teefine

Well we've done it other way round! Been on 2 Viking ocean...both times in penthouse suite. Excursions and all inc very good. Ship beautifully designed...never feels crowded...classy decor. service good. BUT...doesn't have the "class" of SB. somehow feels like having the best house in the worst street.... and now we're about to embark on SB encore Med Cruise. Bit worried bout negative reviews...will do comparison when we're back.

Good to know! We are embarking in less than two weeks and going round the Med. was really looking forward to it but have had spirits dampened by negative posts here re dropping standards...poor restaurant service, sloppy stewards, not enough crew.

Please tell me it isn't so! Of course I expect new ships to have teething problems but my hope is that as the weeks go by and they are in European waters, they solve some of these glitches.

Caviar aside, did you have a good time?

Hi....we are from the UK and doing New Orleans to Memphis in a few weeks. As we are limited by luggage I need to know whether the American Queen supplies bathrobes in the cabins as most larger ships do.

Many thanks

Hi all. We're now in St Petersburg. So far we have not used tenders and I dont think we will be.

My positive experience continues. And I am so happy that this threadis feeding the excitement for soon to be Star-shippers!!! That was the who,e point of me starting this thread. I so wanted to get away from minutiaie like iced tea mchines and concentrate on the bigger picture and most especially get new people involved.

One more bit of useful acvice.

This ship while lovely is BIG..certainly much bigger than I am used to. You may well want to ri g two cell phones with a good data plan for texts so that you can find each other on board! Seriously....once you separate outside the cabin, you really have noidea where your companion is!

In luded excursions.so far we are ery pleased with these. they provide a useful overview and general information.

greetings all from Viking Star.. We have had so many happy experiences with Viking River cruises in the past so we anticipated this cruise with great excitement. Most of the posts we eagerly looked for in the weeks leading up to our June 27 departure were quite negative and I wished I hadnt read them.

I know they were the result of maiden voyagitis but none the less excited anticipation turnd to nervous apprehension.

SO THIS POST IS FOR PEOPLE DOING THIS TRIP SOON SO THAT YOU CAN LOOK FORWARD HAPPILY AND GET A FLAVOUR OF WHAT TO EXPECT.

1. We have been blessed with fabulous weather..blue skies and hot. Do bring sun hat and at least one pair of shorts.

2. The food is terrific...plentiful...something for every taste

3. Do signup ahead for advanced excursion, even the INCLUDED ones. Sems there was an email saying this so we hadnt done it but it all got sorted in the end.

4. Staff are unfailingly polite and helpful... Sure rhere are a few glitches but none worthy of a mention.

5. So far wifi has been absolutely fine....yes, slow at times...but certainly good enough.

6. Tv. And elctronics all seem to be fine

7. Decor and furnishings are lovely. I was nervous about being on a big boat with so many people but the design is so good that you can always find a quiet place.

8. So far just one long sail....stockholm to helsinki ovenitht...and wonderfully smooth. Whatever you do, do not miss stockholm archipelago. Delightful

So thats all for now. Will be happy to answer any qustions and will update later.

Do look forward with excitement. Its great!!

Hi Ingra

What a fantastically useful report. Thank you so much for taking the time to give such detail. We come from uk, not florida!

Really spooky.....you replied to traveltwin's post but addressed it to teefine which is me. Traveltwin IS my twin but you couldnt have known that...weird, eh?

And finally, was there anything you didnt take with you that you wish you had?

Again, many thanks.

Hi travel twin...useful questions and thanks to those who have answered. We will be on the Stockholm to Bergen sail end June and I am particularly eager to hear from anyone who has just returned from this itinerary.... Was there anything you wish you had known beforehand??? What was weather like?