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Help! Viking vs Princess - Mediterranean


eurodl
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We are currently booked on Emerald Princess to the Mediterranean next year. We've been doing much research and dismissed Celebrity and Oceania, but my SIL received a brochure from Viking and the drama continues.

 

Is Viking worth the extra money? I've been crunching numbers and if I add in shore excursions, internet, laundry, a couple nights of specialty dining and the cost of travel/hotels from Rome to Venice for a couple of days (all included with Viking), Princess ends up costing the same. Neither would include air. Although we would probably end up taking some of the shore excursions not included with Viking so an additional cost. We would also lose our bev pkg with Princess but that's not a big deal. Viking includes most drinks and we're not big drinkers.

 

2 negatives with Viking: only 1 day in Rome (not sure that's enough time) and no casino (DH likes to play Texas Hold'em).

 

Thoughts? clear.png?emoji-confused-1977

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1 day in Rome isn't enough, but neither is 2 – so figure that you will want to go back in the future either way.

 

If the casino is a draw for your DW, there is no answer from Viking – for many of us that lack of a casino is one of the draws of Viking Ocean [we aren't forced to walk through it, especially on ships where it is smoky, and the space has been used for other things we value].

 

Otherwise, everything about Viking is so much better than Princess – especially the food – that I consider it absolutely worth the price difference. The fact that you are finding the prices about equal makes the pro-Viking decision a no-brainer [iMHO].

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The Princess Cruise ends in Rome instead of Venice so we would spend a few extra days in Rome to see everything. As far as the casino I don't think it really matters to anyone other than my husband but I think he could probably get enough people together to get a Texas Hold'em game together. I agree with you about the smoke. Unfortunately Princess still allows smoking in their casino which I hoped they would stop. Thanks for the info

 

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You did not mention which Viking itinerary you are considering, and I don't know how flexible you are on travel dates, but some of the cruises are available in both directions. Could you choose a Viking version of the trip that also ends in Rome? We are currently considering Italian Sojourns, and we would want the start in Venice, end in Rome version.

 

We had never taken an ocean cruise before Viking, so I can't help you with a comparison to Princess. We loved our first cruise, Empires of the Mediterranean, and leave on our second in two weeks. Can't wait! Have fun making your decision.

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We are looking at Mediterranean Odyssey. It's 13 days leaving out of Barcelona and ending in Venice

 

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That is a very popular itinerary, but unfortunately to get more time in Rome is more complicated with that cruise. We have taken the train from Venice to Rome, which wasn't very difficult, but I don't know how ambitious you want to get after a 13 day cruise.

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If we stick with the Princess Cruise will be taking the train from Rome to Venice. We were trying to save the cost of the land Portion by taking the Viking Cruise since it goes to Venice. But less time in Rome is something that were really thinking hard about

 

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Although we haven't yet cruised with Viking, we have booked the 2020 World Cruise, so have research them extremely thoroughly.

 

Regarding Princess, I have both worked for them as a Navigator and cruised with them for about 40 years. The Grand Class of vessels were excellent ships, but starting with Caribbean Princess (Super Grand), they added an extra deck of cabins (about 500 pax) to the same hull. The lounges are the same size, but they cram extra seats to accommodate the higher pax count. Unfortunately the Emerald is a Super Grand and we found it extremely crowded.

 

Our last Princess cruise was the 2015 WC, where their standards have dropped below what we consider as our minimum. The quality of meats was very poor, with many meals being returned inedible. Food frequently served cold or tepid. The entire Princess package has been cheapened to appeal to the mass market.

 

Based on everything we have read, we are looking forward to our first VO cruise, as they provide the standards we know from cruising many years ago. For us no casino & 18+ are huge selling points.

 

Regarding price. I have compared our total spend for the Princess 2015 WC and our costs for the 2020 on Viking. When everything is included and calculated per day, Viking is consistent, or even slightly cheaper. So the base fare on the mainstream lines bares no resemblance to your total bill.

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Thanks for all the information. We have 3 couples in our group and one of them is on a budget. Unfortunately Viking is out of there price range as they don't have anything less than a veranda room. Looks like we will be staying with Princess for this cruise. The land portion from Rome to Venice would even out the 2 cruise lines but the 3rd couple will not be joining us so that is not a positive for them. I have put VO on my bucket list and hope to sail with them in the near future.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Several years ago DH & I did a cruise from Rome to Venice. We flew into Venice for a land trip , 2 nights Venice, 2 nights Florence and 3 nights Rome. We add 1 additional in Rome to connect with the Boarding date for the ship.What ever you choose, enjoy your trip.

PS. Do a comparison for Princess vs Viking Ocean (or any other line) on Total Cost. On 1 river cruise we found that all of the extra cost made the "cheaper" river cruise line about $1000 more than the more expensive all inclusive line.

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Viking is a nice step up from the mass markets. But you must like ship tours to get value from Viking. Be aware the included excursions will be simple overview tours.

 

The comments about princess super grand class ships are spot on. Too many people. We still like princess for Alaska but we only do the coral princess. Sorry to hear ihow bad the food has become.

Edited by sammiedawg
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Viking is a nice step up from the mass markets. But you must like ship tours to get value from Viking. Be aware the included excursions will be simple overview tours.

 

The comments about princess super grand class ships are spot on. Too many people. We still like princess for Alaska but we only do the coral princess. Sorry to hear ihow bad the food has become.

 

We enjoyed both Coral & Island for many cruises, but heard they ruined Island by adding more cabins. Sad, but so typical of that company.

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We enjoyed both Coral & Island for many cruises, but heard they ruined Island by adding more cabins. Sad, but so typical of that company.

So typical of all the Carnival Brands. We are lifetime Cunarders but no longer sail them. Too cheap, too many add ons, extra cabins added at each refit. Even on Seabourn there was a certain feel of the Carnival Corp. Sad to see the cruise industry following the airlines business model. I hope the best alternative (Viking) maintains its difference.:cool:

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Viking is a nice step up from the mass markets. But you must like ship tours to get value from Viking. Be aware the included excursions will be simple overview tours.

 

The comments about princess super grand class ships are spot on. Too many people. We still like princess for Alaska but we only do the coral princess. Sorry to hear ihow bad the food has become.

 

This was one of the reasons we decided to stick with Princess. We didn't think we would want to take the ship tours.

 

Sorry to hear about the food on Princess. We're not real foodies so hopefully it will be good enough for us.

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So typical of all the Carnival Brands. We are lifetime Cunarders but no longer sail them. Too cheap, too many add ons, extra cabins added at each refit. Even on Seabourn there was a certain feel of the Carnival Corp. Sad to see the cruise industry following the airlines business model. I hope the best alternative (Viking) maintains its difference.:cool:

 

Jim - before leaving school, I had an offer of employment from both Cunard and P&O. Had I accepted the Cunard offer, we may have met aboard one of the Queens.

 

My hope is that Viking remains independent and not part of the cheap Carnival empire. We are avoiding all Carnival brands.

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We enjoyed both Coral & Island for many cruises, but heard they ruined Island by adding more cabins. Sad, but so typical of that company.

 

So typical of all the Carnival Brands. We are lifetime Cunarders but no longer sail them. Too cheap, too many add ons, extra cabins added at each refit. Even on Seabourn there was a certain feel of the Carnival Corp. Sad to see the cruise industry following the airlines business model. I hope the best alternative (Viking) maintains its difference.:cool:

 

Sad to hear about the extra cabins. We've sailed on Island before. We are concerned about the crowds on Emerald but hoping it's not too bad. Looking forward to checking out Viking in the future.

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Sad to hear about the extra cabins. We've sailed on Island before. We are concerned about the crowds on Emerald but hoping it's not too bad. Looking forward to checking out Viking in the future.

 

With respect to quality of meals and space available (+ many others), you will find Viking is a huge step up from Princess, which in our experience and opinion has deteriorated from a premium cruise line to a mass-market budget line, thanks to Carnival.

 

We only sailed Emerald once and found her so crowded, we avoided the Super Grands. Other than Island/Coral we enjoyed the Japan built Diamond & Sapphire.

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