Amazing Viking Service

[Heidi13]

Thought I would run with Peregrina's great idea and start the thread to discuss some of our many experiences with amazing service aboard a Viking ship

 

While we had literally hundreds of these experiences, these 3 really standout.

 

1). During a T-Bone special evening on Aquavit Terrace, both of our steaks (medium & MR) were at best "Blue". The waiter noted the issue when he cleared the plates and passed a note up the food chain. The following day, we received a call in the cabin from the Executive Chef. Most apologetic for the experience the previous evening and wanted to make it right, by personally cooking steaks to be delivered to our cabin. They even took one of our regular table waiters out of the MDR to deliver the meals to our cabin. OMG!! they were cooked to perfection. Our regular wine and IPA was also included. Everyone can have a bad day, but how you respond makes the difference.

 

2) Star Theatre - every night in the Star Theatre, Von delivered us additional drinks just prior to the lights going down. No need to order, they just arrived.

 

3) When we were down to 8 pax on the Magical Mystery Tour, the Chef made a special Beef Wellington and cake for Judi's birthday and our Turkish A/Waiter got permission from the Chef to work in the galley and make Baklava, which was amazing.

[CDNPolar]

On Viking Star in December 2022, we were so pleased to see 6 crew members that we knew from a pre-pandemic cruise, in a totally different part of the world.

 

Katerina who was the host at The Restaurant instantly recognized us and called us by name, and each night we were quickly seated in the same section - often the same table - with the same serving team that we adored.   She remembered us from over 2 years prior.

 

I prefer "Club Soda" to the Viking sparkling water, and on the second night with the same serving team, the Club Soda just arrived as we sat down.  We often asked for additional butter, and that just was on the table with the bread when it arrived.  This serving team really took care of us and the leader of this team was Jacobs.

 

Overall, we knew crew in various parts of the ship and this made us feel more than welcome as they all went out of their way to recognize us.

 

On our most recent Homelands cruise, the bartender in the Living Room - I Made - greeted us by name on the second day.  This was very special and obvious to us as he would call out to us even if we were just walking by.  

 

I could go on for hours about the over-the-top service that we have grown to love on Viking...

 

Thank you for starting this discussion!

[Hobson1754]

Wow, these are the kind of reports/feedback  I like👍 We are going on our first Viking cruise in just over a month and the more I read, the more excited I’m becoming. Bring it on.

[Azulann]

I started  my paperback book reading the first nigh in cabin. I used a piece of note tablet paper for my book mark. The next day after the morning cleaning of our cabin, I  found a lovely Viking Bookmark had replaced my simple piece of paper. The book was nicely placed on my bedside table.  Attention to detail for sure. 

[Clay Clayton]

We have always experienced great service but two instances come to mind immediately. 
 

On one of our cruises we really enjoyed a cold pea soup in the Dining Room one evening.  So much so that we asked for some to take to the room (it was of course delivered) to have the next day at lunch. On our next cruise, pea soup was listed on the menu at The World Cafe for lunch one day.  We were very excited but apparently the server saw the disappointment on our face when handing us the bowls of steaming split pea soup.  Soon the Restaurant Manager was at our table to see what was wrong.  A few minutes later the chef stopped by and told us to come back tomorrow and ask for him.  We did and were rewarded with “our” special soup!

 

On our Far East Discovery cruise, I mentioned in my blog that I was disappointed that at tea rather than proper clotted cream with the scones we had been served heavily whipped cream. The next morning, I was stopped by the head tea waiter who apologized and informed me that due to supplier issues in Asia they had only a limited supply of clotted cream (I presumed they made it aboard?) but to ask for him the next time we came to tea and he would get us some. I didn’t even have to ask, when we were at tea several days later, as the scone server was getting ready to place the whipped cream on the table and as I was about to say, “Ricky said to ask him to bring some clotted cream”, he arrived with it!

 

Oops, one more that covers two instances.  My DMIL traveled with us twice. She had heard us rave about the grilled split lobster and the Chilean Sea Bass entrees we had enjoyed on previous cruises. On “her” cruises neither were on the menu. When the Restaurant Manager’s asked if there was anything we needed, we spoke up and in both cases, were magically rewarded!

 

Ive also included a few crew pictures of the wonderful folks we have sailed with more than once who always greet us as returning heroes!

[Mich3554]

We took 2 cruises on the Jupiter, about 3 months apart.  The crew that was still there recognized us from 3 months earlier.  With thousands of people passing through, how do they do that?
 

We sat down in the Aquavit terrace, not realizing it was lobster night at the grill.  One of the managers eating back there heard me grouse and went to the pool grill and brought back both DH and I a lobster to have with the rest of our meal.

 

DH’s shoes fell apart in Colonia.  The shoe disconnected from the sole, and other than sandals these were his only shoes.  While we went shopping the next day for new shoes in Montevideo, our cabin steward brought his old shoes to their machine shop.  Delivered his old shoes back that evening, looking like new shoes.

 

We were leaving for dinner and a stain on my sweater that I thought it had washed out but was still there (DH helpfully pointed it out just as we were leaving our cabin).  Cabin steward heard him laugh at my inability to hit my mouth with food.  I went back to the cabin to put on another shirt, and threw the chocolate stained sweater onto the bed to deal with later.  Cabin steward took my stained sweater to the laundry and got the stain removed and returned it the next morning.  

[lackcreativity]

Thank, Heidi, for getting this started. I love this thread already!

 

We became particularly friendly with the Head Waiter in The Restaurant on our most recent cruise, and he regularly stopped to chat with us every time we were there. One evening, he and my husband were talking about food (imagine that!), and he asked what our favorite food was. Indian was the reply from both of us. We were invited to have the Chef prepare a special meal for us on a night which suited our schedule. That "homemade" chicken curry meal was one of our all time favorites on Viking, and that was a very high standard to attain. 

 

That will always be a very special memory. I would love to give him credit publicly for such a great gesture, but I am not sure it would be fair to burden him (and the Chef) with nightly requests from all of us looking for a special meal. Now, on the other hand, if they offer.....

[millybess]

While in St. Petersburg, we returned much later than scheduled from a Russian dancing excursion and we could hardly wait to get back and order room service and then wait just a little bit more. When we entered our room, there were sandwiches, cookies and a bottle of wine waiting for us. Very impressive! 

[SoDakPirate]

On our July "Into the Midnight Sun" cruise, the Captain was extraordinary. He had the entire audience very entertained with his tremendous sense of humor during the first night welcome and crew introduction.  He was very visible and approachable during the entire crew. He passed by our table in the World Cafe during the second week of the cruise and said hello and asked if everything was going well and what could he do to make it better.  My wife asked him why they only blew the ship's horn occasionally when leaving port.  He explained that in some ports the locals encourage it while at others they don't.  My wife replied that she enjoyed hearing it.  He immediately pulled out his phone and said "I am with a lovely lady who enjoys hearing the ship's horn, please accommodate her".  Seconds later the ship echoed for what seemed like minutes with the lovely sound. He bowed and said "Your wish is my command"!

[OneSixtyToOne]

We were on the Viking Jupiter in the spring of 2019 (its 2nd voyage?) The planetarium was only showing iMax movies. One of the guest lecturers on board was a physicist who did a presentation in the theater on space. I asked him if he would do a lecture in the planetarium and he looked into it. The next day he arranged a presentation, figured out how to actually use it as a planetarium, and handed out tickets. The planetarium has the ability to project stars, constellations, and planets, not just showing iMax movies.

Edited August 27, 2022 by OneSixtyToOne

[rizello]

6 hours ago, Azulann said:

I started  my paperback book reading the first nigh in cabin. I used a piece of note tablet paper for my book mark. The next day after the morning cleaning of our cabin, I  found a lovely Viking Bookmark had replaced my simple piece of paper. The book was nicely placed on my bedside table.  Attention to detail for sure. 

This happened to me also on my recent river cruise.  I had borrowed some books from the Viking library to read.  I came back to my room later to find some nice Viking bookmarks placed on top of the books for me to enjoy.

[Neptune2022]

I am LOVING these stories, keep them coming everyone!   We are soooo looking forward to our first cruise ever in December - 117 days, but who’s counting!  

[Azulann]

6 minutes ago, Neptune2022 said:

I am LOVING these stories, keep them coming everyone!   We are soooo looking forward to our first cruise ever in December - 117 days, but who’s counting!  

WOW, first cruise and you are sailing for 117 days!  So excited for you. What an adventure you will have, please  stop in on this forum and share your experiences .

[LindaS272]

10 minutes ago, Azulann said:

WOW, first cruise and you are sailing for 117 days!  So excited for you. What an adventure you will have, please  stop in on this forum and share your experiences .

Mmmmmm……I think maybe they mean in 117 days…..? As in, from now, since it will be in December.

[Jim Avery]

I think you are right Linda.  We did meet a couple on the Inaugural WC that was taking their first cruise ever for 120 day WC.  🍸

[aungrl]

While we've consistently had above-and-beyond service on our Viking cruises from every one of the crew members, one example that jumps to mind is from our In the Wake of the Vikings cruise.  We had surprisingly wonderful weather almost every day, including two days of sun in Bergen.  Our day in the Faroe Islands was cool and drizzly.  After a long day of touring out in the elements, my husband's shoes were a muddy mess.  He set them aside in the bathroom on a plastic bag to deal with after dinner.  When we got back to the cabin about five hours later,  after dinner, the show in the Star Theatre, and a little time in Explorers, our cabin steward had removed the shoes, cleaned them thoroughly, replaced a slightly frayed lace, and rubbed them with leather protector.  Amazingly thoughtful, but not that unusual in our experience on Viking.

[Neptune2022]

3 hours ago, Azulann said:

WOW, first cruise and you are sailing for 117 days!  So excited for you. What an adventure you will have, please  stop in on this forum and share your experiences .

Actually, the cruise starts in 117 days but it is the world cruise, so it is 137 days long from Ft Lauderdale to London.  So many new places for us to see!   We are very much looking forward to it! 

[Peregrina651]

The guests are gone. I need a break from kitchen duty. It is time to tell my amazing Viking story -- or one of them, anyhow.

 

In 2012, we sailed with Viking on the Dneipr River, Ukraine. I was posting live from the ship and made a direct comment to Viking about the QuietVox headsets. At that time the QuietVox had a dedicated headset jack; you had to use the Viking supplied headset because it was the only one that would fit the jack. It was designed to fit the left ear -- and I don't hear out of my left ear. Yes, you could flip the headset around to try to use it on your other hear but I didn't find that very comfortable and opted to go without most of the time.

 

So, I made a very public comment to Viking management via the roll call  that they really should switch to a QuietVox unit with a standard jack so that we could use out own headsets if we had problems with the one they supply, and I explained why.

 

The next thing I knew, the engineering department was knocking at my cabin door. They had cobbled together a new headset for me, a standard set of earphones like you get on airplane with the dedicated jack that fits into the QuietVox receiver. It was anything but elegant but it did the trick. 

 

Home office, which, as we have seen, follows the social media, had called the ship and asked them to do what they could to fix the problem. I hadn't asked for an immediate fix and didn't even expect one. (My goals were grander; I wanted standard jacks across the fleet).

 

BTW, for those who are concerned about privacy and confidentiality, Viking "TellUs" (aka Social Media) already knew my secret identity.  They did not ask CC to reveal any information. You might say they already had my number. 😉

 

 

[longterm]

We've had exceptional service from Viking on numerous occasions; a few come to mind:

 

We love the mushroom soup on Manfredi's; I asked if the chef would give us the recipe. The next morning, a nice color printout of the recipe was on our door, complete with photos. 

---

In Venice, we were told that our tour to St. Mark's wouldn't happen because the church didn't allow tours on Sundays. I was very disappointed, until the tour director on board put together a tour for just the 10 of us who had lost our tours; we were transferred to St. Mark's Square on private water taxis, given a tour of the Doge's Palace for just our small group, spent some time on the streets, the Rialto Bridge, a few other sites. First class response to a less-than-optimal situation.

---

When Covid struck, we had an 11-day Caribbean tour that was canceled; we had used an upgrade for this trip, which put us in a junior penthouse and  upgraded us from a 5-day to an 11-day cruise. Viking honored our upgrade a year later when tours finally resumed, giving us a JP as we'd originally been given. Excellent service.
 

[deec]

We also love Manfredi's Mushroom Soup...Disappointingly it was not on the menu during our Panama Canal Viking Orion trip last fall....we asked...the chef replied when are you coming back to Manfredi's I will make it for you...and he did!!!

 

My Keen's rubber sole gave up  mid way through our 4 B2B's on the Jupiter last winter/spring...our amazing cabin steward took it it to the wood shop and had them glue for me!!!  The shoes lasted the rest of the trip!

 

On the Inaugural  WC I thought it was amazing that our cruise director, Heather Clancy, organized an exceptional non-denominational church service each weekend. I bet that was not in her job description!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Twitchly]

What a great thread! Just 10 more days …

[jrkstl]

We have had many wonderful moments like those posted, which is why we keep coming back to Viking!

 

One that stands out:

 

It’s 2015 and we are on our first river cruise (first cruise of any kind, actually) on the Danube. After lunch, I brought my Diet Coke glass to our room as it was still full. When moving a bed pillow, I knocked the full glass over onto the bed and needless to say made a mess of the very white bedding (all the way down to the mattress pad!) I was too embarrassed to report it, but did my best to clean it up. During dinner that evening, I came back to a fully remade bed with clean everything!

[janetcbl]

On our recent 28 day Mars cruise we had a delightful waiter, Michael,  the first evening…and the second…and the third, etc. He seemed to enjoy us as much as we did seeing him every evening,  and he quickly learned my allergies and my husband’s preferences. When he changed sections, so did we. The upshot, we cancelled our Specialty restaurant reservations and ended up dining “with him” for the entire trip.

[molymoo]

We could go on and on about the exceptional Viking service ... from the guest services desks, to the dining venues, bars, cabin stewards, every cruise has given us wonderful service so I will not be redundant here but offer an example of great service from the medical team.  Pre-COVID we had occasion to "visit" the medical facility after my daughter twisted her ankle on the Into the Midnight Sun "Husky Trek" excursion.  She initially thought she was going to be okay so she finished the "trek" and after returning to the ship went on the included tour after lunch.  While on that tour the pain set in and the swelling started.  By the time we got back to the ship again she was pretty miserable so we called down to medical and they were ready for us.  They took three sets of xrays, gave her an injection for pain, and some additional oral meds for pain.  By the time we got back to the stateroom they had notified housekeeping to keep us supplied with bags of crushed ice for the next 24 hours.  They were as nice as could be and all at no charge as it was a Viking excursion.  Would not hesitate to look to them for assistance anytime.

[lackcreativity]

3 hours ago, molymoo said:

We could go on and on about the exceptional Viking service ... from the guest services desks, to the dining venues, bars, cabin stewards, every cruise has given us wonderful service.... 

This is so true. It's great to share all these cases which were really exceptional, but even the everyday type of Viking great service makes our trips outstanding. I am thinking of our Viking excursion in Barcelona to Parc Guell. There was a crewmember on the excursion, in civilian clothes, on her time off, yet she approached us up on the iconic Terrace with the fabulous view of the city. She asked if we would like her to take our photo. Her thoughtful gesture provided a nice memento along with one more reminder of how special the crew can be.