First Viking Ocean cruise review: Was it worth the money?

[amtatom]

Cruise:

 

Australia & New Zealand, Viking Mars, Feb 21-March 8, Sydney to Auckland

 

Background:

 

My husband and I are in our forties, so we understand we’re younger than the typical Viking guest. We have done two Holland America cruises in the past (although in 2010 and 2015, so several years ago) and enjoyed them. We did a Viking River cruise in 2019 and loved it, which was our primary motivator for booking with Viking Ocean. We’re avid readers and generally quiet people, so the appeal of 1) no children, 2) no formal nights, and 3) included excursions were key to us. The included excursions were probably the biggest draw as we loved our included walking tours on the river cruise.

 

We’re not big drinkers or wine snobs, so we did not see the need to purchase the beverage package. We are content with a glass of house wine at dinner.

 

We also wanted a smaller ship experience. My understanding is HAL ships have only gotten bigger since our first cruise in 2010 (which was about 800-900 pax).

 

We booked this cruise in 2020, during the height of the pandemic, because it was such a good deal. The cruise itself was “on sale,” there was some sort of no-risk guarantee, and free airfare. All of this means it we did not pay the price currently listed on Viking’s website, although it was still our most expensive vacation ever.

 

Our review:

 

State Room: Great. We booked a DV on deck 4 and were very pleased with it. Comfortable with plenty of storage. We requested firmer pillows and those were quickly supplied. We especially appreciated the free laundry room, as that enabled us to pack even lighter than we typically do. (I took the CC suggestion of doing laundry at dinner time one evening, and that was excellent advice - no waiting!)

 

Service: Generally excellent. I was a little queasy on our first sea day, so I immediately requested ginger ale at breakfast in the restaurant by and was also brought green apples by the maitre d’ (before the server even arrived) without asking. Twice when we returned to the restaurant after, the same maitre d’ asked how I was feeling. One evening, I left my sweater in the restaurant and it was returned to my room before I even realized it was missing. The only slight downfall may have been our fault as we were confused by the servers in the World Cafe. Are we supposed to self-serve our drinks or not? We seemed to get either no attention at all or were swarmed by multiple servers who wouldn’t even let me get my own latte from the machine.

 

Food: Good and plentiful but not outstanding. We mostly ate in the World Cafe as my husband, especially, did not want to go through the hassle of changing for dinner (this is contentious, but I wish that casual dress was allowed in the restaurant at dinner like it was on the river cruise; I never saw a “casual” day outfit that would have appalled me in the restaurant). Having said that, I did think the food was better in the restaurant. The best items always seemed to be the seafood and gelato. There was 3-4 special “taste of” lunches and I thought those were high points, as well. Room service breakfast was so-so, but we ordered dinner one night and it was better. We ate at Manfredi’s once and felt it, too, was good but not outstanding. We had no trouble getting reservations on the app while on the ship for the day and time we wanted; I did not book ahead. Afternoon tea was fun, but, again, not outstanding. The house wine was fine, as expected.

 

Public spaces: Outstanding. This was a highlight for us. As I mentioned, we’re avid readers so we want a light, airy, quiet place preferably with a sea view to read in peace and there was plenty to choose from. We had to make an effort to try them all! My memories of HAL were of darker interiors with few public spaces. We also read outside on deck whenever the weather permitted.

 

Entertainment: We’re not big on musical reviews nor are we night owls (and were also too young for the target decades), so the only show we went to was the Maori culture show. It was excellent! We also did one of the movies on the pool deck, and that was fun, too.

 

Enrichment: Good. We enjoyed the lectures from the historian, the wildlife expert, and the art expert. There were so many that we couldn’t even watch them all (we watched them later in our stateroom, not live). I did a craft class and my husband did the Bayeux tapestry tour, which we both enjoyed. My husband went up to do stargazing one night, but he was very disappointed there was no guide/speaker nor any telescopes, etc. He came back after about five minutes.

 

Port talks: Poor. On HAL, the talks were very specific: “The shuttle bus will be located here (map on screen), you can take the local bus #whatever to see ABC or you can walk to XYZ within ten minutes (map on screen). The closest ATM is here, free wi-fi in the cruise terminal, the closest public restroom is here, taxis are here, here’s how much or if you should tip someone, etc.” None of this was in the port talk on Viking. On this cruise, even Guest Services refused to give me the location of the shuttle bus stop the night before a port “because it might change.” Unlikely, as all the shuttle bus stops were the same locations listed by one of the excellent World Cruise blogs I’m reading (I got more information from that blog than from Viking). And, if it does change, please just announce such.

 

Optional Excursions: Great. We booked 3 with Viking, and they were all great. Not outstanding, but we enjoyed them and felt they were well organized and fair in price. We would do them again.

 

Included Excursions: Poor. The first one in Sydney was downright awful. It was a weaving drive through mostly residential sections of the city with the driver telling us what that particular cluster of pharmacies/Asian take-outs/coffee shops was called and how much the homes in the area cost. There was one stop at a view of the Opera House and Harbor Bridge, but it wasn’t even the best view IMO (we had gone on our own to better view the first morning). Then we stopped for an hour at Bondi Beach in the middle of a rainstorm with high winds. No one was out swimming or surfing, and there was very little else to do in the area. I know Viking cannot control the weather, but there should be a Plan B in place. Everyone from the bus returned by the 30-minute mark except one couple who were trying to find the street of shops the guide claimed was there; they could only find one shop, they said, that only sold tee shirts. They were disappointed and soaking wet. The next excursions we did, in Melbourne and Dunedin, were better but still not good. I know they were all listed as panoramic, but I didn’t think the stops on each tour were the best representation of the cities. There were also fewer stops than I imagined: two in Melbourne and one in Dunedin. The included excursions were so poor that we canceled all our other included tours and just got out and did our own thing.

 

(We also booked one private excursion through Zealandier and that was excellent.)

 

App: Good but not being utilized enough. The app always worked well and I loved the idea, but I was disappointed that some things couldn’t be done on it. My biggest peeve was that dining times were not listed. If you can change the menu daily, why not the times? Why could I book a restaurant reservation but not a craft class reservation? Why could I book a shore excursion but not cancel one? One could only do these things by going down to the desk on Deck 1, which was always crowded. If Viking wants to attract younger guests, they need to update their technology.

 

Transfers: The tale of two transfers! As we had free Viking Air, we got free airport transfers. Arrival in Sydney was outstanding. Prompt, well-organized, housed in a large beautiful hotel space with a full brunch buffet and barista for hours. When we arrived, there were plenty of people to check you off a list and give you a sticker that clearly indicated your bus number and time for transfer to the ship. Carry-on luggage was carefully stacked securely behind the desk, they walked around to confirm we had down our RAT test and would assist if one needed it, etc. However, the departure in Auckland was a complete shambles. The hotel space was not large enough to hold everyone (literally people standing or sitting on the floor everywhere including the hallway), there was only coffee and water even through lunch time, there was initially only one person at a table with an extremely long line to check in for your bus departure time (this was ridiculous and should have included in your documents the night before), and there was no system in place to make sure everyone got on the correct bus. This ended up being an issue because the buses failed (we heard drivers were sick, we heard one broke down, we heard they were stuck in traffic, etc - not sure of the true story), and our group ended up waiting over an hour and a half standing on a busy sidewalk in downtown Auckland to finally be put in transport vans. You couldn’t hear the Viking rep out there, they had no way to monitor if those with earlier flight times were leaving first so made little effort to do so, etc. When our group finally got to the airport, we were dropped off and told a Viking rep would be inside the doors to direct us to our checked luggage. No representative at all and no luggage! Our group walked around for about 20 minutes until I finally called the Viking emergency travel number. Murphy’s law, while I was on the phone, a Viking rep came running up to us telling us we’d been dropped off at the wrong door and the van was being called back to take us to our luggage. Back on the van we went. Finally, we got our luggage and were directed to the correct door. This experience was so poor (including other issues I didn’t list here) that I plan on writing to Viking about it.

 

Bottom line:

 

Was it worth the cost? I’m not sure. The shipboard experience probably was, and, as we had several sea days, we spent a lot of time enjoying the ship. However, as our primary draw was the included excursions, I would say they weren’t; they added no value to our cruise and instead felt like a waste of time to varying degrees. Since I’ve returned, I’ve looked up another Viking Ocean cruise we were considering and most of those included excursions are listed as walking tours. Perhaps that would make all the difference, but I’m understandably a little wary now. On the other hand, the Viking shuttle bus service was good and included, as were the bottles of water; we were (over)charged for both on HAL. Can we justify spending twice as much, though, to save some money on shuttle buses? Especially if we’ll have to pay for optional excursions anyway in places where we don’t speak the language or don’t feel comfortable walking on our own? And how will we feel about walking on our own with no information provided before the day of, especially if we don’t speak the language? We wouldn’t be able to study maps to determine the best routes/public transport options from the shuttle bus stops, for example, so it would difficult to plan our day. We were fortunate in New Zealand that we felt 100% safe and comfortable flying by the seat of our pants because as there was no language barrier.

 

I would like to add I read this board religiously before our cruise for information and I found everything to be helpful and kind. Thank you so much!

 

Edited March 11, 2023 by amtatom

[Jim Avery]

For the most part your thoughts are like mine.  We really avoid the included tours as "Panoramic" is just a bus ride for the most part and "Walking Tours" naturally move at the speed of the slowest.  We have had the occasional included tour that was great but you really have to hunt for them.  We also are big fans of the ship and crew.  We love being on the ships months at a time.  It really gets to be home.  We also sail on HAL as it is a drive to embarkation at San Diego so several itineraries from there have suited us well. Is Viking worth the $$$$?  Only you can say.  We have spent much more with Viking than our first houses cost so, like most folks on this board, it is a financial decision that get's weighed carefully.  Glad you had a good time overall.🍹

[allyg]

Thanks so much for your very detailed review. My husband and I are taking our first Viking cruise in May/June from Iceland to NYC so we are quite interested in what we will experience. We have sailed quite a few times on other lines so we can compare later. We have booked our own transportation so, hopefully, we will have no problems. Thanks again for taking the time to write such a thorough review.

[amtatom]

51 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

For the most part your thoughts are like mine.  We really avoid the included tours as "Panoramic" is just a bus ride for the most part and "Walking Tours" naturally move at the speed of the slowest.  We have had the occasional included tour that was great but you really have to hunt for them.  We also are big fans of the ship and crew.  We love being on the ships months at a time.  It really gets to be home.  We also sail on HAL as it is a drive to embarkation at San Diego so several itineraries from there have suited us well. Is Viking worth the $$$$?  Only you can say.  We have spent much more with Viking than our first houses cost so, like most folks on this board, it is a financial decision that get's weighed carefully.  Glad you had a good time overall.🍹

I should have clearly stated that we DID have a very good time overall. We enjoyed New Zealand more than Australia which may be because of the mentioned canceling of included tours and doing our own thing instead. (We also had more time in New Zealand.) But we have no regrets about traveling this way to see this part of the world.

 

Also, I realize my questions are rhetorical. Honestly, I’m still undecided. It will probably come down to itineraries, estimates of shore excursion vs. shuttle bus costs, number of sea days, and whether or not airfare is free. I wish that all cruise lines would list an estimated cost for their shore excursions on their websites as that would help greatly.

 

Of note, I notice HAL now has a “package” that offers many of the Viking perks: gratuity, free room service, free Wi-Fi, upgraded beverages, etc. So we'll have to consider that, too.

Edited March 11, 2023 by amtatom

[dd57]

If you do decide to try Viking again, I recommend picking the walking tour ones.  The included walking tours that I took in Iceland and Norway were very informative.  In Seydisfjordur, Iceland, which is a tiny town, the tour was led by a local who grew up there.  She explained the history of the town, the extreme difficulties in building there, what life is like now, etc.  In Alesund, Norway, the tour leader was a history teacher.  Yes, the walking pace of both was slow, but that gave us time to look around and take pictures in very scenic towns.  I would rather take it easy than be on a death march, as we experienced in Rouen.

[BigBee51]

 

1 hour ago, amtatom said:

Of note, I notice HAL now has a “package” that offers many of the Viking perks: gratuity, free room service, free Wi-Fi, upgraded beverages, etc. So we'll have to consider that, too.

Edited 48 minutes ago by amtatom

 

The package on HAL is not free. The price of the cruise is higher than you would pay without it. We usually get the all inclusive package on HAL for the convenience.

[amtatom]

21 minutes ago, BigBee51 said:

 

 

The package on HAL is not free. The price of the cruise is higher than you would pay without it. We usually get the all inclusive package on HAL for the convenience.

I should have been more clear. I realize the package is not free. It is bundled pricing for things that Viking considers free or all-inclusive. I suspect that even with that extra fee, the cruise would still be significantly less expensive than Viking. (Of course, price isn’t everything; the perceived value is.) I, too, imagine we would get it for convenience if we were to cruise HAL again as we like knowing what we'll spend in advance and not worry about it onboard.

[Vineyard View]

3 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

For the most part your thoughts are like mine.  We really avoid the included tours as "Panoramic" is just a bus ride for the most part and "Walking Tours" naturally move at the speed of the slowest.  We have had the occasional included tour that was great but you really have to hunt for them.  We also are big fans of the ship and crew.  We love being on the ships months at a time.  It really gets to be home.  We also sail on HAL as it is a drive to embarkation at San Diego so several itineraries from there have suited us well. Is Viking worth the $$$$?  Only you can say.  We have spent much more with Viking than our first houses cost so, like most folks on this board, it is a financial decision that get's weighed carefully.  Glad you had a good time overall.🍹

Totally agree with Jim on the excursions, as well as what he likes about Viking. We don’t take panoramic tours.  We’ve done a couple walking tours that are okay, but we also have taken them for the transportation to the area when it is not walkable. We ask the guide what time to be back to the bus and go do our own thing (really only works when it is a long enough time scheduled). We tip the guide as we would had we walked with them, and it’s never been an issue 

 

We haven’t sailed on HALs large ships. We did purchase their package when we sailed their smaller ones. 
 

At the end of the day, itinerary is a major deciding factor when and whom we sail on. But excursions are not as we DIY or private most of the time. 

[duquephart]

2 hours ago, dd57 said:

If you do decide to try Viking again, I recommend picking the walking tour ones.  The included walking tours that I took in Iceland and Norway were very informative.  In Seydisfjordur, Iceland, which is a tiny town, the tour was led by a local who grew up there.  She explained the history of the town, the extreme difficulties in building there, what life is like now, etc.  In Alesund, Norway, the tour leader was a history teacher.  Yes, the walking pace of both was slow, but that gave us time to look around and take pictures in very scenic towns.  I would rather take it easy than be on a death march, as we experienced in Rouen.

 

So much depends on the guide. There are very good and absolutely terrible.

[Azulann]

Thank you for your detail trip report.

The reason I  sail on Viking is the ship and crew.  The ambience is exactly what I want.

I came from Celebrity which I did like too.

But  now I do not want to  have to figure out all their promos, categories, up charges ,not interested in their large ships etc. And their M and S class ships are  much darker than Viking . I want to be able to see both the ocean /sky  for the most part when I am on the ship. 

I  am sorry you  did not eat in MDR.  I don't eat in WC for dinner because my travel companion wants table service for dinner.   The food on Viking is fine for me  with lots of variety in different  restaruants. 

I am so looking forward to my Scenic Scandivian cruise in June.

I learned long time ago to  interpret the ship excursions for what they are really providing. It also depends on the tour guide. Some are excellent and other just so, so.

I also have organized private excursions  on various cruises which I found great tour guides and tailor made the excursion for what I wanted to see. 

It seems, after Covid,  roll calls are not full of folks wanting or offering to organize private excursions.

 It  is what is is. 

Good luck to you in future cruising on Viking or other lines. 

[lackcreativity]

1 hour ago, Azulann said:

I learned long time ago to interpret the ship excursions for what they are really providing. It also depends on the tour guide. Some are excellent and other just so, so.

I also have organized private excursions  on various cruises which I found great tour guides and tailor made the excursion for what I wanted to see. 

It seems, after Covid,  roll calls are not full of folks wanting or offering to organize private excursions.

 

Azulann,

 

I certainly agree with your comments, about Viking in general and about the excursions specifically. In so many cases, the guide really determines one's enjoyment of the excursion. Exceptional guides are special and rare, and it helps not to judge all the others against the best of the best. Fortunately, in our experience, really poor guides do exist  but they are rare too. Most guides are generally satisfactory, and can add something to your experience even if not terrific. 

 

Post Covid, as you noted, apparently fewer people are looking to form groups for private excursions. That is problematic as the way to reduce the cost of those private excursions is by having the right size group.  For just one couple, private tours that I have seen are pretty costly.

 

Post Covid, there are also fewer guides available for all types of excursions. Most were forced to seek other employment during the pandemic, and not all of them are rushing back to the hospitality industry. 

 

Carefully reading the descriptions of the excursions Viking offers is the key, as I think even some of the panoramic tours can be useful if they drop you off somewhere interesting with a shuttle option to return to the ship. If the destination is one that is completely unfamiliar to me, I will even check out the sites to be visited on Google or Flickr or Pinterest to see if it would appeal to me. That takes a bit of effort, but we usually book so far in advance there is plenty of time!

[DrKoob]

I am with you on almost everything, although we found The Restaurant loud and the food just OK. We did three weeks on Sky (which was too long), and it was a fine cruise. It just did not meet our expectations and the price tag. We are booked for another (shorter) cruise, and we are doing a COVID-delayed river cruise, but we thought we were finding our new cruise line (we left Celebrity after 30+ cruises, but that's another story), and we didn't. Going to try Oceania next. One thing that looks better with them is that instead of the free excursion, they give you OBC, and you choose what to spend it on. Out of 21 days (18 ports), we did Viking excursions (some included, some extra charge) on 14 of them. They were mostly terrible. You would have thought the guides were paid by the word. They never stopped talking. We also did three days on our own with private guides, which were the BEST days of the cruise. We also loved the ship. Thanks for the honest and thoughtful review.

[FLcruiser2011]

More than a little concerned by the comments about the food.  We are currently deciding between a 2024 WC on Neptune and a 2024 WC cruise on New Crystal, and given the length of time we would be on the ship, our big concern is how we will feel about going to dinner after 100 days.  BTW, just returned from a nearly two-month cruise on Oceania Marina -- which we booked after reading all the raves by Oceania fans about "best food at sea" -- and it was VERY disappointing.

[Jim Avery]

A legitimate concern.  But think about your favorite restaurant.  Could you eat there three meals a day for 120 or so days?  We couldn't either.  Viking does their best to change things up and imho does a great job.  How have we handled 4+ months of eating in the same venues?  Every now and then we grab a lunch ashore.  Even Mickey D a couple of times.  Amazing how that will make you ready for Manfredi's again.....🍹

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, FLcruiser2011 said:

More than a little concerned by the comments about the food.  We are currently deciding between a 2024 WC on Neptune and a 2024 WC cruise on New Crystal, and given the length of time we would be on the ship, our big concern is how we will feel about going to dinner after 100 days.  BTW, just returned from a nearly two-month cruise on Oceania Marina -- which we booked after reading all the raves by Oceania fans about "best food at sea" -- and it was VERY disappointing.

 

Food is highly subjective, but on World Cruises, Viking tend to ramp up the standards. I suggest checking out any of the current travel blogs from the Neptune, the live thread from the current World Cruise and the live thread from the 21/22 World cruise on Star.

 

Going back to 2020 WC, you can also check out our daily posts from the Sun - www.AndyandJudi.com

[Heidi13]

23 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

A legitimate concern.  But think about your favorite restaurant.  Could you eat there three meals a day for 120 or so days?  We couldn't either.  Viking does their best to change things up and imho does a great job.  How have we handled 4+ months of eating in the same venues?  Every now and then we grab a lunch ashore.  Even Mickey D a couple of times.  Amazing how that will make you ready for Manfredi's again.....🍹

 

OMG Jim, I can see a pie, washed down with a few pints, but Mickey D is really stooping to the low end. Even food on Princess would be gourmet after suffering Mickey D.😁

[Jim Avery]

10 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

OMG Jim, I can see a pie, washed down with a few pints, but Mickey D is really stooping to the low end. Even food on Princess would be gourmet after suffering Mickey D.😁

Mickey D in Saigon was fantastic.  The Quarter Pounder with cheese in Porto wasn't bad either. 😱

Just to be somewhat cool we had already had a local snack and drink or two earlier in the day.  MickeyD just took the place of tea onboard......  Hahahahaha.....

Edited March 12, 2023 by Jim Avery

[SteelCity Cruiser]

We did the Sydney to Auckland cruise last month on the Orion, which was our third Viking Ocean cruise (we've also done four river cruises) and I've found that the food is highly dependent on the head chef on board.  The Orion's food was excellent, including the World Cafe.  I enjoy all of the options (and the Pool Grill has great burgers) but I think the best and most consistent dinner option is The Restaurant.   

 

As far as excursions - I was somewhat disappointed at the quality of excursions (even a couple of the optional ones) on the recent trip, and it's the first time I've ever given negative reviews on any excursion we've done with Viking.  The other cruises we've been on have been very good to excellent excursions.  I think part of it is because both Australia and New Zealand really haven't been fully re-opened to tourism for very long, and it takes time to rebuild the tour guide and excursion operations.

 

Just my observation.

[SempreMare]

On 3/11/2023 at 11:24 AM, amtatom said:

re: the Viking on-board app

" My biggest peeve was that dining times were not listed. If you can change the menu daily, why not the times? Why could I book a restaurant reservation but not a craft class reservation? Why could I book a shore excursion but not cancel one? One could only do these things by going down to the desk on Deck 1, which was always crowded. If Viking wants to attract younger guests, they need to update their technology."

 

Hallelujah and amen! 

 

I've written about this before here;  it's gotta be a felt friction point of almost all Viking cruisers. If my head is looking at 1 screen of details, don't make me find a different screen or physical location to find such closely related info.

 

What I literally thought was 

"Viking's IT team is asleep at the wheel.  

The other back office teams are doing all the heavy lifting in creating a great experience.  This is so obvious a need." 

 

[Sunflower & The Scientist]

On 3/11/2023 at 12:26 PM, amtatom said:

 

 

Of note, I notice HAL now has a “package” that offers many of the Viking perks: gratuity, free room service, free Wi-Fi, upgraded beverages, etc. So we'll have to consider that, too.

We've cruised HAL as well.  If you don't mind casinos, and children, HAL may be where you are happiest.  Personally we found HAL to be older more outdated ships (just our opinion, no flames please) We did not care for the staterooms. We will pay more for the newer, fresh super clean appearance of Viking, and we won't sale again with casinos and children unless we have to. (We like children, just not in the room next to ours, or running back and forth down the hall.) 

[Camden lady]

3 hours ago, Sunflower & The Scientist said:

We've cruised HAL as well.  If you don't mind casinos, and children, HAL may be where you are happiest.  Personally we found HAL to be older more outdated ships (just our opinion, no flames please) We did not care for the staterooms. We will pay more for the newer, fresh super clean appearance of Viking, and we won't sale again with casinos and children unless we have to. (We like children, just not in the room next to ours, or running back and forth down the hall.) 

I am a 4 star mariner on HAL, but I have left them for Viking.  Their ships are worn out and show it so I don't want to be on one of them until they do something about the condition of the cabins.  I was told they had refurbished but found out they had only refurbished the suites.  OK, HAL, you have lost me to Viking.  I am about to go on my 5th Viking cruise and I love the ships.