Review of British Isles Explorer on Viking Sun, Aug. 8 – Sept. 4, 2018

[Host Jazzbeau]

DW and I returned several weeks ago from a wonderful cruise on Viking Sun: the British Isles Explorer itinerary from Bergen, Norway to Greenwich, England.

 

A complete day-by-day blog and lots of pictures are posted here:

jazzbeauxbritishislescruise2018.wordpress.com

 

Here is the text of the review [last post on the blog]:

 

This was our 19th cruise, on ships ranging from 100 to 2,852 passengers, putting Viking Sun at the smaller end – but it always felt like a much bigger ship in terms of space [never crowded], seaworthiness [a very smooth sailer], and options [dining and entertainment].

 

Our first reaction on boarding Sun was: Wow!  She is so elegant and luxurious [Four Seasons, rather than the snide claim of IKEA], and very well laid out.  Soft, unobtrusive music plays in the background in public areas [so much nicer than the jarring music on Celebrity lately].  As we explored the ship throughout the cruise, every area was just stunning! Not just to look at, but even to touch: soft coverings, e.g. leather on all the handrails, gave an elegant feel.

 

Cabin:  Our cabin, 5082 [PV1 category] was spacious, bright, and well appointed with unusual touches like the heated bathroom floor [now adjustable] and the self-opening drapes.  Plenty of storage [and we pack heavy].  The location was quiet and convenient.

 

Staff:  This was the one area where Viking didn’t quite measure up to the best of the other cruise lines we have sailed.  Our cabin attendant [who was very good] was the only person on board who learned our name throughout this 14-night cruise.  We have been spoiled by Azamara, so it felt odd that we never saw the ‘stripes’ out mingling with the guests – that provides easy avenues for feedback on Azamara [which is acted on immediately] and also gives the ship’s staff a personality.

 

Food:  The food was excellent, and being able to visit the specialty restaurants as often as we liked [at no extra charge] made the cruise feel very luxurious.  We dined in the main dining room [imaginatively called The Restaurant ] six times, The World Café once, Manfredi’s twice, [on shore once], and – to our surprise – the Chef’s Table four times [because the menu changed every two days, so there were no repeats].  Not every dish was a hit [duck was always dry and I had to send one steak back], but we enjoyed every meal and would rate the food on Viking Sun up there with our best prior cruises including AmaWaterways, Azamara, and Celebrity’s Luminae suites restaurant.

 

Most of the included wines were acceptable, and if you didn't like them you had three choices to upgrade: the beverage package [no good for us because both cabin mates have to buy it], buying a bottle from the wine list [fairly priced], or even bringing wine on board [no corkage fee – very unusual on ocean cruises!]

 

The Chef's Table was a real highlight. The portions are small enough that DW didn't feel stuffed, and the presentation is stepped up a notch from the MDR. The premium wine pairings were well chosen [and since DW doesn't drink at all, they were comped for me – which made them taste even better!]  Note that you can only make two reservations each for Manfredi’s and the Chef’s Table in advance, but once on board we had no trouble making all the additional ones we wanted.

 

Entertainment:  Small ships generally have smaller budgets for entertainment – but Viking Sun again punched well above its weight.  The four main show singers were as talented as any we have seen at sea [maybe the fact that they didn’t have to dance much allowed the casting director to focus on singing], and the show band was excellent and sounded like there were more musicians than we could see.  The specialty acts were very good, and it was especially apropos that the first one played Norwegian music as we overnighted in Bergen.  Most surprising was the amount of enrichment:  four speakers on a wide range of topics.

 

Casino, Art Auctions, Photographers, Kids:  One of the nice things about Viking Ocean ships is that they don’t have any of these! It makes for a much more refined and laid-back atmosphere, and it frees up more space for general public use.

 

Shops:  We browsed a very little bit and weren’t tempted by anything. But we really enjoyed that no one was pushing us to buy ‘gold by the inch’ or anything else.  Most times we walked by the boutiques, the salespeople were standing around talking to each other – so maybe Viking could free up even more public space by cutting these functions down [or out].

 

Itinerary:  This was the British Isles Explorer itinerary, from Bergen, Norway to Greenwich, England. Viking uses Bergen as the start or end port on many of its cruises – both because this is their ships’ homeport and because Norway’s status outside the EU means they don’t have to worry about charging VAT onboard.  But Bergen isn’t the easiest city to fly into, so we started our trip in Oslo and took the scenic train across Norway: an excellent decision!  After that, we enjoyed every port and felt that the itinerary was very well thought out to give a well-rounded introduction to the British Isles [and Ireland].  Starting in the North was also a good decision, as the scenery began with stark beauty and became more lush as we went along; that also worked well with late-summer weather, although we had ‘fine soft weather’ almost every day.  And ending in Greenwich gave us a very scenic [narrated] sail up the Thames.

 

Excursions:  Viking justifies the prices on its ocean ships in part because of the included excursion in each port – but after studying the available options we ended up not taking any of them.  They also offer a wide range of optional choices, but most of them seem like the standard tours available on other cruise lines [at similar prices]. So we followed our usual practice of arranging private tours and lowering the price by sharing with members of our Cruise Critic Roll Call – this worked out well for us, but it is sometimes difficult on Viking Ocean because fewer people are looking beyond the ‘free’ choices.

 

We did take four Viking optional excursions, because they were things that couldn’t be done easily or safely on our own.  A Taste of Norwegian Farm Life was excellent, and gave us a nice glimpse of living in the countryside near Bergen.  The Knockan Crag Hike in Ullapool was also very good [despite the infestation of midges that drove us crazy] – we could have done this on our own, but the short tender call would have made getting back to the ship stressful.  Ancient Castle & Abbey Tavern in Dublin was much less satisfying; Malahide Castle was worthwhile, but the time in Howth was entirely devoted to a pub and the guide and driver were not ready for prime time.  London and the London Eye was well-planned, but torrential rain put a wet blanket on it [I like my puns intended ].

 

Summary:  Viking Ocean joins the short list of cruise lines we hope to sail again.  There are only two things that may prevent that:  (1) the prices are high if you don’t take the included excursions, and (2) the itineraries are mostly pretty plain-vanilla – we have reached the point that we want intensive itineraries that really let us get to know a country or area [like the Azamara Costa Rica-intensive cruise we did last January, or the circumnavigation of Iceland we are doing on Ponant next year].  I hope that as Viking adds more and more ocean ships, they will get more adventuresome with their itineraries – because we would like to be back!

 

Again, you can find a complete day-by-day blog and lots of pictures here:

jazzbeauxbritishislescruise2018.wordpress.com

[Heidi13]

Host Jazz - brilliant summary, thanks for the excellent report.

 

BTW - what route did they take from Dover to Greenwich. Did you use the inshore zone, or cross the channel to the Eastbound lanes.

Edited October 22, 2018 by Heidi13

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 10/21/2018 at 11:21 PM, Heidi13 said:

Host Jazz - brilliant summary, thanks for the excellent report.

 

BTW - what route did they take from Dover to Greenwich. Did you use the inshore zone, or cross the channel to the Eastbound lanes.

 

I don't know for sure.  We were scheduled to leave Dover at 6 pm and we didn't arrive at Greenwich until 12:45 pm the next day.  [I had questioned them to make sure they meant PM!]  I didn't really pay attention to what happened between 6 pm and early morning [we got back to the ship after a long shore excursion shortly before 6 and I rushed to the theater for the Captain's farewell (already in progress), then the Chef's Table for dinner at 7, then collapse ].

 

I think the real point of the 18 hour sail was to get the shops open one last time, and then to have a dramatic sail up the Thames [and through the Thames Barrier] in late morning when everybody would be able to witness it [and the narration by one of our history speakers].  That was really nice.

 

Unfortunately when we arrived in Greenwich the process of securing the ship to the floating dock took a long time, and there was another long wait before the first tender pulled up [it reminded me that Great Britain is an island – because we were certainly on 'island time' ].  We jumped on that tender and made the most of a short afternoon at the Observatory and Royal Naval College – because we had to get back onboard for a very early dinner and then the optional excursion to the London Eye.

[terrydtx]

Thank you for your review it was very helpful and reassuring.  We are booked on our first VO cruise in 2020 going from Venice to Athens for 10 days. We also are in a PV1 cabin. My Sister and BIL are currently on their first VO cruise the Orion, Beijing to Hong Kong cruise. She is a  TA and life long Celebrity cruiser, her comment I saw on FB this week was she may never be able to go back to Celebrity after this cruise on VO. Our friends going with us in 2020 have been on several Oceania cruises so this will be a nice comparison with them too. 

[Clay Clayton]

Enjoyed your blog and am now following.  It was great to see some of the places (Highlands, Edinburgh, Dublin, Greenwich) that we just visited from the viewpoint of a cruiser as opposed to our land based adventure in those places.  

 

I didnt see mention of you trying hagis?  We were surprised to learn we actually liked a full Scottish breakfast....so much better than a full English-just can't do the beans in the morning!😂

Edited October 25, 2018 by Clay Clayton

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Enjoyed your blog and am now following.  It was great to see some of the places (Highlands, Edinburgh, Dublin, Greenwich) that we just visited from the viewpoint of a cruiser as opposed to our land based adventure in those places.  

 

I didnt see mention of you trying hagis?  We were surprised to learn we actually liked a full Scottish breakfast....so much better than a full English-just can't do the beans in the morning!😂

 

Was never offered haggis, but would only have dared a bite on a dare   For breakfast, if they offer Eggs Benedict they have me right there – but after a few days I switch to poached eggs on toast to save calories...

[Clay Clayton]

4 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Was never offered haggis, but would only have dared a bite on a dare   For breakfast, if they offer Eggs Benedict they have me right there – but after a few days I switch to poached eggs on toast to save calories...

I think it gets a bad rap.  Tasted like sausage with some grain mixed in.  Try it if you ever can.  

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Clay Clayton said:

I think it gets a bad rap.  Tasted like sausage with some grain mixed in.  Try it if you ever can.  

Haggis and black pudding are both delicacies, unfortunately I think you need to enjoy them first before knowing what's in them. 

[Azulann]

Thank you for your detailed review.  I share  you feeling of elegance throughout  the ship.  I never  sat on all the various types of chairs  and couches they had. And  I was on a 15 day TA cruise with 8 sea days! 

[prudence passenger]

Just found this thread, and I thank you very much for the in depth report.  We are sailing on Viking Jupiter end of July 2019, British Isles, and I enjoyed all the information and photos.  We usually prefer to take off on our own, and do not like big group bus tours.  Were you happy with all the private tours and companies you used?  I am also very impressed by all the mileage your DW managed on the trip, and it will be a good incentive for me to follow suit, or at least try to practice yoga more while we are away, as I tend to slip, and not practice too much.  Thanks again, reading your report was awesome, and I can't wait for this trip.

 

Judi

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thanks Judi.  Yes, we were happy with all the private tours and companies we used.  If you need contact info for any of them, please email me [in signature below].  

 

If you are planning a similar stay in Britain after the cruise, I would also say that we have enjoyed all our rental-car tours throughout the years, but I will give you a few pointers:  (1) bring your own GPS if you have one, as you can program it with 'favorite' destinations before getting into the car and thus make the journey much more efficient; (2) rent as small a car as you can to fit your luggage, as the roads in Europe are much narrower than we are used to in the US; and (3) don't try to do Yoga whilst driving!!!

[prudence passenger]

unfortunately no driving around this time, we are spending four days in Switzerland, and another four in London before we get on the cruise.  I agree about the narrow roads, we spent a week driving in Scotland as part of a three week trip and by the end of the week my husband had totally had enough driving.  It can be harrowing, and very tense, and maybe that is only because it is the other side of the road for us and we worry our reflexes are not what they used to be!  Yoga breathing whilst driving is very beneficial by the way 🙂

thanks

Judi

[lackcreativity]

Judi,

I am glad you bumped this thread, as I missed it the first time around.

 

Jazzbeau,

I enjoy reading about the opinion of an experienced cruiser's first Viking Ocean trip. We never wanted an ocean cruise, but after one Viking River, we gave Viking Ocean a try and were delighted. It seems that we were fortunate to find our perfect ocean cruise fit on our first try. Glad you enjoyed your trip, and thanks for the link to your blog.

[Host Jazzbeau]

13 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

Judi,

I am glad you bumped this thread, as I missed it the first time around.

 

Jazzbeau,

I enjoy reading about the opinion of an experienced cruiser's first Viking Ocean trip. We never wanted an ocean cruise, but after one Viking River, we gave Viking Ocean a try and were delighted. It seems that we were fortunate to find our perfect ocean cruise fit on our first try. Glad you enjoyed your trip, and thanks for the link to your blog.

 

Viking Ocean is indeed a great way to start ocean cruising.  They have many itineraries that offer good introductions to the areas they are sailing in, and of course the ships are always elegant and uncrowded.

[katiequail]

Thank you so much for your interesting travel review of the Viking British Isle Explorer.  It has given us so much to consider on our trip this May

[dizzy1949]

Thinking of booking this cruise for 2023.  What side of the ship do you suggest..port or starboard..as far as being more scenic from the cabin?  Thank you.

On 10/21/2018 at 8:13 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

DW and I returned several weeks ago from a wonderful cruise on Viking Sun: the British Isles Explorer itinerary from Bergen, Norway to Greenwich, England.

 

A complete day-by-day blog and lots of pictures are posted here:

jazzbeauxbritishislescruise2018.wordpress.com

 

Here is the text of the review [last post on the blog]:

 

This was our 19th cruise, on ships ranging from 100 to 2,852 passengers, putting Viking Sun at the smaller end – but it always felt like a much bigger ship in terms of space [never crowded], seaworthiness [a very smooth sailer], and options [dining and entertainment].

 

Our first reaction on boarding Sun was: Wow!  She is so elegant and luxurious [Four Seasons, rather than the snide claim of IKEA], and very well laid out.  Soft, unobtrusive music plays in the background in public areas [so much nicer than the jarring music on Celebrity lately].  As we explored the ship throughout the cruise, every area was just stunning! Not just to look at, but even to touch: soft coverings, e.g. leather on all the handrails, gave an elegant feel.

 

Cabin:  Our cabin, 5082 [PV1 category] was spacious, bright, and well appointed with unusual touches like the heated bathroom floor [now adjustable] and the self-opening drapes.  Plenty of storage [and we pack heavy].  The location was quiet and convenient.

 

Staff:  This was the one area where Viking didn’t quite measure up to the best of the other cruise lines we have sailed.  Our cabin attendant [who was very good] was the only person on board who learned our name throughout this 14-night cruise.  We have been spoiled by Azamara, so it felt odd that we never saw the ‘stripes’ out mingling with the guests – that provides easy avenues for feedback on Azamara [which is acted on immediately] and also gives the ship’s staff a personality.

 

Food:  The food was excellent, and being able to visit the specialty restaurants as often as we liked [at no extra charge] made the cruise feel very luxurious.  We dined in the main dining room [imaginatively called The Restaurant ] six times, The World Café once, Manfredi’s twice, [on shore once], and – to our surprise – the Chef’s Table four times [because the menu changed every two days, so there were no repeats].  Not every dish was a hit [duck was always dry and I had to send one steak back], but we enjoyed every meal and would rate the food on Viking Sun up there with our best prior cruises including AmaWaterways, Azamara, and Celebrity’s Luminae suites restaurant.

 

Most of the included wines were acceptable, and if you didn't like them you had three choices to upgrade: the beverage package [no good for us because both cabin mates have to buy it], buying a bottle from the wine list [fairly priced], or even bringing wine on board [no corkage fee – very unusual on ocean cruises!]

 

The Chef's Table was a real highlight. The portions are small enough that DW didn't feel stuffed, and the presentation is stepped up a notch from the MDR. The premium wine pairings were well chosen [and since DW doesn't drink at all, they were comped for me – which made them taste even better!]  Note that you can only make two reservations each for Manfredi’s and the Chef’s Table in advance, but once on board we had no trouble making all the additional ones we wanted.

 

Entertainment:  Small ships generally have smaller budgets for entertainment – but Viking Sun again punched well above its weight.  The four main show singers were as talented as any we have seen at sea [maybe the fact that they didn’t have to dance much allowed the casting director to focus on singing], and the show band was excellent and sounded like there were more musicians than we could see.  The specialty acts were very good, and it was especially apropos that the first one played Norwegian music as we overnighted in Bergen.  Most surprising was the amount of enrichment:  four speakers on a wide range of topics.

 

Casino, Art Auctions, Photographers, Kids:  One of the nice things about Viking Ocean ships is that they don’t have any of these! It makes for a much more refined and laid-back atmosphere, and it frees up more space for general public use.

 

Shops:  We browsed a very little bit and weren’t tempted by anything. But we really enjoyed that no one was pushing us to buy ‘gold by the inch’ or anything else.  Most times we walked by the boutiques, the salespeople were standing around talking to each other – so maybe Viking could free up even more public space by cutting these functions down [or out].

 

Itinerary:  This was the British Isles Explorer itinerary, from Bergen, Norway to Greenwich, England. Viking uses Bergen as the start or end port on many of its cruises – both because this is their ships’ homeport and because Norway’s status outside the EU means they don’t have to worry about charging VAT onboard.  But Bergen isn’t the easiest city to fly into, so we started our trip in Oslo and took the scenic train across Norway: an excellent decision!  After that, we enjoyed every port and felt that the itinerary was very well thought out to give a well-rounded introduction to the British Isles [and Ireland].  Starting in the North was also a good decision, as the scenery began with stark beauty and became more lush as we went along; that also worked well with late-summer weather, although we had ‘fine soft weather’ almost every day.  And ending in Greenwich gave us a very scenic [narrated] sail up the Thames.

 

Excursions:  Viking justifies the prices on its ocean ships in part because of the included excursion in each port – but after studying the available options we ended up not taking any of them.  They also offer a wide range of optional choices, but most of them seem like the standard tours available on other cruise lines [at similar prices]. So we followed our usual practice of arranging private tours and lowering the price by sharing with members of our Cruise Critic Roll Call – this worked out well for us, but it is sometimes difficult on Viking Ocean because fewer people are looking beyond the ‘free’ choices.

 

We did take four Viking optional excursions, because they were things that couldn’t be done easily or safely on our own.  A Taste of Norwegian Farm Life was excellent, and gave us a nice glimpse of living in the countryside near Bergen.  The Knockan Crag Hike in Ullapool was also very good [despite the infestation of midges that drove us crazy] – we could have done this on our own, but the short tender call would have made getting back to the ship stressful.  Ancient Castle & Abbey Tavern in Dublin was much less satisfying; Malahide Castle was worthwhile, but the time in Howth was entirely devoted to a pub and the guide and driver were not ready for prime time.  London and the London Eye was well-planned, but torrential rain put a wet blanket on it [I like my puns intended ].

 

Summary:  Viking Ocean joins the short list of cruise lines we hope to sail again.  There are only two things that may prevent that:  (1) the prices are high if you don’t take the included excursions, and (2) the itineraries are mostly pretty plain-vanilla – we have reached the point that we want intensive itineraries that really let us get to know a country or area [like the Azamara Costa Rica-intensive cruise we did last January, or the circumnavigation of Iceland we are doing on Ponant next year].  I hope that as Viking adds more and more ocean ships, they will get more adventuresome with their itineraries – because we would like to be back!

 

Again, you can find a complete day-by-day blog and lots of pictures here:

jazzbeauxbritishislescruise2018.wordpress.com

Thinking of booking this cruise for 2023.  What side of the ship...port or starboard...do you think is more scenic from the cabin?  Thank you.

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, dizzy1949 said:

Thinking of booking this cruise for 2023.  What side of the ship do you suggest..port or starboard..as far as being more scenic from the cabin?  Thank you.

 

I don't think it matters that much on this itinerary.  There is only one Sea Day (at the end, sailing from Dublin to Greenwich) and you aren't that close to the shore.  But the view, if any, would be on the port side.  The best sailing view is coming up the Thames and especially going through the Thames Barrier – for that you want to be in the forward-facing Explorers' Lounge (people get there very early to grab the good seats, then photographers go outside and block their view!).

 

The more important advice I would give is to avoid cabins on deck 6 (we never want to be under the buffet or the pool area because of noise early in the morning when they are cleaning).  We had a PV1 on the port side of deck 5 and found it spacious and well located.  You get to make reservations earlier in that category, and we were able to get everything we wanted when we wanted it (not sure if that was still true for the lower cabin categories).

 

Second piece of advice is to sign up for the Chef's Table as soon as you can and for as many different menus as appeal.  It's amazing that it is 'free' and has so many menu choices (most other cruise lines in this category charge extra and only offer one menu).

 

Finally, don't feel that you must take only the Viking included shore excursions (because you've already paid for them in your fare).  Sharing a private guide with a couple of other couples from your Roll Call will usually allow you to combine the sights from two different ship tours and still keep the cost reasonable.

 

I assume you have read my detailed blog.  Glad to answer any other questions you think of.  I highly recommend this cruise!

[molymoo]

Jazzbeau - Thank you for sharing the link to your blog of your British Isles Explorer trip in 2018!  We were on the same trip/same summer coming from the opposite direction.  We did the three night pre- extension in Edinburgh and "enjoyed" the festivities of Fringe and the Tattoo as well.  We love Edingurgh and enjoyed having extra time to explore.  

We just booked the British Isles Explorer for the second time and will (hopefully) board in Bergen in July of 2022.  It is a repeat but we loved it the first time and missed Ullapool (weather) and Liverpool (itinerary change) so hope to enjoy those this time.  We are also constrained by the school year schedule we are running out of summer itineraries from which to choose.   Reading your blog gave us some ideas of things we might want to do this time around ... with a year and a half to research we should be able to plan some great things!  We will do the Oslo extension with the train ride to Bergen ... we have done that trip before but it was a VERY rainy day so we can hope for some (rare) Norwegian sunshine this time.  

Thanks for sharing!