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Food on Viking Embla is horrible


goldenrod
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"I suppose a lot of passengers have complained that they want American food in Europe, which, if you think about it, is ridiculous."

I don't think it's ridiculous, when Viking advertises "local quisine and American fare". If the "chefs" don't know how to cook American food, then it is the responsibility of Viking to train them.

I looked at your link to photos of typical Viking dishes and the one that caught my eye was of "buttermilk pancakes". That looked nothing like a pancake. The ingredients to make a pancake are not unique to the USA. And you certainly don't need to be a chef to make them.

Dining is a very large part of our travels. I would be put out if I found the meals to be sub-par, particularly on a 23 day trip. For a week, you might be able to overlook it, but not for 3 weeks +.

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OK, two things are becoming clearer, Regent as a comparison, and a desire/expectation of non-European cuisine.

 

We also do ocean cruises with Regent and no, I would not expect the same type of cuisine from Viking, but on the other-hand although Regent offers the standard options each night, their cuisine can hardly be called 'American' either.

 

Goldenrod, when on Regent, do you eat the more adventurous dishes, or do you stick to the steak and similar?

 

I travel a lot for work and I always avoid eating food that I may be more familiar with than the chef :)

 

I never eat Indian food in the USA, it is inevitably deeply disappointing when compared to the UK versions of the same dishes and of course completely different to the food actually served in India.

 

Similarly when we were in China, many of those from the USA complained that the food was completely different and unpleasant when compared to what is served as Chinese food back home...

 

If you do have an adventurous palate then heed the advice already given and stick to the local food.

 

If you are not so keen to try new and different food then I don't have a lot to offer unfortunately.

 

European beef is not going to have the taste and texture of USDA products and the chicken will have a flavor that is unfamiliar and perhaps even too strong.

 

The Ocean cruise ships tend to do a good job of bringing the food and flavors that their guests find familiar, with them, river cruises have to 'live off the land' rather more as they travel.

 

This is one of the differences and I can understand why some people find it too much to cope with.

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I looked at your link to photos of typical Viking dishes and the one that caught my eye was of "buttermilk pancakes". That looked nothing like a pancake. The ingredients to make a pancake are not unique to the USA. And you certainly don't need to be a chef to make them.

 

You are right that pancakes are not unique to the USA. They were first developed in ancient Greece but nearly every country in the world has their own version. The pancakes in the photo look like Eastern European pancakes to me - especially given how they are thin but not as thin as a crepe and pale and also the style of presentation with the powered sugar.

 

Have a look at all the different types of pancakes:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/tashweenali/pancakes-from-around-the-world?utm_term=.gqdxYkZQp#.bbyPjr8Yz

 

The problem with trying to make American food in Europe is that the food will not taste authentically American, no matter how hard they try due to differences in the ingredients. It's what the French call terroir.

 

What is hard for me to understand is why would anyone WANT to eat American food while in Europe as the local products and recipes are so very good? When traveling it is always better to eat local.

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I don't think goldenrod was expecting typical american food. I think he was expecting what Viking advertises. I have a very recent brochure from Viking and it states: " Our highly trained chefs are passionate about food and committed to providing an enriching culinary experience, whether your are savoring local specialties or American classics."

I think the OP was expecting the "enriching culinary experience" for his $23,000. Can't blame him for that.

Goldenrod....can you send some photos of the menus and some snapshots of the food being served??

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Mark_T,

 

EXACTLY!

 

There is a great documentary called "The Search for General Tso" and the film makers actually showed photos of so-called Chinese food from the USA to people in China and the Chinese didn't recognize any of it. That's because Chinese-American food is something that Chinese immigrants invented in order to have successful restaurants in the United States. If anyone wants to see the movie, it is here:

 

Here's an article with photos of some authentic Chinese dishes:

http://www.businessinsider.com/authentic-chinese-food-vs-american-chinese-food-2014-7

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I don't think goldenrod was expecting typical american food. I think he was expecting what Viking advertises. I have a very recent brochure from Viking and it states: " Our highly trained chefs are passionate about food and committed to providing an enriching culinary experience, whether your are savoring local specialties or American classics."

I think the OP was expecting the "enriching culinary experience" for his $23,000. Can't blame him for that.

Goldenrod....can you send some photos of the menus and some snapshots of the food being served??

 

 

Have you noticed the OP's replies are just one liners, and he never offers anything substantive? He never answers the questions asked. Just deflects. Pity his new S.O.?

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It has been suggested that I should close this thread. But then I would be accused of censorship. It's OP's thread and he continues to participate so there is no call under Cruise Critic guidelines to close it, other than removing those posts that are guideline violations themselves.

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It has been suggested that I should close this thread. But then I would be accused of censorship. It's OP's thread and he continues to participate so there is no call under Cruise Critic guidelines to close it, other than removing those posts that are guideline violations themselves.

 

I understand the suggestion to close the thread, as some comments in both directions border on the ungracious. However, nothing really crosses the line IMO, and the discussion is really interesting. If anyone is bothered by it, of course, it is obvious what the thread is like by now, and no one has to read it. I must confess, I actually look for it. As an experienced traveler in Europe but approaching my first cruise, I find the tension between expectation and experience not only informative but rather fascinating. I am pleased that as the discussion has developed, not only has Goldenrod presented a more varied look at his trip but also the responses of the OPs have become more diverse.

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It has been suggested that I should close this thread. But then I would be accused of censorship. It's OP's thread and he continues to participate so there is no call under Cruise Critic guidelines to close it, other than removing those posts that are guideline violations themselves.

 

I think closing this thread would be very wrong. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the OP is not alone in his complaints about the food on Viking River Cruises and the Embla in particular.

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I understand the suggestion to close the thread, as some comments in both directions border on the ungracious. However, nothing really crosses the line IMO, and the discussion is really interesting. If anyone is bothered by it, of course, it is obvious what the thread is like by now, and no one has to read it. I must confess, I actually look for it. As an experienced traveler in Europe but approaching my first cruise, I find the tension between expectation and experience not only informative but rather fascinating. I am pleased that as the discussion has developed, not only has Goldenrod presented a more varied look at his trip but also the responses of the OPs have become more diverse.

 

 

Well said.

 

 

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It has been suggested that I should close this thread. But then I would be accused of censorship. It's OP's thread and he continues to participate so there is no call under Cruise Critic guidelines to close it, other than removing those posts that are guideline violations themselves.

 

 

 

Jazz. I've been in CC a long time. Lots of boards. I don't see anything wrong with voicing an opinion against a particular cruiseline. But what I see as a problem on this thread is posters attacking a poster. That I know is against TOS.

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I feel like this whole thread is very enlightening. While I would never order some of the foods goldenrod has on a European river cruise, I had not realized quite how much American type food Viking is actually serving since I cannot find a complete set of Viking menus for their various cruises. IMO, Viking really ought to cut back on trying to make American food in Europe and go to mostly foods that are from the countries they are sailing in and something light - such as soup and salad for those who are not feeling up to an elaborate multi-course dinner. They would be able to get rid of the whole American Classics section of the menu as far as I'm concerned. I feel like having all these American foods makes Viking much less special. My advice to Viking would be to not dumb down their product by ruining the immersive experience of a river cruise by serving American food - unless they are cruising in America. This to me, is one of the top two or three most important differences between an ocean cruise and a river cruise: an ocean cruise tends to have all kinds of cuisines, a river cruise should ONLY have the cuisine from the area in which they are traveling and it should be locally sourced as should the wines.

 

I also think Viking should make all of their menus available for people who want to see what they are serving on each of their cruises.

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,,, I don't see anything wrong with voicing an opinion against a particular cruiseline...
Anyone who has followed my posts knows that I am far from a Viking cheerleader (most especially concerning a number of their sales techniques, but I also have additional issues). I see nothing wrong with voicing an opinion again particular cruise lines, but "Food on this tub is total garbage!" (and also calling it "crap" and "horrible" and "lousy" - yes all those words have been used) is a lot closer to libel than it is to any shade of reasonable opinion. I'm sorry that the OP is so disappointed with his cruise, but unreasonable statements combined with a lack of sufficient research by a 10 year multi-thousand poster on CruiseCritic, makes complaints difficult to accept.
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Anyone who has followed my posts knows that I am far from a Viking cheerleader (most especially concerning a number of their sales techniques, but I also have additional issues). I see nothing wrong with voicing an opinion again particular cruise lines, but "Food on this tub is total garbage!" (and also calling it "crap" and "horrible" and "lousy" - yes all those words have been used) is a lot closer to libel than it is to any shade of reasonable opinion. I'm sorry that the OP is so disappointed with his cruise, but unreasonable statements combined with a lack of sufficient research by a 10 year multi-thousand poster on CruiseCritic, makes complaints difficult to accept.

 

I think when we understand how much he paid for this cruise, it kind of puts things in perspective. Also, just for the sake of comparison, this is a long review of the whole cruise, but look at the dinner menus from Uniworld's Ganges river cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2453281

 

I suspect the menus on Uniworld are much more the culturally immersive type of experience the OP was expecting to have in regards to food on Viking - except it would be European food from the countries he is visiting rather than Indian food - especially considering that Viking's marketing materials emphasize their onboard Cultural Enrichment program and Destination Focused Dining. This is from Viking's River Cruise website:

 

"CULTURAL ENRICHMENT. Our Culture Curriculum, an exclusive onboard program, brings local history to life with lectures on history and art; tasting of vintage wines from your destinations; restaurant menus inspired by local cuisine; informative port talks; enriching Destination Performances featuring folkloric shows and musicians playing regional and classical music. Enlighten yourself further with our Library’s carefully curated collection of informative and inspirational books."

 

"DESTINATION-FOCUSED DINING. Whatever your tastes, we believe dining is an important part of your journey, both on shore and on board. Our highly trained chefs are passionate about food and committed to providing an enriching culinary experience, whether you’re savoring authentic regional specialties or American classics. And our ships’ dining areas—from our elegant Restaurant to the Sun Deck and Aquavit Terrace, our al fresco dining area at the bow of the ship—are the ideal setting for hospitable, attentive and personalized service."

 

I tried to find an entire group of Viking River Cruises menus for this cruise, but have not located that yet. However, the individual menus I did find contain a surprising number of American foods on each menu for a cruise in Europe. I'm curious if the current menus are the same way?

 

This food issue on Viking would not necessarily stop me from cruising on Viking if the price were right and the cruise had the right ports as I could always go to land based restaurants each day for lunch if nothing else, but it would make me look at Uniworld and other river cruise lines that offer European food first. As to the cabin and ship overall, I think it is nice, the storage issue would not bother me at all. But having the right food in the right area is REALLY important to us.

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goldenrod, another person posted that Embla only serves two wines - one white and one red and it's the same brand and varietals night after night after night. Is that true?

 

 

Yes !

 

 

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I suspect the menus on Uniworld are much more the culturally immersive type of experience the OP was expecting to have in regards to food on Viking

 

Since the OP has not really answered any of the questions about their food preferences, it is hard to know if this is what they wanted or, as the food choices that have been mentioned might suggest, if they were actually looking for a USA style food experience...

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OK, well, I would say that IS a legitimate complaint. If wines are not paired correctly with food it can really make the food taste bland or bad or too...anything.

 

There will be a full wine menu available, but what they choose to pour as the 'free' wine may of course be more limited.

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"

I looked at your link to photos of typical Viking dishes and the one that caught my eye was of "buttermilk pancakes". That looked nothing like a pancake. The ingredients to make a pancake are not unique to the USA. And you certainly don't need to be a chef to make them.

 

That's a typical European pancake. After living for 7 years in Europe I know that if I want an American pancake I can make it at home or go to an outlandishly priced "American" theme restaurant. I don't know why anyone would expect an American anything on a European river cruise.

 

This makes me think back to visiting Europe with my grandparents when I was a teenager and eating at McDonald's, KFC, and Pizza Hut the whole time because my grandmother couldn't get onboard with European food. It's only after moving here that I realized how much we missed out on back then and why the "ugly American" stereotype exists.

 

That said, I feel bad for the OP spending that much money on what they expected to be a once in a lifetime experience.

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After a number of European river cruises, several on Viking, I have some overview of food. On Viking cruises I have had the best and worst food of my travels. The worst was the second week of a two week cruise where it was mostly frozen hotel convention food lacking freshness and imagination. Maybe the chef quit. The best was on the Elbe where we had several days of fresh local asparagus dishes. Food quality on different cruises is uneven and depends on the staff (chef/buyer/budget) and the season of the year. It seems to be the luck of the draw.

I hope for fresh local produce/ingredients and regional dishes. I must admit though, that the hamburgers on AMA are to my liking.

Of course, food preferences are highly personal. I am omnivorous and love fresh vegetables.

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There will be a full wine menu available, but what they choose to pour as the 'free' wine may of course be more limited.

 

Yes, I realize that, but Viking marketing materials say:

"CULTURAL ENRICHMENT. Our Culture Curriculum, an exclusive onboard program, brings local history to life with lectures on history and art; tasting of vintage wines from your destinations..."

To me, that indicates that vintage wines from the ships destinations would be included with dinner each night (along with food from the region). I think that promoting that as part of their Cultural Enrichment program and then not providing different wines each night from the various destinations is misleading.

On the one hand, I can understand why Viking might settle on 2 different bottles of wine for the duration (cost and quality control), but on the other hand, given what their marketing materials say, that would NOT be what I was expecting from the river cruise. Also, I think the same two wines every night might actually make the food taste bad as wine and food really needs to be paired correctly so that the wine enhances the flavor of the food.

Edited by SuiteTraveler
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Yes, I realize that, but Viking marketing materials say:

"CULTURAL ENRICHMENT. Our Culture Curriculum, an exclusive onboard program, brings local history to life with lectures on history and art; tasting of vintage wines from your destinations..."

 

But that could very well mean that someone comes on board at one port and has tastings of the local wine in the lounge. We had tastings of cookies on our Avalon cruise in one port. Learned how to make them, tasted them (no actual cooking - this was in the lounge). It was part of the cruise's "cultural enrichment" but NOT part of the dining program....

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