Viking Ocean vs Celebrity

[tmk1941]

How does Viking Ocean compare with Celebrity Sky Suite? The MDR seems to have mainly table for 4-6. I saw no tables for two, our strong preference. Also I can’t seem to find a sample wine list or dinner menus. 

We are in the process of deciding between Viking and our usual Celebrity for an Alaska Cruise. 
Any comments comparing the two lines will be helpful

 

 

[Mich3554]

I don’t know about Celebrity Cruises, but I can tell you that you can easily get a table for 2 at The Restaurant, Manfredi’s or The Chef’s Table on Viking.  That is all we ever eat at.

 

About menus, The Restaurant always has steaks, salmon and chicken available.  Then they fill in the menu with lamb, other seafood, prime rib and usually a pasta dish and risotto that changes daily.  The Chef’s table has 4-5 menus it rotates through for several days.  Manfredi’s is an Italian place, with pastas, risottos and grilled meats.  I don’t remember Manfredi’s menu changing in our last cruise, we ate there 3x.

[Richard2]

3 hours ago, tmk1941 said:

How does Viking Ocean compare with Celebrity Sky Suite? The MDR seems to have mainly table for 4-6. I saw no tables for two, our strong preference. Also I can’t seem to find a sample wine list or dinner menus. 

We are in the process of deciding between Viking and our usual Celebrity for an Alaska Cruise. 
Any comments comparing the two lines will be helpful

 

 

I think if you Google "Viking Ocean Dinner Menus" you can find a great deal  of information. In addition to Manfredi's and Chef's Table menus, here's one with all dinner menus for a 14 night cruise:

https://eatsleepcruise.com/2019/11/viking-ocean-cruises-restaurant-guide/

[Baron Barracuda]

We're Elite members on X who took our first VO cruise last year and were very impressed.  No problem securing a table for two each night.  Felt VO food much better than X, especially at buffet where DW stopped by for pre-dinner snack of sushi, crab legs and shrimp every night.  Menus for mdr and specialties for entire sailing were viewable on stateroom tv so were able to juggle reservations to enjoy all our favorites.  Especially enjoyed the mussels appetizer and steak in Manfredi's.  

[Hanoj]

Table for two is the greatest luxury in the Viking MDR. Unless you desire a table for one? But, this it seems to me, would be better as a table for three.

 

Edited January 19, 2020 by Hanoj
grammar

[Heidi13]

Most tables in the MDR are for 2. We struggle at times to get a sharing table. Only been on Celebrity ships in port, but with that limited experience, Viking is vastly superior.

[Not a Georgia Peach]

We just got off the Viking Sky - there was a waiting list for a table for 2, but immediate seating for a sharing table.

[Clay Clayton]

We sailed Millennium last Fall from Vancouver to Tokyo followed by a cruise in China aboard Viking Orion. (We have done two transatlantics on Viking and leave on our third in 47 days but whose counting!😊). This was our first time on X in over 10 years and after reading the boards we had lowered our expectations. 

 

But we were surprised. The food and service while not quite as top notch as Viking were certainly much better than Norwegian and Holland America. But since typically Viking is more expensive than Celebrity this wasn’t unexpected. But we felt like for the amount we paid, it was a good value. 

 

We were in a standard veranda and the stateroom was about the same size as a V or DV on Viking-except for the bathroom which of course was waaay smaller on Millennium. 

 

I think the biggest thing you need to think about is how important is entertainment, casinos and having children around. If all of those are unimportant to you, and the pricing is similar, I would consider Viking. If however, you want to gamble, see some bigtime shows or enjoy having folks under 18 around, I’d stick with Celebrity. 

 

Either way, you’re up for a grand cruise. Have fun!