Now for something completely different

[Blackduck59]

Okay here is a short after action report for our recent Pacific Coastal Viking Voyage.

First the ship is beautiful, immaculately maintained. The design elements are simple and functional, there was comfortable seating everywhere (even for a portly gentleman like myself).

Our cabin was comfortable, although the entry hall was quite narrow. We enjoyed the heated floors and no fog mirror in the bathroom. As for the bathroom it was nice but not better than the bathroom we had on Celebrity Eclipse. The "Deluxe Veranda" cabin itself and the veranda were both smaller than our Deluxe Veranda on Eclipse. 

The buffet was nice enough, I was able to assemble a "B 52" Breakfast from the selections available. After the second dinner fiasco in the "Restaurant" (more on that later) we decided to eat our meals in the "World Cafe" (the Buffet) There were king crab legs on the buffet every night, and a selection of sushi. The buffet was not the same on port and starboard so those not in the know would miss the sushi or crab legs if they didn't go up both sides of the ship. In comparison the Viking buffet is half the size of Celebrity with a much smaller selection.

As for "The Restaurant" it is a beautiful space with large clear view windows running floor to ceiling on both sides. The seats are comfortable and the tables are set with nice flatware and white linen and table coverings and napkins. All the ingredients are there for a fabulous dining experience. What went wrong you ask? Well it's all about service and situational awareness. When we arrived the first night we were seated promptly at a lovely table for two, a basket of bread placed on the table and wine was poured, then the wheels fell off. They seated a table of 6 next to us with one of that party wearing heavy perfume. That of course sent Lynn into an asthmatic reaction, we were quickly re-seated to the other side of the ship. Here is where "situational awareness" comes in, no sooner had we been re-seated than they seated another woman with perfume on close by. It wasn't as bad as the first time so we just stayed put. The next night we went back and made it clear about Lynn's problem with perfume. We were seated in the extreme back corner of the restaurant. It felt like the naughty seats, but the view was good. Dinner service was painfully slow and after a little over an hour we were waiting for dessert. I guess they have short memories at the reception desk because they seated not one but 2 perfumed ladies next to us. That was the end of dining in "The Restaurant".

We did have a great person named Tanya in customer service who managed to get us the "Guaranteed" Specialty dining experiences included in our fare. Those were our last 2 dinners on the cruise.

To sum up, Viking Orion is a lovely ship and the crew works very hard. Unfortunately the execution is lacking and compared to our experience on Celebrity Eclipse the premium price is NOT justified.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for your thoughts Lyle, I must say I too am disappointed with what has happened.

I have always been wary on spending for extra luxury that I don't  necessarily want or need for fear of the quality and experience  not living up to my expectations. For example, we have flown business via upgrades and such but would not want to pay for it unless it is heavily discounted, I just do not see the value for difference in cost. The same goes for some of the cruiselines, and / or cabin classes on most lines. 

[NSWP]

Thanks for report Lyle. Good to hear you assembled your own B52 brekky at the Buffet.   Was the Buffet - World Cafe self serve? OR did they have servers dishing out the tucker?

[Blackduck59]

@NSWP, it was self serve Les but you could order eggs and omelets. I asked for 2 eggs basted and the guy looked at me like I had 2 heads. To speed up the process I went with easy over. 

[NSWP]

8 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

@NSWP, it was self serve Les but you could order eggs and omelets. I asked for 2 eggs basted and the guy looked at me like I had 2 heads. To speed up the process I went with easy over. 

'Basted' eggs has me confused too Lyle. Is it like they put oil over the top of the egg?

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, NSWP said:

'Basted' eggs has me confused too Lyle. Is it like they put oil over the top of the egg?

That would be correct. During the cooking of the egg, hot oil would be dribbled over the egg, rather than turning it over.

[Russell21]

13 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

That would be correct. During the cooking of the egg, hot oil would be dribbled over the egg, rather than turning it over.

Usually splashed onto the to using a spatula/egg slice.

[Blackduck59]

37 minutes ago, NSWP said:

'Basted' eggs has me confused too Lyle. Is it like they put oil over the top of the egg?

In my world the eggs are  almost done and you throw a little water in the pan and on with the lid. It just finishes the top of the eggs. If you cooked bacon in the pan first that will also deglaze the pan for some yummy goodness. 

Edited April 19, 2022 by Blackduck59

[NSWP]

I have just come back from Batemans Bay Medical Centre to have some stitches out. The nurse told me the Batemans Bay Hospital which is a 30 bed hospital is in lockdown due to many covid patients admitted in the last couple of days and occupying most of the beds. No accident and emergency admissions either, being directed to Moruya half hour south.  The lurgy is out out of control down here.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

I have just come back from Batemans Bay Medical Centre to have some stitches out. The nurse told me the Batemans Bay Hospital which is a 30 bed hospital is in lockdown due to many covid patients admitted in the last couple of days and occupying most of the beds. No accident and emergency admissions either, being directed to Moruya half hour south.  The lurgy is out out of control down here.

Yikes! That's a bit scary.

 

Stay safe Les.

[Mareblu]

15 hours ago, NSWP said:

I have just come back from Batemans Bay Medical Centre to have some stitches out. The nurse told me the Batemans Bay Hospital which is a 30 bed hospital is in lockdown due to many covid patients admitted in the last couple of days and occupying most of the beds. No accident and emergency admissions either, being directed to Moruya half hour south.  The lurgy is out out of control down here.

Sorry to hear you had sutures, for whatever reason.  Never comfortable.  We are all expecting COVID to become endemic rather than pandemic, and so spread through the community.  What concerns me is so many needing hospital admission at The Bay.  I wouldn't expect that with the high vaccination rate we enjoy in Australia now (here in the ACT it's close to 100% of eligible people), but then again there are many retirees and older people on the coast, enjoying that beautiful part of the world, so I suppose with the compromising health issues that come with ageing, perhaps it should be expected.  The other issue, and maybe the most significant, is the massive influx of tourists and visiting families now that restrictions have been eased.  It will be telling to see how admissions are in a few days, after the Easter long weekend just gone.  Be cautious and stay well, Les.

[NSWP]

4 hours ago, Mareblu said:

Sorry to hear you had sutures, for whatever reason.  Never comfortable.  We are all expecting COVID to become endemic rather than pandemic, and so spread through the community.  What concerns me is so many needing hospital admission at The Bay.  I wouldn't expect that with the high vaccination rate we enjoy in Australia now (here in the ACT it's close to 100% of eligible people), but then again there are many retirees and older people on the coast, enjoying that beautiful part of the world, so I suppose with the compromising health issues that come with ageing, perhaps it should be expected.  The other issue, and maybe the most significant, is the massive influx of tourists and visiting families now that restrictions have been eased.  It will be telling to see how admissions are in a few days, after the Easter long weekend just gone.  Be cautious and stay well, Les.

Just a big Melanoma on chest, thanks.  Many cafes and restaurants down here have shut down because of staff shortages, isolation, covid etc. They open for a few days then close again.  Yes a large retiree population, vunerable. As you would know it was very busy down this way the past week which adds to the risk of catching lurgy. Population of 18,000 triples or quadruples in holidays, I often think I am in the ACT when more than half the cars driving around here have ACT plates. lol.

 

As for the BB hospital, no ventilators for covid patients, nearest ones at Bega Regional Hospital or Nowra, couple of hours away.  A new regional hospital is to be built at Moruya but that is 5 to 10 years away I reckon. So if a cruise ship stops at Eden and drops off a load of sick people, there will be dramas.

Edited April 20, 2022 by NSWP

[Mareblu]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Just a big Melanoma on chest, thanks.  Many cafes and restaurants down here have shut down because of staff shortages, isolation, covid etc. They open for a few days then close again.  Yes a large retiree population, vunerable. As you would know it was very busy down this way the past week which adds to the risk of catching lurgy. Population of 18,000 triples or quadruples in holidays, I often think I am in the ACT when more than half the cars driving around here have ACT plates. lol.

 

As for the BB hospital, no ventilators for covid patients, nearest ones at Bega Regional Hospital or Nowra, couple of hours away.  A new regional hospital is to be built at Moruya but that is 5 to 10 years away I reckon. So if a cruise ship stops at Eden and drops off a load of sick people, there will be dramas.

Melanomas are not our friends.  Hope yours was in situ, as my two were.  They look so innocent, but that's how they work, of course.  Years of sunbaking (no sunscreen in those childhood days) did me no favours.  It's great to see how the kids of today are so aware (most of them, anyway).  Christmas, Australia Day weekend and Easter are manic times for the coast.  Our kids go down then, but we wait till school hols are over.  Catalina and the other beautiful coast courses are a lot friendlier out of holiday times, too.  Yes, a shipload of any virus at Eden would be beyond difficult.  Take care.

[Aus Traveller]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

Just a big Melanoma on chest, thanks. 

My thoughts go out to you. 💘 I have had four melanomas. The first one more than 25 years ago was advanced (I am lucky on that one), but the others were picked up much earlier. During those years, I have had three-monthly checkups.

[Mareblu]

On 4/19/2022 at 5:39 AM, Blackduck59 said:

Okay here is a short after action report for our recent Pacific Coastal Viking Voyage.

First the ship is beautiful, immaculately maintained. The design elements are simple and functional, there was comfortable seating everywhere (even for a portly gentleman like myself).

Our cabin was comfortable, although the entry hall was quite narrow. We enjoyed the heated floors and no fog mirror in the bathroom. As for the bathroom it was nice but not better than the bathroom we had on Celebrity Eclipse. The "Deluxe Veranda" cabin itself and the veranda were both smaller than our Deluxe Veranda on Eclipse. 

The buffet was nice enough, I was able to assemble a "B 52" Breakfast from the selections available. After the second dinner fiasco in the "Restaurant" (more on that later) we decided to eat our meals in the "World Cafe" (the Buffet) There were king crab legs on the buffet every night, and a selection of sushi. The buffet was not the same on port and starboard so those not in the know would miss the sushi or crab legs if they didn't go up both sides of the ship. In comparison the Viking buffet is half the size of Celebrity with a much smaller selection.

As for "The Restaurant" it is a beautiful space with large clear view windows running floor to ceiling on both sides. The seats are comfortable and the tables are set with nice flatware and white linen and table coverings and napkins. All the ingredients are there for a fabulous dining experience. What went wrong you ask? Well it's all about service and situational awareness. When we arrived the first night we were seated promptly at a lovely table for two, a basket of bread placed on the table and wine was poured, then the wheels fell off. They seated a table of 6 next to us with one of that party wearing heavy perfume. That of course sent Lynn into an asthmatic reaction, we were quickly re-seated to the other side of the ship. Here is where "situational awareness" comes in, no sooner had we been re-seated than they seated another woman with perfume on close by. It wasn't as bad as the first time so we just stayed put. The next night we went back and made it clear about Lynn's problem with perfume. We were seated in the extreme back corner of the restaurant. It felt like the naughty seats, but the view was good. Dinner service was painfully slow and after a little over an hour we were waiting for dessert. I guess they have short memories at the reception desk because they seated not one but 2 perfumed ladies next to us. That was the end of dining in "The Restaurant".

We did have a great person named Tanya in customer service who managed to get us the "Guaranteed" Specialty dining experiences included in our fare. Those were our last 2 dinners on the cruise.

To sum up, Viking Orion is a lovely ship and the crew works very hard. Unfortunately the execution is lacking and compared to our experience on Celebrity Eclipse the premium price is NOT justified.

Lyle, how were your meals in Manfredi's and The Chef's Table?  Any photos of those presentations?

[Blackduck59]

7 hours ago, Mareblu said:

Lyle, how were your meals in Manfredi's and The Chef's Table?  Any photos of those presentations?

 

No photos I'm afraid. Manfredi's was excellent, we are so happy Tanya in customer service got us in, we thought we were going to miss out on that. It was a long dinner but service was excellent, we never felt abandoned. I even asked for a specific port to finish and our wine steward went out of his way to get it (he brought over a brand new bottle). Nectar of the gods.

Chef's Table was also very good it was the Asian menu. We even had the boat show as the pilot boat came alongside to pick up the pilot. Funny thing I asked for the same port we had the night before in Manfredi's and was told it was only available by the bottle. I thought that was strange. Suffice to say that just made the previous wine steward all the more impressive. 

[Mareblu]

10 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

No photos I'm afraid. Manfredi's was excellent, we are so happy Tanya in customer service got us in, we thought we were going to miss out on that. It was a long dinner but service was excellent, we never felt abandoned. I even asked for a specific port to finish and our wine steward went out of his way to get it (he brought over a brand new bottle). Nectar of the gods.

Chef's Table was also very good it was the Asian menu. We even had the boat show as the pilot boat came alongside to pick up the pilot. Funny thing I asked for the same port we had the night before in Manfredi's and was told it was only available by the bottle. I thought that was strange. Suffice to say that just made the previous wine steward all the more impressive. 

I'm so relieved and happy for you that your last two dinners were so enjoyable.  We agree that Manfredi's was the top spot;  we didn't have one complaint over many dinners.  Chef's Table was also really good, except for the French nights...we found those offerings rather heavy on the digestion compared to the other theme nights.  Your post reminded me that themes (about five I think) are rotated there.  If all the Orion's cuisine was Manfredi's, we'd be happy to sail with Viking again.  Sadly, it isn't.  Hope you're settled after the heaving seas, and looking forward to your East Coast experience.

 

[Russell21]

On 4/20/2022 at 12:13 PM, NSWP said:

Just a big Melanoma on chest, thanks. 

As an aside, the above reminded me of a Far Side cartoon where there is two Deer standing having a drink in a bar. One  says to the other "That's a bummer of a birthmark Fred!" The birthmark on the chest was identical to a Target.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Russell21

[mr walker]

On 4/20/2022 at 12:13 PM, NSWP said:

Just a big Melanoma on chest, thanks. 

I hope it all goes well with you mate.

[NSWP]

44 minutes ago, mr walker said:

I hope it all goes well with you mate.

Thanks Neil...hey, you will be envious , going to Raymonds 🍷🍜this evening with daughter and family to celebrate her getting her Masters degree yesterday in Canberra...Master of Social Work.

 

I will have a steamed dim sum for you guys, lol.

Edited April 21, 2022 by NSWP

[mr walker]

16 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Thanks Neil...hey, you will be envious , going to Raymonds 🍷🍜this evening with daughter and family to celebrate her getting her Masters degree yesterday in Canberra...Master of Social Work.

 

I will have a steamed dim sum for you guys, lol.

Enjoy mate.... yes a dinner at Raymonds is worthy of a Masters degree celebration. Congrats to her!

[Aus Traveller]

21 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Thanks Neil...hey, you will be envious , going to Raymonds 🍷🍜this evening with daughter and family to celebrate her getting her Masters degree yesterday in Canberra...Master of Social Work.

 

I will have a steamed dim sum for you guys, lol.

Congratulations to your daughter. 👍

[Mareblu]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

Thanks Neil...hey, you will be envious , going to Raymonds 🍷🍜this evening with daughter and family to celebrate her getting her Masters degree yesterday in Canberra...Master of Social Work.

 

I will have a steamed dim sum for you guys, lol.

Wonderful achievement.  Congratulations to your daughter.  UC?  

[Docker123]

2 hours ago, NSWP said:

Thanks Neil...hey, you will be envious , going to Raymonds 🍷🍜this evening with daughter and family to celebrate her getting her Masters degree yesterday in Canberra...Master of Social Work.

 

I will have a steamed dim sum for you guys, lol.

Congratulations to your daughter.

 

Look after your skin, hope it is sorted.

 

[NSWP]

13 hours ago, Mareblu said:

Wonderful achievement.  Congratulations to your daughter.  UC?  

Australian Catholic University in Canberra. She graduated with her Bachelor in Social Work 27 yrs ago !!

 

One is never too old too learn.