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I completely agree. On top of this, we did not stop finding and enjoying new music once we were "grown up". In our case we also had a whole new crop of artists and material opened up to us by our children once they entered their teens. Viking ocean will be celebrating its 10th anniversary in only a couple of years and customers should not be expected to enjoy exactly the same "contemporary" music that was performed back in 2015. All the more so, as many of us have now experienced multiple Viking cruises. It is interesting to note that it is the solo guitarists who often get most praise, both on this and other threads. In our experience, they often seem to be sensitive and attentive to their audience, adapting their sets accordingly. The very last thing these musicians need are Setlists imposed upon them by management, that would be a disaster! John, the guitarist on our most recent cruise was a good example. He listened to audience requests (practicing them the following day if they were not already part of his repertoire) and then performed them the next time the person requesting was in the audience. This personal attention certainly added to our impression that we were on our own private yacht 😉 Coming back to the original subject of the post, I think that guitarists like John (and their apparent popularity) may be a sign that Viking entertainment is beginning to get just a little bit more up-to-date. While they do include many of the well-known "standards" they are also performing more contemporary music in their sets. This is no bad thing from my point of view. That said, there is a wide range of opinion on what constitutes entertainment and Viking do seem to provide least a little of something for most tastes. My feeling is that continuing this diversity is the key going forward. While I don't normally listen to classical music at home, I do enjoy doing so occasionally on the ships as part of my cultural enrichment. It is equally true that, although I would not go out of my way to listen to a Neil Diamond album, I have been known to join in with the chorus of "Sweet Caroline" while dancing under the stars. Variety, they say, is the spice of life!

There is one house white, one house red and also a sparkling house wine available when the restaurants are serving lunch and dinner, as well as the beers Clay mentioned. Refills are unlimited and staff will happily pour you a top up before you leave the restaurant in the evening that you can carry with you to the theatre or wherever. Once you've taken a seat in a restaurant, the wait staff will generally come and offer you wine but you can also ask at the Aquavit and Pool bars and they will serve you the house alcoholic beverages as well as sodas etc. without charge during the mealtime hours. It seems to be a little known fact that sparkling house wine is available as part of the included package but it has become our regular sail-away drink. The Red and White house wine varietals change quite often but the sparkling wine is normally Viking's own brand, a German wine, which is also used to welcome people on board, and at receptions.

We travelled from Chioggia to Venice on the included tour on a boat like this. It did take about an hour and a half each way but we really enjoyed the views we got of the lagoon along the way, and the insight into this aspect of Venetian life. It probably helped that we were blessed with lovely weather and a spectacular sunset on the return journey. Probably wouldn't do it again, but happy to have done it once. On the other hand Chioggia looked like an attractive little town (with an easy walk from the ship) even though we didn't have time to explore it ourselves.

He had a very long name but was universally known as Rossi Makes sense. It seems that the "back office" system is completely different to the one used on the ships and the two don't interface reliably. We have very fond memories too Patti. I'm sure you'll be safe to have that sort of get together by the summer. It was great to see the crew's faces again now masks are no longer required. Have a wonderful time in Scandinavia. That fits with our experience. We did not have too much difficulty in changing our reservations to tables for two at a slightly different time. However, even the ship's Restaurant Manager could not throw any light on why Viking are booking people onto shared tables initially. I very much agree with your comments. It does seem to work out okay once on-board, but I would consider contacting Viking with the request that they email the ship to make your reservations, we were advised by the Restaurant Manager that was the best work around.

Hi Azulann - we are just back from a trip on the Viking Sea, as it happens in exactly the same cabin as on the TA where we met you! You'll be pleased to hear that shared dining is now available on request in all the restaurants. We had the same experience that OneSixtyToOne had, in that we were initially booked onto shared tables in the specialist restaurants as these were the only ones available to book in advance. I had a long conversation on this subject with the ships overall restaurant manager as I could not understand why Viking were doing that. He had no idea that this was going on and could not think of any explanation why it should be happening. In fact, he was aghast at the thought of guests been booked onto shared tables, unless at their express request. He also freely admitted that the advance reservation system was a bit of a shambles, and that the pre-boarding reservation system often did not correlate with the system on the ship. Like you we did not want to share in the specialist restaurants, as we consider these to be special occasions but may well consider doing so in the general restaurant for the same reason Azulann plans to do so. As a tip for everyone in the future, the restaurant manager that I spoke to, suggested that passengers who have been "forcibly" placed on a shared table through the Viking pre-booking system ask a Viking agent to email the ship directly to make a reservation for two, and the staff on the ship will be happy to do so.

Do you recall what time sunrise was when you did the pictures of the North Beagle channel? Or if you have the date I could look it up.

We had an early departure from the ship a few weeks ago and the form we had in our room for breakfast was slightly different to the one posted above. There was a section to write in "other time" We wrote in 5 - 5.15 and our order arrived promptly the next morning, a few minutes after 5 am. Room service is available 24 hours so I am sure you could simply write on the order form the time that you require - maybe with a phone call to room service the evening before just to confirm.

You might like to suggest a compromise by booking into a DV6, on what I regard as the premium and (as you point out) more exclusive deck three 😁 You would get all the same benefits of a DV4, just one deck down with a little more money in your pocketbook for shopping! Of course, we would never dream of using the laundry on a different floor to our cabin 😉

You could try putting the search term in quotes i.e. "V1 Cabin" then check that you have selected "this forum" in the drop-down that appears on the right hand side of the search box In any case it may be better to save your sanity and simply create a new post, asking for the information that you're looking for. If your post includes "V1 and V2 cabins" in the title, it might help others find it in future searches. Hope this helps 🙂

Here is a more sensibly priced recommendation than those you got from the old sea dogs 😁 I've done half a dozen cruises with these Nikons and find them ideal. Though, as a long time Canon camera user, I make the recommendation through gritted teeth 😉 Here they are called the Nikon Sportstar EX but I believe they are marketed in the US as Nikon trailblazers and sell for around $90. They are good quality and work really well in practice, especially in the sea environment as they are waterproof and nitrogen filled to prevent misting. Best of all they really compact and easy to travel with. Below is a photograph of them alongside a coffee mug for scale. I'm sure you will love the Midnight Sun, it was one of our favourite itineraries.

While the breakfast offering remains pretty much static, the lunch and dinner menu varies daily in the World Café. In addition to occasional (random?) evenings with a particular theme, such as seafood, Italian or live cooking on the pool deck, there are daily specials. For dinner, these often match the specials available in the main restaurant that day, though sometimes presented slightly differently. The Viking Voyager app available on board does list the menus for all the restaurants, including lunch and dinner in World Café, several days ahead. However, as others have said, this is not completely reliable and the specials listed on the app are sometimes substituted. If we had to pick just one restaurant as our favourite, it would be World Café. We love the connection to the open air and can usually find a shady spot without too much breeze.

That really is excellent news, and thanks for sharing it. Obviously, I could only report on the situation as I had experienced it. It would be good to hear from others to confirm that the issue has now been fully resolved.

Oop's sorry Don, it was your reference to 2 advance reservations in Chef's Table that led me astray. DV's normally only get one. I know from personal experience, social media and talking directly to numerous people directly on board that this is a real "thing" at the moment. It seem to have become worse in recent months, maybe as the ships are getting full again? It would be interesting to know when you last booked on MVJ without any issue?

I completely and wholeheartedly agree with you. It is generally better not to have fixed reservations for all the reasons that you mention. Occasionally though, people may wish to set up a special meal ahead of time. It might be a birthday or anniversary or simply because they know in advance that there will be a late start the next morning and the opportunity to “live it up” the night before. That is why I am unhappy with Viking unilaterally removing the My Viking Journey advanced reservations process to a section of their customers, while still promoting it as a benefit on the website. It is one thing to choose not to make advance reservations and another to be prevented from doing so. I would make an analogy with the binoculars that are provided in the DV cabins. To my mind they are of such low quality as to be virtually useless, so always bring my own. However, if Viking removed them but continued to list them as a cabin benefit, I feel that would give legitimate cause for complaint. Hopefully you will forgive me hijacking your excellent thread to again exercise this bee in my personal bonnet 🐝. Viking do so much, so well.......but I will continue to call them out at every opportunity when they fail to offer customers something that they have guaranteed. Whether the customer chooses to use it is another matter, as you quite rightly say 😁👍

Thanks donaldsc for your excellent summary of dining arrangements. I would just like to make two corrections, one minor and the other more significant. In the buffet you will not be seated but simply select your own seat and waiters will come to you for your drinks order. More importantly, regarding the above, I would like to point out that for some time now the majority of passengers in DV cabins (including ourselves on our last two cruises) have been completely unable to make any advance reservations using the My Viking Journey portal. Immediately the booking window opened in November for our recent cruise I contacted customer services. They confirmed the problem with MVJ was a “known issue” and even they were not able to make reservations for tables for two but only for shared tables at the times we requested. My response was that we could accept any alternative times that were available, to which I received the following reply from a customer services agent by email: “I have left the reservations as they are, as the tables for two have predominantly been taken up on all legs of the cruise. On a particular time, we have just one table for 2 and a sharing table is normally available alongside it, however we only reserve 70% of our alternative dining spaces prior to departure, so you will be able to modify the bookings with our Restaurant Reservations Desk, which is located in the entrance to the World Café.” Viking continue to state in their advertising material that DV cabins have “1 guaranteed priority reservation at each alternative restaurant 60 days prior to departure”. In practise, it seems that this guarantee currently only applies to reservations onto a shared table and can only be made through guest services. In fairness I should say that we were, indeed, accommodated once onboard although at later times: 7.30 at Chef’s Table and 8.00/8.30 in Manfredi’s. However, this does not negate or excuse the fact that the advance bookings relevant to the DV cabin category (that are promoted as a cabin benefit) are still not being made available as advertised. I fail to see how a reservation that we can only make through customer services and then need to modify once on board can honestly be described in Viking's advertising as a “guaranteed priority reservation…..60 days prior to departure” Please note this issue only relates to those in DV cabins. You may not have experienced any difficulty yourself, donaldsc, as your post suggests you may be in a higher grade cabin.

Oh yes, that would've been a big night 😀🍾🍾

Thanks for the tip on excursions. I would also be interested to know of any special events that you recall and on which evening of the cruise they took place. I'm thinking specifically of the Explorers club reception and dancing under the stars but anything else you can remember would help with dining planning.

This whole thread reminded me of the wide-ranging conversations that take place around water coolers or ice machines. For instance if I met you, TayanaLorna, by an ice machine or cooler I might tell you how much I agreed with your comments on a recent thread which has since been closed. I would probably also mention how happy I was that you got 14 likes for your post and that you and OnTheJourney at least had the last word on the subject. Apologies for the subject drift and to everyone who has not the slightest idea what I'm talking about 😁

Wisconsin Travellers, having read through your post a number of times I’m still at a complete loss to see why your experience seems to have left a “nasty taste” The lowest cost categories of cabins on Viking Ocean have never included pre-voyage table bookings. They are also last in line for shore excursions. This is all made clear in the Viking promotional material and you did not provide any explanation as to why you feel it should be different for you. It was completely your decision to book a “guarantee” cabin. If you did not like the restrictions that came along with that lower price offer you were free to walk away from the deal and take another cruise at another time, possibly with another company. The side-line you mention regarding on-board credit is equally baffling to me, all that I can say is that I think the clue is in the name. This and other threads have highlighted the difficulties that customers in DV cabins have had in making the advanced bookings promised by Viking as being included within their booking category. In contrast you appear to have had exactly the experience that your booking category specifies, hence my surprise at your dissatisfaction. I have high hopes that you will enjoy your time with Viking and find, in the end, that booking a cabin at the "guarantee" rate represents good value overall.

That follows the usual pattern then. The problems with on-line booking relates mostly to those in DV cabins. However, as these make up the majority of passengers, it has resulted in a large number of people being affected on each cruise.

As you mentioned making two reservations in Manfredi's I suspect you may be in a higher category cabin than the majority in DV grade cabins, who are those generally encountering difficulties.

Expecting guests to use shared tables seems to have become standard practise in recent months. When advance booking opened for our next cruise, the page on MVJ Immediately showed that all available tables for two had already been booked: On contacting Viking the only "other available options" offered were for shared tables. This is backed up by the OP's comment that they had booked tables for four without difficulty, however I am sure that getting a table for two in advance would have been a different matter. Given that Covid is not completely behind us I am disappointed that the sharing of tables between strangers, as well as those travelling together, is now being promoted/encouraged by Viking.

That makes sense, advance reservations only seem to be available on tables of four or more. I just wanted to be sure people were aware of that and not caught out. Sorry if my question about the date of the cruise caused some confusion. It was intended for CDNPolar as I'm interested to know how up-to-date their information is.

Did you confirm if these were tables for two or on a shared table? The reason I ask is that we did this and were surprised when we boarded to discover that the reservations were on shared tables. However we did then manage to change the bookings to tables for two at a later time on same evenings.

Would you mind if I ask when this cruise was? My perception, both from personal experience and anecdotal evidence, is that on board reservations are becoming noticeably more difficult to obtain as time goes on.