Are Viking Ocean cruises fun?

[zitsky]

28 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

Infinity Pool is rather small for actual swimming.

 

Is it one of these pools that keeps pushing you and you swim against the current?  Or is it just a pool that looks nice?

[Jim Avery]

10 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Is it one of these pools that keeps pushing you and you swim against the current?  Or is it just a pool that looks nice?

No current.  Just a small pool that looks nice.

[zitsky]

Now I'm canceling my trip.  (Kidding)

[Dauntless]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

The only negative I have read (correct me if I'm wrong) is that people use the Infinity Pool as another hot tub instead of actually swimming in it.

 

I think what you read is that the infinity pool was warm-not like a hot tub- and the weather was cool at the port.  The hot tub was even warmer.  The depth of the pool is such that most can't stand so there is no standing around like some of the other pools on ships,  You might see some hanging on the side to enjoy the view but this is certainly no 'lap' pool.

[the_dylaness]

I realize it takes all kinds, and I haven't yet sailed VOC, but I took my first "small ship" cruise at the ripe old age of 26 (Seabourn Legend, all of 160 pax or so) and enjoyed it quite a lot.  You don't have to be 40 or 50 or 60 plus to enjoy quiet, spaciousness, good service, a pleasant spa, trivia (we made quite a good showing on Silver Wind in January...) and so on.

 

We have children- we like to cruise with them- we like to cruise without them.  And when we cruise without them, we like to cruise with other adults.  Hence, I think we will quite enjoy our VOC sailing in 2/2021!

 

 

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, Dauntless said:

 

I think what you read is that the infinity pool was warm-not like a hot tub- and the weather was cool at the port.  The hot tub was even warmer.  The depth of the pool is such that most can't stand so there is no standing around like some of the other pools on ships,  You might see some hanging on the side to enjoy the view but this is certainly no 'lap' pool.

 

I wonder what the point is to have a pool you can't stand or swim in???

[OneSixtyToOne]

19 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

I wonder what the point is to have a pool you can't stand or swim in???

 

Marketing photos?

[CCWineLover]

Yes, the infinity pool "looks" nice and sort of "hangs" by the edge.  Thought I'd post a pic of it.  There is a hot tub up and above it.  We did see people hanging out in the pool and hot tub.  Understand the outside eating tables are all around as well, which does make a nice view when you are having dinner or drinks outdoors on the fantail.

[zitsky]

21 minutes ago, CCWineLover said:

Yes, the infinity pool "looks" nice and sort of "hangs" by the edge.  Thought I'd post a pic of it.  There is a hot tub up and above it.  We did see people hanging out in the pool and hot tub.  Understand the outside eating tables are all around as well, which does make a nice view when you are having dinner or drinks outdoors on the fantail.

 

Will it always be empty, like the photo?  😂

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

I wonder what the point is to have a pool you can't stand or swim in???

On a ship, it is all about stability, which is negatively impacted by heavy weights on the upper decks.

 

Most pools are on the upper decks and as water is fairly heavy, it is a bad combination. Therefore, ships tend to have smaller & shallower pools.

 

On the older ships, when we were getting low on bunkers & water, the pools were emptied on the last few days of a long ocean passage. Unfortunately, these days, I doubt most passengers would be accepting of dumping the pools. So unfortunately, on modern and smaller ships, smaller pools are necessary.

 

Hope this helps.

[Jchivers]

I must say that my image of VO has improved, and it's as much by the passion of the people here as it is by your stories.  You guys seem so loyally attached that there has to be something there that I've got to see for myself!  So, thanks for that.

[zitsky]

For me it's the lack of noise and noisy children.  I appreciate peace and quiet.  

[philw1776]

17 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

I wonder what the point is to have a pool you can't stand or swim in???

Remember, Vikings are really, really tall

[Baron Barracuda]

We found that pool water levels (especially infinity pool) could vary by 6" or more from day to day.  Made a big difference to dw who is only 5'2".  Sometimes she could stand, sometimes she couldn't.  Her favorite pool is the thallassotherapy pool in the spa where you can definitely try to swim against the current.

[zitsky]

4 minutes ago, philw1776 said:

Remember, Vikings are really, really tall

 

It's the horns on the helmet that make them #look# tall.

[philw1776]

34 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

It's the horns on the helmet that make them #look# tall.

You're not kidding. Danes tried kidnapping wife while onboard Viking Sea on Viking Homelands in Stockholm.

[loge23]

On 3/19/2019 at 9:28 AM, Jchivers said:

My wife and I have done several cruises on HAL, Princess, and Celebrity; and we're seriously considering Viking for the first time for our next ocean cruise.  We have friends -- that we met on a HAL cruise -- who have done 2 Vikings since then and love it.  

 

Looking at Viking's marketing materials, they seem to place an emphasis on service, food, shore excursions, enrichment programs and what they *don't* have: casino, kids, formal nights.  

 

Reading between the lines - does this mean they're a bit stodgy?  What does one do for fun on a Viking sea day?  Is there showroom entertainment?  Music?  Dancing? Bingo?  Trivia games?  Or is it all lectures and excellent service?

It can get a bit stale after a while depending on what your idea of fun is.

Yes, there is plenty of great food and the lectures are quite good. Trivia, on sea days, is a lot of fun.

It's the entertainment, or lack thereof, that we found thin. We don't go to casinos so that's a non-starter for us anyway, but we do appreciate a variety of live music and you generally won't find that on Viking. Viking tries very hard to present a refined, kind of elegant atmosphere on board which we found cloying. Classical music is ubiquitous throughout the ship. Their "late-night" club, Torchavn, will feature the ship's band - on our recent cruise this was a group of talented but somewhat limited musicians sort of what may find at a mid-stream wedding. Viking does bring on guest performers to varying degrees of enjoyable. We had a Billy Joel performer (meh), a clogging group (?!), and a really good Vegas-style performer (Savannah Smith) in addition to the local dance troupes in South America (very, very good btw). After 11 pm, the ship is essentially "closed". There is usually a solo musician - a guitarist and/or a pianist. On ours, the pianist was all classical and the guitarist, thankfully, played a wide range of popular, rock, folk, and jazz music during her daily gigs. 

If there's a lot of sea days and a long cruise, it can get a bit monotonous. I do recommend that you use the superb spa (inclusive) and fitness facilities if you are so inclined.

On port days, don't expect much of the included tours - they're OK but the much better options are all the pay tours. 

We'll probably sail again on Viking Ocean - definitely on the River cruises - but will also look into other upscale small ship offerings. 

 

 

[Jchivers]

So what do they do in ship's theater?  Is that just for lectures?

 

I appreciate your input, loge23.  I think my preferred entertainment mix lines up a bit more closely with what Viking is offering, so I may be less bored than you.  We'll see. 

 

(Nice to hear that the spa is (a) excellent and (b) included.  The first thing we do on any other cruise line is buy a spa pass.)

Edited March 21, 2019 by Jchivers

[Capt_BJ]

Infinity Pool is rather small for actual swimming.

 

YEP, I don't think it is 20 foot square!!!

Edited March 22, 2019 by Capt_BJ

[nuneham]

On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 8:18 PM, loge23 said:

but we do appreciate a variety of live music and you generally won't find that on Viking. Viking tries very hard to present a refined, kind of elegant atmosphere on board which we found cloying. Classical music is ubiquitous throughout the ship. Their "late-night" club, Torchavn, will feature the ship's band - on our recent cruise this was a group of talented but somewhat limited musicians sort of what may find at a mid-stream wedding. Viking does bring on guest performers to varying degrees of enjoyable. We had a Billy Joel performer (meh), a clogging group (?!), and a really good Vegas-style performer (Savannah Smith) in addition to the local dance troupes in South America (very, very good btw). After 11 pm, the ship is essentially "closed".

Just what I feared. A professional critic, perhaps on CC, said a disco would be better after 11pm. We don't party beyond midnight - usually! But we are on holiday. We'll enjoy the cruise whatever & make our choices from then on. Many thanks for your input. It really does help to settle expectations.

[zitsky]

4 minutes ago, nuneham said:

Just what I feared. A professional critic, perhaps on CC, said a disco would be better after 11pm. We don't party beyond midnight - usually! But we are on holiday. We'll enjoy the cruise whatever & make our choices from then on. Many thanks for your input. It really does help to settle expectations.

 

Does the idea of a quiet environment bother you?  Not trying to be funny.  I guess you could sit in the lounge and talk to other pax.

[nuneham]

3 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Does the idea of a quiet environment bother you?  Not trying to be funny.  I guess you could sit in the lounge and talk to other pax.

I guess we could!

[Sturmin]

On ‎3‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 4:30 PM, Jchivers said:

So what do they do in ship's theater?  Is that just for lectures?

 

I appreciate your input, loge23.  I think my preferred entertainment mix lines up a bit more closely with what Viking is offering, so I may be less bored than you.  We'll see. 

 

(Nice to hear that the spa is (a) excellent and (b) included.  The first thing we do on any other cruise line is buy a spa pass.)

I don't know which itinerary you are going on, but most are very port intensive. We did the Empires of the Mediterranean. Most port days were from 9:00AM or earlier to 5:00PM, with dinner from 6 until 8(Viking provides house wines and beer with meals which go from 5 or 6 until 9), but most people visited until 9:00 when servers quit pouring with the last glass taken with you. Between the full days, good food and promptly filled glasses, its hard to stay awake much past 10. We were also usually up very early to watch sunrises and docking. For someone a bit past mid forty, this was a tiring cruise, but one of our best to date.

My two negatives, snow grotto and infinity pool both did not live up to the hype. The infinity pool was freezing cold and the glass on the back was dirty and hard to see through. The glass was too  high to look over unless you pulled yourself up, then it cut into the arms and circulation. I only saw one other person then myself in the infinity pool. The snow grotto was very slippery with no snow falling. More a hazard then anything.

 

Edited March 23, 2019 by Sturmin
added info

[Dauntless]

On 3/21/2019 at 4:30 PM, Jchivers said:

So what do they do in ship's theater?  Is that just for lectures?

 

I appreciate your input, loge23.  I think my preferred entertainment mix lines up a bit more closely with what Viking is offering, so I may be less bored than you.  We'll see. 

 

(Nice to hear that the spa is (a) excellent and (b) included.  The first thing we do on any other cruise line is buy a spa pass.)

 

They use the ship's theater for presentations, whether it be port talks, entertainment venue almost every evening and some gatherings including lectures and some others.  The back area on each side can be sectioned of for TED talks and some lectures about destinations on film.  It is also used as a gathering place for some shore excursions before departing the ship.  The historian use it as well as Torshavn for some gatherings

[SargassoPirate]

On 3/19/2019 at 3:00 PM, Heidi13 said:

.....I am also looking forward to not having to reserve a pool lounger around sunrise....

 

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen anyone admit to being a chair hog on Cruise Critic😁