Comparing Viking to Oceania

[Islander500]

8 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Don't keep me in suspense. Which one did you choose?

 

Ha!  Viking for Midnight Sun cruise in Norway.  It’s all about enjoying the setting and the views from every vantage point. Thanks!  

[LaineyRod]

On 10/19/2023 at 8:16 PM, Myrtle Ave. Mayhem said:

@DrKoob Your thread over on the O board has been very interesting & illuminating. Your perspectives & explanations are appreciated.

 

Between the two, I'm going to stick with Viking. As a ship design nut, I'm head over heels with the Viking Ocean ships. Those ships are well thought out for the enjoyment & comfort of the passengers. Oceania Vista has missed the boat(bad pun intended) with limited lounge space & lack of connection to the sea. It's annoying to me that so many new ships don't have good views out to the ocean, wrap around promenade decks, quiet nook & cranny spaces.

The only two spaces aboard Vista that look like they would appeal to me are the Grand Dining Room & Horizons Lounge. 

 

Viking dining is good enough but can be hit or miss. Based on your experience, it seems  that not only does Oceania have better dining, but that the service in the dining venues is more on point. 

I agree with you on all points Viking.  I haven't tried Oceania yet, but I wish there was a way to tell Viking to try and consult or steal away Oceania's food people as it appears this is Viking's only achilles heel.  

[LaineyRod]

4 hours ago, Islander500 said:

Ha!  Viking for Midnight Sun cruise in Norway.  It’s all about enjoying the setting and the views from every vantage point. Thanks!  

We just got back from that cruise last week and it ranks as one of the BEST cruises we have ever taken!  It was amazing in every way (food was good but didn't knock our socks off most nights, but some did).  Loved that cruise and the ship staff so much!

[LaineyRod]

On 10/20/2023 at 1:00 PM, Kruzkrazy said:

A thoughtful, insightful comparison. Thank you. DW and I have sailed with V and O and we like them both for different reasons, most of which you mention. We were longtime customers of Princess (elite status with more than 500 nights), and have watched P fall off a cliff in terms of service and quality. They want young families with kids now, and old folks like us no longer feel welcome for too many reasons to go into here. V and O are just the opposite, and we will stick with them for now. By the way, Viking river cruises are wonderful, too.

 

Thanks for your post!  We took our kids on a wonderful Princess Mediterranean cruise back in 2014 and it was AMAZING.  We have been on Viking river & ocean ever since, so it is sad to hear that Princess has dropped the ball.  

[DrKoob]

16 hours ago, Islander500 said:

Ha!  Viking for Midnight Sun cruise in Norway.  It’s all about enjoying the setting and the views from every vantage point. Thanks!  

You should check out my blog then. We are currently in Scotland (pre-cruise) but we will be taking the Midnight Sun cruise that leaves London on the 14th. I will blog and post the entire trip. I will post in the Viking forums but the photos will be better on my blog at www.jimbellomoDOTcom. 

[Redtravel]

In April we sailed on Viking.  In May we sailed on Oceania. We have previously happily sailed on both lines.  I would gladly sail on either line.  The big differences are in food and excursions.  Viking is best organized in doing excursions. Their tours are well described.  The advertised pace is correct.  Listening devices are very helpful.  Oceania has instituted Simply More with a shore excursion credit. It does give you more flexibility in choosing tours. However, with more guests taking tours, the tour groups are often too big.  Tour descriptions and suggested ability pace is often very different from the advertised brochure.  Food is ok on Viking. Food on Oceania is better. There are more choices of venues. Oceania offers a variety of cuisines.  

[harbourside]

20 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

  Food is ok on Viking. Food on Oceania is better. There are more choices of venues. Oceania offers a variety of cuisines.  

With Vikings substantial increases in price, food should be better.  Buffet is always good, but The Restaurant is a bit of a let down.  Should be better at this price point.   The Chefs Table is fine,  Manfreddis is  nothing special. I still keep rebooking Viking, but will look at Scenic,Oceania or Seabourn next.

Edited June 10 by harbourside

[Cathyvee]

We just came off 140-day sailing on Viking Neptune (World Cruise and British Isles).

 

We loved our Penthouse Veranda cabin and the nice bathroom. However, in past we had a Penthouse Jr. Suite (on Saturn) which was even nicer.

 

The ship is beautiful; loved the lay out. Officers and crew were overall terrific.

 

Guest services? Not so good. Poor communication and much misinformation. 

 

Included shore excursions? Very few were worth the time, IMO. 

 

The optional (for fee) ones were mostly good, but always very crowded - up to 32-36 in a group. 

 

For me personally, the food on Viking Neptune was very good at times to just okay. Mostly ate in restaurant or world cafe. They did accommodate my 'low sodium' requirements.

 

Room service was mostly on time, and though my order for breakfast was always the same, I would never know what to expect. Some mornings I got 2 pieces of toast; some mornings 4 and scrambled eggs inconsistent as to amount. (Not the biggest deal.)

 

A year ago, we sailed inaugural sailing of Viking Saturn. On that ship, we liked Manfredi's.

 

On Viking Neptune, we found Manfredi's food to be not much better than the main dining room and we were disappointed with service in Manfredi's. Very rushed and often the servers had to be reminded of part of our order that they missed.

 

For us, Chef Table (fixed menu) is foo-foo food - much to do about nothing. Not for us.

 

As the OP said, the food on Oceania is (in our experience) the #1 edge that they have over Viking.

 

Both lines are very good and we would not hesitate to book on either in future.

 

We have Eastern Shore booked on Viking Mars and a South American cruise booked on Oceania Vista.

[lackcreativity]

On 6/7/2024 at 2:24 PM, LaineyRod said:

I agree with you on all points Viking.  I haven't tried Oceania yet, but I wish there was a way to tell Viking to try and consult or steal away Oceania's food people as it appears this is Viking's only achilles heel.  

We actually like Viking's food! Our issue is the repetition of ports in the itineraries, especially in the Mediterranean. We have been exploring the idea of Oceania, which has a much more varied selection of stops in that region. However, I am having a hard time making the change. We have loved each of our Viking cruises, and the ships and crew are practically perfect in our eyes!

[LaineyRod]

19 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

We actually like Viking's food! Our issue is the repetition of ports in the itineraries, especially in the Mediterranean. We have been exploring the idea of Oceania, which has a much more varied selection of stops in that region. However, I am having a hard time making the change. We have loved each of our Viking cruises, and the ships and crew are practically perfect in our eyes!

Don't get me wrong, I too love Viking's food.  It was, however, a bit better on our river cruises than this most recent ocean cruise.  And again, I had on our 15 day cruise, about 4 eyes-rolling back super delicious meals.  Then I had probably 6 very very good meals and then the rest were just good/decent eating.  Nothing was ever bad - except for the Chef's table, which doesn't mark allergens on their menus, so when I chose the Asian menu thinking that might be a good risk for my gluten sensitivity, they had to "fix" 4 of the 5 courses and they were pretty sad LOL.  The Californian cuisine was excellent BTW.    Also, I couldn't agree with you more about the ships crew!! We were on Saturn and the crew and James the guitar entertainer were the BEST, kindest, most amazing staff we have ever experienced!  Truly exceptional!  After doing quite a bit of research, I too am afraid to make the leap (it is a lot of $$ after all) to try Oceania because we too are totally spoiled by Viking.  I hope to hear about your travels if you do decide to try Oceania!!!

[JeffElizabeth]

23 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

We actually like Viking's food! Our issue is the repetition of ports in the itineraries, especially in the Mediterranean. We have been exploring the idea of Oceania, which has a much more varied selection of stops in that region. However, I am having a hard time making the change. We have loved each of our Viking cruises, and the ships and crew are practically perfect in our eyes!

They are #1 for a reason,  right? We will be trying them out in September,  NYC to Montreal.  

[Ready to Sail!]

23 minutes ago, JeffElizabeth said:

They are #1 for a reason,  right? We will be trying them out in September,  NYC to Montreal.  

I resently decide to do a deep dive research into Oceanic.  I didn't get very far when I read there  is no promenade deck.  To me, a ship isn't a ship without it.  Made the mistake of going on the Royal Princess.  Big Box Ship with no promenade deck.  Viking fits all our priorities, small ship, no casino, spacious uncrowded spaces, comfortable cabins.   Only done one Viking but 2 are booked and looking for a third.  We will stay with them until we stop cruising. And yes, food is important and we were satisfied with quality and variety on Viking.  Any time I don't have to plan meals, shop, and prepare everyday I'm satisfied.  

[Lovecruising831.]

On 10/19/2023 at 5:43 PM, DrKoob said:

We just finished a 15-night cruise from Montreal to Miami on Oceania's new Vista. I have been live blogging the entire cruise (as I did our Viking Sky cruise last fall) on my blog at www.jimbellomo.com if you are interested. Today I summed it up by comparing the two cruise lines. The rest of this is self-explanatory. I look forward to your comments. 

 

Let me sum up...

 

This should be the last post on our Vista cruise from Montreal to Miami. I hope you have enjoyed following along and the photos I have posted. I promised a final review of what we liked and didn't. Also, since Oceania has decided to become more Viking Ocean-like with their new Simply More inclusions, I will finish by comparing the two. They both desire to occupy the same space and attract the same cruisers.

 

When doing this post, I consulted all seven members of our party, and they mostly agreed with me. And please—realize these are my perceptions. Not yours. If you had a different experience on your cruise, let me know, but don't challenge me on my opinion of what I experienced.

 

What we loved...

• Obviously, the food. Oceania promises the best food at sea, and in 90% of their venues, they succeed. Every single place to eat was as good or better than any place I have eaten on any other ship. If cruising is all about food for you—you want Oceania.
• The new-ship smell. Kathleen came up with the description. It was great to sail on a ship that was only six months old. Everything was bright and shiny. Of course, this won't be true in a couple of years, but if you get on board this year, you should have the same experience.
• Service was incredible. We haven't had service like this in quite a few cruises. Besides the crew members themselves their training, the way they are treated and how they are managed. What a massive contrast to our last cruise on HAL's Koningsdam, where no one was trained to do their job, and some of the things they did were just dangerous.
• Vista is beautiful. Great design. Some nice art. Just about every part of this ship is gorgeous to look at.
• The shower in my brother's stateroom. I'm not sure if he had a different shower than we did; I do get it. He is a big guy, and a big shower is important to him. Sadly, I disagreed because that oversized shower (a big square) meant there was less room in the rest of the stateroom and less storage space.

 

What we thought needed improvement...

• Their entire system for doing WiFi. Come on, Oceania. It makes me log in and out and kick my wife off. Even worse, it meant she couldn't text me if she wanted to ask me something or let me know where she was. I totally realize that the new Simply More program (which includes two device logins) will be an improvement. But if you have more than one device on the ship with you (a phone, tablet and computer), you will have to log off one to get on the other. That means I have to log off or kick myself off before I can receive something else on the new device. Give us WiFi like every other cruise line if you get "FREE" WiFi. Quick messing with it. Even the guy in the digital center hates it. He said it is his biggest complaint. And from what I have seen on Cruise Critic, it hasn't worked very well since the Simply More changeover.
• Speaking of technology—they need to get an app! Every major cruise line has an app that you can text in (without having an internet package), you can see the daily program, you can check your account, you can see the menus for that evening, and so much more. In 2023, not having your own app says you are just stupid and living in the last century.
• The elevators. I touched on this when I wrote about the ship's public areas, but the elevators are ridiculous, and for a new ship, they broke down far too often. Thankfully, I don't believe anyone got stuck in one, but there are just not enough of them. Sadly, they can do nothing about this, but they can improve it on future ships.
• Very few spaces where you can see the sea. For a cruise line named after the ocean, they didn't want you to see the ocean when they designed this ship. If you don't have a verandah, you can't see the ocean until you are on deck 12. Below that, the only place you can see off the ship is the Grand Dining Room. That's nuts. All the other windows on decks five and six are covered with drapes, and there is no access to outdoor decks, let alone an actual promenade deck that encircles the ship. Again, this is one thing they can't improve on Vista but should make note of for future ships.
• The AC can't keep up. If you are in the Aquamar Kitchen, the Waves Grille and most of the Terrace Cafe and doing a warm-weather cruise—you better love hot and humid temps. Both the Aquamar and the Grille are open to the outside and have no air conditioning that we could see. On cold days, they have heaters but not even fans for hot days. On our last sea day before we got to Miami, the temperature was in the high eighties/low nineties and the humidity was close to 90%. Finding a place to sit in the buffet where you didn't get a blast of hot, humid air whenever someone came into or went out of the room was challenging. If you are from Florida, this probably won't bother you, but those of us from the northern climates were dying.
• Someplace to sit. There is really no place to sit and have a pre-dinner cocktail that doesn't have music playing in it. Piano player in Martinis, dance band in Horizons and string quartet in the Grand Lounge. This is especially true if you want to get together with new or old friends and talk.   But this problem is one they can fix now. Just play excellent background music (like they play all day) in Martinis. No Bill Murray-style lounge singer with a grating voice who tries to drown out every single conversation. That should do it. If people want a quiet conversation pre-dinner, the only nice lounge is the Smoker's Lounge. So many convert that to a regular lounge and just make the entire ship non-smoking?

That's about it. See, we really had a great cruise. Yes, we missed two ports, but O gave us a future cruise credit for the one they were responsible for, and the other was due to weather, so it was not their fault. On the list of all our cruises, I would put it up with our HAL cruise on Nieuw Statendam or one of our early cruises with Celebrity until they decided they didn't like cruisers our age anymore.

 

Let's Compare

Over the last six months, Oceania has been bringing out its Simply More program that incorporates much of what Viking Ocean Cruises does. It adds free wine and beer at dinner, free internet (but only two devices at a time per stateroom) and more. So clearly, Oceania sees itself competing with Viking Ocean for the same clientele.

 

Since we left Celebrity, we have been looking for a new cruise line to lend our loyalty to. And so far it has come down to Oceania (O) or Viking Ocean (VO). So, since both O and I have decided to make a comparison, here is ours based on this 15-night cruise on O's newest ship and our 21-night cruise on the slightly older Viking Sky last year around this time. Here's how I see it. Again, please realize that this is MY PERCEPTION. If you had a different experience, please let me know but don't attack my reality.

 

• Stateroom Design (Viking wins). Staterooms on Viking for close to the same price are much bigger—there is a ton more storage space, which is important on longer cruises that we seem to take now.
• Bathroom Design (Viking Wins). Even though my brother likes his shower better on Oceania, I like the bathroom layout much better. No wasted floor space
• Internet (Viking Wins). I think I have been over this enough. From the minute we got on board Viking until the minute we got off, we had complete WiFi on every device we owned. I am not even sure if Viking offers an internet upgrade.
• Cruise Ship App (Viking Wins). Oceania has no app. Viking's isn't perfect, but I can at least see what is going on during the day without a paper copy, and I can check menus around the ship and text each other.
• Elevators (Viking Wins). Enough said. Kathleen never had to wait for an elevator on Viking. Ever.
• Lounges (Viking Wins). There were a number of places we could get a quiet drink and have a conversation.
• Closed-in Ship (Viking Wins). You can see the ocean from almost any public space on a Viking Ocean ship. Not true on Vista, where you can't see it until you get to deck 12.
• Promenade Deck (Viking Wins). If I am on deck five and want to know what the weather is like, I have to wait until I get back up to my stateroom to find out. There is no place below deck 12 (other than my verandah) where I can step outside. Plus, as a walker, I much prefer a walking track that is partially protected. With Vista's being on deck 15, they closed on a number of days to walkers and joggers because of strong winds.
• Interior furnishings (Viking Wins). This is really a matter of taste, but I just love Viking Ocean's Scandinavian design. Much of Vista's public space was beautiful, but some bordered on gaudy. I said bordered (the lighting in the Grand Lounge was really close to Vegas).
• Horizons/Explorer’s Lounge (Viking Wins). Horizons is a cocktail lounge/dance hall. Explorer's Lounge on Viking is on two levels. The top one is for quiet reading (I did most of my writing and photo processing up there), and the lower level has a bar and excellent seats for conversation.
• The entire spa (Viking Wins). I am the first to admit that even though we were in a Concierge stateroom, I never tried the Aquamar Spa, but in my mind, Viking wins this one because everyone has access for free. Not just those in Concierge or above staterooms.
• Outside activities (Oceania Wins). Deck 15 and 16 had so much you could do on sea days it wasn't even funny. From bocce to shuffleboard, from pickleball to mini golf (not to mention the golf simulator and cornhole), it was a veritable playground for those wanting an outdoor diversion. If I had one criticism, it would be that they need more barriers to the wind as they had to close these decks fairly often at sea...which defeats the purpose.
• Culinary Center (Oceania Wins). I don't even think Viking has a Culinary Center. It is undoubtedly a draw for me.
• Smoking Lounge (Oceania Wins). If you want to smoke on Viking, go outside in the weather. Vista's Smoking Lounge is gorgeous. How about both cruise lines ban smoking entirely, and then Vista can open up her Smoking Lounge to people who want to gather before dinner and not hear music?
• Casino (Viking Wins). Because they don't have one. The space they saved by getting rid of their casino went into the Wintergarden, a beautiful room where anyone can gather. With Viking, we were drawn to the things they don't have as much as to the things they do. No kids under 18, no casino, no ship photographers, no upsell in the spa, no indoor smoking, etc.
• Artist’s Loft (Oceania Wins). Another great extra on Vista. I didn't use it, but it was jammed every single day.
• Complimentary pressing (Viking Wins). Oceania said we got pressing of our clothes when we arrived. There were coupons in our stateroom. Five of them. That means that you can have five things pressed. On Viking (in the PV–the stateroom we had), you got free pressing all the way through the entire cruise.
• Free Laundry (Viking wins). We got about the same amount of free laundry on both ships, but the note on Vista said that it could take "up to three days." Well, if I have three pairs of pants and two are dirty and I send them to be laundered and then I spill something on the one I kept, I am out of luck for three days. I do realize that they were under-promising and over-delivering because many who sent their laundry out got it back one day later. But I can't take that chance.
• Launderettes (tie). Both have great self-serve laundries, although the ironing boards on Vista could be bigger.
• Beds (Oceania wins). This is a hands-down thing. My bed on Viking was almost unusable. It was way too hard for me. Our bed on Vista was excellent (Kathleen thought the pillows sucked, but they didn't bother me that much).
• Ships across the entire line (Viking Wins). We were on Vista, Oceania's newest ship. The entire line has seven ships, with one on the way in 2025. We have heard that Vista, Marina and Riviera are all about the same size and have the same features. But the other four are old R-class ships with some of the tiniest staterooms in all of cruising.—175 square feet in their verandah staterooms, and their Penthouse Suites are only 260 square feet—they call that a suite? Our Concierge verandah on Vista was 250 square feet. The staterooms on those ships are just too small. And those ships were all built in the 1990s. That's just too old. Viking has 11 ships, with one on the way in 2025. They are all identical—seriously. You go on one, you go on all of them. And all were built since 2014, with four of them going into service since 2022.
• Deposit and Final Payment Due Dates (Oceania wins). This is a total given. Viking is notorious for having the earliest final payment dates in all of cruising. For instance, if I buy a Viking cruise today (October 2023) that will sail in December 2024, my Viking Ocean final payment will probably be due on December 31, 2023. But by the same token, Oceania's final payment will be due 90 days before the cruise sales. Of course, you can still get all your money back from Viking before 120 days with only a $100 PP booking fee loss (and you can apply those to another cruise), but the biggest complaint I hear from Viking cruisers or those who want to cruise with Viking but haven't tried them yet is this early final payment date. When someone asks me why they have that early a date, I tell them, "Because they can." Their passengers are amazingly loyal. If people stopped booking Viking or their ships were sailing empty, this might change. But as of now, it isn't.

Food! I thought this deserved a special category all its own

•  Grand Dining Room/Main Dining Room (Oceania wins). I HATE Viking's dining room. There were low ceilings and a staff (at least on our cruise) who was totally disorganized, not to mention some food that wasn't really that good. O wins here big time.
• Specialty Restaurants (Oceania Wins). Was there ever a doubt? There are only two on Viking—Manfredis and Chef's Table. Manfredis is a sorry excuse for an Italian restaurant, and the Chef's Table has a fixed menu. It changes every few days. If you don't like what you get when you go on the day of your reservation, you are stuck. I was stuck. All four Vista specialty restaurants are better than either of these.
• Grille (Viking Wins). Surprise. But the Grille on Viking is so much better than the Waves Grille (for lunch) that it isn't even close.
• Buffet (Tie). I almost gave it to Oceania here, but cold desserts and serving entirely the same menu two nights in a row knocked it down to a tie.
• Mamsens/Baristas (Oceania). I have to get this to Baristas. I love Mamsens, but Baristas's pastries and coffees are so much better.
• Aquamar Kitchen (Oceania Wins). Because there is nothing like it on a Viking ship. And I want to eat lunch there every single day.
• Pricing (Tie): Here's a comparison of two different cruises in three types of staterooms.

Here's a price comparison on a 2024 New England cruise. This is much like the one we did, minus Miami and Charleston.

• Viking Penthouse Verandah (338 square feet) for 15 nights in New England is $8999 per person. Per Night cost on Viking is $599 pp
• Oceania Concierge Verandah (173 square feet) 18 nights New England on Nautica (one of the older ships) $10,599 per person. Per Night costs $588 pp
• Oceania Penthouse suite (260 Square feet) $13799 pp, $766 per night pp.

Or I did a Mediterranean cruise in the same time frame. Comparing a Rivera–10-night Med cruise in the fall of 2024 with a 15-night cruise in the Med on any Viking ship.

• On Viking: Penthouse Verandah for 15 nights Med (338 square feet) $ 11809 Per night $739 pp
• On Oceania: Concierge Veranda Stateroom (242 square feet😞 $6299 pp Per night  $629.
• Penthouse Suite (420 square feet) $ 7599 pp Per night $759

Yes, each line offers different things with their base price, and they aren't all the same. I met a guy on Vista, an accountant who does an Excel spreadsheet for all their cruises. I am not that interested. A few dollars either way doesn't make that big a difference to us. Ultimately, it all comes down to what is important to you. If it's food, sail with Oceania (stick to their bigger ships), but if it is pretty much everything other than their final payment stuff, try Viking. All that said we have future cruises booked with both of them, so I guess we are still deciding.

Thanks so much! We were also Celebrity cruisers but have switched to mostly HAL cruises because we like longer cruises now that we are retired. We are doing our first Oceania Cruise this fall and have cruised on Viking once so we appreciate your comparisons. 

[Hanoj]

@DrKoob - your comments about your first Viking sea day conjured up our experiences between Viking and Oceania's Vista with regard to sea days. We enjoyed our sea day on Vista more so than with Viking. There were a few more activities available on Vista (games, etc. to compete for swag) yet still on the relaxed side of things (we eschew the big ship cruise lines for similar reasons to yours) and Vista’s pickle ball and golf amenities (putt putt course and driving range) provided us with more to do. Pickle ball while cruising was played more for the laughs than anything else since the wind severely affected the ball’s trajectory.

 

We also give a slight nod to Vista for dining on sea days over Viking. We loved the Aquamar Kitchen (nothing comparable on Viking with Mamsen’s being the closest) and liked Waves Grill on Vista better than Viking’s Pool grill. However, we preferred Viking’s Wintergarden (for afternoon tea) and World Cafe buffet to Vista’s offerings for these types of venues.

[DrKoob]

55 minutes ago, Hanoj said:

@DrKoob - your comments about your first Viking sea day conjured up our experiences between Viking and Oceania's Vista with regard to sea days. We enjoyed our sea day on Vista more so than with Viking. There were a few more activities available on Vista (games, etc. to compete for swag) yet still on the relaxed side of things (we eschew the big ship cruise lines for similar reasons to yours) and Vista’s pickle ball and golf amenities (putt putt course and driving range) provided us with more to do. Pickle ball while cruising was played more for the laughs than anything else since the wind severely affected the ball’s trajectory.

 

We also give a slight nod to Vista for dining on sea days over Viking. We loved the Aquamar Kitchen (nothing comparable on Viking with Mamsen’s being the closest) and liked Waves Grill on Vista better than Viking’s Pool grill. However, we preferred Viking’s Wintergarden (for afternoon tea) and World Cafe buffet to Vista’s offerings for these types of venues.

I agree that there is more to do on Vista. On Vista, I especially loved the culinary center. On one of our sea days, I took an excellent cooking class. And while I will agree about the Aquamarine Kitchen (one of the best lunch places at sea), we found the grille to be wanting. I will take Vikings. I didn't think about going up to the top deck to try the putting course or the shuffleboard. I did exercise by walking the Promenade deck for about five miles. And that's something you can't do on Vista. No Promenade deck. And their walking/running track on the top deck is closed fairly often. 

[Hanoj]

19 minutes ago, DrKoob said:

I agree that there is more to do on Vista. On Vista, I especially loved the culinary center. On one of our sea days, I took an excellent cooking class. And while I will agree about the Aquamarine Kitchen (one of the best lunch places at sea), we found the grille to be wanting. I will take Vikings. I didn't think about going up to the top deck to try the putting course or the shuffleboard. I did exercise by walking the Promenade deck for about five miles. And that's something you can't do on Vista. No Promenade deck. And their walking/running track on the top deck is closed fairly often. 

 

Fair comment about the pool grills. My experience was biased by having an easier time avoiding a wheat allergy ordering from Oceania's grill compared to Viking, but will give Viking's grill another try on the Saturn this fall.

[deec]

we really like the tuna steak at the pool grill on Viking....favorite thing to do on boarding day!

[SJD117]

We’re on a three-week DIY trip to the far reaches of Scotland. Yesterday in Lerwick (Shetland), we found ourselves swimming upstream against a surge of Oceania Sirena passengers who had just arrived in town and were looking for something to do.

 

in the interest of making comparisons, but never having been on an Oceania ship, I can now confirm that, on the Sirena at least, the demographic appears very similar to Viking — older retirees with American ball caps and fleece jackets, not looking at all like the locals. I felt right at home!   😀

 

My only other observation concerns the ship itself. While I’m sure it’s quite nice inside, the Sirena just didn’t have the sleek lines I’m used to on Viking. I’m spoiled!

[DrKoob]

7 hours ago, SJD117 said:

We’re on a three-week DIY trip to the far reaches of Scotland. Yesterday in Lerwick (Shetland), we found ourselves swimming upstream against a surge of Oceania Sirena passengers who had just arrived in town and were looking for something to do.

 

in the interest of making comparisons, but never having been on an Oceania ship, I can now confirm that, on the Sirena at least, the demographic appears very similar to Viking — older retirees with American ball caps and fleece jackets, not looking at all like the locals. I felt right at home!   😀

 

My only other observation concerns the ship itself. While I’m sure it’s quite nice inside, the Sirena just didn’t have the sleek lines I’m used to on Viking. I’m spoiled!

That's funny that you are in Lerwick. We are on Viking Venus and will there tomorrow. We are in Orkney today and I hope the weather is better there. Nothing but misty rain and fog. Finally seeing some blue sky just in time to sail away.

 

Sirena is one of the old R-class ships. Built in the previous century. Not a good example of Oceania's lines. Stick to Vista, Riviera or Marina. They are more comparable to Viking ships. The R-class ships have really small staterooms, even smaller bathrooms. You would not like them at all. But they do have interesting itineraries.

Edited June 18 by DrKoob