I just returned last night from my first cruise on Viking Ocean voyages (not counting the Viking Sun over 30 years ago). The ship is beautiful, very clean and modern. The staff and crew are amazing; they could not do enough for you. The cabin was small, but certainly more than enough for one person. The bathroom was excellent, I loved the glass stall shower, excellent space and great water pressure.
I found that the insulation between the cabins was too thin, I could hear my neighbors talking, sneezing and watching TV.
The food was hit or miss; lunches in the World Cafe (the buffet) were generally OK. The salad bar selections were limited and tended to be the same on most days; one day, cold shrimp was offered. The grill at the pool had excellent hamburgers. Mamsen’s offered the same fare every day, the open faced shrimp sandwich was very good.
Dinners were also just so so. The menu was diverse, but the food was sometimes disappointing. Tough short ribs, tough osso bucco, strange moussaka, yet the bread and desserts were very good and the gelato, the best ever. The service in the dining room was generally excellent. I was disappointed in the fare at the Chef’s Table; possibly, I chose a bad night to dine there. Manfredi’s was just OK, but I heard this from many other passenger’s who had dined there as well.
The entertainer’s were fine and the Asst. CD was always around and always helpful.
I met many passenger’s who love Viking and will cruise only with them. I feel that my experience with Viking was good, but compared to other cruise lines, not great as far as food was concerned. Also, I don’t think there is anything that can be done about cabin insulation at this point, perhaps future ships might be better insulated for noise between cabins.
Kudos to all crew members, they are all great.