Post Trip Report--Viking Star--Sep 18 2022 NYC to Montreal

[PatriciaF]

We are back from our cruise.  Our first and only Viking ocean cruise was in December 2018.  This one had all the characteristics we loved about the first one--small ship, great staff, good food, well-organized.  Our first cruise ended in Venice--fogged in--finally sailed to Trieste to disembark at 7 PM (vs 8 AM).  Got to the port area of Venice around 830 PM.  This cruise we had deviations due to Hurricane Fiona.  Excellent response from the shipboard crew and corporate in both conditions.

 

Positives:  cheerful staff, adapted quickly to our change in itinerary to keep us out of Hurricane Fiona.  Good to very good food. We went to tea everyday--a few times only having tea and scones with out the sandwiches.  Stateroom service excellent, service in world cafe (aka "the buffet)), Manfredo's, and Chef's Table was very good.  The restaurant at dinner was good to very good--but at breakfast and lunch--so slow.  Our one lunch on board, took two hours for 3 courses to be served.  Viking like other lines appears to be a bit short handed.  

 

Needs to improve:  the bed is a typical hard as rock European bed--unlike my Princess dream bed I will not be checking out if I can buy the pillows or mattress.  Pizza--perhaps authentic Napoli but the crust was so thin (Princess has the rep of best pizza at sea).  Will this impact our future bookings with Viking--no we booked a cruise for June 2024 while onboard.

 

Ship appeared to be in good shape.  Entertainment was limited but that was expected--we discovered the guitarest up on 7 in the Explorer's Lounge late in the voyage--he was great.  We were sorry we hadn't found him earlier.  

 

Not too much laundry to use as we did 3 small loads during the cruise--but this time I found the scent of the laundry detergent used by Viking a bit strong.  So--if you are scent sensitive, you may wish to bring your own detergent.  

 

Smooth sailing to everyone on board now or in the future.

 

Pat

[Fieldofdreams]

37 minutes ago, PatriciaF said:

We are back from our cruise.  Our first and only Viking ocean cruise was in December 2018.  This one had all the characteristics we loved about the first one--small ship, great staff, good food, well-organized.  Our first cruise ended in Venice--fogged in--finally sailed to Trieste to disembark at 7 PM (vs 8 AM).  Got to the port area of Venice around 830 PM.  This cruise we had deviations due to Hurricane Fiona.  Excellent response from the shipboard crew and corporate in both conditions.

 

Positives:  cheerful staff, adapted quickly to our change in itinerary to keep us out of Hurricane Fiona.  Good to very good food. We went to tea everyday--a few times only having tea and scones with out the sandwiches.  Stateroom service excellent, service in world cafe (aka "the buffet)), Manfredo's, and Chef's Table was very good.  The restaurant at dinner was good to very good--but at breakfast and lunch--so slow.  Our one lunch on board, took two hours for 3 courses to be served.  Viking like other lines appears to be a bit short handed.  

 

Needs to improve:  the bed is a typical hard as rock European bed--unlike my Princess dream bed I will not be checking out if I can buy the pillows or mattress.  Pizza--perhaps authentic Napoli but the crust was so thin (Princess has the rep of best pizza at sea).  Will this impact our future bookings with Viking--no we booked a cruise for June 2024 while onboard.

 

Ship appeared to be in good shape.  Entertainment was limited but that was expected--we discovered the guitarest up on 7 in the Explorer's Lounge late in the voyage--he was great.  We were sorry we hadn't found him earlier.  

 

Not too much laundry to use as we did 3 small loads during the cruise--but this time I found the scent of the laundry detergent used by Viking a bit strong.  So--if you are scent sensitive, you may wish to bring your own detergent.  

 

Smooth sailing to everyone on board now or in the future.

 

Pat

Thank you, sailing on different ships coming up, Mars and Jupiter (our first Viking cruises) , however, general info about Viking very helpful and consistent with what I have been reading on Cruise Critic.

[PatriciaF]

8 minutes ago, Fieldofdreams said:

Thank you, sailing on different ships coming up, Mars and Jupiter (our first Viking cruises) , however, general info about Viking very helpful and consistent with what I have been reading on Cruise Critic.

I think very few are disappointed with their Viking Ocean cruise.  Be sure to check out the spa on 1 forward--steam, sauna, hot tub, therapy pool are all no charge.  Washers/dryers, no charge--they have a soap dispenser that you need to activate on the wall if you don't bring your own.  Make sure to download the Viking voyager APP on your phone or tablet--so much info--I like to be able to see the menus in the restaurant and world cafe for several days before hand.  In the world cafe, each side is a bit different.  Ice cream only on port (left) side.  At night, sushi on port side, shrimp, langostinos, crab legs only on starboard (right) side.  We usually sat on the side we thought would have the best view.  

 

[Fieldofdreams]

31 minutes ago, PatriciaF said:

I think very few are disappointed with their Viking Ocean cruise.  Be sure to check out the spa on 1 forward--steam, sauna, hot tub, therapy pool are all no charge.  Washers/dryers, no charge--they have a soap dispenser that you need to activate on the wall if you don't bring your own.  Make sure to download the Viking voyager APP on your phone or tablet--so much info--I like to be able to see the menus in the restaurant and world cafe for several days before hand.  In the world cafe, each side is a bit different.  Ice cream only on port (left) side.  At night, sushi on port side, shrimp, langostinos, crab legs only on starboard (right) side.  We usually sat on the side we thought would have the best view.  

 

Thanks, great idea about Viking Voyager APP

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, PatriciaF said:

but this time I found the scent of the laundry detergent used by Viking a bit strong.  So--if you are scent sensitive, you may wish to bring your own detergent.  

I have scent and chemical sensitivity too but Viking uses unscented detergent—at least on the five VO cruises I’ve been on. I think it’s more likely that someone brought scented dryer sheets and you happened to use one of those dryers. I’ve had that happen.

[dd57]

12 minutes ago, LindaS272 said:

I have scent and chemical sensitivity too but Viking uses unscented detergent—at least on the five VO cruises I’ve been on. I think it’s more likely that someone brought scented dryer sheets and you happened to use one of those dryers. I’ve had that happen.

I was on the Mars in August.  I, too, am very sensitive to scents, which makes my asthma a lot worse.  I used the laundry on our floor and the smell was so strong that I tried to rewash some items in the sink.  I called guest services to let them know and ask if this was just the one machine.  Nope.  They did give me free laundry to fix the load, so I sent  the rest out to the ship laundry and did not react to that soap.

 

I don't know what happened, but I think I'm taking my own detergent on our next trip.

[PatriciaF]

@LindaS272It was really strong on our socks--thank goodness, it was far away enough from my nose to not flare up my allergies/asthma.  No scent on the sheets or towels in the cabin--so not an issue with its own laundry.  @dd57 thank you for sharing your story.  My husband thought they smelled nice--I thought it was just way to strong--but I only use the scent free stuff at home.

 

[LindaS272]

Must be a recent change or a supply chain issue. Unscented soap on the Viking Sea in March.

[Peregrina651]

7 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

I have scent and chemical sensitivity too but Viking uses unscented detergent—at least on the five VO cruises I’ve been on. I think it’s more likely that someone brought scented dryer sheets and you happened to use one of those dryers. I’ve had that happen.

 

I'm in the same boat as you, sensitive to scented detergents; it is the smell that gets me even if it is on other people's clothing. Up until our last cruise (12/2021), I would have agreed with you that Viking uses unscented detergent. However, on our last cruise, the detergent was different and much more heavily scented than ever before, both from the laundry service and from the self-serve. Even worse, it took multiple washes after I returned home before the stink dissipated. All I can hope is that by the time I sail again, they have changed suppliers and things will be back to normal.

 

As for dryer sheets, if they won't ban their use on board altogether, couldn't they, at least, 

set aside one set of washer and dryer in each laundry room as "hypo-allergic." (Or even better, vice versa, set aside one dry only where dryer sheets can be used).

[TayanaLorna]

15 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

Must be a recent change or a supply chain issue. Unscented soap on the Viking Sea in March.

Perhaps the scent comes from people using their own detergents not knowing about the button to push for the Viking detergent.

[Sleep7]

👋Hi PatriciaF!

Thanks for your cruise review.  I enjoyed reading it.. glad you had a fun time!

Welcome home.😊

[Peregrina651]

9 hours ago, TayanaLorna said:

Perhaps the scent comes from people using their own detergents not knowing about the button to push for the Viking detergent.

 

It did not matter whether I used the laundry service or did my own.

[oceandream]

Thank you for your report.  Would be interested to read about your excursions on this saling. 

[PatriciaF]

Two of our ports were canceled so our one not included tour in Gaspe we didn’t do.  Viking had refunded our credit card for that canceled excursion in 48 hours or less.

 

The included tours are general overviews mostly on the bus.  The tour guide in NYC was excellent.  In Boston there was a free shuttle that dropped you off near the Aquarium.  On the second day we took it in, walked most of the freedom trail..got a bit lost..finding the cheers bar and just took an Uber back rather than walking the mile plus back to the bus pick up and possibly having to wait up to an hour,  The Uber was $15 plus tip. We were docked in the old port in Quebec, easy walk to old Quebec especially if you took the ride up hill, $4 cash each US or Canadian.  Chateau Frontenac was worth the time to visit and we had lunch their our extra day there.  Montreal was interesting and the city had grown since I was last there (1997).  We got to the Cathedral during an organ concert which made it extra special.

 

We had a rental car before we got on board.  Had to return it at JFK.  Took a cab, fix rate of $52 ish plus a toll $2.50 plus a tip.  Much cheaper than the $49 per person from Viking.  We got to the port a little before 1, had perhaps 20 in line ahead of us, at the buffet having lunch by 130.

 

 

 

[oceandream]

Thank you, much appreciated