travel4b

I can’t imagine it wouldn’t offer included expeditions at Easter Island. Maybe others that have been there on Venture can chime in.

I agree completely about the atmosphere of the ship. The entire vessel is gorgeous in a beautifully refined way. I just wish the passengers would take their cue from that and - to borrow a phrase - “read the room”.

That’s all well and good but how does one enforce an “elegant casual” standard? I’m being generous to say that at most 25% of the guests met that goal. And I’m grading on a curve here!

So you boarded yesterday in LA after we disembarked. It sounds like the same guest profile we experienced. So I’m still puzzled. You seem to be saying it is a one off from the norm. On the other hand we finally asked two crew members (one very senior management and the other a waiter) and they both said this demographic was the norm.

So last night was New Year's Eve on the Mars and the transformation was amazing. For the last two weeks I could probably count on one hand the number of men I saw in sport coats. Last night probably almost half the husbands suddenly remembered they brought one along and actually put it on. There were even a few tuxedos. As for the women, there was a dramatic increase in ones who you could fairly characterize as fulfilling the "elegant casual" dress code. Hooray for Viking. BTW, the New Year's brunch today around the pool was a knock out. Kudos to the incredible crew who clearly worked very hard to pull it off.

Very well said. There are a LOT of couples on this ship that fit that description. I’m guessing that the wives sold their husbands on a cruise by promising them they could dress like they were going to cut the grass.

The comments have been very interesting. It’s good to know that it’s not just us. I think the thing that has disappointed us the most is not the age or health status. I get that now with this particular itinerary. What I don’t get is the pervasive sloppiness of guests. I’m on a spectacular ship with a great crew surrounded by passengers who are dressed like they are headed to Walmart. Everyone is certainly old enough to know better and respect Viking’s dress code.

I’m afraid that pretty much parallels our experience. A shame, really, as the ship is gorgeous and the crew generally great. We are booked on an Athens to Mumbai itinerary in the fall but will probably cancel for the above reasons.

Our one and only tender port is in a few days. That should be interesting!! In the meantime, my other half came up with a great solution to the evening dress code issues. Since the dining venues are divided spaces just have the hostess sort seating from “what dress code?” up to “yes, of course I know what casual elegant means!”

Good to know. That’s a positive. We’ve done seven cruises on Seabourn, usually 2-3 weeks, and the mix skewed much younger and vigorous. Again, not judging at all.

Thanks. Was it a Viking cruise? We have a Viking Middle East cruise scheduled but are not sure we are a good fit based on this first experience.

Again, no disrespect at all but so many of the passengers have obvious infirmities. There are many with canes or walkers and more that seem to struggle walking any distance. As for dress, not to open Pandora’s box, but there might as well not be a dress code. Every night we’ve seen more than a few tee shirts and grubby jeans. “Casual Elegant” seems to be a wishful concept for those that do clear the tee shirt/jeans bar.

We are currently on the Mars Ft. Lauderdale to LA Panama Canal cruise - our first on Viking. The ship really is gorgeous and service very good as expected. One thing that has surprised us though is the average age, health status and dress of our fellow passengers. I mean no disrespect whatsoever; I’m just wondering if this is the norm or a one off with this cruise. Any veteran Viking travelers aboard who care to comment?

Agree with all of this. Lisbon is a miserable airport to fly out of and having a business class ticket is of little help in making it easier.

Seabourn does a decent job converting the Colonnade into a nice sit down dinner experience. I just don’t understand why they missed the mark so badly on Venture. Of 20+ days onboard I think we’ve had dinner there once. I love Earth & Ocean but gave it a pass to avoid the venue.

David Price? He was the CD on Venture in March. I’ve never seen a CD less on a Seabourn cruise! It was downright odd. In contrast, John Barron was everywhere when we were aboard a few weeks ago.

Interesting. The hotel director explained that these new job titles are rapidly becoming the norm on cruise ships - and for good reason as they more accurately describes the job. Unfortunately passengers go right to the cruise director with any and all concerns or complaints when they should often be going to the hotel manager.

If you are talking about the Colonnade I very much agree. It is starkly plain with harsh lighting - a glaring contrast to the otherwise lux public spaces. As a fellow passenger put it “it feels like a canteen”.

Having done two cruises on Venture I would agree totally with everything you have said.

I agree.

The bad news is that the Venture and Pursuit eliminated the make up table in the hall in favor of a closet with heated drying bar. However, there is a small make up mirror at the desk and chair in the sitting area.

If you think 350 makes the Colonnade rammed you should have seen it in August when the ship was sold out. Lordy!!

That would make sense. So how full is the ship at the moment?

You got that right!!

I think you have glossed over the fact that if the ship is full and the weather is inclement it feels like a scrum to get any table, much less a preferred one, at the Colonnade.