Comparing Viking to Oceania

[SM77]

Thanks for your great review of Vista & your comparison between Viking & Oceania.  We love cruising w/ Viking & will depart in a week for their Panama full transit cruise.  However we did the Mediterranean on Oceania Riviera, had a great experience & loved the food.  And I wanted to try Vista if an itinerary appealed to us.  Pointing out the lack of ocean views on Vista has me pause now because we love the ability to see the ocean when sailing on Viking. Thanks for making that observation. 

 

[Jim Avery]

I also thank you for your time and effort to give us this comparison.  Some stops for us would be the lack of sea views, lack of places to sit, and the often promoted "Kids Sail Free" that our O emails seem to tout.   Another major stop for us, and not limited to O, is the over the top foo-foo decor of most new ships.  Vikings consistent, understated decor suits us well.  Another big issue is that why on earth would anyone build a new passenger ship where many facilities are on the pool deck but the pool deck has no retractable roof?  Recent Regent cruise was an example, Only bar open till 3pm was Pool Deck Bar.  A fave lunch spot was on the pool deck.  Many special events on the pool deck.  Rain, cold, wind all spoiled one day or another.  On V when conditions worsen, the glass cover is deployed and life goes on in air conditioned comfort.  Easy.  You really miss it if it is not there.  Trying to eat a burger and fries quickly before they get cold.  Hurrying to pack up when it starts to rain.  Sitting at the bar for a Bloody Mary in a heavy jacket.  I could go on but yall get the drift.  V physical ships are the best thought out we have yet found.

[Buckwheel]

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.

Thank you for taking time to write a thorough comparison. 

 

My husband and took our one and only Oceania cruise earlier this year on their Nautica ship. Their food lacked in many areas. The one and only piece of fish I had cooked properly was prepared by their executive chef after I gave him an honest answer when he asked about our meal one evening. Since I was almost finished, he asked me to request him next time I wanted fish.

 

A couple of days later I decided to take him up on his offer. He came out to our table, we had a quick conversation and before you know it, I had a perfectly cooked piece of swordfish. 

 

Talking with other frequent Oceania cruisers, they kept referring to our cruise as being "one off" meaning it wasn't what they had experienced on their previous Oceania cruises. 

 

We've taken one Viking Ocean and one Viking Expedition cruise and both of those cruises had far superior food. 

 

A couple more plusses for Viking are their heated bathroom floors and their spa is quite lovely as well. 

 

 

[lackcreativity]

On 10/20/2023 at 3:11 PM, SoDakPirate said:

 I do think that Oceania offers a wider choice of itineraries and Viking needs to up their game to give us loyalists more options. 
 

This is where we stand as well, and it is the reason I have been contemplating Oceania for a while. Most of what I have read about them has been appealing, but Dr. Koob's excellent comparison has raised an issue for us and I will have to decide if it is a deal breaker. 

 

We have only sailed on Viking, and I cannot imagine switching to a ship where it is apparently so hard to actually see the ocean. On a Viking ship, it seems there is a water view around every corner! When we were brand new to this type of travel, we cruised for the destinations, and this is still true. However, the open, spacious design of the Viking ships has become an important part of the experience.

 

As an avid reader, I usually spend some part of every day reading. There is always a quiet spot around the ship that is just right for my mood at the moment, from our balcony to the Explorer's Lounge to that little nook down off the Living Room. 

 

There are several Oceania itineraries that are very appealing to us, and I must admit we are struggling to find something on Viking that we would want to book right now. My wish would be for Viking to introduce some new European options for 2025. My personal preference would be islands in the western Mediterranean, or something along the coast of France, Portugal, and Spain. Fingers remain crossed. I would much prefer not to have to jump ship, so to speak!

[DrKoob]

4 hours ago, Buckwheel said:

Thank you for taking time to write a thorough comparison. 

 

Talking with other frequent Oceania cruisers, they kept referring to our cruise as being "one off" meaning it wasn't what they had experienced on their previous Oceania cruises. 

 

 

First, you are very welcome. 

I would also say that this might have been a "one-off" as we really didn't have a single bad thing to eat on board Vista, but my wife did get some horrible food poisoning on Viking Sky. So did a few other people we talked to. All from some swordfish at Manfredi's. I also will not sail the smaller ships of Oceania. The staterooms are just too small. And I can barely fit in the showers and I am not paying for a suite when I can get a Penthouse Verandah (that is HUGE) on Viking for less. 

[DrKoob]

On 12/3/2023 at 6:18 PM, SM77 said:

Thanks for your great review of Vista & your comparison between Viking & Oceania.  We love cruising w/ Viking & will depart in a week for their Panama full transit cruise.  However we did the Mediterranean on Oceania Riviera, had a great experience & loved the food.  And I wanted to try Vista if an itinerary appealed to us.  Pointing out the lack of ocean views on Vista has me pause now because we love the ability to see the ocean when sailing on Viking. Thanks for making that observation. 

 

You are very welcome and the lack of sea views was the one big thing we did not like about the ship's design. You might try their other large ships to see how they are. Or wait for my report in April 2025 when we sail on Riviera.

[SM77]

18 hours ago, DrKoob said:

You are very welcome and the lack of sea views was the one big thing we did not like about the ship's design. You might try their other large ships to see how they are. Or wait for my report in April 2025 when we sail on Riviera.

We did sail on the Riviera in 2018, loved the food especially Toscana & the Terrace Cafe, but  it was showing wear at that point and the decor was dark & heavy.  I know that Riviera has been refurbished since then but I was hoping that Vista being brand new would be the Oceania ship to try.  I just don't remember whether the sea views were lacking, a detail that I hadn't focused on at the time.  We just love the sea views on Viking and Scandinavian design & interior of the ships.  And your fair and detailed review clarified for me what I enjoy so much on Viking.  Thanks again!

[deec]

how expensive are the excursions on Oceania or do most folks book independent tours?  some of Viking's included tours have been great...especially if they are WALKING!

[CurlerRob]

2 hours ago, deec said:

how expensive are the excursions on Oceania or do most folks book independent tours?  some of Viking's included tours have been great...especially if they are WALKING!

 

We sailed Oceania in November/22. Shorex was extremely disappointing. We found them to be the most expensive we had ever encountered, as well as poorly managed. If you want further info, it's under the topic in my review below.

 

We'd still sail O again, but would be much wiser regarding excursions. 🍺🥌

 

 

[DrKoob]

12 hours ago, deec said:

how expensive are the excursions on Oceania or do most folks book independent tours?  some of Viking's included tours have been great...especially if they are WALKING!

I couldn't tell you. We only signed up for one Oceania shore excursion and it ended up being cancelled and refunded due to us missing Martha's Vineyard. The cost for a two hour bus tour around the island was $79.

 

Our experience with Viking Tours has been the opposite of yours. On our Viking Ocean cruise in September 2022, we did all the included Viking excursions except in Livorno, where we did a private excursion to Cinque Terre. That turned out to be the best tour of the entire 21-night cruise. We found Viking guides (at least in the Med) to be totally a waste of not only money but also time. We wondered if they were paid by the word because they would NOT SHUT UP! My Whisper device was getting hot because they just never wanted a second of silence. 

 

Also (due to my wife's knees and hips), we are not the biggest fans of walking tours anymore. So as they say, "Different strokes for different folks."

[GerryL13]

On 12/5/2023 at 9:41 PM, DrKoob said:

You are very welcome and the lack of sea views was the one big thing we did not like about the ship's design. You might try their other large ships to see how they are. Or wait for my report in April 2025 when we sail on Riviera.

Hi. Was following your posts before I boarded Vista in Miami to join my brother and SiL for Panama transit. (They were onboard with you.)

The lack of sea views is, for me, the biggest disappointment about Vista. I loved the full wrap-around promenade and stunning multi-tiered aft sea views on Saga Spirit of Adventure in May. I will be comparing that experience when I board Viking Star next week. (First Viking Ocean cruise.)

Will we be cruising together in April 2025? I am doing the Tokyo-to-Vancouver itinerary. (I'd love to do the round Japan itinerary that precedes it, but Oceania is pricey for solo travelers. Well, so is Viking, but I got a fabulous last-minute deal.)

[slewis7]

Thanks to the OP for an excellent comparison!

 

My wife and I have done a number of Viking Ocean cruises and we really like the product, although the food seems more hit and miss on recent cruises.  I also tend to prefer outside excursions and feel like I am paying for something I will not likely take advantage of on Viking (you also pay for excursions with Oceania Simply More but you can pick excursions at a few ports and use up your  included budget there).  Also, the variety of Viking itineraries seem a bit limited.
 

We are about to go on our first Oceania cruise on an R-class ship.  It will be a somewhat of an evaluation run for us on the line and will partly determine whether we keep a long cruise booking on the Vista booked for 2025.  We liked the itinerary on the Vista 2025 cruise better then the Viking alternative.

[CurlerRob]

6 hours ago, slewis7 said:

Thanks to the OP for an excellent comparison!

 

My wife and I have done a number of Viking Ocean cruises and we really like the product, although the food seems more hit and miss on recent cruises.  I also tend to prefer outside excursions and feel like I am paying for something I will not likely take advantage of on Viking (you also pay for excursions with Oceania Simply More but you can pick excursions at a few ports and use up your  included budget there).  Also, the variety of Viking itineraries seem a bit limited.
 

We are about to go on our first Oceania cruise on an R-class ship.  It will be a somewhat of an evaluation run for us on the line and will partly determine whether we keep a long cruise booking on the Vista booked for 2025.  We liked the itinerary on the Vista 2025 cruise better then the Viking alternative.

If you did not see it, I posted a review of Insignia (R class) in post #34 above - may be of some interest. 🍺🥌

[SteelCity Cruiser]

We've done several Viking cruises (river and ocean) both pre- and post-pandemic, and just last month finished an 8-day cruise on Oceania (Turkey/Greece) on the Sirena (one of the older, smaller ships but refurbished somewhat recently) and I can agree with many of the points you made in your comparison with a couple exceptions.

 

I didn't find the staff on board Oceania to be anywhere near the level of the Viking staff. Yes, they were responsive to our requests, but they didn't demonstrate that 'little extra' that the Viking staff is famous for - the ability to anticipate and respond to their customers.  In a few cases, particularly in the buffet (Terrace Cafe), quite a few of the wait staff gave an air of "you are inconveniencing me" if we asked for juice, coffee or even water. It was almost impossible to get table service in the Horizons and Martini's lounges; we routinely got our own drinks at the bar and returned to our seats.  And one of their wine stewards was, frankly, downright snotty.  On the positive side - our room steward and butler were simply outstanding in every possible way.

 

The food was excellent.  Don't think we had one bad meal the entire cruise.  BUT, my proviso on food is (and this is especially true on Viking):  it depends on the executive chef.  Some are simply better, more creative and more skilled at managing the kitchens than others.

 

Some asked about excursions.  Oceania has a very funky process/pricing for excursions that I can't begin to explain here. We did have some very good excursions, and some stunk out the joint badly.  Overall, we had some excellent guides, and I liked that Oceania's tour groups are smaller than Vikings. That being said - when a tour was screwed up, it was REALLY screwed up beyond saving and no one on Oceania that I spoke to about the two or three disasters seemed to care.  They listened politely and thanked me, but didn't really seem to care about honest feedback.

 

Lastly - Viking does a great job soliciting feedback from their customers during and after the cruise - they make it easy to provide feedback and suggestions, and from what I've seen, will act on constructive suggestions if able to do so.  Oceania gives you a brief window to complete a "check box" survey on line, and you can't do it after you leave the ship.  Gave me the impression that they don't care what I think.

 

I'll cruise Oceania again if the right itinerary and timing is there,  but all things being equal, I'd go with Viking if given the choice.

 

[Redtravel]

Viking is good for guests visiting new ports.  Included tours are mostly easy panoramic walls or rides.  Considering that your fare includes a tour in each port, Viking charges too much for optional tours.  Like the audio system.  The waiting to book tours is crazy. Oceania allows you to book tours after you make a deposit.  Booking earlier gets you better selection.

Oceania simply more allows you a set amount to be spent on excursions. You choose how to spend the money.  Lots of decent choices.  If you visit old ports, either skip booking a tour or indulge in a new experience.  
Not a fan of included drinks with meals. Prefer not including any alcoholic drinks. 
Each O or VO do a nice cruise.

[taiwan_girl]

I will give my comparison of the two companies, as we have now done a cruise on each.  

 

Some background, the Oceania cruise was about 1.5 years ago, and the Viking cruise we just finished.  Both cruises were the same party of 8:  4 "kids" (late teens to mid 20's, 2 middle age adults and 2 seniors.  So, we had 4 cabins each time.

 

Pre- Cruise:  Oceania did a better job of treating our 4 cabins as a single booking.  Viking seemed to treat it as 4 separate bookings.  We had flights done by the cruise lines, and Oceania made sure that from the beginning, we were all on the same flights etc.  With Viking, it was a bit more of a hassle.  Eventually worked out, but took a bit more work.

 

Same situation for dining at the specialty restaurants.  Precruise, we could not reserve a table of 8 in either restaurant.  Talked with our Viking agent and he tried but was unsuccessful and told us to check once we boarded.  We did that, and was told that there were no reservations available at one of the restaurants for a party of eight or even 2x4 people.  We eventually were able to get the private dining room at both restaurants so it worked out, but still a bit of a hassle.  

 

No issues with either cruise company regarding Flights and airport transfer to ship.

 

Staff:  Great on both ships.  Both were high quality and once we found our "favorites" at the various locations, they remembered us and our preferences.

 

Rooms:  We were on the smaller Oceanic ship (Regatta) and in one of the lower level rooms, so it was a big difference in quality of the bathroom.  Viking was much better.  Seem to remember that the room size was about the same in both ships, and were big enough for our needs.  

 

Food:  Thought that Oceania was better overall.  Had pretty high expectations of Viking, and while it was not bad, advantage to Oceania.  We thought that the hours of operation on Viking were pretty short at restaurants like the buffet, etc.  Wished they would have been open longer.

 

Excursions:  We were on Oceania prior the "Simply More", and booked excursions on our own at every port so no experience with Oceania excursions.  With Viking, took included and also paid for one, and did one on our own.   Because the ports are so different, hard to make a comparison, but the ones were took on Viking were pretty good, so no complaints.

 

Spa:  Definitely Viking is much better.  The Nordic spa was a lot fun.  First time ever doing the hot-cold-hot etc

 

Entertainment:  Equal.  For the size of the ship, I though that the quality was quite good on both, whether it was shows in the theater, the classic duos, pianist, lectures, etc..  Definitely met expectations.

 

Overall, would give a slight advantage to Oceania, but would definitely be willing to travel on either one again, and hopefully will be able to soon.  LOL

 

 

[mbiggers]

DH and I have done several cruises on both O and VO and find which one we book is determined mostly by itinerary. We are currently searching for Northern Lights on the Venus. Food has been very good, but O definitely wins for variety of gluten free options. 
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned in this thread is the loyalty program. VO is pretty much nonexistent and O’s is rated as best in industry by the Points Guy.

[ReaderGirl57]

We took a Baltic Cruise with Oceania in 2022 and a cruise to Norway, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland with Viking this past July. The lines are certainly comparable, although we liked the more informal atmosphere and the ship’s decor on Viking. What really stood out on Viking, though, were the lectures. Our ship had a historian, a naturalist, an astronomer, and a visiting lecturer, all of whom gave interesting and informative talks on the places we were visiting. On Oceania, even though we were visiting places that were very much in the news, they had one person who gave a couple of lectures on Scandinavian film. The lectures on Viking were always packed so, although I know some people might not care about this at all, it is important to some. My husband and I have just decided to book another cruise with Viking.

[benjaminnicholas]

I've done both and prefer the design, service, food and spa on Viking ships.

 

O, even the newer ships, feel stodgy.  Especially the tech.  It's woefully behind the industry.

[GerryL13]

53 minutes ago, benjaminnicholas said:

I've done both and prefer the design, service, food and spa on Viking ships.

 

O, even the newer ships, feel stodgy.  Especially the tech.  It's woefully behind the industry.

Last year I had the opportunity to cruise on Oceania Vista and on Viking -- both for the first time. One of the differences I really noticed was in the public spaces. The atrium on the Viking ship really is a Living Room -- as it is called. Very welcoming. A comfortable place to relax and gather. On the Vista, the atrium feels more like the lobby of a large hotel. More business-like than relaxing. Very little seating.

Also, on Vista there is no promenade deck and no public areas to relax and see the ocean below the highest decks.

[FetaCheese]

Just off Viking Star.  Internet service was superior to O Regatta Sept 2023, Alaska.

 

O internet would not allow audio only from my local NPR station app. 

 

Viking...no problem.

[kahuna21]

On 10/19/2023 at 11:43 AM, 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.

That was fun to read. But you are way off base in comparing room prices, when it comes to penthouse.  On the larger O shops, the penthouse suite is approximately the same size (apparently, slightly larger) as V’s penthouse junior suite. We were looking at an 18-day cruise around the southern tip of South America, nearly identical itinerary.  Viking cost $29K, Oceania cost $18K. And O provides a butler, which for us is a significant upgrade. You don’t know how useful and fun it is to have a butler until you try it.

 

The price difference quoted above is typical. V is way more costly for us than O. We do try to compare apples to apples on the suites. 

[SantaFe1]

47 minutes ago, kahuna21 said:

That was fun to read. But you are way off base in comparing room prices, when it comes to penthouse.  On the larger O shops, the penthouse suite is approximately the same size (apparently, slightly larger) as V’s penthouse junior suite. We were looking at an 18-day cruise around the southern tip of South America, nearly identical itinerary.  Viking cost $29K, Oceania cost $18K. And O provides a butler, which for us is a significant upgrade. You don’t know how useful and fun it is to have a butler until you try it.

 

The price difference quoted above is typical. V is way more costly for us than O. We do try to compare apples to apples on the suites. 

Well, if butlers are what you like, then O is for you!  Viking specifically advertises that they DO NOT have butlers or white gloves.  We, personally, would rather die than have a butler hovering around.  But to each their own.  
 

[DrKoob]

1 hour ago, kahuna21 said:

That was fun to read. But you are way off base in comparing room prices, when it comes to penthouse.  On the larger O shops, the penthouse suite is approximately the same size (apparently, slightly larger) as V’s penthouse junior suite. We were looking at an 18-day cruise around the southern tip of South America, nearly identical itinerary.  Viking cost $29K, Oceania cost $18K. And O provides a butler, which for us is a significant upgrade. You don’t know how useful and fun it is to have a butler until you try it.

 

The price difference quoted above is typical. V is way more costly for us than O. We do try to compare apples to apples on the suites. 

 

1 hour ago, kahuna21 said:

That was fun to read. But you are way off base in comparing room prices, when it comes to penthouse.  On the larger O shops, the penthouse suite is approximately the same size (apparently, slightly larger) as V’s penthouse junior suite. We were looking at an 18-day cruise around the southern tip of South America, nearly identical itinerary.  Viking cost $29K, Oceania cost $18K. And O provides a butler, which for us is a significant upgrade. You don’t know how useful and fun it is to have a butler until you try it.

 

The price difference quoted above is typical. V is way more costly for us than O. We do try to compare apples to apples on the suites. 

I was talking about the Penthouse Verahndas not the Penthouse Suite.

[kahuna21]

3 hours ago, DrKoob said:

 

I was talking about the Penthouse Verahndas not the Penthouse Suite.

OK.  On the cruise we researched, the PV on V (338 sf) is $20K for 18 days, while the PH on O (newer ships only) (about 370 sf) is $18K. So in that case O gives more sf for lower $. But you found examples otherwise. So I suppose it depends on the cruise.

 

Rechecking the room sizes, I learn that the O penthouse is in between V’s PS and PV for size. 
 

Anyway, we’ve enjoyed 3 cruise on Oceania Marina, and we booked Viking Mars for Iceland this summer, figuring it would excel in the cold weather. Penthouse Junior Suite. We really hope we will like Viking.