Food on Viking Embla is horrible

[Cruise Critic Chris]

Hello hostjazzbeau,

 

I agree it is good marketing and makes perfect sense. I am sure both passengers and winery get a lot from it. I was referring to an article I read on cruisecritic. Senior editor Chris was on an Amawaterways cruise last November where there was a winery from Boston on board with many cruisers "recruited" because of their membership in a wine club. Before I read the article I thought "what a nice idea, getting a local vintner or perhaps even two to show their wines, it is good for supporting local trade". I was disappointed to find out out that is was an American winery Ama was supporting.

 

notamermaid

 

Yep, it was a winery from Portland, but otherwise accurate, in terms of how Ama does things. I will note that even though we had a lot of the American wines, we also tasted local varietals during excursions and comparison tastings. I quite enjoyed seeing how an Austrian riesling compared to one from the Willamette Valley, but also understand that's not for everyone.

 

I was just on Avalon last week and the execs there took pains to tell me that's NOT how they do their wine cruises. Avalon wine cruises aren't done in conjunction with American wineries. Instead, they bring a wine expert onboard and concentrate solely on the wines of the region. So, not all wine cruises are the same!

[Host Jazzbeau]

Hello hostjazzbeau,

 

I agree it is good marketing and makes perfect sense. I am sure both passengers and winery get a lot from it. I was referring to an article I read on cruisecritic. Senior editor Chris was on an Amawaterways cruise last November where there was a winery from Boston on board with many cruisers "recruited" because of their membership in a wine club. Before I read the article I thought "what a nice idea, getting a local vintner or perhaps even two to show their wines, it is good for supporting local trade". I was disappointed to find out out that is was an American winery Ama was supporting.

 

notamermaid

 

As far as the wine clubs go, the piece of information you are missing is that because of US alcohol laws it would have to be a US winery with a wine club. Foreign wineries are prohibited from shipping wine direct to customers in the US, so they couldn't have the type of wine club I'm describing. But I see that Chris has already noted that there is another model for wine-themed cruises that better fits what you were looking for.

[notamermaid]

Thank you Chris,

 

for the clarification. Remembered this slightly incorrectly then. Interesting of Avalon to do it differently.

 

Hostjazzbeau,

 

I certainly did not know that. It explains AmaWaterways' system a lot. It certainly makes marketing and shipping to the US slightly more complicated.

 

Thank you.

 

notamermaid

[SuiteTraveler]

I found these comments on Viking food on Yelp:

 

"Did you read Vikings PR about how the chefs prepare "regional delicacies" from local markets? Malarky. I saw the canned food being trucked in one day while I stayed on the boat and everyone else was off on their bus. There were lots of canned onion rings, canned stale cookies, really mediocre food."

 

 

"Disappointed in cruise! We had your chef whose meals varied from good ok to rock bottom! We returned from a visit to Lyon a gourmet center to dine on HMMBURGERS !! Unbelievable. You did well to book your own Paris hotel.. Ours was miles from Paris. Needless to say we are not keen to book with Viking at present time."

 

 

"FOOD. Very poor. No taste, dry, appeared to be of poor quality.night after night. Portions very small, which turned out to be a good thing. "

[SuiteTraveler]

Tonight is the captain's Farewell dinner as most on the ship get off in Budapest on April 19, about 20 of us will continue the trip all the way to Bucharest with a new group, but getting back to the farewell dinner, we were supposed to have Surf and Turf (we were shown the menu this morning) well the food trucks arrived and left! No Lobsters or scallops! So we will have filet with shrimp instead LoL!

PERFECT!

 

 

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goldenrod, Your anniversary cruise should have been really special and it's not like you can get a do-over. At least you had a nice suite (albeit with limited storage.) If nothing else, I hope you can take satisfaction in the fact that you have forewarned many here about this. When you get home, have a look at the reviews of Viking on Yelp.com. I'm sure you will see much of what you experienced there PLUS posts from some people who actually had, if you can believe it, an even worse experience.

[Hoyaheel]

I certainly did not know that. It explains AmaWaterways' system a lot.

I might be misremembering but I don't think that's the *only* way Ama does wine cruises. CaviarGal has done wine cruises (I think on AMA) and she described going to local wineries etc in France. But as with all issues here and as recommended EVERY DAY - if it's important to you, do as much research ahead of time as you can!!!

[goldenrod]

Not when you were expecting lobster and scallops.

 

 

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And these were not giant prawns! These were two bite shrimp with a small 4 oz filet and Luke warm mashed potatoes!

 

 

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[goldenrod]

goldenrod, Your anniversary cruise should have been really special and it's not like you can get a do-over. At least you had a nice suite (albeit with limited storage.) If nothing else, I hope you can take satisfaction in the fact that you have forewarned many here about this. When you get home, have a look at the reviews of Viking on Yelp.com. I'm sure you will see much of what you experienced there PLUS posts from some people who actually had, if you can believe it, an even worse experience.

 

 

Thanks for your words of sympathy!

 

 

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[drcpa]

The OP has taught us an important, inspirational lesson that I will not soon forget.

Viking is a 20 year old company with 60 ships who employs over 4,000 people. Each year thousands of people sail on Viking and over the years tens of thousands have sailed with her.

It is possible that not everyone will like the food.

I will be forever guided by this sage advice.

[Kellybc]

This has been extremely informative. We're going on our first river cruise in October with friends, so compromises have been made. I pride myself on researching any vacation thoroughly, especially outside of the US, but I have to admit, I also assumed there would be more regional food and wine. Thankfully, because my husband is a scotch drinker, we took the Silver Spirit package as our incentive, so I'll have other wine options. Even though some friends feel they should only need to eat on board, I'm going to look at lunch options in port now, and maybe consider one of the optional evening offerings - dinner at a monastery (should be local wine included;)). Thank you all for sharing your experiences; the sample menu was an eye-opener.

[JVilleGal]

This has been extremely informative. We're going on our first river cruise in October with friends, so compromises have been made. I pride myself on researching any vacation thoroughly, especially outside of the US, but I have to admit, I also assumed there would be more regional food and wine. Thankfully, because my husband is a scotch drinker, we took the Silver Spirit package as our incentive, so I'll have other wine options. Even though some friends feel they should only need to eat on board, I'm going to look at lunch options in port now, and maybe consider one of the optional evening offerings - dinner at a monastery (should be local wine included;)). Thank you all for sharing your experiences; the sample menu was an eye-opener.

 

 

Just a word of caution, we sail Amsterdam to Budapest and most (many at least) days we did 2 ports a day. That means we toured a Morning town, returned for lunch while we sailed (during lunch) for a second town. Eating lunch in town did of course happen a "couple" times but often was not an option. Review your itinerary!

 

PS we sailed Avalon, but all the lines have similar practices.

 

 

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[Roz]

To piggyback on what JVilleGal just said, on my 8-day cruise on Uniworld, if you took the included tours, there was no opportunity to eat lunch in town. A lunch was included in one of the tours in Austria, and it was definitely local fare.

 

Roz

[mlld3536]

I am fascinated to note that this thread started all of six days ago and is now up to 187 posts! Now, I am pretty new to these boards, but I bet that is a bit unusual!? Clearly food is super-important, and this definitely does not surprise me. I have been blogging about my recent travels, and believe me my friends and family expect a bite-by-bite account of the food. While I did note that some of goldenrod's disappointment could have been avoided by better research, getting information is challenging. I have the Berlitz River Cruising in Europe, which is supposed to be a really good guide. It gives the Embla four stars and rates the cuisine at 73 out of 100--higher than some Uniworld ships. Yet to judge from what some OPs have said, goldenrod's experience is not unusual. I guess we have to do our best, make our judgments, and recognize that any vacation will have its glitches. But I really do sympathize with such a pervasive problem on an expensive "trip of a lifetime."

[Cyber Kat]

All I can say is that taste, like a lot of other things is subjective. I did hope that our Rhine Getaway on the Viking Mani would be a trip of a lifetime, and it was in every aspect. It far exceeded my expectations.

 

I don't consider my self a gourmand, but I have a broad range of likes when it comes to food. I can enjoy a hamburger at Smashburger one day and a gourmet meal at one of the many fine dining establishments in the NY metro area. I didn't have an expectations as far as the food on our cruise. I was happy with the selections and the quality. I suppose there could have been more local options, but it wasn't something I was necessarily looking for. We ate in Amsterdam, Lucerne on our extensions (Amsterdam on our own, Lucerne through Viking) and sampled local food. We also had lunch in Heidelberg & Cologne - again local food.

 

Again with the wine - I kind of thought there would be more local wines, but I was happy with the wines offered. Not a wine expert by any means, though I did work for a wine importer for some time and have tasted very expensive wines and cheap wines. We used to ask one of the sales reps if a wine we were considering was good and his answer was always, "Tastes good and will get you drunk!" While I'm not looking to get drunk, tastes good works for me :D

 

Each Viking ship has a different chef, so I supposed the food can vary as well.

 

I don't mean to take away from the OPs experience, but I just wanted to add another experience - mine. And I was completely satisfied. We have another Viking Cruise booked.

[Alberta Quilter]

I am surprised at the food that the OP is being served, not that I doubt him. When we did our b2b France river cruises with Viking in Nov/15, we were served frogs legs, coq au vin, boeuf Bourgignon, escargots and many other local items. We had basically the same menu items on the second cruise but it was not as well prepared/tasty as the first cruise so the chef does make a huge difference.

 

As for the included wine, the red wine changed daily but the white wine did not, at least, not on the first cruise. By the second cruise, I was already ensconced in the red wine so I didn't notice if the white wine changed!

[Viking Cruises]

Dear goldenrod,

 

Our communication with your ship indicates that the Viking Embla crew has attempted to provide a pleasurable anniversary cruise for you and your wife. The chef and maître d’ have taken personal interest in your dining experience and have made several accommodations, including a special-made horseradish sauce, advanced menu distribution and customized meal preparations, to try to repair your displeasure.

 

We are sorry that you remain unhappy, despite our best efforts to work with you on board, and have arranged for a member of a Customer Relations team to call and speak with you tomorrow to explore what other steps we can take to reach an agreeable outcome.

 

goldenrod, we wish you a restful evening and look forward to speaking with you tomorrow.

 

Kind regards,

Viking Cruises

 

And these were not giant prawns! These were two bite shrimp with a small 4 oz filet and Luke warm mashed potatoes!

 

 

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[Starlaker]

This thread has been very interesting. Such a wide range of opinions. We are doing the Viking Amsterdam to Budapest cruise in June (also for our 50th wedding anniversary) and am looking forward to it greatly. Personally, I am going for the touring experience. The food and wine doesn't really matter that much to me as long as it is edible. I guess the secret is to be informed before you go and choose the line that is most compatible with your interests. I expect to have a wonderful time and will report back when we return. I am pleased to see that Viking Guest Relations is following these boards and attempting to address Goldenrod's concerns.

[CoralReef]

Are there cruisers getting off your ship tomorrow? The reason I ask is that I was on Yelp.com today reading reviews of Viking (:( ) and one poster mentioned that there was a special dinner as some people are getting off the ship tomorrow and they were supposed to have filet and lobster, but all they got was filet and shrimp.

 

Hi ST,

I checked Yelp, but I only see one review of Viking River Cruises. Can you paste in your link? Thanks!

[SuiteTraveler]

Dear Viking Cruises,

Can you please post your menus here from goldenrod's cruise so that we can see first hand how much of the food is American food and how much of the food is regional cuisine from the area in which he is cruising?

[SuiteTraveler]

Hi ST,

I checked Yelp, but I only see one review of Viking River Cruises. Can you paste in your link? Thanks!

 

They are here and there are also some reviews of Viking Ocean cruises interspersed that you have to disregard but all sorts of interesting things are relayed in the reviews both good and bad:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/viking-cruises-woodland-hills-2

[JVilleGal]

This thread has been very interesting. Such a wide range of opinions. We are doing the Viking Amsterdam to Budapest cruise in June (also for our 50th wedding anniversary) and am looking forward to it greatly. Personally, I am going for the touring experience. The food and wine doesn't really matter that much to me as long as it is edible. I guess the secret is to be informed before you go and choose the line that is most compatible with your interests. I expect to have a wonderful time and will report back when we return. I am pleased to see that Viking Guest Relations is following these boards and attempting to address Goldenrod's concerns.

 

You are going to have a lovely and memorable trip! Don't let this thread put you off. We loved our Amsterdam to Budapest cruise :)

 

Disclaimer: we did not sail with Viking but walked thru several Viking Longboats while rafted next to them. The Decor is very lovely! They have lots of satisfied passengers (and repeat passengers).

Edited April 20, 2017 by JVilleGal

[CPT Trips]

As far as the wine clubs go, the piece of information you are missing is that because of US alcohol laws it would have to be a US winery with a wine club. Foreign wineries are prohibited from shipping wine direct to customers in the US, so they couldn't have the type of wine club I'm describing. But I see that Chris has already noted that there is another model for wine-themed cruises that better fits what you were looking for.

 

Are you sure that foreign wineries can't ship to US consumers? Shipmates on several of our river cruises in Germany and France ordered cases from wineries to be shipped to them in the states.

[hawkeye65]

This thread has been very interesting. Such a wide range of opinions. We are doing the Viking Amsterdam to Budapest cruise in June (also for our 50th wedding anniversary) and am looking forward to it greatly. Personally, I am going for the touring experience. The food and wine doesn't really matter that much to me as long as it is edible. I guess the secret is to be informed before you go and choose the line that is most compatible with your interests. I expect to have a wonderful time and will report back when we return. I am pleased to see that Viking Guest Relations is following these boards and attempting to address Goldenrod's concerns.

I have to ask, which ship, which date? We're also doing a A to Budapest cruise, Jn 4 (with a pre-cruise in Amsterdam and post in Prague) on Magni for our 50th.

 

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[CoralReef]

They are here and there are also some reviews of Viking Ocean cruises interspersed that you have to disregard but all sorts of interesting things are relayed in the reviews both good and bad:

https://www.yelp.com/biz/viking-cruises-woodland-hills-2

 

Thank you!

[rothbury]

I can only say I will NEVER order a case of wine to be shipped home......again. DW & I found the best wine we've ever had in Tuscany several years ago. Paid to have it shipped home to U.S. The cost for taxes, shipping and customs was over $300. when I opened the case and pulled out the first bottle it had an American label which I thought was suspicious. The label read "Bottled under authority of.........". Eventually found out it had come from an American vineyard "approved" by the Italian vineyard. Now we will buy a bottle or two to carry but I'll never have wine shipped to me again.