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Food on Viking Embla is horrible

goldenrod

By goldenrod,
in River Cruising

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goldenrod

goldenrod

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Here we are in fabulous Vienna, toured from nine till 12:30, guess what was the most popular item on the lunch menu, baby back ribs! But guess what, they were actually beef short ribs, they also had beef and chicken kabobs, and pulled pork sandwiches! All great regional food of Vienna? Or a second rate Texas truck stop! You tell me! What the the hell is Viking thinking?

Oh I forgot to mention the fries were good!

 

 

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Edited by goldenrod
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nancyevans

nancyevans

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Here we are in fabulous Vienna, toured from nine till 12:30, guess what was the most popular item on the lunch menu, baby back ribs! But guess what, they were actually beef short ribs, they also had beef and chicken kabobs, and pulled pork sandwiches! All great regional food of Vienna? Or a second rate Texas truck stop! You tell me! What the the hell is Viking thinking?

 

 

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Sad when you think of all the great regional food. Do you think they are purposefully trying to cater to senior Americans with little travel experience?

 

 

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Shmoo here

Shmoo here

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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....

That's what it meant on our river cruise in 2015.

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Host Jazzbeau Great Review Rare

Host Jazzbeau

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Because I am not that familiar with the details of Viking River cruises, I have been hanging back waiting for someone with better knowledge to raise this -- but it seems to fall to me...

 

One of the strengths of Viking River cruises that has been mentioned in many reviews and posts is the Aquavit Terrace, which offers an alternative to the main dining room with (IIRC) great views, faster service, and a somewhat different menu.

 

I'm still a bit at sea about what OP was expecting in the food area and what they have been getting, so I can't tell if this would be a possible option for them -- but many others have found it an excellent choice.

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dabear

dabear

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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.

 

Wow, that's very limiting for many reasons. When we were on Emerald last year if we didn't like the main wine being served, I requested something else. They always provided me with an alternative acceptable wine at no charge.

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pacmom

pacmom

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We were on a Uniworld cruise from Bucharest -Amsterdam in 2004. When we got to Budapest they fired the chef. Food had been very good, it was his management of the kitchen. We found no change in the menu or food. On most lines the menu is set at corporate--even the recipe. What a disappointment for such a special time. Happy Anniversary! Pat

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SuiteTraveler

SuiteTraveler

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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....

 

Here's a bit more of the quote:

""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;"

IDK, from reading that, I would gather the wines are served with the menus inspired by local cuisine and I would expect that to be at lunch and dinner daily not once during the cruise.

On the other hand, the lunch menu goldenrod reported today is completely inappropriate for the location of his cruise. I really can't understand what Viking is thinking to even offer such a menu in Europe - unless as another poster suggested Viking is trying to cater to American seniors who are not well-traveled and unwilling to try new and different foods. I cannot think of any other reason to have BBQ and kabobs in Vienna. But then my only river cruise was on the Uniworld SS Antoinette on the Rhine and while there were a few continental food items, the lunch buffet and dinner menus were mostly regional cuisine. On the other hand the SS Antoinette was at a similar price point to Viking. So I don't understand why they would be this drastically different when it comes to food and wine.

Does anyone here think this lunch menu is appropriate for this river cruise?

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SuiteTraveler

SuiteTraveler

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Posted
We were on a Uniworld cruise from Bucharest -Amsterdam in 2004. When we got to Budapest they fired the chef. Food had been very good, it was his management of the kitchen. We found no change in the menu or food. On most lines the menu is set at corporate--even the recipe. What a disappointment for such a special time. Happy Anniversary! Pat

 

That is exactly what the chef on Uniworld SS Antoinette told me - that the menu was set at corporate but that it varied according to the route of the cruise. The quality of the food was very high all day, everyday with locally sourced ingredients and local type recipes throughout our 8 day cruise.

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SuiteTraveler

SuiteTraveler

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The food in the Aquavit Terrace was basically the same with no ribs and the same 2 wines served the whole time! I always check the food in both places.

 

 

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I really appreciate your honesty about the food situation on Viking. This is just so disappointing and I absolutely hate that this is what you are experiencing on your special anniversary cruise. In your position, I would definitely ask the hotel director for a solution so that you CAN experience local cuisine. After all, that is what many of us cruise for.

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H2Otstr

H2Otstr

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Posted
Here's a bit more of the quote:

""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;"

IDK, from reading that, I would gather the wines are served with the menus inspired by local cuisine and I would expect that to be at lunch and dinner daily not once during the cruise.

On the other hand, the lunch menu goldenrod reported today is completely inappropriate for the location of his cruise. I really can't understand what Viking is thinking to even offer such a menu in Europe - unless as another poster suggested Viking is trying to cater to American seniors who are not well-traveled and unwilling to try new and different foods. I cannot think of any other reason to have BBQ and kabobs in Vienna. But then my only river cruise was on the Uniworld SS Antoinette on the Rhine and while there were a few continental food items, the lunch buffet and dinner menus were mostly regional cuisine. On the other hand the SS Antoinette was at a similar price point to Viking. So I don't understand why they would be this drastically different when it comes to food and wine.

Does anyone here think this lunch menu is appropriate for this river cruise?

 

This may be their LUNCH menu and some regional dish will be served for dinner. Often Viking will have a more casual lunch. I loved the German sausages and brats that were served on one of our Viking cruises. Another time Viking had a buffet style German lunch in the lounge, accompanied by a sleeve of German beers. It was so good.

 

We have always enjoyed our meals on our Viking cruises.

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jrkstl

jrkstl

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FYI - just retuned from the Rhine Getaway with Viking last week, and the food choices were all (for the most part) based on the destination, etc. Once again, we found the food to be good to excellent on this cruise and we've been happy with the other cruises as well. The "free" wine stayed pretty much the same (with the exception of a Riesling added once in that region) but they had other (maybe free, maybe not) options as well. Same with beer - more than one included option as well.

 

Sounds like the OP may have a boat with chef issues?

 

Jeff

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Hoyaheel

Hoyaheel

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Wow, that's very limiting for many reasons. When we were on Emerald last year if we didn't like the main wine being served, I requested something else. They always provided me with an alternative acceptable wine at no charge.

I might expect that on a line where all alcohol is included, but not one where you just get a single wine choice at lunch and/or dinner. Isn't Emerald a higher price point than Viking?

 

""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;"

 

IDK, from reading that, I would gather the wines are served with the menus inspired by local cuisine and I would expect that to be at lunch and dinner daily not once during the cruise.

 

To me, the semi-colon separating the vintage wine segment from the restaurant menu segment tells me they are NOT considered the same. It's a list of items you might expect. It's not everything combined into one.....

 

All this said, back & forth in this thread - none of the reviews of Viking I've read over the past few years would have led me to believe the situation to be as dire as the OP is reporting, so I hope it's a single issue on this cruise (Which doesn't do OP much good, admittedly).....

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Kingofcool1947

Kingofcool1947

Posted
Posted (edited)
Here we are in fabulous Vienna, toured from nine till 12:30, guess what was the most popular item on the lunch menu, baby back ribs! But guess what, they were actually beef short ribs, they also had beef and chicken kabobs, and pulled pork sandwiches! All great regional food of Vienna? Or a second rate Texas truck stop! You tell me! What the the hell is Viking thinking?

Oh I forgot to mention the fries were good!

 

 

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So what else was offered on the lunch menu? Or was it American food only?

Edited by Kingofcool1947
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14thmed

14thmed

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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.

I totaly agree. We were very disappointed with the food on our Christmas Cruise. Didn't go that far for American food.

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goldenrod

goldenrod

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Well looking forward to our next cruise, it will be on Princess in a Penthouse Suite 450 Sf 31 days LA to Buenos Aries and will spend days trying to forget this Viking worst food ever 25k joke on me! I garrentee it won't happen again!

 

 

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Edited by goldenrod
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4Lakes Lady

4Lakes Lady

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FYI - just retuned from the Rhine Getaway with Viking last week, and the food choices were all (for the most part) based on the destination, etc. Once again, we found the food to be good to excellent on this cruise and we've been happy with the other cruises as well. The "free" wine stayed pretty much the same (with the exception of a Riesling added once in that region) but they had other (maybe free, maybe not) options as well. Same with beer - more than one included option as well.

 

 

 

Sounds like the OP may have a boat with chef issues?

 

 

 

Jeff

 

 

Thank you for your opinion of your recent cruise. Having reserved a first time Viking cruise for next year on the Rhine, I was becoming apprehensive reading this thread. Glad to hear someone give a more positive review of the food served on Viking!

 

 

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JVilleGal

JVilleGal

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Thank you for your opinion of your recent cruise. Having reserved a first time Viking cruise for next year on the Rhine, I was becoming apprehensive reading this thread. Glad to hear someone give a more positive review of the food served on Viking!

 

 

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You will have a lovely time! Don't stress one persons unhappiness.

 

 

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