Viking Sun

Viking Sun arrived today for maiden time at Piraeus Port.

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Lovely look at the Viking Sun as dawn breaks!

Thank you.

Thanks so much for the video. We will be on her next week. So excited.

You will love the ship, I'm certain.

We are on day 3 of the cruise (although really only 2 days in) and you wouldn't know it's a maiden voyage. Viking do very well with crew rotation, which coupled with the standardisation of their ship designs ensures everything runs smoothly from day one.

The food is great. Manfredi's wasn't the expected step up from the restaurant, but more because of the normal standards of the latter. It's very good. We're trying Chef's table tonight.

Everything is so very well thought out, with the only quibble perhaps being the lack of an international mix of passengers, but we hear Viking are working on that, with deals offered in different regions.

It's a great product and we'll be back for sure.

Viking is selling out so no need to offer "deals" in foreign lands!

I would not be happy supplementing an "international passenger's fare", so that there was a mix on the ship!

Crew and the Bridge offer a bit of international flare!

We also just returned from the Viking Sun's maiden voyage from Venice to Athens plus the 4 day Classic Greece extension. The entire trip was flawless and we enjoyed every busy minute of it. Venice was foggy and crowded but we had been there before so it didn't bother us. There was a lot of walking in Split Croatia but the next day in Dubrovnik (though cold and windy) I felt like we were on a Game of Thrones set all day.

Weather got much warmer once we hit Kotor and took the boat ride to Perast and Our Lady of the Rocks. Gorgeous scenery and the sailaway was just beautiful. It was warm in Greece for the rest of the trip and extension. We loved Corfu and Olympia. On the extension we climbed the Acropolis to view the Parthenon up close.

The tours started early and some got back late (almost too late for lunch on one with a slow tender). Meals were incredible. We got to dine at Chef's Table where they were very accommodating with my fish and seafood aversion. Manfredi's was our best meal on board. We only ate once in The Restaurant because service was very slow due to a cutback on staff waiters. We never returned but much preferred the tremendous variety of selections at the World Café for dinner. Mamsen's waffles were sooooooooooooo good. Definitely went back several times.

The room (Deluxe Veranda) was lovely and there was room for everything. In my opinion they could have designed the desk more efficiently. Huge refrigerator with cokes and candy bars was a waste of space that could have been additional drawer space.

We took advantage of the main pool area when they opened up the retractable roof to the sunny weather. The Aquavit Terrace was delightful for lunches and we enjoyed all three spas there and on Deck 1 and at the main pool. We got lucky with the weather in mid October.

The classical music in the Living Room wafted over several decks and was a welcome relaxing addition. The Explorer lounge was a quiet spot to read a book or relax with friends. Soft music was another nice addition. We went to afternoon high tea just once and are sorry we didn't work that in more. You can't do everything every day!

All in all the cruise was outstanding. We look forward to another cruise on Viking ocean.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience of this maiden voyage of the Sun.

My anticipation grows for my own first Viking cruise in March.:hearteyes:

Viking is selling out so no need to offer "deals" in foreign lands!

I would not be happy supplementing an "international passenger's fare", so that there was a mix on the ship!

Crew and the Bridge offer a bit of international flare!

Well we are from the Uk and are on our second Viking cruise over New Year. Our other line of choice is Azamara and I would say that they have a great mix of nationalities (US, UK, Australian, New Zealand plus a smattering of other nationalities). The one downer of our previous Viking cruise was that most were first time US cruisers who had previously been on Viking River Cruises. Some of them had not done any pre cruise research and were surprised that they could not just walk off the ship in the centre of town each time. They complained rather a lot which rather surprised us as we thought everything about Viking was great.

I dp not think you are supplementing my fare - of course any contributions would be gratefully accepted.

On our trip on the SKY last Spring we enjoyed couples from the UK and frequently the Aussies and met a Swedish and German couple....great conversations and story sharing!

I guess I meant Viking need not go searching for international guests....they are finding their way just fine!!!

Probably a made up story but someone spoke of a passenger who thought she HAD booked on a River Cruise!!! Our itinerary was Barcelona to St. Petersburg and ended in Stockholm...if true obviously no knowledge of geography.

I did miss being able to walk off a ship into town........ Ocean vs River there is no comparison ....simply very different each wonderful!!!!

Dee, we were on the same cruise and I agree....we met many nice Aussies and Brits and lots of Canadiens. We have not been on Viking River cruises, but we were on 3 Avalon river cruises and we loved being able to walk into town. That being said, I felt that on our Barcelona the Baltics and Beyond cruise we had many ports to walk to....but some folks were disappointed I know. In Barcelona we did take either a taxi or a tram downtown, but it was 5 minutes. Amsterdam we easily walked and we were there 2 days. Could take a taxi if we wanted to. Stockholm was a LONG walk and there was construction so it wasn't so good. St Petersburg Russia we had our private tour. We did not choose to go to Paris or Berlin. In Warnemunde we went to Rostock and then we walked around Warnemunde and the beach. In LeHavre we took a taxi to Honfleur. I think the rest of the ports we were pretty close to walking distance or at least taking the ship's transportation then coming back. Folks just need to do their research.

Stretchcruz,

How do you find out ahead of time where and how far you will be docked? Id love to research ahead of sailing but have no idea where to start.

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Donna,

I use this sometimes https://www.whatsinport.com/index.htm

but in all honesty I am so overwhelmed with the many ports on World Cruise that I am not planning a lot other than the excursions.

 

Probably a made up story but someone spoke of a passenger who thought she HAD booked on a River Cruise!!! Our itinerary was Barcelona to St. Petersburg and ended in Stockholm...if true obviously no knowledge of geography.

/quote]

 

Probably not a made up story and to be honest it made me laugh so much.....I don’t suppose they knew which country this person was from ???

You only need money to be able to travel!!!!

Anyway, I hope they had a great Ocean Cruise !

We are doing our 1st Viking Ocean Cruise next February after many river cruises and many ocean cruises.....we know we will love it.

Joyce

Retirement dreams,

I really don't do a lot of research as far as where we will be docked (and that can change from cruise to cruise depending on who has docking rights), but if you look at reviews here on CC or the ports of call boards you can get an idea of where your ship will be. Things can change, but you get an idea if you are in an industrial area or close to "someplace". People that don't do their research think that when their itinerary says Rome (Civitavecchia) it means Rome. NO...it means a train or a bus or a private tour to Rome which is a few hours away. If the itinerary says Paris (Le Havre)...it means a LONG trip to Paris, which is why we stayed in LeHavre. But the ports of call boards will be a good reference for you.