Sea vs Orion

[RobinB13]

Has anyone been on both ships?  I know they are supposed to be identical but with Sea a couple years older, is it showing more wear?  Trying to decide on a date for a cruise and not sure if that should be a factor.  Thanks.

[CCWineLover]

1 minute ago, RobinB13 said:

Has anyone been on both ships?  I know they are supposed to be identical but with Sea a couple years older, is it showing more wear?  Trying to decide on a date for a cruise and not sure if that should be a factor.  Thanks.

We've been on all the Ocean ships (not counting Sun).

The 9 (not counting Sun) Viking Ocean Ships currently sailing are the "Star" class.  They are all nearly identical with some slight differences.  Viking made changes to improve things as they moved from each group of three -  1st group: Star, Sea, Sky   2nd group:  Orion, Jupiter, Venus  3rd group: Mars, Neptune, Saturn

 

There are some differences between the ships you mention Sea and Orion.  Orion is really not that much younger than Sea.  However, Orion was the first that has a Planetarium on Deck 8 of Explorer's Lounge (Jupiter is the only other one with it.  It was cancelled on future ships).  Orion also was the first to implement a food "station" in the World Cafe that you walk up to.  (Around the corner from the Gelato area and across from the Aquavit Bar in the back).  Now it serves Asian dishes Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.  Quite popular.

The first group (Sea included) also did not have drawers in the closets for DV and V rooms - just shelves.  They were added on the later groups.

 

As for showing wear, people who've been on VERY recently would have to answer that.

 

Between these two I'm not sure I'd be too worried, but no doubt there will be strong opinions one way or the other from folks.

[millybess]

4 minutes ago, RobinB13 said:

Has anyone been on both ships?  I know they are supposed to be identical but with Sea a couple years older, is it showing more wear?  Trying to decide on a date for a cruise and not sure if that should be a factor.  Thanks.

We will be on Orion for the first time next week.

 

We have mostly sailed on Sea, and as recently as January. We really like Sea and we haven’t noticed any wear. 

 

 

[millybess]

Just to add: dates, itinerary and availability of preferred cabin and location would be our deciding factors, not the ship. 

[RobinB13]

We do have a deposit down on Alaska for next year but haven’t had the final payment yet.  It is on Orion PV and has the door vs slider.  I am trying to decide if I should switch the cruise date, and ship to Sea, to get a slider.  It just sounds more appealing to me.

[wine-wine-wine]

We prefer ships without the planetarium as it uses precious Explorers Lounge space. But given the right timing, price and itinerary we would happily sail any of them. 

[CDNPolar]

Our experience is that Viking keep their ships up well.  The ship is not your deciding factor, the itinerary is, IMO.

[kag3120]

We were just on the Orion (Feb-Mar).   FYI, the planetarium was there but CLOSED for the duration of our itinerary (Auckland to Sydney, Sydney to Bali). And, I  believe it was expected to remain closed for the duration of this entire cruise (Grand Pacific Explorer—several legs, ending in May in Vancouver). 
 

They did have an astronomer on board, but still, we were disappointed. I do agree it takes lots of space in the upper Explorers Lounge, especially when it’s not open anyway☹️

 

PS. best I could tell, the ship appeared to be in excellent condition. That said, I didn’t really explore all that much. 

[CCWineLover]

4 hours ago, kag3120 said:

We were just on the Orion (Feb-Mar).   FYI, the planetarium was there but CLOSED for the duration of our itinerary (Auckland to Sydney, Sydney to Bali). And, I  believe it was expected to remain closed for the duration of this entire cruise (Grand Pacific Explorer—several legs, ending in May in Vancouver). 
 

They did have an astronomer on board, but still, we were disappointed. I do agree it takes lots of space in the upper Explorers Lounge, especially when it’s not open anyway☹️

 

PS. best I could tell, the ship appeared to be in excellent condition. That said, I didn’t really explore all that much. 

IMHO, you didn't miss anything in the Planetarium.  It was worthless (well, not totally, but definitely a 3 on a scale of 10).

Would be nice if they took the 2 of them (with Jupiter) out of the 8th floor and opened it up again.

[LindaS272]

56 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

IMHO, you didn't miss anything in the Planetarium.  It was worthless (well, not totally, but definitely a 3 on a scale of 10).

Would be nice if they took the 2 of them (with Jupiter) out of the 8th floor and opened it up again.

I’d only give it a 2! 🔭

[Mich3554]

On 4/4/2024 at 7:16 AM, RobinB13 said:

We do have a deposit down on Alaska for next year but haven’t had the final payment yet.  It is on Orion PV and has the door vs slider.  I am trying to decide if I should switch the cruise date, and ship to Sea, to get a slider.  It just sounds more appealing to me.

We are currently in a PV with a slider.  We did the world cruise with a door, and TBH I really don’t find it that much of a difference.  I find slider is harder to open and harder to secure.

[CDNPolar]

10 hours ago, CCWineLover said:

IMHO, you didn't miss anything in the Planetarium.  It was worthless (well, not totally, but definitely a 3 on a scale of 10).

Would be nice if they took the 2 of them (with Jupiter) out of the 8th floor and opened it up again.

 

I agree with the planetarium.  We have sailed twice with a planetarium and the first time we were so excited and rushed to sigh up and wait at the doors, and were totally underwhelmed and almost fell asleep.

 

The last time was as @CCWineLover indicated a 3 out of 10 at the most.

 

I came into this from a city - Toronto - that had a full scale planetarium connected to our Royal Ontario Museum.  This was a massive dome and you were almost lying down in your chair.  It was one of the most memorable experiences that I have every had in "theatre" and the Viking experience was meh.

 

Even if we sail on a ship in the future with a Planetarium, we won't even bother to sign up unless they were offering OBC to do so!

 

[millybess]

On 4/3/2024 at 8:09 PM, millybess said:

Just to add: dates, itinerary and availability of preferred cabin and location would be our deciding factors, not the ship. 

No longer true.  We will consider the ship.

 

We have sailed on Viking Sea 3 times since March 2023.  We sailed on Viking Orion once and disembarked on May 14th.

 

The difference was very surprising.  It was like it was a different cruiseline.

 

We had zero issues with staff on Orion, but Sea was different because it was a "happy ship" as far as the staff goes, and it showed.  There was a huge difference in staff being happy with their jobs  and also a difference in the service.

 

The food on Sea was consistently excellent in all venues for all 3 cruises.  The food on Orion over 5 weeks was consistently inedible -- just my opinion.

 

The condition of the Viking Sea ship was very different.  It was in very good shape.  The Orion is a newer ship, but appeared to be far more worn.  We had a PS2 and it had issues.  Just one example would be the carpet "bubbling", but there were other issues.  The Explorer's Lounge is in very rough shape.  The floor is very scratched and worn, and the arms of the chairs are ripping.

 

We had a cruise booked on Orion for March and have changed it to a similar cruise on Venus. So I take back what I said about not booking for the ship.  Hopefully the issues on Orion will be addressed.

[Peregrina651]

Crew happiness has little to with which ship they are serving on and a whole more to do with the tone set by the management team.  There is no way to predict who that team will be at booking.

 

Moreover, as a GM explained, the crew is constantly changing with handfuls of crew coming and going at a time as opposed to large blocks of personnel being replaced at one time.  V has found that it is easier to integrate smaller numbers at a time.

 

 

[millybess]

22 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

Crew happiness has little to with which ship they are serving on and a whole more to do with the tone set by the management team.  There is no way to predict who that team will be at booking.

 

Moreover, as a GM explained, the crew is constantly changing with handfuls of crew coming and going at a time as opposed to large blocks of personnel being replaced at one time.  V has found that it is easier to integrate smaller numbers at a time.

 

 

I agree with all of that. And our experience on Orion was definitely unexpected.
 

Obviously, one wouldn’t know for certain who the management team would be at booking — although, there might be a pattern if you really think about it. 

 

Hopefully our experience on Venus will be similar to our numerous experiences on Sea.

 

Regardless, Orion is not in good shape. And again, obviously, we wouldn’t take a cancellation hit on a whim. 

[CDNPolar]

6 hours ago, millybess said:

The condition of the Viking Sea ship was very different.  It was in very good shape.  The Orion is a newer ship, but appeared to be far more worn.  We had a PS2 and it had issues.  Just one example would be the carpet "bubbling", but there were other issues.  The Explorer's Lounge is in very rough shape.  The floor is very scratched and worn, and the arms of the chairs are ripping.

 

 

 

Ships like hotels go under refurbishment every so many years and it is unfortunate that you found the Orion to be that worn as a newer ship.  

 

We have been on Star twice - one of the older ships - and our first time was in early 2017 and it was in great shape.  We were on Star again near the end of 2021, just after I read on CC how bad it looked and how worn it was, but we did not experience that at all.  Our cabin was in perfect shape, and the lounges and public areas looked to the standard we expected.  Perhaps it had undergone some upgrades before we boarded?

 

Because I was in the hotel industry for years, I know how most large chains upgrade their rooms, but I don't know on cruise ships.  Is the ship taken out of circulation and upgraded top to bottom, or is it done while sailing bit by bit?

[CDNPolar]

5 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

 

Moreover, as a GM explained, the crew is constantly changing with handfuls of crew coming and going at a time as opposed to large blocks of personnel being replaced at one time.  V has found that it is easier to integrate smaller numbers at a time.

 

 

 

I get the contract situation and that crew come and go often mid-cruise for the guests, but this is one of the things that I dislike...  We had a bartender in the Living Room that somehow knew both our names from the first day we were on the ship.  He always called out to us when we went by, and he created a custom cocktail for our friend that we were travelling with.  We loved to stop there for a coffee and a cookie and have a chat.  

 

Then, all of a sudden one evening only about half way through our cruise, he let us know that he was going on vacation the next day and leaving the ship.

 

We felt like we lost a good friend!  

 

The interesting thing is that we have cruised most regions that Viking sails - most - and we have several times now on both River and Ocean, come across Crew that we met on previous cruises.  This aspect we really love.

[LindaS272]

My understanding from reading CC these last years is that each ship is refurbished every five years and taken out of circulation for a few months for that purpose.

[OneSixtyToOne]

3 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

My understanding from reading CC these last years is that each ship is refurbished every five years and taken out of circulation for a few months for that purpose.

In 2019 the Sky had that unfortunate incident in the North Sea. We were on her last year and it looked brand new. 

[CDNPolar]

38 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

My understanding from reading CC these last years is that each ship is refurbished every five years and taken out of circulation for a few months for that purpose.

 

This is what I thought, and this would be done in a season that the ship is either due to reposition, or when they can afford to have a ship out of service.  This is very similar to a hotel schedule of 5 years for complete refurbishment, but hotels will just shut down a floor or portion of a floor at a time.

[Mich3554]

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

My understanding from reading CC these last years is that each ship is refurbished every five years and taken out of circulation for a few months for that purpose.

The Orion is probably slated for refurbishment.  We got off it on 5/14 as well and don’t agree with what was said totally.  In fact, meals in Chef’s Table and Manfredi’s were some of the best we have had.  We had excellent cabin attendants, and mostly ok service in WC.  
While we were on board, the carpet was replaced in the corridors.  DH noted that the floor in the Explorer’s lounge was buckling, near where it opens to the outside deck.  However, we noted this on the Jupiter as well, so suspect that there may be design issues with these 2 ships, since they were built about the same time.  

[LindaS272]

We were on Jupiter in March 2020 when Viking shut down due to Covid. Jupiter was just a couple months old as I recall. On Orion in Nov. 2019, but I don’t know its build date.

Edited Thursday at 04:41 PM by LindaS272

[OneSixtyToOne]

40 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

We were on Jupiter in March 2020 when Viking shut down due to Covid. Jupiter was just a couple months old as I recall. On Orion in Nov. 2019, but I don’t know its build date.

We were on the 2nd voyage of the Jupiter in April of 2019. Its maiden voyage was a week earlier.

[millybess]

1 hour ago, LindaS272 said:

We were on Jupiter in March 2020 when Viking shut down due to Covid. Jupiter was just a couple months old as I recall. On Orion in Nov. 2019, but I don’t know its build date.

Orion was built in 2018; Sea in 2016.

 

3 hours ago, Mich3554 said:

The Orion is probably slated for refurbishment.  We got off it on 5/14 as well and don’t agree with what was said totally.  In fact, meals in Chef’s Table and Manfredi’s were some of the best we have had.  We had excellent cabin attendants, and mostly ok service in WC.  
While we were on board, the carpet was replaced in the corridors.  DH noted that the floor in the Explorer’s lounge was buckling, near where it opens to the outside deck.  However, we noted this on the Jupiter as well, so suspect that there may be design issues with these 2 ships, since they were built about the same time.  

Admittedly, the British menu was good at Chef's Table,  although they substituted chicken eggs for quail eggs.  And in Manfredi's, I enjoyed the short rib.  DH enjoyed almost everything at Chef's Table, but didn't like anything at Manfredi's.

 

At the WC:  The eggs Benedict were always cold.  The seafood: shrimps, lobster and crab were consistently mushy -- like they had been frozen and then thawed a tad too long.  The NY Striploin was uncuttable.

 

In regards to ship shape, the floor in the Explorer's Lounge by the piano is totally worn and very deeply scratched.

 

When we started to cross the Pacific and all of the outdoor loungers were removed from the Aquavit, we noticed 2 large blotches on the deck, portside, which appeared to be holes.  These would ordinarily have been covered by a lounger or a side table.

 

Anyway, our point is, we feel that our 3 sailings on Viking Sea in the last 14 months were excellent and very good value.  Our sailing on Viking Orion -- not so much.  Hence, we are hoping that our experience on Venus will be as good as our sailings on Viking Sea.

 

We have 3 more cruises booked with Viking and we are very much hoping that our recent experience was an anomaly.

[LindaS272]

1 hour ago, OneSixtyToOne said:

We were on the 2nd voyage of the Jupiter in April of 2019. Its maiden voyage was a week earlier.

Interesting, as that was not my memory when we were on the ship! Oh well.