Review of Viking Sky’s ‘Barcelona to the Baltic and Beyond’ April 2017

[English Voyager]

I also suggested that a slow walkers group be formed so the whole group would not be held back by a few. It's not fair to either group.

 

Did the group miss seeing anything due to the inclusion of slow walkers?

 

For me, a slower pace enables one to not only appreciate what is before one, but also allows time to take either photos, or videos.

 

It is incumbent on the Cruise Line to allocate more than enough time for the guide to achieve this goal.

 

 

 

My very first cruise to the Baltic was with Celebrity in 2003.

 

St. Petersburg was celebrating it's 300th anniversary.

 

Our guide to the Peterhof Palace told us she preferred working for Celebrity as it allowed far more time for it's excursions.

 

Our tour of the Palace was completed well before it opened officially to the public.

 

We then had ample time to walk around the gardens before we had to meet for the included lunch in the Peterhof's restaurant.

 

It was a memorable start to my love affair with St. Petersburg.

[Peregrina651]

Did the group miss seeing anything due to the inclusion of slow walkers?

 

For me, a slower pace enables one to not only appreciate what is before one, but also allows time to take either photos, or videos.

 

It is incumbent on the Cruise Line to allocate more than enough time for the guide to achieve this goal.

.

 

Slow enough to enjoy and take photos is one thing but just standing around waiting for someone to catch up each time is another. Viking sends out plenty of buses/groups on the included tours, so they should be able to set aside one for the slow movers. And they should be able to do it right on MyVikingJourney at booking time.

[philw1776]

Slow enough to enjoy and take photos is one thing but just standing around waiting for someone to catch up each time is another. Viking sends out plenty of buses/groups on the included tours, so they should be able to set aside one for the slow movers. And they should be able to do it right on MyVikingJourney at booking time.

 

Absolutely. Slow walkers is offered on Viking river cruises and mostly people self select making everyone enjoy tours at their preferred pace.

Viking should add a "Raid & Pillage" option for young, hyperactive cruisers. :evilsmile:

[English Voyager]

Slow enough to enjoy and take photos is one thing but just standing around waiting for someone to catch up each time is another. Viking sends out plenty of buses/groups on the included tours, so they should be able to set aside one for the slow movers. And they should be able to do it right on MyVikingJourney at booking time.

 

The determinant is the pace set by the guide.

 

I have been on walking tours containing no slow walkers where the guide has been told on more than one occasion to slow down.

[English Voyager]

Viking should add a "Raid & Pillage" option for young, hyperactive cruisers. :evilsmile:

 

Does Viking allow 'young maidens' to be brought back on board?

 

As a solo traveller I would have room.:evilsmile:

[H2Otstr]

Slow enough to enjoy and take photos is one thing but just standing around waiting for someone to catch up each time is another. Viking sends out plenty of buses/groups on the included tours, so they should be able to set aside one for the slow movers. And they should be able to do it right on MyVikingJourney at booking time.

 

I enjoy a comfortable pace since I also like to take photos. We had one man who grumbled the whole excursion because he could not keep up. He was using a walker and the cobblestones were wicked and the hills were steep. We always had to wait for him to catch up. It was not fair to him or us. If Viking had a slower walkers group he could have enjoyed the excursion at a more leisurely pace.

[deec]

with voice boxes, my husband can stop, take pictures, still find us and catch up!

English Voyager we did indeed miss a couple of things and had limited time at others because of the SLOW walkers.

 

Our worst experience was not on a VIKING trip but another small ship cruise and we were touring Machu Picchu ....we missed an entire section!!!!

[philw1776]

Love those Quiet Boxes. Geezers like me with hearing issues can easily hear the guide plus drift off a bit on our own, sights, bathrooms. Only wandered away too far once in Arles and had an adventure getting back to my bus.

[Peregrina651]

Viking should add a "Raid & Pillage" option for young, hyperactive cruisers. :evilsmile:

 

Hear! Hear!

 

But will they actually see anything as they go racing past ticking off as many things on the laundry list of "must-see" as possible?

 

 

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[Fpacifico]

I've been on tours where those who are annoyed with the slow walkers are the last to get on the bus.

[Peregrina651]

Love those Quiet Boxes. Geezers like me with hearing issues can easily hear the guide plus drift off a bit on our own, sights, bathrooms. Only wandered away too far once in Arles and had an adventure getting back to my bus.

 

I know that if I can no longer hear my guide I have lingered too long.

 

 

And talking about geezers with hearing issues, I wish Viking was more insistent that all guides on all tours use the head sets unless on the bus. It gets really boring (and limiting) having to stand right beside the guide so I can hear what is being said.

[jiminyC_fan]

I know that if I can no longer hear my guide I have lingered too long.

 

 

And talking about geezers with hearing issues, I wish Viking was more insistent that all guides on all tours use the head sets unless on the bus. It gets really boring (and limiting) having to stand right beside the guide so I can hear what is being said.

 

I found this interesting. I thought that ALL guides used them. I know that Ocean is a different creature from River but we never had a guide not use it.

[Peregrina651]

I found this interesting. I thought that ALL guides used them. I know that Ocean is a different creature from River but we never had a guide not use it.

 

On the river cruises, I think that many times the guides are Viking employees while on the ocean cruises they are almost exclusively local contractors -and this may have everything to do with it.

[deec]

On our recent Ocean cruise all the guides that we had did use them. We really missed the great buses that Viking Rivers has!!!!! The buses and guides are not consistent on the Ocean Itinerary.......too many ports and too many people. Viking does really encourage feedback on every tour. The guides do not always pass out the evaluation but they are available at the desks.

 

I would also like to see Viking include tips for local guides and drivers!

[philw1776]

Were Viking to include tips like Uniworld does, we could forego getting 6 different currencies on the Viking homelands tour. Just got my small bills via AAA who uses Wells Fargo bank. On Silversea they included Turkish bathroom fees on the tour.

[Peregrina651]

 

I would also like to see Viking include tips for local guides and drivers!

 

Actually, I would like to see ALL tips included in the cruise fare and tour prices (including the included tours!). Anyone who wants to tip more can still do so.

[palermo22]

OK - I will be the exception here: I completely agree with the OP and felt that he was right on with many of his comments (both negative and positive). Taking various subjects:

 

1) Food: one of the main reasons we all enjoy cruising is the food. The food was good - but not 100% of the time - while I can say it was good, overall it was far from great. We had a wonderful server in the main dining room for dinner - whenever one of us had to send something back - you could see on his face some embarrassment). There were many times when the food had to be returned because it was under-cooked or over-cooked - or just not very tasty at all. In many ways the buffet lunch was better than the restaurant dinner. But even the buffet had problems: they would not let you put your salad on your plate - you had to hand the plate to the staff and then you had to point to what you wanted. There were no prepared salads already made up - this was a real weak point. The two specialty restaurants: we canceled our reservations after trying each one - the Italian Restaurant couldn't even make a good plate of pasta - and the maitre'd was just awful: remember the soup natzi on Seinfeld? He now reappears as the maitre'd. Bottom Line on the food: if I were at any restaurant and spending $50 for dinner - then I got what I deserved. When I spend as much as we did for this cruise - then I would expect the food to be perfect - it wasn't - far from it!

 

2) The Tours: we made a huge mistake taking the included tours (glad I had the foresight for a few ports - including St. Petersburg to do our own tours). The included tours were just awful - mot were just drive arounds with perhaps getting out of the bus for a few minutes. Same thing for the walking tours: I felt like we were back in the first grade: every five minutes they were counting the group members to ensure they hadn't lost anyone. My advice: do not take the free included tours!

 

3) Sea Days: good luck in finding something to do on the ship. Except for 30 minutes devoted to Team Trivial pursuit - its was quite boring.

 

4) I do give kudos to Viking for the entertainment - it was better than I thought it would be. The theater is built for sound and that makes all of the singers sound great.

 

5) This shows that they can't think outside the box: they did setup a M&G for the cruise critic members - there were perhaps 50 of us (including spouses) - while they get kudos for setting it up they did not provide and labels or IDs - so that people would know who they were talking to. When I mentioned that to one of the staff members - they said "good idea - we should have thought of that).

 

If you are expecting a cruise slightly better than Carnival and Princess - then you will have a good time. If you are expecting a cruise slightly under Regent - then you will be disappointed. My favorite cruise line is Oceana and I was hoping that our cruise on Viking would be close to that - it wasn't! Quite a few people have commented on this thread that the OP must have dreamed ip some of his comments: my last comment: the OP hit every point right on the nail and if anything some of his negative comments did not go far enough. Unlike him, I will most likely stay away from Viking Ocean Cruises and go back to Oceana.

Edited May 12, 2017 by palermo22
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[irenedee]

Thank you for your perspective. I have recently booked my first Viking Cruise - 2018. I have cruised with Regent twice and had expectations along that line for Viking. If what you say is true then I may need to re-think my decision.

 

Can I have a few opinions from others please?

 

 

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[Peregrina651]

Thank you for your perspective. I have recently booked my first Viking Cruise - 2018. I have cruised with Regent twice and had expectations along that line for Viking. If what you say is true then I may need to re-think my decision.

 

Can I have a few opinions from others please?

 

 

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IMHO, regardless of the varying reviews, you really won't know for sure until you experience it for yourself.

[English Voyager]

Thank you for your perspective. I have recently booked my first Viking Cruise - 2018. I have cruised with Regent twice and had expectations along that line for Viking. If what you say is true then I may need to re-think my decision.

 

Can I have a few opinions from others please?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Like you, I have booked my first Viking cruise for 2018.

 

Personally, I have learned not to be swayed by other people's reviews.

 

This was brought home to me two years ago following a highly enjoyable Cunard cruise.

 

Two member reviews posted on that cruise were so damning that I wondered if the one I was on had been in a parallel universe.

[jiminyC_fan]

OK - I will be the exception here: I completely agree with the OP and felt that he was right on with many of his comments (both negative and positive). Taking various subjects:

 

1) Food: one of the main reasons we all enjoy cruising is the food. .

 

Actually, itinerary is the number one reason we choose a particular cruise. Food never enters into our decision what so ever, period. We chose our upcoming Homelands tour with Viking because of the excellent river cruise we had with them and the Homelands itinerary. Food, staff, ship was perfect on the river cruise and I am not expecting that much difference between the two.

 

 

I have researched extensively and have plans to do some ports on our own, some included and some private tours.

 

 

I look forward to our cruise. I can't imagine that food will ruin our experience. I will check in when we get back.

[philw1776]

I hope that those not pleased with Viking food, tours or the staff, e.g. the maitre'd let Viking know in their written cruise ratings. I know that Viking takes these seriously.

I have seen tour guides fired twice while on Viking river. In one case I thought Viking was too harsh. I love the tours. Only one was bad and it was "fixed" before we got to the cruise director who was excellent.

[irenedee]

I must admit that I agree with JimmyC that itinerary is very important and the Homelands hits all the buttons for me

 

Since there are few sea days, I'm not too concerned about a quiet day. Food however is a different matter. I DO have expectations around that. I would be very disappointed if meals were not a highlight. I expect (based on everything I've read so far) that it will not be a Carnival experience

 

 

 

 

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[philw1776]

I must admit that I agree with JimmyC that itinerary is very important and the Homelands hits all the buttons for me

 

Since there are few sea days, I'm not too concerned about a quiet day. Food however is a different matter. I DO have expectations around that. I would be very disappointed if meals were not a highlight. I expect (based on everything I've read so far) that it will not be a Carnival experience

 

 

 

 

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Agreed. Itinerary rules but poor or so-so food is not acceptable.

Based on my prior Viking river experience the food was very good. I expect the same on the Viking Sea. Read many reviews of Manfredis where folks loved it and the few criticisms were that the Italian food was too "Italian" and not American Italian. Although I'm a Mick, I vastly prefer Italian Italian, so I'm good with that.

The reviewer may have a point about the arrogant maitre'd on the Sky. I can't say. If so, I hope he told Viking.

[Host Jazzbeau]

5) This shows that they can't think outside the box: they did setup a M&G for the cruise critic members - there were perhaps 50 of us (including spouses) - while they get kudos for setting it up they did not provide and labels or IDs - so that people would know who they were talking to. When I mentioned that to one of the staff members - they said "good idea - we should have thought of that).

 

I have been to M&Gs on several cruise lines, some of which provided hors d'oeuvres and some of which had lots of 'brass' in attendance and some of which did neither. NONE of them provided name tags. If you have experienced this, consider yourself unusually lucky -- it is not the norm.