Regent V Viking Ocean

[Jim Avery]

This is a very good thread and we are most interested in Regent but have yet to sail with them.  We have sailed Viking twice.  Both World Cruises.   The WCs include just about anything one could want including first class domestic and Biz class international air.  Drinks, tips, taxes, visas, and some excursions.  As a couple of y'all posted above the included excursions on Viking are mostly of the "Panoramic" type.  A bus ride.  We have booked and cancelled shorter cruises with Viking and I agree with above posters that once you add in all the things included with Regent the price is very close.  I also like Regent's smaller passenger loads.  Viking has excellent crews and they first had us with their No Kids policy.  We cancelled our December cruise with them over their very restrictive covid measures.  Regent's Sail Safe policy is much more reasonable for a fully vaccinated ship so we are actively looking.  Like many other lines though the huge pent up demand is making it hard to find a nice itinerary any time soon.  We also are desperate to get back onboard somewhere but, as fully vaxxed folks have no desire to spit in tubes to be tested daily and wear masks everywhere unless eating or drinking, required on Viking currently.  Like we hold our breath while eating or drinking.  Anyway, have met several Regent fans on Viking World Cruises and they all preferred Regent but still were enjoying Viking.  Hoping to meet a bunch of y'all onboard sooner rather than later. 🍸

Edited November 6, 2021 by Jim Avery

[travelwell]

Jim Avery, I have followed your Viking posts for several years. Your WC posts informative and worth following. I do hope you try Regent. It would be interesting to hear your perspective. 

[alainciao]

Travelwell, my thoughts exactly!  

[Steve Q]

Below is a link to the U.S. News & World Report cruise rankings.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/11/10/what-are-the-best-cruises-in-the-world-viking-disney-are-big-winners.html

[alainciao]

The value of that ranking pales in comparison to the value of real people answering real questions here on cruise critic.

Perhaps I am wrong but don't they say in the first "value" ranking that they didn't count cruise lines that charged more than $300 per night.  And in the next paragraph cite Celebrity (ranked #1 in the value category) as having inside rooms at $440 pp?  Huh?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 11/8/2021 at 8:38 AM, travelwell said:

Jim Avery, I have followed your Viking posts for several years. Your WC posts informative and worth following. I do hope you try Regent. It would be interesting to hear your perspective. 

Took the words out of my mouth, Lisa.  It would be very interesting to get Jim's take on Regent.  Having never been on Viking, there's something attractive about it to me, since I find all the glitz and glamour of Regent to be a bit much at times.  But then again, I love being pampered, and to have all those choices.

[ChucktownSteve]

41 minutes ago, alainciao said:

The value of that ranking pales in comparison to the value of real people answering real questions here on cruise critic.

Perhaps I am wrong but don't they say in the first "value" ranking that they didn't count cruise lines that charged more than $300 per night.  And in the next paragraph cite Celebrity (ranked #1 in the value category) as having inside rooms at $440 pp?  Huh?

I suppose some people believe those media that obviously never have an agenda or biased opinion?

[Jim Avery]

On 11/8/2021 at 6:38 AM, travelwell said:

Jim Avery, I have followed your Viking posts for several years. Your WC posts informative and worth following. I do hope you try Regent. It would be interesting to hear your perspective. 

Thanks.  Sometimes I just can't help myself and have to gab about stuff.  Cruise Critic is my only "social media" so lots of time on my hands.....🍸

[Jim Avery]

47 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

Took the words out of my mouth, Lisa.  It would be very interesting to get Jim's take on Regent.  Having never been on Viking, there's something attractive about it to me, since I find all the glitz and glamour of Regent to be a bit much at times.  But then again, I love being pampered, and to have all those choices.

Wendy, one of my fave things about Viking is the ship.  Understated decor throughout.  Not to say all rooms are alike but there is a common design theme.  Like a ship not a theme park.  One thing I have not liked on other lines is the mash up of so many styles.  Turn a corner and enter a faux train dining car, turn another corner and be in a glitzy house of ill repute, etc. etc. 🍸

[nonu731]

On 11/1/2021 at 11:46 AM, Gilly said:

I've also found the replies interesting - thank you.  We have friends who wax lyrical about Viking Ocean and it's not easy for us to make an objective comparison because they have never sailed with Regent and we don't really want to start a "my ship's better than yours" conversation! 

 

Thank you for sharing your experience @Derosja @Tsunami74 and @Jimmcdaniel.

 

I mean the reality is, you're never going to get an 'objective' review from other users particularly on a forum where people have loyalties to certain cruise lines. It's also posted on a board dedicated to a particular cruise line so I'd also keep that in mind. 

 

 

[travelwell]

5 hours ago, nonu731 said:

 

I mean the reality is, you're never going to get an 'objective' review from other users particularly on a forum where people have loyalties to certain cruise lines. It's also posted on a board dedicated to a particular cruise line so I'd also keep that in mind. 

 

 

The reality is that you can get a objective review on some aspects of cruise comparison on this forum. An example is food variety, and room size and amenities. You can get the feel of the culture of the ships; do they encourage passenger/crew interaction for example. This is a plus for some and a negative for others and good to know. Many on this forum have cruised on different lines and switch back and forth. For us it is hard to go back to premium or premium plus but we will do so if taking grands or cruising with others. We love Regent and Seabourn but we have our first Windstar booked in 2023. I am on the Windstar forum to find out more. As for Viking I have heard  on this forum that the ships are extremely  beautiful,  food  is good and not great, and not much variety in menus. The basic rooms small but have heated floors( I would love). We have friends and families who have cruised with Viking who confirm the above and added the free excursions are bus tours. Of course that is opinion. For us if on Viking we would pay for tours on our own or upgraded excursions. We would be in a higher level suite and pay for alcohol. We would consider Viking compensating for what we know is true  and for the rest make an objective opinion whether to include Viking in our mix for future cruise choices.

[coljack]

Robyn, We are longtime Regent cruisers and are taking out first Viking cruise (Panama Canal) in five days. We'll get back to you after that cruise ends (Nov 26.)

[alainciao]

Travelwell,

If I remember correctly , it's only the bathroom floor that is heated.  And it has chirping birds!

[Not a Georgia Peach]

It is only the bathroom floor.  I only encountered the chirping birds in some of the public area bathrooms.

 

[Gilly]

13 hours ago, nonu731 said:

I mean the reality is, you're never going to get an 'objective' review from other users particularly on a forum where people have loyalties to certain cruise lines. It's also posted on a board dedicated to a particular cruise line so I'd also keep that in mind. 

 

 

Of course you make a very good point, @nonu731  and @travelwell 's reply echoes my thinking.  Yes, I am aware that any opinion here is not going to be 100% objective and is going to be skewed towards the brand the group is here to talk about.  For me, that's a plus, because most of the people here have a good grasp of Regent's strengths and weaknesses.  If someone here shares their experience about another cruise line, I can be pretty confident that their benchmark is somewhere similar to mine (particularly if it's someone whose posts I've followed for some time).

 

We love our Regent cruises and feel the product is tailor made for us, but we're always happy to keep an open mind, especially if there's an itinerary we'd love to sail.

[cwn]

16 minutes ago, Gilly said:

 

……….For me, that's a plus, because most of the people here have a good grasp of Regent's strengths and weaknesses.  If someone here shares their experience about another cruise line, I can be pretty confident that their benchmark is somewhere similar to mine (particularly if it's someone whose posts I've followed for some time).

 

We love our Regent cruises and feel the product is tailor made for us, but we're always happy to keep an open mind, especially if there's an itinerary we'd love to sail.

I agree with you. Regent is a favorite of ours specially for long cruises, but there are places we would like to go that Regent doesn’t. Viking interest us for that reason. Other times we like cruising with our late teen and 20 something grandkids and Regent is not their cup of tea…..yet.

This thread has been interesting reading.

 

[travelwell]

Chirping birds? Now I am curious. On to lurking on the Viking boards……

[Robyn2]

Coljack, thank you, I'll be looking forward to hearing your views on Viking,  especially Panama Canal trip. Hope you have a great cruise.

[Jim Avery]

49 minutes ago, behooves said:

Which line has this now?

Asking for a friend.

Start at Carnival and work your way up.🍺🥃🍸😎

[nonu731]

On 11/11/2021 at 12:43 PM, travelwell said:

The reality is that you can get a objective review on some aspects of cruise comparison on this forum. An example is food variety, and room size and amenities. You can get the feel of the culture of the ships; do they encourage passenger/crew interaction for example. This is a plus for some and a negative for others and good to know. Many on this forum have cruised on different lines and switch back and forth. For us it is hard to go back to premium or premium plus but we will do so if taking grands or cruising with others. We love Regent and Seabourn but we have our first Windstar booked in 2023. I am on the Windstar forum to find out more. As for Viking I have heard  on this forum that the ships are extremely  beautiful,  food  is good and not great, and not much variety in menus. The basic rooms small but have heated floors( I would love). We have friends and families who have cruised with Viking who confirm the above and added the free excursions are bus tours. Of course that is opinion. For us if on Viking we would pay for tours on our own or upgraded excursions. We would be in a higher level suite and pay for alcohol. We would consider Viking compensating for what we know is true  and for the rest make an objective opinion whether to include Viking in our mix for future cruise choices.

 

What you've described is subjective. 

 

People listing facilities and food choices is not a review. That is objective - just listing facilities and food choices by itself is not the review. 

 

Now, commenting on the quality of those facilities and food choices would make it a review, which is subjective as people. Whenever you're judging by an internal set of standards that you yourself have set, that makes it subjective. The users commenting will be judging by their own set of standards, which is therefore not 'objective' as you claim. 

 

>You can get the feel of the culture of the ships; do they encourage passenger/crew interaction for example.

 

Which is subjective. You've just described something incredibly subjective. For example, if I say they encouraged too much interaction, that's a subjective assessment based on the standards I hold as being the correct level of interaction. 

 

I think Regent's great. But there are users here who think Regent is terrible and not worth the money. It's subjective. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 16, 2021 by nonu731

[Pcardad]

Viking is a great cruise line - certainly worth a try if you are a regular cruiser and like their itineraries. 

[RetiredandTravel]

This forum has been very helpful, we have often considered Viking.

 

Honestly our analysis has never put Viking over the finish line.

 

We felt that the dinner seating was very tight, food choices ( we don't care for buffets) and wine limited.  When it comes to decor five dogs playing poker and bean bags are ok with me but the little lady is more particular and she feels the room decor is very stark.

 

What wines are included with the basic and upgraded package?  If anyone would share that would be great, from what I've read the wines aren't very impressive.  We like wine.  🍾🍷

 

Viking has some interesting new expedition cruises to the Great Lakes that we are still considering.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gray Eagle02]

We have multiple Regent tours and one Viking Ocean tour— around Cape Horn. We did this as we were traveling with another couple, who ended up not going because of a medical emergency. We had a upgraded room and the drink package. Here’s my view: 1) The first level suite is still way below a Regent concierge cabin. Storage appeared so limited in regular veranda stateroom I knew it wouldn’t work for us. 2)Food and wine was good but not near the level of Regent. 3)What I was most unhappy with was that tables for 2 were crammed so close together that you were essentially eating at a table for six, unless you got a window table, then you were eating at a table of four. 
I doubt I would take another Viking cruise except to travel with others who won’t pay Regent prices ( most of our friends) or for a special itinerary that was only offered by Viking.

 

 

[Focused1]

Agree with several posters on comparison of Viking to Regent having sailed on both. We did a two week cruise on Viking from Auckland to Sydney in February 2019 and thought it was lacking many things that Regent provides. We didn’t expect a luxury cruise and we certainly didn’t get it even though the price was comparable once you add up costs.  
Our aft Explorer Suite, the second highest level accommodation, was sparse and very tight on space. Yes, the bathroom floors are heated but they are also very small and the shower and bathtub are both in a wet room and not separate. Service is just okay. The dining room was very crowded, loud, rushed and slow. Food was mediocre at best. Complimentary and very standard wine is serve at lunch and dinner. Otherwise, you must buy a drink package. It was a big deal each time when we tried to order a cocktail or another wine having to show our card, etc.  After a few nights dining, we decided to use the reservation only specialty dining rooms which were quite good. The only downside was the need to get your name on a waitlist each time. On the good side, afternoon tea is the best in that it is served in a lovely conservatory type venue with live classical music.  The free tours at every port are merely overcrowded bus tours but you can purchase more in depth tours for a very reasonable price.  All in all, we wouldn’t take another Viking cruise and would stay with our usual Regent, Silversea or Seabourn. 

[Jim Avery]

On 11/11/2021 at 2:38 PM, travelwell said:

Chirping birds? Now I am curious. On to lurking on the Viking boards……

Yes, in public spaces restrooms you might hear birds.  Not loud and at first it might not register.  Also, at other times for some unknown reason, you hear sea sounds.  Also very subtle and in the background.  I guess its the same idea as running water to "inspire" your little kids to, well you know....