Viking Ocean vs Oceania

[sammiedawg]

We’ve been on both lines.   Viking has a nice product, beautiful ships.  We enjoyed their specialty restaurants.  Food in the Restaurant  was above mass market level.  

 Oceania gets our vigorous vote as superior in food, service and ship comfort. Especially Marina and Riviera.  

Viking includes an excursion in every port which is built into the price.  We are not fond of this amenity.

 

[zumbarho]

We were just on the Viking Star in May and on the Oceania Marina 2 years ago. Definitely liked Oceania better. There is no comparison with the food. The specialty restaurants are far superior on the Oceania Marina and there are 4. Viking only has 2 (one of which we didn't care for). The regular dining rooms are equal but Oceania has a better buffet. If you don't go to the specialty restaurants and don't like the choices in the main dining room you can always go to the buffet and have grilled lobster tails, shrimp, and fish made to order.

The entertainment was also better on the Marina and more varied. The cabins were similar (we had a deluxe balcony) except drawer space was better on the Oceania and bathroom was roomier on Viking. High tea on Viking was very nice and having excursions included on Viking was somewhat of a plus (cost wise) but we did do some on our own because theirs are very basic. 

I don't know how the smaller Oceania ships are in comparison. I was told by my travel agent that the Marina and Riviera are better.

We loved it so much that we are going on the Marina again next July with a couple we met on the cruise 2 years ago.

Hope this helps.

[Paulchili]

On 7/22/2019 at 4:11 PM, sammiedawg said:

We’ve been on both lines.   Viking has a nice product, beautiful ships.  We enjoyed their specialty restaurants.  Food in the Restaurant  was above mass market level.  

 Oceania gets our vigorous vote as superior in food, service and ship comfort. Especially Marina and Riviera.  

Viking includes an excursion in every port which is built into the price.  We are not fond of this amenity.

 

Agree.

The few things I found better on Viking were the Internet, Hi-Tech all over the ship (TV, Viking app, electronic displays around ship, etc) and the individual desks for customer service  (a la Seabourn Square) instead of the common counter.

Everything else I found superior on Oceania.

None of these things on Viking by themselves would make me lean towards Viking unless the itinerary & price were very good.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Paulchili

[roothy123]

I've been on VO and both sizes of O ships (love both sizes equally, unless I'm lucky enough to be going on a longer cruise than 12 or so days, when the larger ships are often a better choice).  I love both lines.  I find the people on O really great; Viking's almost really great.  I feel O is a little cheaper, especially if you choose a lower-priced cabin.  However, it's hard to compare prices, since each line includes different things in their prices.  Food and service on both are great, with Viking almost coming up to the level of O.  Love the included excursions on V, even if we don't take all of them.  (When it comes to excursions, we're typically all over the place - independent exploration, rental cars, ship excursions, group third party excursions, etc.  The V freebies are nice for icing on the cake, but of course we're paying for that icing.)  Non-included excursions are a little cheaper, too.  Activities, entertainment, tea, coffee bars, are similar on both lines.  Decor of V is really nice if you like modern and new (I do).  Of course, I haven't been on the refurbished/redecorated O ships, so it's hard for me to make a fair comparison of decor between V and O on decor.  But V has wonderful bathrooms, even in their smallest cabins!

 

I haven't found a difference in how friendly crew members are on V vs O.  However, cruise directors on O seem a bit more outgoing/bouncy/cheerleading - and V's friendly and helpful but a little more "sedate."  (Honestly, I don't need a cheerleader type of cruise director to make me happy, just a personable one.)  I don't find the dress code to be much different between the two lines, except perhaps a tiny bit more formal on excursions and at dinner on V.  But the difference is small, plus perhaps it depends upon whether you're on a Caribbean cruise versus European cruise, holiday versus non-holiday cruise, etc.  Internet on V is wonderfully cooperative, any time, any day - although I've only cruised in Europe and Cuba with V, so perhaps I'd have a different opinion if I had cruised to more "out there" places. (O DOES go everywhere....) 

 

I think both cruise lines are wonderful, and we choose mostly by itinerary, with cost as secondary factor.   My husband gives a little bit of a nod to Oceania (generally more activity, which suits his outgoing personality) but he loves both lines.  As long as I don't suggest going on another line like X or HAL, he doesn't care whether the ship will be a larger O ship, small O ship, or V ship.  

Edited July 24, 2019 by roothy123

[Kingofcool1947]

9 hours ago, zumbarho said:

We were just on the Viking Star in May and on the Oceania Marina 2 years ago. Definitely liked Oceania better. There is no comparison with the food. The specialty restaurants are far superior on the Oceania Marina and there are 4. Viking only has 2 (one of which we didn't care for). The regular dining rooms are equal but Oceania has a better buffet. If you don't go to the specialty restaurants and don't like the choices in the main dining room you can always go to the buffet and have grilled lobster tails, shrimp, and fish made to order.

The entertainment was also better on the Marina and more varied. The cabins were similar (we had a deluxe balcony) except drawer space was better on the Oceania and bathroom was roomier on Viking. High tea on Viking was very nice and having excursions included on Viking was somewhat of a plus (cost wise) but we did do some on our own because theirs are very basic. 

I don't know how the smaller Oceania ships are in comparison. I was told by my travel agent that the Marina and Riviera are better.

We loved it so much that we are going on the Marina again next July with a couple we met on the cruise 2 years ago.

Hope this helps.

 

Agree.  

Oceania is my cruise line of choice for all the reasons you described.

 I would say, for me, what sets Oceania apart from Viking Ocean is the cuisine.  It is the quality, variety, and presentation of cuisine on Oceania.   I sailed Viking Ocean twice and both times the cuisine was mediocre.  Also the free included shore excursions on Viking were nothing to write home about,   JMO.

Good luck.  Enjoy your cruise.

Edited July 24, 2019 by Kingofcool1947

[roothy123]

Well, this IS the O board, after all, so I suppose many people on here will "vote" for O over V.  But I think most people who love O will at least like, perhaps like very much, a Viking cruise!  

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, roothy123 said:

Well, this IS the O board, after all, so I suppose many people on here will "vote" for O over V.  But I think most people who love O will at least like, perhaps like very much, a Viking cruise!  

Your opinion only

[orchestrapal]

16 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

Your opinion only

 

I think you are right.

We met multiple Oceania cruisers and for the most part agreed that

Viking is a good, not great alternative.

[Thatname]

Having done both I’d happily book either if they were the only one doing an itinerary I wanted. 

 

To my mind Viking is like a boutique hotel, Oceania more like a very nice country house hotel. Nothing wrong with either, just depends on which you prefer.