Viking Dining for the Not-So-Social

[Im_not_creative]

"as some will be dining off boat and others will be upstairs with the buffet in the lounge."

 

There is a buffet on these river boats? For dinner?

Every night?

 

(S)he didn't say what line they were on.

 

On Scenic, there certainly isn't any buffet anywhere at the same time as dinner. Their "river cafe" which only really has snacks anyhow is only open until shortly before dinner.

 

And it will be rare on many crusies for anybody to be able to dine off the boat, since "all aboard" times are frequently before dinner. We were sailing during dinner at least 50% of the time on our Danube cruise.

 

You could dine in your room, with room service avaiilable for all cabins, although not widely advertised, and I'm not sure how good the service was at dinner time, when most of teh staff would be busy in the dining room.

[pereirageorge7701]

Yes the Viking Aquavit lounge is the perfect place to get a table for two , and if you can get permission to eat the restaurant menu upstairs it's quite beautiful.

As for space never ever compare an oven liner to a rivership.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[pontac]

"as some will be dining off boat and others will be upstairs with the buffet in the lounge."

 

There is a buffet on these river boats? For dinner?

Every night?

 

 

Hi Nancy,

 

I don't know about other lines, but yes on Viking. Breakfast, lunch and dinner you can eat in the dining room or have a simpler meal in the lounge

 

The thread is titled Viking Dining and my sig line shows I've only been on Viking so I didn't explicity state Viking in my post, apologies. :)

[pilgrimduke]

Dinner was our least favorite part of the Viking river cruise that we took last year with two of our friends. After having dinner on two different nights with people that claimed they had worked with the CIA and another night with a person who wanted to talk politcs and we didn't see eye to eye (but we kept quiet) we migrated to the Aquavit Lounge. (Nothing against those that work for the CIA, but I don't think they generally advertise who they work(ed) for.)

 

We're not foodies so the limited menu on offer was fine with us, but for those who food variety is more important, that would probably not be a great solution.

 

It was nice not having to go through the nightly scrum to get a table together. I felt sorry for the four who spoke Spanish and apparently wanted to dine together and only with themselves. They would line up half an hour before the dining room opened, apparently to make sure that they could get a fourtop. They also went to the Aquavit a few times we were there. (I'm not being critical--I think that I'd be in the same boat and want some time each day where I wasn't having to communicate in a second language.)

[Rosethorn40]

I second the Aquavit Terrace on a night or two you just can't deal with other people. On the first night of our Christmas Market's cruise I was so tired (We had traveled over 30 straight hours with almost no sleep) and I just wanted to eat and go to bed. Dining at the Aquavit Terrace was fast, and we had the area nearly to ourselves.

 

I also think the suggestion to sit at a large table and no one will notice if you join in the conversation is a good one as well.

 

As far as "Less popular cruiser's" and your fear you will be stuck with them??? On our trip no one fit that description. Everyone was lovely that we met.

[Hoyaheel]

(Nothing against those that work for the CIA, but I don't think they generally advertise who they work(ed) for.)

 

You know, they have janitors, security, admin assistants at the CIA too:p (my late uncle worked at the CIA - no, I don't know exactly what he did because he was an analyst, but he was allowed to tell us where he worked, because he was not an undercover agent;))

[CPT Trips]

You know, they have janitors, security, admin assistants at the CIA too:p (my late uncle worked at the CIA - no, I don't know exactly what he did because he was an analyst, but he was allowed to tell us where he worked, because he was not an undercover agent;))

 

You beat me to it. Clandestines work for Departments of State or Defense or for some NGO or even some independent entrepreneur. Yep, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Believe that, or I'll have to kill you. :p

[BlueEllen]

I googled Viking and social just now and came upon this discussion. My husband and I were on the Hild and had one other couple that virtually tried to lasso us to them. Every meal and during the informational sessions in the lounge, the wife made her approach. After about two days, I'd had enough and made some non-verbal efforts to distance ourselves. It was quite awkward.

 

This was our first cruise together and was a sort-of belated 25th anniversary celebration. I did not want to form a new best-friendship.

 

The awkwardness of that situation is why I may not choose Viking again, although everything else about the cruise was fabulous. I don't like being thrown together with people who don't know how to politely bow out.

 

I saw that this couple managed to find another pair to cling to by the end of the trip. The wife was very solicitous of the woman in the other couple, almost as if she were managing a child. That kind of thing is not for me. Honestly, that second couple probably just couldn't stand up for themselves is what I think.

[CDNPolar]

12 hours ago, BlueEllen said:

I googled Viking and social just now and came upon this discussion. My husband and I were on the Hild and had one other couple that virtually tried to lasso us to them. Every meal and during the informational sessions in the lounge, the wife made her approach. After about two days, I'd had enough and made some non-verbal efforts to distance ourselves. It was quite awkward.

 

This was our first cruise together and was a sort-of belated 25th anniversary celebration. I did not want to form a new best-friendship.

 

The awkwardness of that situation is why I may not choose Viking again, although everything else about the cruise was fabulous. I don't like being thrown together with people who don't know how to politely bow out.

 

I saw that this couple managed to find another pair to cling to by the end of the trip. The wife was very solicitous of the woman in the other couple, almost as if she were managing a child. That kind of thing is not for me. Honestly, that second couple probably just couldn't stand up for themselves is what I think.

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

I don't think that this is unique to Viking and perhaps unfair to not sail Viking again because  of this.  River cruising is much more intimate than ocean on all river lines.  Yes, some river lines have a bit more physical space in the lounge and dining areas, but you are still at the same risk of a "latch on".

 

We were on Uniworld and had to make very strategic dodges to get away from a couple with their adult son that seemed to want to stick to us all the time.  The son and father did not talk but the wife/mother could talk and did talk for all of them with constant stories of all her experiences from childhood to adulthood.

 

I do hope you will sail Viking again, because I fear that you may find the same situation happen on other cruise lines too.

[Canal archive]

CDNPolar is absolutely correct it’s a sad fact that some are completely oblivious to the nuances of life. On arriving in the lounge my DH and I will often unless invited by acquaintances find an unoccupied area to sit, the number of times we have been I can only say invaded by a group and then had it made obvious that they would like us to move is countable. Still never mind there are ways and means although often overhearing the in-site into their lives is absolutely out of this world - boring. Curiously enough these traits are not constrained to one nation.

[pontac]

17 hours ago, BlueEllen said:

The awkwardness of that situation is why I may not choose Viking again, although everything else about the cruise was fabulous. I don't like being thrown together with people who don't know how to politely bow out.

 

Your reaction is understandable, but suppose you travelled with a different cruise company next time only to find the other couple had also switched and were travelling with you?

 

The situation you found yourself in hasn't happened to us in 17 cruises, but there are techniques that can be used to avoid sitting with a particular couple at meal times.

 

You can go to the dining room 20 minutes after opening when the couple you want to avoid are already seated and choose a different table.

 

You can join a table that people are already seated at and which has just two free places. Thus there's no room for anyone else to join.

 

If they sometimes hover round the dining room entrance waiting for you, on Viking use the back stairs to go the Floor 3 and peek down. If they are at the entrance go to the Aquavit lounge to eat.

 

Lounge talks and daily Port Talks can be seen and heard on your in-room TV.

 

But I really don't think the situation will occur again. These people sound one of a sort, and the chances of encountering them again are miniscule, bearing in mind the huge number of river bouts and cruise dates. 

[austinetc]

Unless/until we find people we want to pair up with (and they us), at meals I wait until we are sure that our present table companions don't qualify, then say: "We so much enjoy listening to the experiences of different people. We always try to sit with new couples at every meal. We're too old to really make new friends, but not too old to be entertained by strangers."

[BlueEllen]

Thank you folks for your suggestions and for “hearing” my frustration. You are probably right. I won’t hold it against Viking.

[CDNPolar]

As others have mentioned, sometimes you just must be stealth in how you do your avoidance tactics.

 

There was a couple on one of our last river cruises that did exactly as @pontac said and arrived at the dining room about 10 minutes after everyone else.  Only bread was served to the tables at that point and there were many tables that just had a couple of chairs open. 

 

I watched this couple - not like spying... LOL - but what I am saying is that I noticed them several days doing this and each night they sat with different people.  They just really liked the variety of people.

 

We often notice too that a lot - not all - but a lot of people go in the left side or the right side of the dining room and sit at the same table.  If we are avoiding then we will go in the opposite side and find a seat there.

[Canal archive]

And if their so called table is occupied you get the ‘stinky eye’. Oh people watching is such fun especially if you’re feeling a little bored. 🥱

[CDNPolar]

4 hours ago, Canal archive said:

And if their so called table is occupied you get the ‘stinky eye’. Oh people watching is such fun especially if you’re feeling a little bored. 🥱

 

Oh, yes, love this.

 

Taking off topic, but this happens on the busses too!  We boarded a bus with our friends after a short stop and most people were in different seats.  The four of us selected seats across the isle from each other and a woman approached and stood in the isle and said - "You are in my seat" and just stood there...  We moved.  Life is too short to have preferred seats and not get your way.

[Daisi]

5 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

 

We often notice too that a lot - not all - but a lot of people go in the left side or the right side of the dining room and sit at the same table.  If we are avoiding then we will go in the opposite side and find a seat there.

 

 

Lol, we tend to do that, select a table for 6, and welcome anyone to join us. We'll sit at the same table if possible for all meals, and if those who joined us the night before pass us by, that's ok. We did walk in one lunchtime after a tour to find a group of 4 seated at "our" table. So we figured we'd have to walk by and find somewhere else to eat...turns out they rushed down to to sit there because they wanted to eat with us. We had started to walk past when they called us back!

[CDNPolar]

5 hours ago, Daisi said:

 

 

Lol, we tend to do that, select a table for 6, and welcome anyone to join us. We'll sit at the same table if possible for all meals, and if those who joined us the night before pass us by, that's ok. We did walk in one lunchtime after a tour to find a group of 4 seated at "our" table. So we figured we'd have to walk by and find somewhere else to eat...turns out they rushed down to to sit there because they wanted to eat with us. We had started to walk past when they called us back!

 

Haha!  You had a following and did not even know it!  Love it.

 

Our worst one was two women that followed us around - especially at dinner time.  They would find us in the lounge and then say they wanted to eat with us.  In this situation it was hard to avoid them.  The thing was that for the first couple of days they were fairly quiet and "normal" but over time their personalities came out and they were actually not that "normal".  There was also a rift happening between these two friends sharing a cabin and that became more noticeable as the days went on.

 

This is river cruising.  You just do your best.

[Daisi]

@CDNPolar, they were a really nice family (son & wife, Mom & friend). I think part of the reason was that we were 2 of the 8 Canadians on board, and they were looking at future travels up here. We had a couple more meals with them throughout the cruise. So far we have been really lucky with fellow cruisers, only met one on the last night that was a little "off".

 

[Canal archive]

One year we palled up with a couple and not all but occasionally had lunch or dinner in their excellent company another couple who had tried to pal up with us and failed (I’m sorry I don’t do uptight opinionated individuals) actually said to us they were ‘so sorry that we had got stuck with them’ so my DHs reply was I thought wonderful - oh you don’t know who he is then - they spent ages trying to find out what celebrity he was, dahhhhhh!