painting them all bright, different colors now.  Well, you have been in OSJ and seen how we paint houses here in PR.

[rmalbers]

3 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

One thing Ronnie said that made me laugh - when he was talking about how and why local folk painted or did not paint their homes and then complained about how they were now painting them all bright, different colors now.  Well, you have been in OSJ and seen how we paint houses here in PR.

 

[rmalbers]

I was in OSJ a month ago and was pleasantly surprised how much better it was looking and fixed up than when we were there in 2013.  So many more small restaurants and bars were open.  I really want to go back and drive around the whole island next winter for several weeks.  

[millybess]

5 minutes ago, rmalbers said:

I was in OSJ a month ago and was pleasantly surprised how much better it was looking and fixed up than when we were there in 2013.  So many more small restaurants and bars were open.  I really want to go back and drive around the whole island next winter for several weeks.  

Totally agree.  We were there 10 months ago and were very surprised at the difference.  It seems to be quite built up and lots of sea-doos, etc.  A very happy place.

[Mich3554]

On 1/22/2024 at 11:54 PM, CCWineLover said:

Michelle -

I agree with you - eating later is better for us as well.

 

Interesting - in our past three cruises, they had not set the dates or menus for the cooking classes when we had boarded.  So there was nothing on the app or TV.  Going to Guest Services, we were able to be put on the list to be contacted by Viking when they finalized the classes.  It worked out fine.  This was on all three cruises (including last month).

Just got on the Venus and the cooking classes were available under the excursions (they have changed the menu…..not for the better IMO.  No need to go to guest services, I just reserved a spot on the TV.  

[TayanaLorna]

38 minutes ago, rmalbers said:

I was in OSJ a month ago and was pleasantly surprised how much better it was looking and fixed up than when we were there in 2013.  So many more small restaurants and bars were open.  I really want to go back and drive around the whole island next winter for several weeks.  

It takes several weeks to really explore the incredible diversity of the island from rain forest to dry forest, from sandy beaches to high mountains, cave systems, Taino archeological sites, rock carvings, quaint and historic towns, coffee plantations, bioluminiscent bays and coral reefs.