On board The Star

[roothy123]

Thanks for the info for Pula, Kathy. I've been trying to figure out how long that tender ride is, as few cruise ships go to Pula and not even a local on Trip Advisor could tell me where the tenders go to drop off passengers and how far out the ships have to anchor, just that all ships seem to anchor there rather than dock. (There is a dock there, but I guess it's too small for cruise ships). Of course, the time it took for you guys to tender may be totally different when I go, as arrival/departure times and tides DO make a difference.

 

So a couple questions: Did you go to Rovinj on your private tour? Did you like it?

Would you happen to know where the tender point was, or can you give me some vague idea of what was around there - ferry dock? Yes, 40 minutes is a long tender ride - maybe the water was a bit rough in the morning. Most times when I've tendered, the tender back out seems to be longer and rougher, but of course it all depends upon sea conditions. Oh, and was the last tender a half hour before sailaway, like in Santorini, or something different?

 

Just looked at Pula and Star on Marine Traffic, and saw where Star had to anchor. Must have been rather rough around there, as the ship moved around in a full circle at least several times throughout the course of the day. That's not unusual (and trust me, doesn't mean there's anything wrong) and kind of explains a 40 minute tender ride if the sea was a little rough. I was hoping the ship could anchor closer to Pula, but there really isn't all that much room "inside" the harbor, plus there's also a long breakwater that sticks out quite a way - right in the way! Still, I'm looking forward to going to a port that most cruisers don't get to, as my experience has been that those ports often turn out to be just as interesting (though sometimes for different reasons) than the better-known ports.

Edited April 19, 2015 by roothy123

[Ukalady]

As two forty-somethings, my wife and I have struggled to do much dancing on board. We and several of the other younger couples finally managed to get the band in Torshavn to play some "rock and roll" two nights ago. It was their 11 to 11:45 set and we (six of us) were the only ones in the place. We pleaded and they played: " I Will Survive", "Mama Mia" and the like. Not disco or super good dancing music, but better than "Moon River". The band is matched to the waltzing generation and we were happy to get the slightly faster paced music out of them that we did.

 

Well, while Mom is a few decades older, she is definitely *not* a waltzer, so I hope our May 30 "Viking Homelands" features some similarly like-minded folks who request lively music!

[algaes]

Tenders pulled into a small dock very near the Amphiteater (Pula Arena). Nearest town area I would approximate to be Titov Park.

 

The Pula situation was strange starting with the onboard announcement. There were modest winds all through the day but no substantial chop either inside our outside the breakwater. The breakwater itself is strange because sections seem to be missing or are submerged.

 

Last tender was at 5:30 for passengers and the ship got underway around 6:15. Sunset was not until 7:54 according to ship's daily newsletter so tenders were stopped 2+ hours before sunset.

 

In any case, as mentioned in other postings, contradicting the harbormaster's advice would not be prudent.

[pukekolive]

I agree with Southland Rob but wonder what time the ship ended up leaving Pula? As the trip to Venice is so short perhaps the intention was to stay there til 11pm to allow for a Venice sail-in during daylight.

 

This was what took my eye as I read it and basically negates all of Viking's sea trials etc and Maritime Safety inspections etc 'wonder a lot about Viking's capability on the open water' - I hope that future cruisers don't cancel their trips based on this comment you made LadyVol1, even if it is only one opinion, I certainly won't!

[pukekolive]

A top level secret source told me its 100 cabins booked through, so 200 people.

We are actually a bit depressed at the moment because the eight younger (less than 55) folks we have met and hung out with are all leaving in Venice. My fear is that the average age is going to go up, not down as folks get on in Venice and Barcelona. The segments are longer and I suspect most getting on for segment 2 or 3 are staying for the long haul.

But there is more to the cruise than just partying. Viking is about culture and historical exploration and that has been and will continue to be great.

 

We booked our March 2016 Venice to Istanbul cruise glad that there were unlikely to be any kids but hoping that there would be some 50-65 passengers with music tastes beyond Elvis. We are 61 and 58 and are Led Zep, Clapton and more contemporary etc in our music tastes not the 'waltzing group'. I wonder if Viking have missed that those born in the 50's saw a revolution in music during the 60's?

[roothy123]

I agree with Southland Rob but wonder what time the ship ended up leaving Pula? As the trip to Venice is so short perhaps the intention was to stay there til 11pm to allow for a Venice sail-in during daylight.

 

According to Marine Traffic, estimated time of arrival is 2 AM UTC (4 Venice time), although sometimes that time is often a bit earlier than when a ship actually gets ready to dock/anchor. Star's taking a rather unusual path going to Venice - cutting right over to Italy in order to travel up the coast, rather than following ferry lanes. I figure she might be killing time, as perhaps the dock crew and authorities won't be ready for her if she tries to come in early. Who knows? Ocean cruising is filled with mysteries, especially if you're just an armchair traveler and not the Captain of a modern cruise ship!

[Di Princess]

If Waltzing is not your preferred form of dance, I will be ecstatic. On the hilarious side of things, you should have seen my wife literally running all over Torshavn acting out the dance of Mama Mia from the play/movie.

 

Sub Man: I would have loved seeing her dancing and I probably would be right on beat with her. ;) I dance every Tuesday night with my Daughter & S-i-L at the JACC (Japanese-American Cultural Center) in Pacoima. We are the only blonde girls there. We do waltz, cha-cha, boogie-woogie, Everything. Even though I was born before WWII, I can still move-it! :eek:

 

I am very impressed with your 691 days under the sea. I am USNR-R (Air), AZ1. Yes, sometimes I do miss driving from L.A. up to Point Mugu (as well as the pay). I do get retired pay, which is nice.

 

I am so enjoying your Blog. I wrote you about my being in Istanbul when my GrandSon was 12. Perhaps some day we shall cruise together. You guys are such fun! :D

[Vineyard View]

Di-Princess....love your post!! Thank you for the smile! And thank you all again for your service!!

[kathy9]

Well we are in Venice..... The cruise is over for me! I will be staying in Venice till Friday at the Gritti Palace and taking a tour tomorrow with fellow Viking cruisers Judy and Peter.

 

Despite the issues we have met some great people from our CC roll call, hope we can a all sail together again. I am sure one day soon Viking Oceans will be a great cruise line......

 

Roothy123 We did go to Rovinj on our private tour of Pula. It was very beautiful with many interesting shops. One of a kind pieces done by artists.

Kathy

Edited April 20, 2015 by kathy9

[CrusinSubMan]

Apparently the Spa is closed today. This is despite the fact that the Viking Daily lists it as being open from 8 AM to 8 PM. But the Spa manager is turning people away from the spa claiming that it would offend people using the spa to see people getting a tour of the space. So in other words, it is closed to prevent people from using it who might not enjoy using it.

But I am not convinced it is really supposed to be closed. If it was the schedule would say that it is closed. I think it is just a manager at some level doing what he or the thinks should be done or wants to do.

In any case, this is a good example of bad communication by Viking. If the spa were closed today then it should be in the Viking Daily and signs should be posted saying "closed".

The spa is beautiful on the Star. But the way it is managed is not. It is closed half of every day and, now apparently, all embarkation days.

Edited April 20, 2015 by CrusinSubMan

[CrusinSubMan]

My wife did her magical talking stuff and the Spa is now open. Yea!

They will be giving tours of course, so I think as people come down to use it, the will alert then to that fact.

[kathy9]

I have moved into The Gritti Palace..... I am not kidding! I love this place! I don't even miss being on The Star!!!

Kathy

[amarsh]

I am sitting at a Pizza cafe in Kotor and at another table is the Editor of CC that is riding us and the Viking Lurker rep. I am sure later they are going to see this post and laugh that I was a few feet away. Anyways I can see they are having some good conversations about the ship, and about Viking Oceans etc.

 

Will be boarding the Star at Bergen on May 30. Wish I could say that I have enjoyed reading everyone's post that is on the Star now. Not all are very encouraging to those of us who have yet to taste the Star experience. Not trying to be pessimistic about it and appreciating those who are trying to stay positive, I am still not really looking forward to our cruise. Our issues with Viking already have not gone well so far. Am really encouraged that the Editor of CC and a Viking rep is on board and my advice to them, if they are reading this forum, is that they travel incognito. Thank you all for your postings. I will continue to be an avid reader of them until boarding. Please continue to keep me positive.

[id4elizabeth]

Going back to Pula - I think Kathy is being overly generous. By my watch we waited the better part of an hour in Torshavn waiting to leave to get on the tenders. If it were not for the tenacity of our CC companion Judy (paquebot) we would no doubt have had to wait until all the Viking Shore Ex people had departed for shore. It was 10:30 + by the time we actually got to the port pier, despite the announcement that we had been cleared to disembark before 9:00.

 

If we had not already been so late, it would have been a lot of fun watching the crew try to tie up against the town dock. They tied up the bow line first and tied it way too tight so that the stern could not come around to put the side of the tender against the dock. They finally figured out they had to loosen the bow line.

 

Our private guide was fabulous and we had a great time going to Rovinj - all arranged by our CC scout Judy. Had a delightful lunch in the old harbor area. Judy had an extensive day planned. We also went to Lim Fjord, and although it was a nice respite in the day, I've seen better fjords. I would not necessarily advise that this be on your "must-see" list. Judy had scheduled an extensive day for us since we had been scheduled for much longer in port, so we had to skip the mountain village town of Movtoun, with a wine tasting, but something had to go. We ended the day back in Pula. I actually thoroughly enjoyed Pula, particularly its amphitheater. But you can easily see everything there is to see in an hour and a half - two hours max. Without the Roman ruins it would be a sad little town I think. Very industrial.

 

BTW, our private guide said he had never seen a cruise ship anchored/moored so far out. I guess our captain was concerned about maneuverability given the incident in Kotor.

 

We were on the last tender back, which was scheduled to depart at 5:30. We got on about 5:15. We did not leave the dock until 5:50. They waited for one last passenger who was unaccounted for - they never did show up. Didn't get back to the ship until 6:10. I will say the crew had the tender handling down by the time we left. I guess they just needed a little practice. I think it was around 6:30 or a little later when the ship finally left.

 

Not sure what time we got to Venice, but I got up at 5:30 am and we were already snuggly in our berth in Venice. No scenic sail-in.

 

One thing that is getting better is the iced tea situation. I can usually get some form of unsweetened tea almost anywhere now. it varies a lot in strength, but at least it's available. Thanks Viking!

[id4elizabeth]

Wondering who got on in Venice?

[filbert-kc]

I would suspect that most of the issues will be smoothed out by the time the Star reaches Bergen. Some others might not.

 

This is a brand new cruise ship, and a brand new cruise line. The 'brand new cruise ship' part of the equation causes a certain set of issues, problems, and challenges to arise.

 

The 'brand new cruise line' part of the equation causes a different set of issues, problems, and challenges to arise.

 

The combination of the two causes both another set of issues, problems, and challenges, and tends to exacerbate certain issues caused mainly by one or the two, new-ship and new-company, issues.

 

The 'brand new cruise ship' element is why there are issues with things like the TV/entertainment system, and various quirks and oddities with stateroom layouts that guests with experience with other ocean cruise lines will undoubtedly notice.

 

The 'brand new cruise line' element has, I think, caused a variety of issues of organization and communication, both internally in the Viking Star crew and probably in the company as a whole, and between the company as represented by the Star crew and the guests of the Star. These will work themselves out in time. Some of these are also the result of Viking intentionally trying to Do Things Differently. Some of those different concepts might have sounded really good in the meeting rooms but might not work so well in reality--others will work spectacularly well. All of this is shaking out right now.

 

The combo of new-ship and new-company has also, I think, caused what long-time ocean cruisers may see as an unusually difficult early cruise, for some of us I think. Policies, procedures, standards, and ways-of-doing-things were simply not totally ironed out, especially in the first few days of the cruise. Crew members didn't know what the answers were to sometimes fairly basic questions, and weren't sure whom to ask. This sort of thing is, I feel, also being ironed out as we go along.

 

Some of us who've been on the critical side of Viking are doing so because the company itself has set a high standard for itself, one we . . . well, I, for one . . . very much want to see the company meet and exceed. The more legitimate problems that we early passengers can identify for Viking, early on in this cruise, the more problems will be resolved for future cruises, and the better Viking will have a handle on how to resolve problems in general in the future.

 

Some of us are pushing a bit, yes. Some of us are demanding, a bit, yes. Most of the complaints have NOT been aired here on the board, they've gone directly to the Viking crew and management on board, trust me. And the Viking people are beginning to respond to those complaints. They'll get better as this cruise goes on, Viking Star will get better, and Viking Ocean Cruises will be better.

 

So, I'd suggest when you read a complaint or a concern here, know that it's likely one thing you won't have to worry about when you board the Star or any other Viking Oceans ship in the future (looks around for a piece of wood to knock on).

 

Viking Star had a pretty rough first couple of days, service-wise, coming out of Istanbul. It's gotten better. I am quite sure it will get even better yet as we go on. The crew, staff, and management have gotten through a very rough stretch, quite possibly the biggest challenge of their careers to this point. And things **are** looking up here on the Star. The TV/entertainment system still isn't yet where they want it to be. There are other issues still outstanding. But it's coming together.

 

Will be boarding the Star at Bergen on May 30. Wish I could say that I have enjoyed reading everyone's post that is on the Star now. Not all are very encouraging to those of us who have yet to taste the Star experience. Not trying to be pessimistic about it and appreciating those who are trying to stay positive, I am still not really looking forward to our cruise. Our issues with Viking already have not gone well so far. Am really encouraged that the Editor of CC and a Viking rep is on board and my advice to them, if they are reading this forum, is that they travel incognito. Thank you all for your postings. I will continue to be an avid reader of them until boarding. Please continue to keep me positive.

[roothy123]

Thanks. I don't go to Pula until fall so I'm sure the tendering will go faster. Unless he went there on another cruise ship this was the Captain's 1st visit to Pula so I imagine it was safety first for him. Not many ships go there besides ferries I've noticed. I'm looking forward to Pula and Rovinj, nice to know Lim was shippable as I won't have time for that. As I went to bed last night you guys were almost at the port. Have enjoyed tracking you around lots of complaining being done but I'm sure by fall things will be fabulous for us. After all, the ship has only sailed 10 days with its passengers. I just looked at your itinerary this week and it looks like a fabulous one. Enjoy!

[roothy123]

Filbert, nicely stated. It has only been 10 days, after all!

[id4elizabeth]

I agree, things are getting better. Remember if no one says (suggests, complains, whatever) anything, then things won't get better. And many things you can compensate for if you know ahead of time. It's the not knowing that leads to quite a bit of our frustration.

 

BTW, Venice is fabulous, and no trouble getting on shore today anytime you want.

[Traveler103]

To Filbert, Ladyvol and the other brave souls on this maiden voyage (AKA "Shakedown Cruise"):

 

A hat tip to you all for enduring the startup process and helping Viking and the Star crew to smooth the bumps and iron out the wrinkles. Any new complex system (ship, large project, business, manufacturing plant, etc.) goes through the rough spots of getting organized and establishing solid lines of communication. Adding to that is learning what most of your customer's preference are (we Americans take iced tea and sandwiches for granted).

 

I am optimistic that when we board in Stockholm on 30 May, the crew will be better prepared and organized, and the ship will have many minor bugs and glitches taken care of thanks to the input and efforts of you all.

 

Happy Sailing!

[roothy123]

algaes and kathy, thanks for the Pula and Rovinj info. And thanks to all of you for the information you've provided. And for that matter, thanks to Cruise Critic for providing the forums. On my previous cruises I've found I could get the most unusual question answered faster on CC than by waiting and calling the cruise line or my TA![emoji1]

[amarsh]

Thank you filbert-KC for your extensive explanations and pep talk. In case anyone is trying to figure out who this Viking traveler is and how she will be getting on the Star on May 30th in Bergen is going to get from Bergen to Stockholm before the ship sails, this traveler, will herself, be incognito, and trying to hide her stupidity as well. I really intend to embark on that day in Stockholm. I am happy to hear things are getting more to a norm and the drama of it all is diminishing. If Viking is truly now listening then this is a good start and wonderful to hear. Thank you all for acting as ambassadors for those of us who will be sailing on the Star in the near future. Your onboard communications with its staff is paving the way for us late arrivals to have the wonderful and long anticipated cruise we have been expecting to have.

[CrusinSubMan]

Wondering who got on in Venice?

 

Me too.

Captain told me about 200 folks stayed on and about 120 of those are doing all 50 days. About 500 came/coming on board today.

[CrusinSubMan]

Will be boarding the Star at Bergen on May 30. Wish I could say that I have enjoyed reading everyone's post that is on the Star now. Not all are very encouraging to those of us who have yet to taste the Star experience. Not trying to be pessimistic about it and appreciating those who are trying to stay positive, I am still not really looking forward to our cruise. Our issues with Viking already have not gone well so far. Am really encouraged that the Editor of CC and a Viking rep is on board and my advice to them, if they are reading this forum, is that they travel incognito. Thank you all for your postings. I will continue to be an avid reader of them until boarding. Please continue to keep me positive.

 

The CC editor disembarked today.

 

The ship is great and the crew is even better. While mostly all you hear about on this site is criticism, there are smiles, laughs, fun etc going on all the time. I am glad we took this cruise and looking forward to this next segment. And our criticism is producing some responsive action.

[CrusinSubMan]

Filbert, nicely stated. It has only been 10 days, after all!

It is very funny and ironic, that our TV is not working at the moment and they had to hand write my name down when I came back on board from Venice (various computer systems are down at the moment apparently). And they were making such good progress. But up here in the explorer lounge bar, the bar computer is working allowing the bartender to dispense drinks and charge the right stateroom

Tonight we are doing at The Chef's Table for the 8:30 seating to try the second menu (an indian- spice oriented menu) which debuts tonight!