Ultimate World Cruise 245 days and all the parts. Ongoing review, questions, opinion

[Heidi13]

Departing L/A about 19:00 (Jan 4th) we now have 8 relaxing days at sea until we reach Nuku Hiva. Day 2 started with what I consider a gentle rolling, although others may have a contrary opinion.

 

The traditional trade winds have been impacted by a depression, with us experiencing a very confused sea. A healthy W'ly swell is a couple point fwd of the beam, with a NNW'ly wind of 15-20kts abaft the beam. During the day the wind veered to N'ly and freshened to about 25 kts. Very pleasant on the outer decks, but very few pax ventured out.

 

We have some excellent lecturers aboard (12 of them). I attended the resident historian's lecture on the history of migration through Polynesia. Most interesting.

 

Chef Tomaz is back aboard and he is constantly seen around all the dining venues. Standard of meals is returning to what Jim experienced initially.

 

Welcome aboard show was at 21:15, with the Capt & Senior Officer, all 12 lecturers and many of the resident musicians performing.

 

A most enjoyable and relaxing day at sea. 

 

More detailed reports and photos are included on our travel blog

Edited January 6, 2020 by Heidi13

[DaveSJ711]

18 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

You are correct, as 1/2 World Cruisers, we aren't the only group on board.

 

However, when they provide an insert upon boarding showing your itinerary, I expect it to be applicable to the voyage we booked. I would have thought the 245-Day Ultimate WC'ers would have received one for the entire voyage, upon boarding and we received one for L/A to London.

 

I would also expect to view tours we have booked and what other options are available throughout our entire cruise, not just the first segment.

 

None of that suggests that WCers and segmenters have "competing interests."  What is the competition?  Perhaps you should rethink your choice of words. 

Edited January 6, 2020 by DaveSJ711

[Jim Avery]

Glad to hear Chef Thomaz is back onboard.  You are right, you will see him everywhere and he is very approachable for any issues or requests you might have.  The food was indeed excellent when he was aboard.

[deec]

into 2018 when we were doing that first segment the weather the first few days was too cold for us to use the outside pool or have the roof open in the main pool area.  But I remember the long wonderful lazy days to adjust to ship life and recover from the flurry of activity that went on in order to do 121 days away from home!!!!  Have a wonderful time....If I win the lottery I would do it again!

[Jukebo1x]

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

Negative Jeannette, they were husband & wife and both were veterinariansc

Ah, different couple. Still lovely people I’m sure/Jeannette😌

[Jukebo1x]

4 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

You are correct, as 1/2 World Cruisers, we aren't the only group on board.

 

However, when they provide an insert upon boarding showing your itinerary, I expect it to be applicable to the voyage we booked. I would have thought the 245-Day Ultimate WC'ers would have received one for the entire voyage, upon boarding and we received one for L/A to London.

 

I would also expect to view tours we have booked and what other options are available throughout our entire cruise, not just the first segment.

As a Ho-Ho (Hop-on-Hop off)on The Sun, we remember a “non-complete” list of tours. We assumed they were “still available” tours, and the list was there to generate interest (sales). 
I agree, the Explorer Desk (guest Services)has everything on their PC’s. Just provide them with your cabin number (or booking number). 
I too think you can handle a lot of info at once. Viking, probably through experience, assumes most people cannot handle all the excursions at once. 
Every evening, on our first Viking Ocean Cruise, our cabin person dropped excursion tickets For the next day, off at our room. 

On Sun, we received all (15 day cruise) excursion tickets upon embarking. Go figure-😌

[Jazmyn49]

Very, very nice CC gathering in Torshavn yesterday with all the officers attending, friendly and approachable.  The food and drinks were over and above what we expected (but then again, it's Viking).  Conversation flowed as we met those we'd only known online.  Thanks to all who helped make this a special happy hour.

[2oldishcoots]

Just back from Pilates Fusion on the pool deck. First morning there were about 30 of us, day 3 and we were 80 strong! The staff moved deck chairs to make more room & once again we were offered a lovely refreshing drink (today - carrot/orange). Viking just goes that extra mile. 

[Heidi13]

On 1/6/2020 at 7:17 AM, Jim Avery said:

Glad to hear Chef Thomaz is back onboard.  You are right, you will see him everywhere and he is very approachable for any issues or requests you might have.  The food was indeed excellent when he was aboard.

Jim - when out walking, saw him up at the Aquavit Bar personally checking out the presentation of the breakfast items laid out on the bar. On our previous WC, the only time we saw the Chef was when he was first in the queue to head ashore.

 

Food has been excellent these first few days.

[2oldishcoots]

Dinner tonight in the Pool Grill. Egg drop noodle soup, Duck pot stickers, chicken dumplings, pork fried rice & lovely appetizers. Very few took advantage of this. I wonder if it wasn’t advertised?

[Jukebo1x]

33 minutes ago, 2oldishcoots said:

Dinner tonight in the Pool Grill. Egg drop noodle soup, Duck pot stickers, chicken dumplings, pork fried rice & lovely appetizers. Very few took advantage of this. I wonder if it wasn’t advertised?

Yum!  I guess that it missed The V.Daily or perhaps people overlooked it. 
that’s a shame-Jeannette😌

[Jim Avery]

The Pool Grill turns into the Noodle Bar at 6pm.  We love it.  As you say most eat elsewhere.  It is usually on the back of the Daily in fine print in the restaurants schedule.  Very nice.  Andy, so glad you have Tomaz and the great selections and preparation he drives.  Great food when he is aboard.  Have been home 4 days now and barely stopped fixing things and catching up.  Hardly feels like we left.....  And to add insult to injury, someone is sleeping in my bed on the Sun..😱   Have a great time in Polynesia.  The natives are friendly..😎

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

The Pool Grill turns into the Noodle Bar at 6pm.  We love it.  As you say most eat elsewhere.  It is usually on the back of the Daily in fine print in the restaurants schedule.  Very nice.  Andy, so glad you have Tomaz and the great selections and preparation he drives.  Great food when he is aboard.  Have been home 4 days now and barely stopped fixing things and catching up.  Hardly feels like we left.....  And to add insult to injury, someone is sleeping in my bed on the Sun..😱   Have a great time in Polynesia.  The natives are friendly..😎

OMG!! So true, dinner last evening was brilliant. We shared a table with a great couple from Florida, which meant exceptional food was shared with great company. We sat in the MDR for over 2 hours.

 

The main course that 3 of us had was Prime Rib, served with Yorkshire Pud & Brussel Sprouts. It was a huge slice of the best beef I have tasted for a long time. Tasty, tender & cooked to perfection. Even the sprouts were perfect.

[Clay Clayton]

Nice to hear that on Sun they use the pool grill for the noodle bar.  Wonder if they are doing that on all ships now? 

 

On Orion there is a new Station facing the Aquavit Bar (beside the ice cream station) which does noodles everyday at lunch and dinner. Sometimes Italian, sometimes Asian. We can’t remember if it was used at breakfast for Omlets and such but think it was. 

 

Viking seems to have gotten better about advertising the special events but still has a way to go. On our first cruise we happened to discover they had set up a Greek Night buffet at the Aquavit.  There was no mention of it anywhere.  We only discovered it as we almost always had a quick nosh of sushi and crab legs with our evening cocktail while sitting watching the sunset over the wake.  

 

Anyhoo, after we discovered this I suggested to the Restaurant Manager that they might want to let folks know about it. That night they had the washywashy person verbally mention it as folks came in.  The next time they were doing a special event they had a sign at the entrance.  On our last cruise these events were also mentioned in the daily along with signage (maybe even on the big screen by the pool?). 

Edited January 9, 2020 by Clay Clayton

[MadMarine]

2 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Nice to hear that on Sun they use the pool grill for the noodle bar.  Wonder if they are doing that on all ships now? 

 

On Orion there is a new Station facing the Aquavit Bar (beside the ice cream station) which does noodles everyday at lunch and dinner. Sometimes Italian, sometimes Asian. We can’t remember if it was used at breakfast for Omlets and such but think it was. 

 

Viking seems to have gotten better about advertising the special events but still has a way to go. On our first cruise we happened to discover they had set up a Greek Night buffet at the Aquavit.  There was no mention of it anywhere.  We only discovered it as we almost always had a quick nosh of sushi and crab legs with our evening cocktail while sitting watching the sunset over the wake.  

 

Anyhoo, after we discovered this I suggested to the Restaurant Manager that they might want to let folks know about it. That night they had the washywashy person verbally mention it as folks came in.  The next time they were doing a special event they had a sign at the entrance.  On our last cruise these events were also mentioned in the daily along with signage (maybe even on the big screen by the pool?). 

Clay,

A washywashy person?  Didn’t know that they used that approach.  Is this the policy on Viking ships?  I’ve not seen this on smaller, high end cruise lines just on the mega mainstream ships.  
Thanks, Mad

[NY Nick]

From a few days ago as were exploring our new home for the next 4 months. The Wintergarden Tea Room, Viking heritage displays, the Theatre, a few refueling stations and the main Atrium.  Photos will

be of a smaller nature from now on, a lot easier to upload. 

[NY Nick]

When we first arrived in our room, we found our first little piece of swag from Viking on our bed. It’s an 18” x 12” magnetic map with a magnetic push pin to mark our current location. It obviously found its way up on the wall right away. If you zoom in you can see it marks our future track and stops across the planet. Cool stuff. It’ll feel right at home once we GET HOME and pair it up with a few other maps we have documenting our travels. Thanks Viking.

[Clay Clayton]

2 hours ago, MadMarine said:

Clay,

A washywashy person?  Didn’t know that they used that approach.  Is this the policy on Viking ships?  I’ve not seen this on smaller, high end cruise lines just on the mega mainstream ships.  
Thanks, Mad

Not exactly but there is usually a person at the doorways to the World Cafe who welcomes you and suggests that you sanitize or wash your hands using whichever you prefer both located near the entrances. 

[Jim Avery]

47 minutes ago, NY Nick said:

When we first arrived in our room, we found our first little piece of swag from Viking on our bed. It’s an 18” x 12” magnetic map with a magnetic push pin to mark our current location. It obviously found its way up on the wall right away. If you zoom in you can see it marks our future track and stops across the planet. Cool stuff. It’ll feel right at home once we GET HOME and pair it up with a few other maps we have documenting our travels. Thanks Viking.

This has been maybe our favorite swag.  The side of our fridge has one from the Inaugural WC and now the London/LA WC.  Only kids on our block with them.....🍸

[larry1365]

I agree with Jim. It's great and is on a board over my wife's desk in our MBR. We also brought our own larger, more detailed World map on the 2018 WC. Had marked the entire planned route in red and then marked it in black as we went along. Held it up in the cabin using powerful small magnets.

[Jazmyn49]

So far as the sinks or the sanitizer for hand washing, we have seen every officer coming into the World Cafe use the sinks.  The Captain even uses his towel to dry the sink and surrounding area.  That's good enough for us.

[NY Nick]

Next piece of swag we received a few days ago. We both received a box of  business cards (500). As you can see with our name and stateroom. They’re for sharing with new friends on board so you can keep in touch. I think it would have been great if they put our full name and addresses on them. Then with the Viking logo and web site on the back they REALLY would have gotten some milage and advertisement out of everyone on board, especially once you used them back home. But we’re sure privacy concerns ruled the day here. Any way, once again, thanks Viking. 

[NY Nick]

Finally hit the spa pool today.  800+ people on this boat and this place was nearly empty, for starters anyway. A hot pool with its own water jets, a hot tub, a sauna, a “snow grotto” and self heating lounge chairs once you laid down on them. Tough to make the snow grotto out, but there are two benches in there and snow piles in every corner.  Hot cold - hot cold - hot cold.  It’s one great way to get your body’s blood going and a full body invigoration. 

[pacruise804]

17 hours ago, Clay Clayton said:

Not exactly but there is usually a person at the doorways to the World Cafe who welcomes you and suggests that you sanitize or wash your hands using whichever you prefer both located near the entrances. 

 

I like that they have both options (although I'm not sure I know anyone who prefers sanitizer).  What I really liked seeing were cloth towels! (sometimes it's the little touches 🙂 ).

[Jim Avery]

You are right about the cloth towels.  Also in every public restroom.  We met Kay, one of the tireless crew, who's job it is is to clean the public spaces including the restrooms and re stock the cloth towels.  She is always so pleasant and always stopped to speak to us.  We tipped her before leaving, one of the staff that is easily overlooked but add constantly to our days onboard.  Those public restrooms are cleaned/restocked every few hours.  Amazing..  And, like the Captain, it only takes a second to use the cloth to wipe up your splashes around the sinks. 😎