Wintergarden question

[Ready to Sail!]

We’ve only done one Viking cruise(2 are booked). I don’t remember anything besides afternoon tea happening there. Such a lovely space seems like a waste not to utilize more. I assume it is always open to just to sit and relax. Did we miss anything?  

[Capt_BJ]

I agree this seems to be seldom used and somewhat 'wasted'. Each of our VO cruises this WAS where a meet and mingle happen tho . . VO will still support these ... last July one pass' took the initiative to coordinate with VO and collected names via a roll call here . . .

[wine-wine-wine]

On our last T-A there were daily crafting meetups there plus at least one LGBTQ+ meetup. 

[kctwinmommy]

Yes, on ours it doesn't seem as though it was used that much, but it was open for people to sit in when they wanted. Although one day, it was closed off in the morning as there was a wedding that took place. The captain did the ceremony and then they had a small reception in there. We then saw them in the private dining room for dinner that night. It was a young couple too!

 

In the evening they would open the window partitions so that people could go between and sit in whichever they wanted.

[millybess]

3 hours ago, Ready to Sail! said:

We’ve only done one Viking cruise(2 are booked). I don’t remember anything besides afternoon tea happening there. Such a lovely space seems like a waste not to utilize more. I assume it is always open to just to sit and relax. Did we miss anything?  

The Wintergarden was used quite a bit on our recent sailing.

 

For the first few days it was used for yoga classes and it was very busy. (Yoga moved to the gym once passengers embarked in Tokyo).

 

Once we arrived in Tokyo, the Wintergarden was used for craft groups -- knitting, quilting, painting, etc. -- for the rest of the journey.

 

And, yes, it was open to sit and relax, but was quite warm sometimes.  

[Ready to Sail!]

Our first cruise was a port everyday so probably used more than we realized.  Our next cruise is more at sea/scenic sailing days than ports so I'm sure we will be more aware of activity.  Wedding venue does sound lovely. We do plan on participating in the afternoon tea a few times, especially since I've seen pictures showing macarons.  Would love to see them in the WC or at the LR bar. 

Edited May 27 by Ready to Sail!

[VICKIB114]

Do you have to book into the Wintergarden for Afternoon tea (High Tea) or can you just turn up and be served. I would love to do this one time on our Greece Odessey Cruise in February 2026

[carolinetodd]

Just turn up.

[OneSixtyToOne]

53 minutes ago, VICKIB114 said:

Do you have to book into the Wintergarden for Afternoon tea (High Tea) or can you just turn up and be served. I would love to do this one time on our Greece Odessey Cruise in February 2026

You just arrive and you’re probably going to want to do it more than once. We find it delightful. You’ll want to arrive early to find seating, especially on sea days, as it can be crowded, with the overflow seating extending outside the main area.

Edited May 27 by OneSixtyToOne

[LindaS272]

On some cruises, to limit the crowds at tea time, they’ve started scheduling lectures or port talks at 4:30–hoping some folks might skip it, I guess. Similarly, lectures have started showing up in the early evening to limit pax going to the MDR all at the same time. We haven't been on cruises frequently of late so maybe some of our serial VO cruisers on here can weigh in.

[CDNPolar]

5 hours ago, VICKIB114 said:

Do you have to book into the Wintergarden for Afternoon tea (High Tea) or can you just turn up and be served. I would love to do this one time on our Greece Odessey Cruise in February 2026

 

We have found that especially on a Sea Day, you probably want to arrive at 3:30pm to get a seat inside the room itself.  We have seen them serve both sides outside the Wintergarden room also.

[OneSixtyToOne]

7 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

On some cruises, to limit the crowds at tea time, they’ve started scheduling lectures or port talks at 4:30–hoping some folks might skip it, I guess. Similarly, lectures have started showing up in the early evening to limit pax going to the MDR all at the same time. We haven't been on cruises frequently of late so maybe some of our serial VO cruisers on here can weigh in.

On one of our cruisers last year the lecturer stated that indeed the times were changed by Viking corporate to reduce congestion at the MDR and Wintergarden. It seems to have help.

[LindaS272]

The hack is to go early to tea (we like to sit on the sides so not as crowded) & still get to a presentation at 4:30. For early evening lectures, you can always catch it later on your TV.

[CDNPolar]

On a TA cruise in October.  Six days at sea.  Will have to limit the 4:00pm Tea attendance because this is just extra calories each day.  Not that on this many sea days we will need the extra snack.

[kctwinmommy]

9 hours ago, LindaS272 said:

On some cruises, to limit the crowds at tea time, they’ve started scheduling lectures or port talks at 4:30–hoping some folks might skip it, I guess. Similarly, lectures have started showing up in the early evening to limit pax going to the MDR all at the same time. We haven't been on cruises frequently of late so maybe some of our serial VO cruisers on here can weigh in.

Yes, we noticed many of the talks were scheduled around the start of dinner. We didn't go to more than 1 (wasn't totally impressed with her talk). Our friends went to a few of them. And yes,the port talks were always early like that too. Again, I think we went once, and instead would rather just watch the recording later on. Saved us time because we'd watch his intro to the port city, then skip to listen to just our excursion.

[lackcreativity]

34 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

On a TA cruise in October.  Six days at sea.  Will have to limit the 4:00pm Tea attendance because this is just extra calories each day.  Not that on this many sea days we will need the extra snack.

Sadly, I must agree. As much as we enjoyed Tea Time, it just seems difficult to add it in to any day that include breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Even if we just have a salad for lunch and then go to Tea, I am not hungry at dinner time. Such a dilemma! 

[OneSixtyToOne]

2 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

Sadly, I must agree. As much as we enjoyed Tea Time, it just seems difficult to add it in to any day that include breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Even if we just have a salad for lunch and then go to Tea, I am not hungry at dinner time. Such a dilemma! 

Some days we skipped lunch, especially if the excursion times overlapped, had afternoon tea and had a late dinner.

[Mich3554]

I know I went to at least 2 cocktail parties in there on our last cruise.  It was also used for crafting at a scheduled time.  I do remember seein* quite a few meet ups there for other groups too.

[Ready to Sail!]

3 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

Sadly, I must agree. As much as we enjoyed Tea Time, it just seems difficult to add it in to any day that include breakfast, lunch, and dinner! Even if we just have a salad for lunch and then go to Tea, I am not hungry at dinner time. Such a dilemma! 

At home we eat our main meal at 2ish and just have a light snack later so having a good lunch and then tea later sounds like it sould work well for us.  

Edited May 27 by Ready to Sail!

[TayanaLorna]

9 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

We have found that especially on a Sea Day, you probably want to arrive at 3:30pm to get a seat inside the room itself.  We have seen them serve both sides outside the Wintergarden room also.

On one cruise the tea service overflowed into the table seating area by Mamsens.  That was before Viking started scheduling early port talks or lectures at those times.

[JollyJacqTar]

We go to afternoon tea once on each cruise just to say we’ve done it. On our last 3 week T/A we planned to go after after a late morning/early afternoon excursion as we knew we’d be missing lunch and had an 8.30 booking at Manfredi’s. We’ve got hearty appetites but I think it’s a challenge to fit it in too often 😀 It does seem like the space is a bit under utilised but it’s good to know there are plenty of quiet corners on Viking where you’re not over crowded, and this is just another option.

Edited May 27 by JollyJacqTar
Not sure really

[KBs mum]

16 hours ago, VICKIB114 said:

Do you have to book into the Wintergarden for Afternoon tea (High Tea) or can you just turn up and be served. I would love to do this one time on our Greece Odessey Cruise in February 2026

Pedantic moment, afternoon tea anfmd high tea are not the same thing

[KBs mum]

27 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

Pedantic moment, afternoon tea anfmd high tea are not the same thing

Phone keypad spelling mistake aside, no booking as far as I know. It's far from the best afternoon tea, but OK if you are bored on a sea day

[amtatom]

On our cruise last year, it was the best kept secret! My husband and I found it absolutely empty until about an hour before tea. We stretched out and read in blissful sunny silence alone for hours. Because it’s elevated, you can still see the ocean and there are all those air vents (from the outside?) so there was often a very gentle, pleasant breeze. 

 

On that cruise, the craft classes and such were in one of the specialty restaurants. I did a paper craft class, and now I realize I’m grateful it was there, because the table height was more comfortable and conducive to that particular craft than the low tables in the Wintergarden would have been.

 

As for tea, we found it to be okay. Fun to do once, but nothing that made us want to do it again.

[duquephart]

11 minutes ago, amtatom said:

On our cruise last year, it was the best kept secret! My husband and I found it absolutely empty until about an hour before tea. We stretched out and read in blissful sunny silence alone for hours. Because it’s elevated, you can still see the ocean and there are all those air vents (from the outside?) so there was often a very gentle, pleasant breeze. 

 

On that cruise, the craft classes and such were in one of the specialty restaurants. I did a paper craft class, and now I realize I’m grateful it was there, because the table height was more comfortable and conducive to that particular craft than the low tables in the Wintergarden would have been.

 

As for tea, we found it to be okay. Fun to do once, but nothing that made us want to do it again.

 

Indeed. We made it a point to experience on our second cruise (we had a list of stuff we hadn't done on out first). Now it's "been there, done that."