Pomeranian

7 hours ago, JerseyMom said:

The food quality in the Haven restaurant is definitely better than the main dining rooms and buffet and at least as good if not better than the specialty restaurants and the service in Haven is outstanding. 

 

I have not tried Celebrity and Regent is out of my price range.  I have a Viking cruise booked but I have not sailed Viking yet so I can't compare the two products. 

Thanks jersey for sharing your experience. Glad to know that the heaven worth the extra cost. I read from royal caribbean post in here or another website, some people said they are happy with coastal kitchen but some others not so happy with it because sometimes they will have similar menu with their mdr or buffet, and sometimes it can be very “basic” that they felt not that worth the extra cost.

6 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Pomeranian

Agree with you that if Regent provides a better experience for you and you don’t mind sharing a suite and perhaps a bathroom.  But for me, if the price is the same, I’d rather have a second stateroom to myself and not have to share. 

Yes thats something that i think about. Beside that, viking has heated bathroom floor and anti fog mirror while regent ph suite have butler. Both have their own pros and cons. I just made another thread to compare these 2, hopefully people can share their experience about regent and viking and make a comparison 😀

8 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

I believe describing the interior design as Scandinavian Minimalist Luxury is an excellent description. For us being used to more traditional British ships, we knew it would be very different, but we actually liked the change.

Thanks heidi.

17 hours ago, JerseyMom said:

Just wanted to mention with regard to the Haven's menu that never changes, they will bring you items not on the menu as long as it is on the ship.  One night on our recent trip my son noticed that the main dining room listed salmon as one of the evening's specials.  My husband wanted spaghetti.  Neither salmon nor spaghetti were on the menu at the Haven restaurant.  I convinced both of them to come with me to the Haven restaurant and both of them got the meals that they requested.  The chef just asked which sides my son wanted with his grilled salmon.  I was the only one who ordered off the Haven menu (lamb chops) and everyone was very happy with their meals.

 

Hi jersey, is the food quality on the haven restaurant more superior than their mdr and buffet? And about the quality of food and service, are they on par with viking or other higher cruise brands such as regent or celebrity?

22 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Totally agree with you Clay, as we consider "Luxury" as being in the eye of the beholder. We all have a different definition and expectation for luxury. Although having read a few posts on the Luxury Board, some of them are rather protective of their turf.

 

Personally, we couldn't care if Viking is defined as Luxury, Premium, etc as it meets our expectations with respect to the ship design, staff training, entertainment and meals.

Hi heidi, by price per day viking is about half than regent so from price point of view it can categorized as a premium market but their all inclusive marketing strategy and their interior deisgn concept it looks like a scandinavian minimalist luxury. And for me personally, i agree with you, viking looks luxury. But because i’ll travel with my parents, with viking we need to book 2 rooms so the price are similar.

22 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Having not sailed Regent personally, I cannot disagree with Orchestrapal BUT Viking is certainly luxurious for me and based on my cost comparisons, at usually at about half the price (and on a good day significantly more savings than that). 
 

Pre-Covid the buffet menu changes everyday except for some “always available” dinner items -salmon, steak, and something else. Typically, at dinner they serve one or two of the entrees and appetizers from the Restaurant (Viking’s MDR) along with an assortment of other dishes. Additionally, they tend to have several special nights each cruise where they set up either in the pool deck or the Aquavit. We have experienced a seafood night, a street—food night, an American BBQ night (the least successful IMHO) as well as many others-Mexican, Greek, Etc.
 

Our favorite part of the buffet is the almost always available cold seafood and sushi stations. This is our typical spot for pre-appetizers while having our pre-dinner cocktail while sitting on the Aquavit Terrace. 
 

Agree clay, for me as i’ll sail with my parents with viking i need to take 2 rooms and with regent i only need to take 1 room. The overall price both are around 20k, maybe i need to make a new thread for this 😄 and thanks to share you experience about viking food.

22 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

My price per person per day comparison was based on the Norwegian sailaway rate of our November 2018 Rome to Miami cruise compared to our March 2018 Viking San Juan to Barcelona cruise. As I recall, if we had of paid for flights (Viking offered a free air promo), our RDU to San Juan Flight to embark on Viking was about $100 per person higher than the Miami to RDU flight we paid for after disembarking NCL.  Since we were staying in Europe for several months we were not able to partake of the real benefit of Viking’s promo which was a “free” flight from Barcelona back to RDU. 

Okay clay

Viking can not be compared to Regent which is a luxury line . The entire feeling of Viking is fine, food is good and service is OK but in no way luxury.

As a former very loyal Norwegian cruiser (albeit not in the Haven due to budget constraints) I think most of the previous posters have covered the main pros/cons/differences between the two lines.  Except (unless I missed seeing it) Butlers, Casino and Bingo.  If any of those are important to you having a happy cruise, then you need to stick with Norwegian. 
 
I also should let you know that when planning our retirement celebration Transatlantic cruise we were looking at the least expensive Haven suite (Spa on Epic I think) and came to realize that Viking was significantly less expensive when we calculated the cost wine and such.  Since then we have done several Viking cruises and have found for the transatlantics, the cost compared to a mainstream cruise line is only marginally more expensive (averages around $10 per person per day) than a balcony stateroom on Norwegian.  Part of this is the result of the abundant OBC our travel agent provides (which is up to the maximum Viking allows)which offsets the daily service charge and provides enough left over for pre dinner drinks. That combined with the bottle of liquor that we are freely able to bring aboard and the included wine at dinner covers us for alcohol. 
 
 

Hi, I have sailed with NCL about 30 times, including 5 times in the Haven.  Sailed Viking Ocean 3 times.
The Haven and Viking are apples and oranges.  When NCL went public their pricing for cabins and especially for the Haven took off. That is the only comparison.  The Haven is expensive to very expensive.
The service in Haven can be spotty.  
Regarding meals-  The Haven restaurant is very nice.  But except for a daily special for dinner, the menu will not change.  On a 14 day cruise.....same menu.  It's always been a complaint of mine.  NCL knows you will want to eat elsewhere when the menu doesn't change.  There is a small bar in the Haven that might close early if there are no patrons.  And depending upon your sail date, you can have lots of those individuals that are prohibited from Viking in the Haven pool.  Not fun.
Full disclosure- I use the auction process to get into Haven. I would never pay the full fare.
 

Hi Pomeranian,
About the spa:

The food in the Haven restaurant is excellent (add Le Bistro specialty restaurant and Moderno - where available), but Viking wins overall with the options available in the main dining room, two specialty restaurants, and the buffet (will be modified d/t covid 19).
Celebrity - yes, I have cruised.
It you want to try their top quality suite experience, you may look at the Edge/Apex.
However, IMO Celebrity is lacking spirit & soul. The Viking is intimate and romantic. NCL is full of energy. Celebrity is neither fish nor flesh.  The suite life is good (their primary focus), while the rest of the ship (90-95%) is a mass market experience with rather grotesque pretense of being "premium" or even "luxury".
The Solstice class ships had been very nice originally - before they started to "edgesize" them: cutting off public space and facilities in favor of expanding suite perks.
Happy cruising!
 

21 hours ago, ronbe65 said:

Hi, I have cruised on both and would like to point out a few important things.

First of all, a new to NCL cruiser needs to know that Haven experience is not standard on NCL ships. It's totally different on different NCL ships (from 4.5* to 4.0* ). 

Another thing, the Haven experience us very different from Viking experience.

A ship-within-a-ship concept is never a ship, it's a part of a ship.

The best Haven experience (Bliss, Encore) nears 4.5* that is close to Vikings 4.5*+ overall, but the components are different - that is important. 

For example, Haven sun deck is far above the sun deck on Viking ship, while the pools on Viking are far superior to Haven pools.

Observation Lounges are equal.

The spa on select NCL ships will put Viking spa on shame, while the Afternoon tea is  non-existent on NCL.

Dining experience on Viking overall definitely surpasses NCL (with a great margin or small margin - depending on the ships), while the Haven easily wins in accommodation.

The atmosphere on Viking is more intimate and romantic, while entertainment on NCL giant ships is a different planet.

 

Again the "two buildings" are almost equal in height, but the content is totally different.

Will you like one or another depends on what items from their "menus" are important for you.

Enjoy.

Happy cruising!

 

 

Thank you for sharing your experience  ronbe. If i can ask, why the spa in viking less superior compare to the one in ncl? And what about the food quality on norwegian the haven restaurant? To add a comparison, have you ever tried celebrity cruise, and how you find it compare to viking experience?

23 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Welcome to cruise critic, just noticed it is your first post.

 

While we haven't sailed with Norwegian, it is generally considered as being at the opposite end of the cruise spectrum as Viking. Since I follow the industry fairly closely, I have probably a fairly accurate idea of the comparable meal quality on both lines, but not having sailed NCL, prefer not to provide 2nd hand info.

 

Suggest searching through Cruise Critic Boards for 1st hand reports. You can start with the NCL Board (https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/64-norwegian-cruise-line/) but wouldn't expect many comparisons, most feedback from those that sail NCL and are generally happy with the product.

 

For comparisons, suggest researching some of the general Boards:

• https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/69-ask-a-cruise-question/
• https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/343-luxury-cruising/ (I recall one thread last year comparing s suite on a mega ship to a luxury/premium cruise)

In addition to comparing quality of meals, when departing a suite on a mega ship you are among the sea of humanity with lots of screaming kids. On Viking the entire ship is spacious and serene.

 

 

Thank you heidi. I dont like kids especially on my holiday. Thats why i prefer to sail with viking or regent. But when i need to go with my friends/family, sometimes norwegian/rcl/celebrity might suit their budget better. I also dont really like huge crowd, i hope the experience in the haven kinda similar with viking.

23 hours ago, Dauntless said:

JimZimm has a video about the two on Youtube.  The comparison is found on the Viking cruise spots.

Hi dauntless, i already watch some of his videos about viking and norwegian. His review are great as he usually mention the bad and the good of each cruise ship brand.

Hi guys, i have plan to sail with viking cruise line with my parents next year on march to see northern light. Beside viking, i also interested to try norwegian cruise to bahama in summer. Comparing these 2 cruise lines, do you think the haven on norwegian cruise line can be as good as viking? About the food, as norwegian joining with oceania, and viking also famous for its food quality, do you think the food quality on norwegian cruise line on-par with viking? And how’s your experience in general with viking compare to norwegian? Thank you.