Review of Viking Star from first time Viking cruiser

[CRF]

I recently returned from “Viking Shores and Fjords” cruise on the Viking Star and wanted to share my thoughts. First of all, I wanted to think many of the posters on this board who provided great information to me over the past year. Except for a couple of people whose main goal seems to be criticizing Viking whenever possible, I found this board filled with a bounty of helpful information and handy tips that contributed to my cruise. So again, thank you.

A few weeks ago, during a comparison of cruise lines on this board, someone said they thought Viking was not really a luxury line, but was a premium line. I agree with that assessment. A premium line was perfect for me and my wife, as often “luxury” brings with it a certain pretension. We appreciated high standards and service, but also a level of informality and comfort.

So overall, we were very pleased with the cruise. A survey sent to us at the end of the cruise seemed to hope we rated many things as “far exceeding expectations”, but we really couldn’t check that box. We had rather high expectations going in, and felt for the most that Viking met them. So here’s more detail:

Embarkation

The port in Amsterdam was a bit chaotic due to multiple ships (Ocean and River) in the port, but once we got to the Viking area it was very smooth. I’d say total time from getting to the port to getting on the ship was 15-20 minutes.

The Ship

I was mildly concerned going in when I learned that the Star was Viking’s oldest ship. But, I shouldn’t have been concerned. The ship was in great shape and looked beautiful. My previous cruise experiences were with Carnival and RCCL, so bigger ships. To me, the size of the Viking ships are perfect—large enough to have sufficient amenities, but small enough to easily get around. We found the ship very comfortable and going from Deck 7 forward to Deck 1 rear (for example) was not difficult at all. Prior to a cruise, you look at the different areas, but can’t really know where you’ll end up spending a lot of time. We ended up spending very little time in the Living Room, but much more time in the Explorer’s Lounge. Just our preference.

Stateroom

We had a Penthouse Veranda on deck 5 and found the stateroom was just as described on the website and videos. It was comfortable and spacious with plenty of storage. Our stateroom attendant was outstanding. I cannot think of anything he could have done better. He was friendly and efficient.

Fellow Passengers

There has been a fair amount of discussion on the age of Viking cruisers, and the more I read, the more concerned I became (we are in our 60’s). I was worried about a literal army of walkers and wheelchairs. We were pleasantly surprised that the demographic was younger than we expected. The majority of the people were in their 50’s and 60’s. True, there were some 70’s and 80’s, but there were a surprising number who appeared to be in their 40’s, 30’s, and even 20’s. Most of the 20 and 30 somethings appeared to be with parents or grandparents. All in all, the mix in ages was pleasant for us (I have nothing against people in their 70’s and 80’s, I will soon be there myself, but the diversity was nice). I’d guess that about 80% of the passengers were American, with the most of the rest Canadian, British, and Australian. As a whole, the cruisers were amiable and pleasant. We did not observe any kind of drama from anyone on the cruise.

Food

We found the food to be very good. For dinner we ate twice at World Cafe, Manfredi’s, and Chef’s Table and once at the Restaurant. Lunch was split between the Pool Grill and the World Cafe, with one lunch at Mamsen’s. Breakfast was twice at the Restaurant and the rest at the World Cafe. There has been a lot of angst and differing opinions on this board about Manfredi’s, but we found the food and service there exceptional. We also really enjoyed the Chef’s Table. The World Cafe was always very good with varied options, but was occasionally crowded. The Pool Grill was outstanding and our one meal at Mamsen’s was also very good. The laggard in this area was the Restaurant. The food was fine, but the only hiccups we had in service on the entire cruise happened there. On our first breakfast, it took 20 minutes to bring two sunny side up eggs. The waiter apologized and said the kitchen was having a hard time keeping up. On our only dinner we had to wait 15 minutes for a table (we went in at 7:45pm). Then, following a lengthy wait after ordering, I was brought the wrong appetizer. Our second breakfast was without incident. The food there was fine, but the venue always had the feel of being understaffed. But, that was 2 meals out of 20, and service was excellent everywhere else.

I am not a heavy drinker, so we did not get the Silver Spirits package. The wine at dinner and the offerings in the stateroom minibar were totally sufficient for me. I do not claim to have a sophisticated wine palate, so am definitely not an expert, but found the offered wines perfectly acceptable. I especially liked the red they were pouring in Manfredi’s (Remole Toscana).

Entertainment

We, like most Viking cruisers, don’t come for extravagant shows, so we knew what to expect. We went to two shows in the theatre and found them to be good entertainment. Mainly it was 4 singers and/or the Cruise Director (Cornelia) with a 4 piece band. They were all talented.

The ongoing live music was either solo piano or solo guitar. They were perfectly fine, but we missed strings (as in violin/viola).

The real draw was the lectures and they were outstanding. There were two historians on board—one presented more of the overview of areas or time periods and the other was more of a story teller. They complemented one another beautifully. They were also extremely accessible throughout the cruise, whether during meals or on excursions, and it was very nice to have that personal contact.

Spa

I was really looking forward to the Spa and it did not disappoint. I went almost every day and used the steam room, snow grotto, jacuzzis, sauna, and plunge pool. The only time the Spa was remotely crowded was during the sea day. My wife had a treatment at the Spa and said it was wonderful.

Excursions

We did all the included excursions (and added one in Flam that I booked independently). There’s been a lot of commenting about the quality of the included excursions, but we found them to be very good and better than expected. That may be because only one was the dreaded “panoramic tour”, the rest were walking tours. We found the guides to be excellent and the sights and information interesting. The excursion staff did an excellent job of coordinating everything.

Communications

Between the Viking app, the Viking Daily, Ship announcements, and the interface on the Stateroom TV, we found communication excellent. We always knew exactly what was happening on our cruise.

Disembarkation

Always the saddest part of a cruise, but we felt Viking did this about as well as possible. We were staying in Bergen an extra day (on our own), so we chose to keep our luggage in the room and simply walk off the ship with it. We left our stateroom at 7:45am and were out of the port by 8. I only wish cruise lines could make the disembarkation time a little later. I personally would prefer a 12pm embarkation time and a 9am deadline for vacating the stateroom, rather than the current 11am and 8am, but I know they must have their reasons.

Conclusion

We felt Viking did an excellent job of setting our expectations for the cruise and an excellent job of meeting them. We’re looking forward to our next Viking cruise.

[MMMCruiser]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts in such a comprehensive review.  As someone new to Viking Ocean I found this really helpful.  Glad you had a nice cruise!

[aungrl]

Really appreciate you taking the time to post such a thoughtful review.  I know it will be helpful to others who have yet to experience Viking!

[taiwan_girl]

@CRF Thanks for the review.  We did a three generation cruise on Viking a few months ago (our first) and our experience matched up closely with yours. 

[uktog]

Excellent balanced review- thank you! 

[CDNPolar]

Feels like a very honest review of Viking.  Thank you for this.

 

This is how we feel about Viking.

 

There are always "haters" around that will criticize everything, and it is true that occasionally Viking do miss the mark slightly on some things, but we as a couple cruising are not looking at individual misses but the overall experience.  This is why we are approaching our 14th cruise with Viking. 

[tobique33040]

I second that emotion! 

[uktog]

1 hour ago, CDNPolar said:

Feels like a very honest review of Viking.  Thank you for this.

 

This is how we feel about Viking.

 

There are always "haters" around that will criticize everything, and it is true that occasionally Viking do miss the mark slightly on some things, but we as a couple cruising are not looking at individual misses but the overall experience.  This is why we are approaching our 14th cruise with Viking. 

Thanks. Particularly frustrating are the turncoat haters who used to sail on Viking and regularly pop up to emphasise why they no longer cruise with Viking and run down the product. 

Move on, stay away from the Viking board and let’s focus on the current and balanced reviews like @CRF has given us. 

[May B]

Thank you for the great review, @CRF

 

I know what you mean about having high expectations. Sometimes it’s fun to contemplate together … well, what DID we expect?

[CDNPolar]

28 minutes ago, uktog said:

Thanks. Particularly frustrating are the turncoat haters who used to sail on Viking and regularly pop up to emphasise why they no longer cruise with Viking and run down the product. 

Move on, stay away from the Viking board and let’s focus on the current and balanced reviews like @CRF has given us. 

 

I have found and learned as I have aged, that you can go into anything with expectations that are way above what you should actually expect.  I have slowly over time learned to temper expectations with reality.

 

Stuff can go wrong.  A Server can make a mistake.  The Galley can be overwhelmed for whatever reason.  A port can be missed.  A cabin can creak and squeak.  Service may be slower than expected.  The excursion may not be as expected.

 

Just recently there was a really scathing bad review of a Viking River cruise, but everything the OP was complaining about was just what river cruising is all about.  My only thought reading this review was that they had expectations that were far and above what could be delivered by the product on almost any river cruise line, not just Viking.

 

I got angry at one friend that we travelled with because every dish that came out of the kitchen on this cruise had something wrong with it, but it all boiled down to it was it was not cooked the way they would, or it had an ingredient on the plate that they would not put.  The common statement was, "This is not how I expected this to be"

When asked if it tasted good regardless, the answer was yes, but every dish was not as "expected" and I just got tired of hearing this.  I finally said, "If you want everything like home and how you cook it, you should stay home". That stopped her cold.

[Peregrina651]

Thank you for the review and thank you for "pretension;" I've been looking for the right word for years.

 

I, too, struggle with "far exceeds my expectations." It says nothing about my expectations.

[sharkster77]

2 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

 

I have found and learned as I have aged, that you can go into anything with expectations that are way above what you should actually expect.  I have slowly over time learned to temper expectations with reality.

 

Stuff can go wrong.  A Server can make a mistake.  The Galley can be overwhelmed for whatever reason.  A port can be missed.  A cabin can creak and squeak.  Service may be slower than expected.  The excursion may not be as expected.

 

Just recently there was a really scathing bad review of a Viking River cruise, but everything the OP was complaining about was just what river cruising is all about.  My only thought reading this review was that they had expectations that were far and above what could be delivered by the product on almost any river cruise line, not just Viking.

 

I got angry at one friend that we travelled with because every dish that came out of the kitchen on this cruise had something wrong with it, but it all boiled down to it was it was not cooked the way they would, or it had an ingredient on the plate that they would not put.  The common statement was, "This is not how I expected this to be"

When asked if it tasted good regardless, the answer was yes, but every dish was not as "expected" and I just got tired of hearing this.  I finally said, "If you want everything like home and how you cook it, you should stay home". That stopped her cold.

Agree 1000% re: your comments about the very negative Viking river review you mentioned.

 

Those who end up detesting river cruises are those who simply do not do their homework and expect river cruises to be just like ocean ones.

 

There was a post a few years ago condemning Viking river because the poster could not get a T bone and shrimp cocktail every night, like he could on ocean cruisers.  He needed to take the tour of the TINY kitchen and maybe his perspective would change.

 

NOW, we have never taken an ocean cruise, but will try one next June, but with Viking.  There are certain things we expect as a result of the Viking model, balanced with an understanding that ocean and river cruises are not the same.  I look at the Viking list of things that they are not, in the brochures, and think "wow, they know me!"

[lackcreativity]

53 minutes ago, sharkster77 said:

NOW, we have never taken an ocean cruise, but will try one next June, but with Viking.  There are certain things we expect as a result of the Viking model, balanced with an understanding that ocean and river cruises are not the same.  I look at the Viking list of things that they are not, in the brochures, and think "wow, they know me!"

If your experience follows ours, if you liked Viking river cruises, you will love Viking Ocean. It is very similar to the river cruise, only more so. More places to hang out, more things to do, more places to eat, but never overwhelming. Never feels crowded. Bigger, but not gigantic.

 

Since you are new to ocean cruising (as we were) be aware that destinations are not always right near the port, so in some cases there may be a bus ride to what you want to see. There won't be the high water/low water risks of river cruise interruptions, but weather/wind/tides can cause ports to be missed. Hope you enjoy your first Viking Ocean cruise!

[CDNPolar]

1 hour ago, sharkster77 said:

 

 

NOW, we have never taken an ocean cruise, but will try one next June, but with Viking.  There are certain things we expect as a result of the Viking model, balanced with an understanding that ocean and river cruises are not the same.  I look at the Viking list of things that they are not, in the brochures, and think "wow, they know me!"

Hope you are going to love Viking Ocean.  Our first Viking was Ocean, then we immediately went to River so we had an example of both right up front.  We have done more ocean but we love them both for very different reasons.  River you tend to see more of one country, and ocean you tend to see more countries.  The only thing that I wish Viking would do on Ocean is stay in port to later in the evening or even more overnights.  Sometimes I feel the port experience is too short.  The nice thing for me with Ocean is I feel that the ships are built for 1200-1300 passengers, but they only carry 930 passengers, so there is always a spot that you can find to sit or hide away...  you don't feel crowded at all.

 

 

27 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

If your experience follows ours, if you liked Viking river cruises, you will love Viking Ocean. It is very similar to the river cruise, only more so. More places to hang out, more things to do, more places to eat, but never overwhelming. Never feels crowded. Bigger, but not gigantic.

 

Since you are new to ocean cruising (as we were) be aware that destinations are not always right near the port, so in some cases there may be a bus ride to what you want to see. There won't be the high water/low water risks of river cruise interruptions, but weather/wind/tides can cause ports to be missed. Hope you enjoy your first Viking Ocean cruise!

 

Just how I/we feel about Viking Ocean.  

[LindaS272]

52 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

There won't be the high water/low water risks of river cruise interruptions, but weather/wind/tides can cause ports to be missed

But then you get a sea day! 😎🫖🍹🤸‍♂️😻

[sharkster77]

1 hour ago, lackcreativity said:

If your experience follows ours, if you liked Viking river cruises, you will love Viking Ocean. It is very similar to the river cruise, only more so. More places to hang out, more things to do, more places to eat, but never overwhelming. Never feels crowded. Bigger, but not gigantic.

 

Since you are new to ocean cruising (as we were) be aware that destinations are not always right near the port, so in some cases there may be a bus ride to what you want to see. There won't be the high water/low water risks of river cruise interruptions, but weather/wind/tides can cause ports to be missed. Hope you enjoy your first Viking Ocean cruise!

On both our river cruises, there were bus rides involved with several of the excursions, so a bus to town center or the attraction doesn't bother us.  On our recent tulip cruise, as a result of a broken lock, we couldn't get to the port for Bruges, and a 30 min bus ride to Bruges was replaced by a 90 minute bus ride!   Not ideal but can't hold Viking responsible when locks break, can you?

[lackcreativity]

1 hour ago, sharkster77 said:

 On our recent tulip cruise, as a result of a broken lock, we couldn't get to the port for Bruges, and a 30 min bus ride to Bruges was replaced by a 90 minute bus ride!   Not ideal but can't hold Viking responsible when locks break, can you?

Don't know what you thought, but if my choice was Bruges or no Bruges, I would ride 90 minutes on a school bus to get there! It was one of my favorite places. We just happened to be there on market day, so that was an added bonus.

[sharkster77]

10 minutes ago, lackcreativity said:

Don't know what you thought, but if my choice was Bruges or no Bruges, I would ride 90 minutes on a school bus to get there! It was one of my favorite places. We just happened to be there on market day, so that was an added bonus.

We LOVED Bruges and did not mind the longer-than-expected coach ride to get there. Part of the cruise was to see as much Belgium as possible (we recently discovered my father's side came to America from Belgium, not Quebec as we all previously thought).  We were blown away by the expansiveness of the medieval area--it was the entire city center!

 

We were in Bruges on a football (soccer) day, so the main square was full of young Greek men there to support their team, singing, chanting, "pre-gaming" (we were told no beer sold in stadium, so....)  Could not believe how many had taken the train from Greece on a Thursday for the match.

[May B]

We were in Bruges during a very rainy day. That didn’t stop us from exploring, shopping, and eating moules/frites and drinking a very heavy beer, iirc.

[lackcreativity]

Sorry for the thread drift, but sometimes favorite places can distract!

[sharkster77]

3 hours ago, May B said:

We were in Bruges during a very rainy day. That didn’t stop us from exploring, shopping, and eating moules/frites and drinking a very heavy beer, iirc.

YES--had some mussels, fries with mayo, and a cold glass of Brugges Zotte (sp) beer.

[wandb]

Thanks for the excellent review. Our first Viking Ocean cruise coming up in just 5 months!  Very excited---but I will try to keep my expectations in check so that I can check that box!!!

[FetaCheese]

@CRF

Thank you for your well balanced , honest review.  It will help future and current pax with expectations.

[TayanaLorna]

On 8/18/2024 at 9:04 AM, CDNPolar said:

 

I have found and learned as I have aged, that you can go into anything with expectations that are way above what you should actually expect.  I have slowly over time learned to temper expectations with reality.

 

Stuff can go wrong.  A Server can make a mistake.  The Galley can be overwhelmed for whatever reason.  A port can be missed.  A cabin can creak and squeak.  Service may be slower than expected.  The excursion may not be as expected.

 

Just recently there was a really scathing bad review of a Viking River cruise, but everything the OP was complaining about was just what river cruising is all about.  My only thought reading this review was that they had expectations that were far and above what could be delivered by the product on almost any river cruise line, not just Viking.

 

I got angry at one friend that we travelled with because every dish that came out of the kitchen on this cruise had something wrong with it, but it all boiled down to it was it was not cooked the way they would, or it had an ingredient on the plate that they would not put.  The common statement was, "This is not how I expected this to be"

When asked if it tasted good regardless, the answer was yes, but every dish was not as "expected" and I just got tired of hearing this.  I finally said, "If you want everything like home and how you cook it, you should stay home". That stopped her cold.

I chuckled at your description of your dining friend.  We had friends like that at our table so we began avoiding having meals with them.  Then we had to stop asking them how their meal was when we would see them in passing because we would still have to listen to a complete review.

[CDNPolar]

2 minutes ago, TayanaLorna said:

I chuckled at your description of your dining friend.  We had friends like that at our table so we began avoiding having meals with them.  Then we had to stop asking them how their meal was when we would see them in passing because we would still have to listen to a complete review.

The thing of it is that my favourite food is Asian.  My husband is also Chinese so I know pretty well my Asian food and what is authentic vs. the North American version.  BUT, if I were to order a stir fry on a Viking ship, or even the Dan Dan Noodles that everyone talks about... I am not expecting it to be the same as the Dan Dan Noodles that we ate in Sichuan province in China.  I will try it and if it does not meet my expectations then I won't have it again... but I also don't expect it to be truly authentic...  I won't however tell you that it did not meet my expectations because mine are very different from most when it comes to Asian food.