Viking ocean cruises

[oceandream]

Considering Viking ocean cruise,  ever use this line before and wondering if friendly for our community. Thanks

[WestW]

Hi oceandream. 
 

We are about to embark on our 3rd Viking Ocean cruise (New Zealand to Australia). We have found Viking to be very LGBTQ friendly and have thoroughly enjoyed our 1st two cruises with them. We have met a handful of gay couples along the way and found the other passengers to be very friendly to us - including making some friends. We have also done Alaska to Japan/Hong Kong and a Bermuda cruse. 
 

Viking service is top notch. Good luck with your future adventures. -Bill

 

 

[CDNPolar]

My husband and I have done 6 Viking cruises to this point and on both River and Ocean.  Most have been ocean.

 

We have never had any issue on a Viking Cruise with the crew or guests.  We are not a publicly demonstrative couple anyway, but it is obvious that we are a couple. 

 

The Viking crew have always been most welcoming and genuine with us.

 

I will say that there are sometimes some sideways glances from some guests who probably don't invite gay friends to their home for dinner, but never anything overt.   We have most often observed other gay couples on the cruises that we have been on too.

 

My husband and I are a "few" years apart in age.  The only time that there was anything that might be considered off was my husband heard a comment from an older gentleman after I went from the large spa pool to the snow grotto - "That's the sugar daddy."

 

Well, the joke was on him, because I still work and I earn well, but my husband beats me in the salary department so in fact he is the sugar daddy...

 

Here is a link to a post I made in the LGBT forum some time ago.  Not a lot of information but there are some comments that you might find useful.

 

 

A couple of Viking Ocean cruises that I have been on have had a meet-and-greet in the Explorer Lounge for the LGBT guests, but we have never attended so I don't know if they draw anyone out or not.  No offence to anyone, but we don't feel the need to find and associate (with intent) with other gay couples on the ship.  We prefer to meet others organically as we move about the ship.  We tend to be creatures of habit, so that means that we always (or almost always) eat breakfast on the port side of the World Cafe.  Many others are the same so you do start to get to know faces and meet people.  On our first Viking Cruise we met a couple that will be life-long friends and, on one of our last cruises, similar situation with a single cruiser.  The last one we started talking with this woman on an excursion.    NOTE:  I think that if you wanted to have a meet-and-greet, that you would just have to ask the Cruise Director and they would add it to the agenda...  not sure how this happens because some ships have had it and some have not...

 

In general, we highly recommend Viking as long as you are not looking for crazy nightlife and equally over the top entertainment.  The Viking evening shows are really enjoyable, but the ship is quiet after the show is over - about 9:45pm.

 

The age demographic is higher on Viking but we have seen a wider age range in the last few cruises.  A key point for us however is that there are no children under 18 on the ship.  This is a selling point for us.

 

Hope you enjoy and please report back if you do sail with Viking.

Edited December 22, 2022 by CDNPolar
added info

[oceandream]

Thank you Bill and CDN polar. I think that we will try Viking ocean sailing this summer. Very convincing .

[gayspirit]

greetings everyone

I am sorry that I didn't catch this thread earlier. I am currently cruising on a Viking Ocean cruise that is a combination of back to back cruises from Bangkok to Bali/Bali to Sydney/Sydney to Auckland (arrive in Auckland on Jan 10). While I agree that the service, food and facilities of Viking are top-notch and deserve a #1 rating, we have not had the same experience around LGBTQ issues. My husband and I have been together for 24 yrs, married for 15 yrs--we are part of the aging LGBTQ gen (67 and 75 y.o.--our gen has been through a lot). I have been a community organizer in social justice most of my working life. I did not want to do any "work" on this 45 day cruise--the longest vacation that we have ever taken. We have done Viking Rivers previously. While each leg of the trip has a different personality (because the turnover in passengers is quite large)--we have encountered more than the "cold shoulder" from some passengers, who tend to be middle-class, white, dominant culture, heterosexual, and not diverse in terms of ethnicity (I am a person of color and my husband is white). Perhaps that is natural in the world, that one tends to be more friendly and open to people who look or seem like you. Personally, I have not had that privilege in life. It has affected how much we feel "included" in the trip and the "community" of the ship. "Inclusion" is more than just not having barriers. The feeling of being welcomed and also some feelings of safety are also important...at least to me. While the service staff were spectacular, the customer service/excursion people were less so. The cruise director kept using an offensive term towards gay men when referring to a shipboard game they offered (as entertainment), which I hope was not intentional or conscious. I finally wrote a complaint (after hearing it for 20 days), and gave them the google definition of the term as evidence. They removed the reference from their vocabulary. But staff was clearly not trained in LGBTQ sensitivity. One tour guide in Jakarta referred to sodomy as a funny thing that a local politician was involved with. Again, I had to write a complaint to Viking customer service that their guides needed to be trained in LGBTQ issues, if they were going to be sensitive to the potential of an LGBTQ "market" or clientele. Lastly, initially no LGBTQ group was offered on any of the 3 legs of the cruise. I had to advocate for them each leg of the trip--not what I wanted to spend my time on. And we only got one meeting on each of the first two legs (Bangkok to Bali, and Bali to Sydney). I am in the middle of the third portion of the cruise and we finally got 2 meetings (after more advocacy)...we will see if there are more. While it might seem that I am complaining as a "minority" person vis-a-vis the dominant culture--I am also complaining as a person who dished out a lot of money for a 45 day cruise with business class tickets that Viking arranged. I expect competence that is good enough, not perfection, as a client passenger. In the larger perspective, their level of LGBTQ competence was not good enough for me. The trip is great, we are having a good time despite all this because the destinations are wonderful. And I didn't consciously pay money to get irritated by micro-aggressions. If there is a future destination on my bucket-list that only Viking goes to, I might consider taking them...but I would know that I would have to do my own self-advocacy while on the trip. In addition, I am balancing levels of comfort. I am very aware that most luxury cruise lines (including some of those who are reviewed as most LGBTQ-friendly) have lifted their covid vax requirements in 2023. Viking has not. That also makes a difference in my future cruising choices. Thanks for reading (I am on a sea day--can you tell?)

Edited January 3, 2023 by gayspirit
misspelling

[waldorf]

On 1/3/2023 at 6:22 PM, gayspirit said:

greetings everyone

I am sorry that I didn't catch this thread earlier. I am currently cruising on a Viking Ocean cruise that is a combination of back to back cruises from Bangkok to Bali/Bali to Sydney/Sydney to Auckland (arrive in Auckland on Jan 10). While I agree that the service, food and facilities of Viking are top-notch and deserve a #1 rating, we have not had the same experience around LGBTQ issues. My husband and I have been together for 24 yrs, married for 15 yrs--we are part of the aging LGBTQ gen (67 and 75 y.o.--our gen has been through a lot). I have been a community organizer in social justice most of my working life. I did not want to do any "work" on this 45 day cruise--the longest vacation that we have ever taken. We have done Viking Rivers previously. While each leg of the trip has a different personality (because the turnover in passengers is quite large)--we have encountered more than the "cold shoulder" from some passengers, who tend to be middle-class, white, dominant culture, heterosexual, and not diverse in terms of ethnicity (I am a person of color and my husband is white). Perhaps that is natural in the world, that one tends to be more friendly and open to people who look or seem like you. Personally, I have not had that privilege in life. It has affected how much we feel "included" in the trip and the "community" of the ship. "Inclusion" is more than just not having barriers. The feeling of being welcomed and also some feelings of safety are also important...at least to me. While the service staff were spectacular, the customer service/excursion people were less so. The cruise director kept using an offensive term towards gay men when referring to a shipboard game they offered (as entertainment), which I hope was not intentional or conscious. I finally wrote a complaint (after hearing it for 20 days), and gave them the google definition of the term as evidence. They removed the reference from their vocabulary. But staff was clearly not trained in LGBTQ sensitivity. One tour guide in Jakarta referred to sodomy as a funny thing that a local politician was involved with. Again, I had to write a complaint to Viking customer service that their guides needed to be trained in LGBTQ issues, if they were going to be sensitive to the potential of an LGBTQ "market" or clientele. Lastly, initially no LGBTQ group was offered on any of the 3 legs of the cruise. I had to advocate for them each leg of the trip--not what I wanted to spend my time on. And we only got one meeting on each of the first two legs (Bangkok to Bali, and Bali to Sydney). I am in the middle of the third portion of the cruise and we finally got 2 meetings (after more advocacy)...we will see if there are more. While it might seem that I am complaining as a "minority" person vis-a-vis the dominant culture--I am also complaining as a person who dished out a lot of money for a 45 day cruise with business class tickets that Viking arranged. I expect competence that is good enough, not perfection, as a client passenger. In the larger perspective, their level of LGBTQ competence was not good enough for me. The trip is great, we are having a good time despite all this because the destinations are wonderful. And I didn't consciously pay money to get irritated by micro-aggressions. If there is a future destination on my bucket-list that only Viking goes to, I might consider taking them...but I would know that I would have to do my own self-advocacy while on the trip. In addition, I am balancing levels of comfort. I am very aware that most luxury cruise lines (including some of those who are reviewed as most LGBTQ-friendly) have lifted their covid vax requirements in 2023. Viking has not. That also makes a difference in my future cruising choices. Thanks for reading (I am on a sea day--can you tell?)

Sorry to hear about your experience, we’re on Viking next year from Auckland to Bali, we always try to chat to any fellow gay passengers, although some are more friendly than others. Take care.

[Clay Clayton]

My husband and I (64 & 59) have cruised with Viking a number of times since our initial transatlantic after we retired in 2018. We have found staff and fellow passengers welcoming and friendly. As with life, there are some folks you click with and some you don’t. 
 

We particularly enjoy the smaller ship size, casual atmosphere, lack of children, and enrichment opportunities.  Those combined with generally being treated like an adult (want to bring a bottle na board? No problem) and the lack of a casino have made Viking our preferred line. Some find the entertainment lacking, but since we rarely attend the big shows on mainline cruises we haven’t missed it. And in fact because of the smaller size have on one cruise spent time with some of the entertainers socially. 
 

We have never seen an LGBT meetup announced on any of our cruises, however, someone recently posted that they are now posting meetings upon request in the daily. The example shown included announcements of get-togethers for LGBT, Veterans, Knitters, and painters. 
 

If you want to obtain the most value for your cruise, I suggest booking with an agent who provides the maximum Viking allowed kickback-$150pp on a cruise if 7 nights or less, $300pp for 8-14 nights, and $500 pp for cruises of 15 nights or more.  In our case, that is enough to cover the daily gratuities and leave a little bit leftover to go to the bar bill. 
 

If you haven’t already discovered it, there is lots of good advice and tips on this thread:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2416372-tips-for-new-viking-ocean-cruisers/page/62/#comment-62141739

[CDNPolar]

On 1/3/2023 at 1:22 PM, gayspirit said:

greetings everyone

I am sorry that I didn't catch this thread earlier. I am currently cruising on a Viking Ocean cruise that is a combination of back to back cruises from Bangkok to Bali/Bali to Sydney/Sydney to Auckland (arrive in Auckland on Jan 10). While I agree that the service, food and facilities of Viking are top-notch and deserve a #1 rating, we have not had the same experience around LGBTQ issues. My husband and I have been together for 24 yrs, married for 15 yrs--we are part of the aging LGBTQ gen (67 and 75 y.o.--our gen has been through a lot). I have been a community organizer in social justice most of my working life. I did not want to do any "work" on this 45 day cruise--the longest vacation that we have ever taken. We have done Viking Rivers previously. While each leg of the trip has a different personality (because the turnover in passengers is quite large)--we have encountered more than the "cold shoulder" from some passengers, who tend to be middle-class, white, dominant culture, heterosexual, and not diverse in terms of ethnicity (I am a person of color and my husband is white). Perhaps that is natural in the world, that one tends to be more friendly and open to people who look or seem like you. Personally, I have not had that privilege in life. It has affected how much we feel "included" in the trip and the "community" of the ship. "Inclusion" is more than just not having barriers. The feeling of being welcomed and also some feelings of safety are also important...at least to me. While the service staff were spectacular, the customer service/excursion people were less so. The cruise director kept using an offensive term towards gay men when referring to a shipboard game they offered (as entertainment), which I hope was not intentional or conscious. I finally wrote a complaint (after hearing it for 20 days), and gave them the google definition of the term as evidence. They removed the reference from their vocabulary. But staff was clearly not trained in LGBTQ sensitivity. One tour guide in Jakarta referred to sodomy as a funny thing that a local politician was involved with. Again, I had to write a complaint to Viking customer service that their guides needed to be trained in LGBTQ issues, if they were going to be sensitive to the potential of an LGBTQ "market" or clientele. Lastly, initially no LGBTQ group was offered on any of the 3 legs of the cruise. I had to advocate for them each leg of the trip--not what I wanted to spend my time on. And we only got one meeting on each of the first two legs (Bangkok to Bali, and Bali to Sydney). I am in the middle of the third portion of the cruise and we finally got 2 meetings (after more advocacy)...we will see if there are more. While it might seem that I am complaining as a "minority" person vis-a-vis the dominant culture--I am also complaining as a person who dished out a lot of money for a 45 day cruise with business class tickets that Viking arranged. I expect competence that is good enough, not perfection, as a client passenger. In the larger perspective, their level of LGBTQ competence was not good enough for me. The trip is great, we are having a good time despite all this because the destinations are wonderful. And I didn't consciously pay money to get irritated by micro-aggressions. If there is a future destination on my bucket-list that only Viking goes to, I might consider taking them...but I would know that I would have to do my own self-advocacy while on the trip. In addition, I am balancing levels of comfort. I am very aware that most luxury cruise lines (including some of those who are reviewed as most LGBTQ-friendly) have lifted their covid vax requirements in 2023. Viking has not. That also makes a difference in my future cruising choices. Thanks for reading (I am on a sea day--can you tell?)

While I appreciate your comments and concerns at various points of your reply here, I am a married gay man that works with Australia, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, and the UK.  My husband is Chinese and I am white Canadian.  I work with cultures that don't openly accept me as gay.  I have run diversity councils for my current company and other companies.  I am a beacon for inclusion in everything that I do... 

 

I have to respectfully state that from purely MY PERSPECTIVE you may be looking for too much especially from tour operators in countries like Jakarta.  I do not think that you cannot expect all these people in countries like this to be open and inclusive.  Being gay may not fit their norm at all and that is not Viking's fault.  We as LGBT people - again in my personal opinion - must be aware that we may live in a culture and society that is welcoming and open, but many of the countries that we choose to visit are not as advanced or open in their thinking.

 

I am sorry that you found Viking crew to not be open and inclusive because that has not been our experience on now 7 Viking cruises.  That is unfortunate for sure.

 

As much as I am an ongoing advocate for diversity and inclusion, I do strongly believe that we are not in a global state where we can expect this in every corner of the world that we travel.

 

Just my opinion, and not meant in any way to offend.

[RICHARD@SEA]

52 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

While I appreciate your comments and concerns at various points of your reply here, I am a married gay man that works with Australia, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, and the UK.  My husband is Chinese and I am white Canadian.  I work with cultures that don't openly accept me as gay.  I have run diversity councils for my current company and other companies.  I am a beacon for inclusion in everything that I do... 

 

I have to respectfully state that from purely MY PERSPECTIVE you may be looking for too much especially from tour operators in countries like Jakarta.  I do not think that you cannot expect all these people in countries like this to be open and inclusive.  Being gay may not fit their norm at all and that is not Viking's fault.  We as LGBT people - again in my personal opinion - must be aware that we may live in a culture and society that is welcoming and open, but many of the countries that we choose to visit are not as advanced or open in their thinking.

 

I am sorry that you found Viking crew to not be open and inclusive because that has not been our experience on now 7 Viking cruises.  That is unfortunate for sure.

 

As much as I am an ongoing advocate for diversity and inclusion, I do strongly believe that we are not in a global state where we can expect this in every corner of the world that we travel.

 

Just my opinion, and not meant in any way to offend.

Thank you CDNPolar for putting into words my same thoughts about the original post.  The world has turned into a "ME/MY" society ...when in  reality its an "US" world.  I grew up in the suburbs of NY, worked & lived in NYC for 40 years and after travelling on cruises & land holidays from Connecticut to the Great Wall, South America  & most of Europe - whether solo or w my partner, I never once encountered a problem.  I respect other cultures  and conduct myself accordingly.  I'm no shrinking flower either.  I worked in corporate & my partner was a polceman.

 

Any local where I believe we might encounter a problem I / we:

1. avoid the area

2 do not support the economy

3 never return.

 

But certainly never once did I have a problem being gay onboard any ship w multi nationalities...I first sailed in the early 1970's and still love being at sea.

 

Maybe the originial poster is not a sinclusive as he would like the world to be.

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, RICHARD@SEA said:

Thank you CDNPolar for putting into words my same thoughts about the original post.  The world has turned into a "ME/MY" society ...when in  reality its an "US" world.  I grew up in the suburbs of NY, worked & lived in NYC for 40 years and after travelling on cruises & land holidays from Connecticut to the Great Wall, South America  & most of Europe - whether solo or w my partner, I never once encountered a problem.  I respect other cultures  and conduct myself accordingly.  I'm no shrinking flower either.  I worked in corporate & my partner was a polceman.

 

Any local where I believe we might encounter a problem I / we:

1. avoid the area

2 do not support the economy

3 never return.

 

But certainly never once did I have a problem being gay onboard any ship w multi nationalities...I first sailed in the early 1970's and still love being at sea.

 

Maybe the originial poster is not a sinclusive as he would like the world to be.

 

I am out and proud at work and when I finally had the courage to be out and proud that was when I truly grew in my career and found my greatest success.  As a Canadian, I feel comfortable in my country and culture to be out and proud.  However, I work with and we hire a lot of new Canadians that come from countries where homosexuality is not accepted and they don't land in Canada with an immediate change in values, so I am always up against potential negative reactions.  This we will never overcome in the diverse world that we live in. 

 

My husband is Chinese and we are very lucky that his parents and immediate family accept me and our relationship because that is not always the case.  We travel to China and inside of the family circle we are accepted, but not the case in the general public.

 

We travel with the thought like you - we are aware and we make decisions to travel to or not based on our knowledge of the country.  In some cases we will only travel on a cruise or organized tour because we don't trust travelling outside of the safety of a group.  It is the way things are...

[leishirsute]

On 12/18/2022 at 9:58 PM, oceandream said:

Considering Viking ocean cruise,  ever use this line before and wondering if friendly for our community. Thanks

My partner and I  took a Viking Christmas markets cruise in 2022 and had a wonderfully COLD time. Everyone was friendly.  The cruise travelers tended to clump into little groups that stuck together for the shore excursions (as did we have our favorite set of folks), but it was not a big deal to move from one group to another.  We were accepted everywhere including dining with different tables.  We have already booked another Viking Cruise to the Holy Lands.  It would be fun to have a group of gay follow travelers to know.

Edited March 11, 2023 by leishirsute

[oceandream]

Thank you leis hirsute. Good to know about your experience. May I ask you  when is the sailing to holy lands, did not see it ans it is on our bucket list. Btw, nice name ! Considering Viking for Eastern Canada this  summer and later a long cruise. 

[leishirsute]

11 hours ago, oceandream said:

Thank you leis hirsute. Good to know about your experience. May I ask you  when is the sailing to holy lands, did not see it ans it is on our bucket list. Btw, nice name ! Considering Viking for Eastern Canada this  summer and later a long cruise. 

We are taking the Nov 14, 2023 departure Athens to Rome trip.   We booked too soon as air fare went from $999 to $299/person.  It looks like booking early doesn't guarantee the best deal.  Learning the in's and out's of cruise booking.  This will be my 2nd cruise.

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/eastern-mediterranean/cities-of-antiquity/index.html?return=true#noscroll

Edited March 12, 2023 by leishirsute
Added url to comment.

[Clay Clayton]

52 minutes ago, leishirsute said:

We are taking the Nov 14, 2023 departure Athens to Rome trip.   We booked too soon as air fare went from $999 to $299/person.  It looks like booking early doesn't guarantee the best deal.  Learning the in's and out's of cruise booking.  This will be my 2nd cruise.

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/eastern-mediterranean/cities-of-antiquity/index.html?return=true#noscroll

If you’re flexible and willing to not take a particular cruise, one can often save money by waiting to book under a promo.  BUT if there is a particular cruise you want to take in a particular date, then booking early is likely better. 
 

There are as many stories on these threads about cruises going up in price or being sold out as there are from those of us who tend to book late to save money. 

[oceandream]

Thank you for info.

[CDNPolar]

On 3/12/2023 at 11:11 AM, leishirsute said:

We are taking the Nov 14, 2023 departure Athens to Rome trip.   We booked too soon as air fare went from $999 to $299/person.  It looks like booking early doesn't guarantee the best deal.  Learning the in's and out's of cruise booking.  This will be my 2nd cruise.

 

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/eastern-mediterranean/cities-of-antiquity/index.html?return=true#noscroll

Don't know if you are willing to do this as there can be challenges, but we had a cruise booked for this coming August, and all of a sudden it offered free air.  After calling Viking would not honour the deal because of the date of our original booking - that date was not inside the promo booking dates published.

 

What we ended up doing was REVISING our cruise dates on the same booking number to the same cruise leaving 2 weeks earlier and we were then eligible for the free air.

 

You have to be careful as you are not canceling, but revising.  You have to understand the promo booking dates, but even if you are "revising" the dates, it is viewed as a new booking and eligible for the reduction in air or in our case the free air.

 

You will have a struggle with the reservation agent understanding what you are trying to do, as we did, and we ended up with a supervisor and everything worked out well and we ended up saving overe $2,000.00.

 

 

[leishirsute]

On 3/14/2023 at 5:18 AM, CDNPolar said:

Don't know if you are willing to do this as there can be challenges, but we had a cruise booked for this coming August, and all of a sudden it offered free air.  After calling Viking would not honour the deal because of the date of our original booking - that date was not inside the promo booking dates published.

 

What we ended up doing was REVISING our cruise dates on the same booking number to the same cruise leaving 2 weeks earlier and we were then eligible for the free air.

 

You have to be careful as you are not canceling, but revising.  You have to understand the promo booking dates, but even if you are "revising" the dates, it is viewed as a new booking and eligible for the reduction in air or in our case the free air.

 

You will have a struggle with the reservation agent understanding what you are trying to do, as we did, and we ended up with a supervisor and everything worked out well and we ended up saving overe $2,000.00.

 

 

We can't change the timing for this upcoming cruise, but that is a great suggestion that I will bookmark.  Thank you.