Compare Viking to others...

[Pushka]

I was talking about our recent Viking Alaska cruise with my brother and his wife yesterday who have been on several Viking cruises. Alaska was my first Viking cruise. I was describing to him everything that was good and far from good on our cruise. He kept saying exactly what the other Viking regulars on my cruise were saying and that was ‘this is not the kind of service Viking normally provides.’  So possibly different experiences on different ships. 

 

Before the cruise he told told me not to worry about so many tender ports as Viking handles tenders perfectly. Well, Viking Orion didn’t handle tenders at all well. In fact they made angry customers. They were using just one tender to get the shipful of people of in Ketchikan which was a quick port stop anyway!  Brother told me that four tenders were in use for his Europe trip. My husband asked the CD why they didn’t lower more tenders - this was after 75 minutes wait after port clearance. He said they couldn’t. Why not?

 

Service was acceptable in Ocean cafe but it was slow. Not a deal breaker. It seemed to depend on who was on duty. Service in Manfredis was way under expectations and a dessert not even arriving and over a 30 minute wait to be asked for orders and that was only after we asked. CT was fine. 

 

Why doesnt Viking provide the complete list of wines on the SSP instead of just an extra one or two options when specifically asked?. A wily passenger told me that the SSP list on the iPad wasn’t the complete list of available drinks.  I find that very deceptive. 

 

its still just a couple of weeks since we disembarked and I’m very frustrated with Vikings response to the multiple issues we had. 

 

My needs are simple too. I cruise for itinerary and like to get onshore in a timely manner and that didn’t happen on the cruise. A 2 hour delay from ship release is not timely especially when the last tender is only 4.5 hours later!

 

I don’t like surprises. Telling people of a major embarkation delay less than 2 weeks prior to cruise when it’s been a potential issue for over a year is not treating people with any respect. 

 

Failure to keep people informed of issues issues impacting on them is not treating people with respect and does not allow them to make informed decisions. I’ve read here that experienced Viking cruisers say that Viking will make it work. Well quite frankly, they did not. 

 

Yes we enjoyed the food but that isnt isn’t why we cruise. Yes we enjoyed Explorers lounge but have found similar quiet niches on other cruise lines. Lack of children - nice but not a deal breaker. Included excursions - they had to cut the morning ones short by an hour because of the tender issue so not a great start there. 

 

Given the additional cost we paid for Viking over other cruise lines for similar itinerary then for me, my opinion, Viking fell well short. In fact I’ve never been so frustrated with ‘issues’ as I was on this cruise and I’ve been on maybe 15 cruises. 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Pushka

[Heidi13]

Pushka - while I have never anchored in Ketchikan, so have no experience with the anchorage or where they land ashore. However, I don't believe the ship deliberately delayed getting passengers ashore. Potential reasons could be:

 - Tender availability, inopportune breakdowns do happen, but with 4 available I cannot imagine that 3 of 4 were broken down or being maintained

 - Crew availability, Viking operate multiple tenders in other ports. While Alaska is demanding, I see no reason why they couldn't arrange schedules to operate multiple tenders

 - Harbourmaster restrictions, the Harbourmaster must approve the launching of boats in many ports. In a busy port with multiple ships and lots of float planes, I can envisage why restrictions were placed on the number of small boats. Also note they recently had a couple of float plane incidents.

 

In my opinion, the most likely cause of a single tender operation was restrictions imposed on the ship by the Harbourmaster. If this is correct, should the ship have promulgated this info? Personally, I would have looked upon that as passing the buck.

 

Also note that when asking a question about the ship's operation, I never ask the Cruise Director or Hotel Staff, I will only ask a senior Deck Officer/Engineering Officer. Only ask CD/Pursers when I need a good laugh at their lack of knowledge of how a ship actually works.🙂

[Missymssy]

On 6/17/2019 at 5:11 PM, Pushka said:

Viking was the only ship that had to tender and we had to tender three times plus embarkation. 

Which ports did you have to sender? I am booked in July, but disembarking in Vancouver. I hope it is better!

[Jim Avery]

7 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Pushka - while I have never anchored in Ketchikan, so have no experience with the anchorage or where they land ashore. However, I don't believe the ship deliberately delayed getting passengers ashore. Potential reasons could be:

 - Tender availability, inopportune breakdowns do happen, but with 4 available I cannot imagine that 3 of 4 were broken down or being maintained

 - Crew availability, Viking operate multiple tenders in other ports. While Alaska is demanding, I see no reason why they couldn't arrange schedules to operate multiple tenders

 - Harbourmaster restrictions, the Harbourmaster must approve the launching of boats in many ports. In a busy port with multiple ships and lots of float planes, I can envisage why restrictions were placed on the number of small boats. Also note they recently had a couple of float plane incidents.

 

In my opinion, the most likely cause of a single tender operation was restrictions imposed on the ship by the Harbourmaster. If this is correct, should the ship have promulgated this info? Personally, I would have looked upon that as passing the buck.

 

Also note that when asking a question about the ship's operation, I never ask the Cruise Director or Hotel Staff, I will only ask a senior Deck Officer/Engineering Officer. Only ask CD/Pursers when I need a good laugh at their lack of knowledge of how a ship actually works.🙂

Andy, as you know I used to run ships up that way.  Not passenger ships but we always called at Ketchikan both Northbound and South.  You are right on with the Harbormaster.  Nothing moves in the Ketchikan harbor area without his approval.  Once I docked at the appointed pier (right in front of what is now the Tongass Trading big box store) but was not positioned just as he wanted.  Had to scoot forward about 30'.  Picky picky.  But to put it in perspective, there are simply too many big ships calling Ketchikan.  I suspect there will be some restrictions a la Venice plans in the near future.  For the ships anchored, I can only tell you that tendering across the seaplane "airport" would be like taking a ship's tour bus and driving across an active runway at LAX.  I really see a ban on all anchoring ships at Ketchikan before too long.  Overtourism is a real problem for all of us.

[Pushka]

On 6/21/2019 at 10:46 AM, Missymssy said:

Which ports did you have to sender? I am booked in July, but disembarking in Vancouver. I hope it is better!

 

We were tendered in Ketchikan, Juneau and Icy Strait Point. 

 

Re the communications. I think this was the area that maddened me the most throughout the whole cruise. After the embarkation issue where Viking knew there was an issue months ago, but only advised people just as they were about to travel, is treating people like mushrooms.  

 

There was further lack of communication when all 800 of us were sitting in lines, literally on hard seats for over 2 hours after US customs with no one from Viking advising us of what was going to happen or how long we would have to continue sitting there.

 

People were not officially advised that the next day would be a tender until the night before which threw out everyone’s excursion planning if not booked through Viking (and who charged a premium for exactly the same excursion mainly involving planes etc). Had the Viking person who was holding everyone back for the first tender had said “we are trying to get you off as quickly as possible but we have to get approval from the Harbourmaster” I would have accepted that. But instead she kept saying “ we will tell you”. That’s meaningless. Especially after we’d already lined up for over an hour and had to get the last tender in just four hours time!

 

In ISP we were again tendered and the night before was particularly stressful as we had booked a private excursion for 8.30 am and the last tender was just after lunch. Very short port stop made worse by tenders. And we knew people from Regent that was berthed, were on our excursion and the tour operator just kept telling us to get off as quickly as possible or they would go without us. We worked out how to beat the Viking tender system because had we left it to the usual process we wouldn’t have made the tour.  But we did get a few quizzical looks. 

 

People like to be kept informed so they can make appropriate arrangements. Many here say that we should just trust Viking and they will see us right. Well, they didn’t. Sure, they got us from A to B to C and fed us well and the crew were mostly very hard working. But I’ve not been on a cruise where that hasn’t happened. And I dont think these are particularly aspirational benchmarks anyway. Basically I don’t see the difference between Viking and other cruise lines, even less expensive ones.  Or the differences that Viking offers in hindsight, are not important to us or we can mitigate those. During the cruise I actually wished I’d booked Princess or HAL as those ships were always berthed and the passengers we met were raving about their ship. Fanboys maybe but we did not feel any connection at all with that much touted Viking Difference.  Gosh, even Carnival had a berth in a couple of places where we were at tender. 

 

Tendering itself we’ve found on other cruise lines is fine but it must be handled well or at least if there are going to be delays, then TELL people.

 

Maybe its just Alaska newbie error but all of us paid a premium  price but don’t think many of us received the premium Viking product. Clearly things are much better in the well trodden Viking paths, just not Alaska. 

 

And I hope I will never experience the last evening noise we had as all the luggage was offloaded by crane just outside our balcony until after midnight. 

 

Edited June 22, 2019 by Pushka

[Captain_Morgan]

We tendered in Ketchikan several years ago while on a Princess cruise, and apart from the fact that there was a very rigidly followed speed limit in the harbor (which was communicated to all) we had less than zero issues and this was on a ship twice the capacity of Viking.  The fact that Viking were only running 1 tender says to me that the operation prioritized the included tours and no doubt guessed that one tender running a relatively short distance would get them ashore in a timely manner at the expense of course of everyone else which didn't seem to matter much to them.  

In the handful of Viking cruises we've taken we've never seen less than 2 tenders in operation with 3 on relatively longer rides so again, this tells me that the shipboard management really dropped the ball on all fronts but of course would never admit or accept this...

 

Although not a crisis, the first thing taught by any crisis management (or similar) course is to keep people informed and calm as even though they know things aren't going well or to plan its nice to know the score and to know those in control are actually in control.  Perhaps Viking should invest in more communication courses for their managers instead of all the marketing and commercials. 

Ironic you should mention 'fanboys' as well when speaking of those passengers you met from Princess as from what I've seen of this board the vast majority here fit that category and are quick to get their hackles up if anything resembling something but a rose-tinted glasses view is said....

 

Also as a data point, i thought it interesting that you mentioned having to be sat upon hard, uncomfortable chairs for a prolonged duration as i'm pretty sure I said that is exactly what was going to happen in the thread you raised about the debacle that is/was Vancouver embarkation, but of course the aforementioned fanboys all said I had no clue what i was talking about as God forbid their beloved Viking leave people in the 'mushroom patch' 🙄

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

Andy, as you know I used to run ships up that way.  Not passenger ships but we always called at Ketchikan both Northbound and South.  You are right on with the Harbormaster.  Nothing moves in the Ketchikan harbor area without his approval.  Once I docked at the appointed pier (right in front of what is now the Tongass Trading big box store) but was not positioned just as he wanted.  Had to scoot forward about 30'.  Picky picky.  But to put it in perspective, there are simply too many big ships calling Ketchikan.  I suspect there will be some restrictions a la Venice plans in the near future.  For the ships anchored, I can only tell you that tendering across the seaplane "airport" would be like taking a ship's tour bus and driving across an active runway at LAX.  I really see a ban on all anchoring ships at Ketchikan before too long.  Overtourism is a real problem for all of us.

Jim - with the seaplane operations, the Harbourmaster may also have dictated who drives the tenders. Back in my days, it was a mandatory task for the cadets, but these days it is mostly deck ratings or PO's. Local rules may have required a certificated deck officer/senior cadet, which would significantly reduce the number of tenders available, since they also had an anchor watch.

 

Running pax tenders in an active seaplane area is not a risk I would be overly comfortable with, were I the Master.

[Hanoj]

3 hours ago, Pushka said:

 

Re the communications. I think this was the area that maddened me the most throughout the whole cruise. After the embarkation issue where Viking knew there was an issue months ago, but only advised people just as they were about to travel, is treating people like mushrooms.  

 

People were not officially advised that the next day would be a tender until the night before which threw out everyone’s excursion planning if not booked through Viking (and who charged a premium for exactly the same excursion mainly involving planes etc). Had the Viking person who was holding everyone back for the first tender had said “we are trying to get you off as quickly as possible but we have to get approval from the Harbourmaster” I would have accepted that. But instead she kept saying “ we will tell you”. That’s meaningless. Especially after we’d already lined up for over an hour and had to get the last tender in just four hours time!

 

 

 

@Puska, thank you for sharing experiences on your Viking Alaska itinerary in its inaugural year. About the last thing I would conceive of after watching Viking commercials and reading their marketing brochures and emails, is the ageless "caveat emptor." Yet, heeding this warning is perhaps as necessary now as it has ever been. Particularly, with an upstart ocean cruising line hell-bent (hyperbole admitted) on gaining market share with a "Damn the torpedoes!  Four Bells! Captain Drayton, go ahead!  Jouett, full speed!” approach to creating undeliverable expectations, at least on itineraries where Viking is the late entrant into the market. We've only done Viking Homelands and the Mediterranean Odyssey, thankfully with nothing close to the issues you experienced. 

 

 “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” - George Bernard Shaw

 

The Viking person's "we will tell you" seems euphemistic for not having heard back from corporate. There seems at times insufficient decision making discretion given regarding such things to on board personnel. We had a situation aboard our recently concluded Med cruise on the Star where it was evident the General Manager lacked the autonomy to satisfy our complaint (it took the entire weekend to get a paltry OBC from corporate over a matter that should have been addressed in dry dock). Viking is screwing the pooch by not first communicating up front with passengers when things are not as promised/expected, and then by taking too long to resolve it afterward. Yes, it was great to read about how well the Viking Sky guests were "compensated" for the harrowing ordeal on the Norwegian coast in March, but under-delivering in an important region like Alaska, and "treating people like mushrooms" gives me pause about further cruises with Viking, as a matter of principle.

 

Quite frankly, there seems a timely opportunity available to other lines to adopt a "no kids" policy. The no kids, no casino approach of Viking is a big get for me, especially the no kids. I think I could overlook a casino, but I am not yet willing to try another line that allows (and promotes) kids and has casinos. And, I don't wish to cruise exclusively during times when kids are not likely to be present due to school attendance.

 

@Captain_Morgan, while I appreciate your candor and willingness to confront the "fanboy" mindset some, perhaps many,  Viking loyalists display on these boards,  I wonder if your anecdotal observations from your year's earlier experience with tendering in Ketchikan with Princess are not approbo to the situation @Pushka experienced recently. It seems explanations from @Jim Avery and @Heidi13 may be more plausible (though your remarks about sitting on "hard seats" prior to the Vancouver embarkation were prescient). However, as a mere cruise consumer (i.e., someone without the maritime experience of @Jim Avery, @Heidi13, and others), I want to be informed, and as early as practical.

 

From this Alaska in its inaugural season for Viking issue and from other threads, I have a lurking gut instinct something is askew with Viking (three significant incidents/accidents on the rivers in less 90 days is alarming). It is evident, Viking is seeking market share in both the river and and ocean cruising segments of the industry. I hope Viking is not growing too fast that it sacrifices the quality of the Viking experience (which it seems @Pushka did not garner) or the safety of guests/others (et al, the Sky and Sigyn/The Mermaid) on the world's oceans and rivers.

 

I want Viking to succeed. We like many things they emphasize in differentiating the cruising experience. In addition to the "no kids, no casino" policy, we like there are no formal nights and the relaxed ambiance, especially on the ocean vessels. Viking has been, and I hope remains, the preferred carrier to deliver us to destinations we wish to experience. However, I am a bit concerned the Viking emphasis on market share may contribute to the over-tourism trend that is diminishing the qualitative experiences of cruising. For this reason, I am looking into lines with smaller vessels, like Windstar and Seadream, though this introduces other concerns I have as a mere consumer about the small size of these companies's ocean going ships a long the lines of the famous Breton fisherman's prayer, "O God, thy sea is so great and my boat is so small."

 

Caveat emptor.

Edited June 22, 2019 by Hanoj
typo

[Peregrina651]

21 minutes ago, Hanoj said:

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” - George Bernard Shaw

 

Hanoj, thank you. An excellent thought. Goes right to the heart of what Pushka has been saying.

 

TellUs, will you share this up the chain of command; this should be made into a placard that sits on the workspace of every Viking employee whose job involves dealing with guests or managing employees who deal with guests--from TH and KH right on down!

 

[Pushka]

42 minutes ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Hanoj, thank you. An excellent thought. Goes right to the heart of what Pushka has been saying.

 

TellUs, will you share this up the chain of command; this should be made into a placard that sits on the workspace of every Viking employee whose job involves dealing with guests or managing employees who deal with guests--from TH and KH right on down!

 

 

Indeed. It was a great summation. And I agree that there appears to be no discretionary decision making done on the spot but it has to wait for “someone higher up” who is not on the ship and witnessing the situation. 

 

I have indeed communicated all of the above to tellus@. Not so eloquently as @Hanoi. However I haven’t heard back from them as it seems comms are directed back through the Australian Centre. I have received a reply back from there but you know I got the distinct impression that it was all about my “expectations” not being met rather than things actually going wrong. But where did I get my expectations from? From Viking marketing of course. 

 

I thought the coup d’etat with our much delayed embarkation until 6.30pm, was when we received the envelope with the key card on checkin (which we did at 12 noon) and on that envelope it was (generically) printed that we could have access to our stateroom at 2pm! We just had to laugh and shrug. 

Edited June 22, 2019 by Pushka

[sunnies]

As most passengers on the Alaskan cruise under discussion boarded about eight hours later than if Orion had been docked, there seems to be a case for some form of goodwill gesture by Viking. When embarkation on our Asian cruise on Oceania Nautica was delayed by 24 hours due to fog, we were given an evening of free drinks but of course that is already included on Viking. However on our return we contacted Oceania and were given a $200 credit each towards a future cruise. 

[Hanoj]

8 minutes ago, Pushka said:

 

Indeed. It was a great summation. And I agree that there appears to be no discretionary decision making done on the spot but it has to wait for “someone higher up” who is not on the ship and witnessing the situation. 

 

I have indeed communicated all of the above to tellus@. Not so eloquently as @Hanoi. However I haven’t heard back from them as it seems comms are directed back through the Australian Centre. I have received a reply back from there but you know I got the distinct impression that it was all about my “expectations” not being met rather than things actually going wrong. But where did I get my expectations from? From Viking marketing of course. 

 

I thought the coup d’etat with our much delayed embarkation until 6.30pm, was when we received the envelope with the key card on checkin (which we did at 12 noon) and on that envelope it was (generically) printed that we could have access to our stateroom at 2pm! We just had to laugh and shrug. 

 

I "liked" your post because I agree with it, not because I actually like it. This has to be bone of contention for you since you travel west to embark your cruise (at least according to international time zones). We travel east and always seem to arrive much later than the advertised embarkation time, even from Iceland (Viking pre-cruise extension) to Stockholm, Sweden in 2018.  I am acutely bothered by your embarkation and other port experiences on your cruise, enough so that I am reluctant to book any future Viking ocean or river cruise. This was just not right. What the ____? Does one have to experience an unscheduled zip-line/helicopter excursion to get appropriate consideration from Viking?

[Pushka]

On 6/21/2019 at 9:16 PM, Hanoj said:

 

I "liked" your post because I agree with it, not because I actually like it. This has to be bone of contention for you since you travel west to embark your cruise (at least according to international time zones). We travel east and always seem to arrive much later than the advertised embarkation time, even from Iceland (Viking pre-cruise extension) to Stockholm, Sweden in 2018.  I am acutely bothered by your embarkation and other port experiences on your cruise, enough so that I am reluctant to book any future Viking ocean or river cruise. This was just not right. What the ____? Does one have to experience an unscheduled zip-line/helicopter excursion to get appropriate consideration from Viking?

 

I do know that one couple who were in a Suite and regular Viking cruisers ended up being boarded later than we were in a lowly DV. They made enquiries while we were all lined up in the immigration hall and were promptly told to go back to their place in the queue. At the time we saw this couple go to the front then a few minutes later, much chastened, watched them go right to the back. There were no Viking reps to assist them, just the immigration people who clearly couldn’t give a toss, but that wasn’t exactly their job!  This couple were in negotiations with the Customer Services Exec the whole trip. I don’t know their outcome. Viking have since said that the experience in the customs hall was because there were people in charge who didn’t have English as their first language!  Say what? 

[Hanoj]

3 minutes ago, Pushka said:

 

I do know that one couple who were in a Suite and regular Viking cruisers ended up being boarded later than we were in a lowly DV. They made enquiries while we were all lined up in the immigration hall and were promptly told to go back to their place in the queue. At the time we saw this couple go to the front then a few minutes later, much chastened, watched them go right to the back. There were no Viking reps to assist them, just the immigration people who clearly couldn’t give a toss, but that wasn’t exactly their job!  This couple were in negotiations with the Customer Services Exec the whole trip. I don’t know their outcome. Viking have since said that the experience in the customs hall was because there were people in charge who didn’t have English as their first language!  Say what? 

 

Unfortunately, your continuing account of these things reminds me of the 7 P's of Planning: Proper, Prior, Planning, Prevents, Piss, Poor, Performance!

 

[Pushka]

On 6/21/2019 at 10:12 PM, Hanoj said:

 

Unfortunately, your continuing account of these things reminds me of the 7 P's of Planning: Proper, Prior, Planning, Prevents, Piss, Poor, Performance!

 

I could write a book really. The one redeeming factor in this cruise was that Alaska blew us away. And the weather was perfect. None of which of course, had anything to do with Viking. 😂

[Hanoj]

11 minutes ago, Pushka said:

 

I do know that one couple who were in a Suite and regular Viking cruisers ended up being boarded later than we were in a lowly DV. They made enquiries while we were all lined up in the immigration hall and were promptly told to go back to their place in the queue. At the time we saw this couple go to the front then a few minutes later, much chastened, watched them go right to the back. There were no Viking reps to assist them, just the immigration people who clearly couldn’t give a toss, but that wasn’t exactly their job!  This couple were in negotiations with the Customer Services Exec the whole trip. I don’t know their outcome. Viking have since said that the experience in the customs hall was because there were people in charge who didn’t have English as their first language!  Say what? 

 

I live in Oregon and have not yet been to Alaska. I grew up in the Seattle area and wonder if a Seattle to Seattle Alaska cruise on Oceania might be a way to avoid the BC immigration/border issues. Oceania's itinerary includes either Victoria and or Vancouver, BC, but since I've been to both destinations many times, I would be happy to remain on the ship and avoid BC.

[Hanoj]

4 minutes ago, Pushka said:

I could write a book really. The one redeeming factor in this cruise was that Alaska blew us away. And the weather was perfect. None of which of course, had anything to do with Viking. 😂

 

Ah, redemption. Glad you experienced this. I've read similarly great things about the land down under. Australia/New Zealand is on our agenda for cruising, but would you recommend an air/land based itinerary as opposed to a cruise?

[Pushka]

On 6/21/2019 at 10:21 PM, Hanoj said:

 

I live in Oregon and have not yet been to Alaska. I grew up in the Seattle area and wonder if a Seattle to Seattle Alaska cruise on Oceania might be a way to avoid the BC immigration/border issues. Oceania's itinerary includes either Victoria and or Vancouver, BC, but since I've been to both destinations many times, I would be happy to remain on the ship and avoid BC.

It was our first visit to Vancouver and we loved it. Beautiful place. We didn’t have time to get to Victoria sadly. We decided against Seattle in case of rough seas. We chose Viking ahead of Princess or HAL because of my brothers recommendations (who was very disappointed for me as he read of all the stuff ups on my FB) and because the itinerary was longer than the usual 7 days. And it went to Sitka. There were no mentions of any tender situations nor on any documentation although I became aware of them myself but Viking didn’t confirm. Until 2 weeks to go. My brother reassured me that Viking handled tenders very well. Yesterday he told me there were 4 on his midnight sun cruise. 

 

The only reason we experienced difficulties with the Vancouver immigration was because the delay in embarkation. We found US customs to be very efficient which surprised me given that we also have to do the fingerprint and ID check thing as well. It was getting stuck for so long, in a very long queue of 800 people, in a hall - that normally wouldn’t happen as you’d then go straight onto the ship. Our ship was still in the harbour and couldn’t come to port until all the other ships moved out. And they were late leaving to boot. 

Edited June 22, 2019 by Pushka

[Pushka]

On 6/21/2019 at 10:24 PM, Hanoj said:

 

Ah, redemption. Glad you experienced this. I've read similarly great things about the land down under. Australia/New Zealand is on our agenda for cruising, but would you recommend an air/land based itinerary as opposed to a cruise?

 

Australia is huge. A cruise touches some major bases like Sydney, Tasmania and Melbourne. If overnighting in Sydney you can see a lot of ‘must do’ items. Land travel - plan on flying from place to place and not driving as it will suck up too much time. We don’t have the same security checks as the USA fortunately, usually just laptops out. You don’t have to undress! Select the ship well as the trip across to NZ involves a few sea days. A great cruise around NZ will involve Milford Sound. I’d ask for thoughts on the Australian CC  topic  - we are a helpful friendly mob down there!

[Cyber Kat]

On 6/20/2019 at 10:58 AM, TrulyBlonde said:

I was brought up to follow the rules and have enough respect to abide by them. If it states, no jeans, teeshirts, sneakers, why not comply? 

If you don't mind spending your money on poor service that is your choice. I do not like to spend my $$$ on beds not being turned down or room cleaned in a timely manner, disappearing waitstaff, dirty dishes sitting in front of me and have to ask that they be cleared. 

We all have choices and I choose not to cruise with Viking anything again.

 

We have done 2 Viking river cruises and 1 ocean... so far. We have 2 more ocean cruises booked and are looking at another river cruise. We have yet to experience poor service in any department. In fact the excellent service bowled us over. Our cabins were always cleaned. We never had disappearing waitstaff and were never left sitting with dirty dishes. 

 

But then I’m not a “countess,” so perhaps that makes a difference. I do have a tip - don’t cruise on Azamara. We enjoyed the cruise, but I had been led to believe that their service was stellar. Not how I would describe it. We often found ourselves saying, “It’s not Viking.”

[TrulyBlonde]

25 minutes ago, Cyber Kat said:

 

We have done 2 Viking river cruises and 1 ocean... so far. We have 2 more ocean cruises booked and are looking at another river cruise. We have yet to experience poor service in any department. In fact the excellent service bowled us over. Our cabins were always cleaned. We never had disappearing waitstaff and were never left sitting with dirty dishes. 

 

But then I’m not a “countess,” so perhaps that makes a difference. I do have a tip - don’t cruise on Azamara. We enjoyed the cruise, but I had been led to believe that their service was stellar. Not how I would describe it. We often found ourselves saying, “It’s not Viking.”

I can only assume you are alluding to me due to my dear friends at SeaDream coining the name "Contessa". This was for my friend, Jim Avery and others.

I am not a Countess either but my prior screen name was PortofinoItaly (one of my favorite places). I changed it to TrulyBlonde just recently due to length of name. Naturally, if I say something negative now about a cruise experience I get the Blonde bashing.  

 

 

 

 

 

When I spend my good money on any cruise line, I expect to have them deliver what they advertise. Others here may not care, but I do. 

 

Ciao,

 

The Blonde Contessa 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jim Avery]

2 minutes ago, TrulyBlonde said:

I can only assume you are alluding to me due to my dear friends at SeaDream coining the name "Contessa". This was for my friend, Jim Avery and others.

I am not a Countess either but my prior screen name was PortofinoItaly (one of my favorite places). I changed it to TrulyBlonde just recently due to length of name. Naturally, if I say something negative now about a cruise experience I get the Blonde bashing.  

 

 

 

 

 

When I spend my good money on any cruise line, I expect to have them deliver what they advertise. Others here may not care, but I do. 

 

Ciao,

 

The Blonde Contessa 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Contessa,

Countess?  No, that implies sensible shoes and a big funny hat.  I can attest that pals on SeaDream pronounced you "Contessa".  And we know what happens on SeaDream stays on SeaDream......🍸😎  All lines have their plusses and minuses.  For you VO is not up to expectations.  For us VO is a perfect fit.   But then we only know VO through the lens of 120 days on the Inaugural World Cruise.  Truly all inclusive and the best crew ever.  We have discussed  shorter VO cruises but don't want to give up all the WC benefits and service.  Like you we are glad for all the choices and opportunities.  Sail on Contessa..😘 

[TrulyBlonde]

1 minute ago, Jim Avery said:

Hi Contessa,

Countess?  No, that implies sensible shoes and a big funny hat.  I can attest that pals on SeaDream pronounced you "Contessa".  And we know what happens on SeaDream stays on SeaDream......🍸😎  All lines have their plusses and minuses.  For you VO is not up to expectations.  For us VO is a perfect fit.   But then we only know VO through the lens of 120 days on the Inaugural World Cruise.  Truly all inclusive and the best crew ever.  We have discussed  shorter VO cruises but don't want to give up all the WC benefits and service.  Like you we are glad for all the choices and opportunities.  Sail on Contessa..😘 

😘😘👸 and don't forget...HoHum is a Dandy.  xo

[CCWineLover]

11 hours ago, Hanoj said:

 “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” - George Bernard Shaw

 

I want Viking to succeed. We like many things they emphasize in differentiating the cruising experience. In addition to the "no kids, no casino" policy, we like there are no formal nights and the relaxed ambiance, especially on the ocean vessels. Viking has been, and I hope remains, the preferred carrier to deliver us to destinations we wish to experience. However, I am a bit concerned the Viking emphasis on market share may contribute to the over-tourism trend that is diminishing the qualitative experiences of cruising.

 

Caveat emptor.

Hanoj -

Once again you have written a so eloquent post that perfectly echoes what we feel and believe.  I wish I could put it so well as you have.   We also have had very good cruises with Viking Ocean, but are saddened, as well as concerned, to hear about those who have had all of these issues.   We are certainly not one of those "Viking can do no wrong" type customers.

 

We do, however, also hope that Viking succeeds, as we would like to have continued wonderful cruising with no kids and casinos - and we so much enjoy the ambience, style, and vibe of the ships, regardless of the ports.  That being said, from reading all of these posts, I am getting concerned that, Viking is looking like many businesses in the world, who try to grow too quickly and enter new markets, and then often suffer from these type issues - particularly in the areas of customer service, delegation of decision-making, simple communication to customers.  (I can think of several companies in the technology and retail world that have experienced this).   Certainly that seems to be happening with Viking these past years.  In the business world though, some of these notable companies do indeed finally recognize what is happening and "right the ship" so to speak - as there are others who do not.   We hope that Viking will "right the ship".

 

Again - we so appreciate your putting into words the feelings that we and I'm sure others have.

Edited June 22, 2019 by CCWineLover

[Cyber Kat]

I don't have a lot of experience with any line other than Viking and Carnival (no comparison at all), but we recently did a cruise with Azamara - a first time for this line.  I wrote a review on the Site that Shall Not Be Named, and I was going to post it here, but I hesitated posting it on the Azamara site.  I know I will be shredded to little bits because I did not have the same opinion of their favorite line.  I'm just not in the mood for a shredding.  So this seems like as a good a spot as any.

If I'd posted it in a separate thread, the title would be "It's Not Viking!" 🙂

 

I will say first off that we thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. The ship is lovely - it is small, so the rooms are small and even though there were only 690 people, sometimes it felt a bit crowded - especially in the buffet.

One of the things we love about the Viking Ocean ships is that they never feel crowded.   There's lots of room to move and just be comfy.

The food was mostly good - some big hits, a few misses. I wasn't impressed with the service for the most part. Perhaps it's because I read so many people raving about the service, I expected something over the top. They often seemed distracted. They would say they would get cheese for pasta or more wine, then you would see them chatting at another table and either forgot what you wanted or returned long after what you wanted was needed.

We felt the service on our Viking cruise was very attentive and I thought the food was a notch better.  One of these days we will sail on Oceania so I can find out why people rave about their food. 

I got the feeling that they pay a lot of attention to regular Azamara cruisers, and not so much to first timers - which stuck me as odd, because one would think they would want to make a good first impression.

We had no interaction with the officers - something Azamara aficionados brag about - other than a brief chat with Eric, the CD, in the elevator, and I think he gave me his cold, though on all fairness, he was not the only one sick on this cruise.  And one sort of chat with Heike the hotel manager, who stopped by our table to chat with an Azamara regular - she mostly ignored the rest of us. In all fairness - it's not a reason I would choose a cruise line, but it's something we'd heard great deal of talk about.

The ports were great, the trivia was fun. Our cabin was small, but it worked for an 11 day cruise. It was bigger and nicer than the photos.  There were a few very young children that were not a bother, and no photographers or annoying announcements.

We ate in both specialty restaurants (which we had to pay extra for), and both were excellent. Better service, there than in the MDR.  Azamara also charges for internet and for drinks other than what is included on a kind of complicated list.  If you ask for a mixed drink, you have to check the list and ask for the included liquor or they will make it without and charge you.  We got an upgraded package because we had OBC.  Both people in the room do not have to upgrade or take the same level upgrade (they have 2 levels).

Unlike Viking, they do NOT include Wifi (and it was pricey!), nor do they include any excursions - which were also rather expensive.

We loved the 2 night stays in both ports. The Azamazing Evening - one of their touted included perks - was great fun and so well organized - I was impressed by that. We did not do the White Night party - another touted event - because our Bermuda visit was cut short due to a storm between there and NY. The WN conflicted with something we wanted to do in Hamilton.

We don't do shows - we prefer a cover band and the one on Journey was excellent. We went to see them after dinner each night in the Living Room. Drink waiters there were attentive and they have all sorts of good snacks and desserts at various times, and an afternoon tea with scones to rival those on Viking. We spent a lot of time there, because it was a bit chilly for the pool and there was always something going on.

One thing we found ourselves saying a lot was, "It's not Viking!" - and thus the title.

We just love Viking, but we try to give our bank account a break in between Viking cruises - which are more than the Azamara cruise. This cruise wasn't cheap, but we didn't get a big room, and we didn't have to fly or stay over before or after.  We had some OBC, that our TA was able to get for us that covered some things Viking includes, but Azamara does not.

Again - to be fair to Azamara - I don't think I would have noticed the service issues as much if I hadn't read so many rave reviews from Azamara regulars. I'm sure they are not aware of it, but they do the line a disservice by raving about it so much.

We would absolutely sail with Azamara again. I think I'd splurge for the Club Continent Suite because you get specialty dining included, and of course - more room.  Or we would go with the veranda we had and get a dining package, because the specialty restaurants were really that much better than the dining room.  I actually preferred the food in the buffet, but we like to be served for dinner.  You can do that if you sit out on the Patio Grill, but we never managed to try that.  We did eat lunch there and the service wasn't great there either.

They do have gelato - and it was very good.  I'd say comparable to Viking.  Viking's is creamier, but Azamara had some really creative, and very tasty flavors.

So in conclusion, Viking stays at the top of our list, but we would look at Azamara again.  We would also give Oceania a try one of these days.