We completed 3 out of the 4 month world cruise but we got off early because of the issues in the Red Sea. Viking was not only amazing while we were on the cruise, they were very accommodating for those of us who chose to leave early rather than choosing the alternate itinerary. Viking flew us home with a stop along the way to allow us to extend our cruise with independent travel. We have 2 more cruises booked with Viking and look forward to getting back to Viking. I found the food to be great. The main restaurant was fine and the wine stewards made the meal excellent.
@@janandtraceytravels Viking was excellent. The sea days with the spa and enrichment lectures were great. The many spots on the ship to sit and relax were wonderful. My wife did art classes, I joined the choir and played baggo and we made many new friends. I highly recommend Viking for a world cruise if you can do it. Because everything is included, when the wine steward recommends a particular wine to go with your entree, it is because it is the right wine, not because he/she is trying to sell you a high priced bottle. We had cruised with Crystal before they had issues. We found Viking to be a modern version of the Crystal we enjoyed previously. We have a 28 day Baltic cruise planned in 2025 and a 14 day Asia cruise with Viking in 2026. We are considering an Oceania transatlantic repositioning cruise in the fall of 2026.
Like we said, we would love to do a WC on Viking. We did the 2023 WC on MSC as it was achievable on our current budget. However, in a few years we will be old enough to begin taking fund from our IRAs and the math changes a great deal. Thanks again for the comments and safe traveling! Sounds fun.
Just curious if you checked both sides of the buffet? Lack of selection is something I’ve never noticed, but many don’t realize until late (or never) that the selection is different on each side. The fresh seafood and sushi every night, the gelato bar, the best paella I’ve ever had, and many cook to order options we had on the Sky makes me wonder what the big changes are.
Yes we did. There was one evening in which the special was lobster and they made a rather big production out of it, but for the most part, we found it wanting. Of course, this is an experience where N=1, so maybe we hit Viking not at their best. Although, outside of the food we greatly enjoyed everything else.
I am confused, dinner ends at 9 and the show starts at 9. Maybe don't go to dinner at 15 min. before 9. We never missed either. I do agree with the trivia comment. Chef table was a disappointment. I had to ask for sever 3 times and were on our 3 course before it came. Food was unforgettable. Manfredi's Rib Eye was merely OK but the pasta was very good. The Restaurant was the most consistent with good choices. The World Cafe was average.
Thanks for watching. We were with a group traveling and unfortunately we were eating a 8 (might have been 7:30) and the dinner service was not finished before we needed to head off from the show. You’re right that if we were traveling alone we usually eat earlier. Sorry the food seems to be as inconsistent as ours was. Thanks again for watching and caring enough to comment.
My husband and I have been on 14 Viking cruises: 6 river, 8 ocean. I agree with much of what you said. One thing about the food--I think the more you cruise, the less you care. The ships and service are incredible. The "free" excursion is "included." We have been disappointed in many of them. For us though, and I'm not sure why you didn't mention it, they can be incredibly SLOW. We just sailed with Viking in February from Barcelona to Athens (3 weeks, plus 1 week extensions). We are both 59 and active--by the time our cruise ended, we were so tired of waiting, and especially the restroom breaks that seemed to last forever. We currently have 4 cruises booked--two on Celebrity (our favorite!), and 2 on NCL's smaller ships. I'm sure we'll go back to Viking, but we need a break from the slow pace of Viking.
We have certainly had this issue (slow excursions) on other lines and with the exception of our Athens excursion, we were pretty impressed with those we did with Viking. With that being said, when distance and safety are not an issue, we normally would rather self-explore than do an excursion. So usually at the end of a cruise we (55 and 54) are so tired of walking as its not uncommon for us to do over 30K steps through a city. We will be slowing down a bit for the summer from cruising. Our next is in June and then nothing until fall. Although we have other travel plans including diving, a trip to Hawaii, and some camping in our new motorhome. However in the Fall, we will be trying Princess for the first time as well as some other trips on NCL and a few others. Thanks for watching and caring enough to comment!
We have done Viking and just recently Regent. Wow...Regent is definitely a step up, especially the food and entertainment. They also have several at each stop, choices of free excursions...not just one. Yes they are more expensive but you should really give them a try.
We just got off the Mars May 12. I’m with you, 15:26 the food was par. We r not big drinkers so we just purchased. The cruise shuts down at 10 ish. My big down was the coffee cups!! as Americans like to drink coffee I took two sips and it was empty very frustrating, especially to me in the morning one of the big big pluses that I’d never seen was the laundry mat on each floor complementary that was a complete score. We could’ve brought a quarter of what we bought.. I think we definitely will go back on a Viking but with saying that the food was not just Yum Yum Yum we didn’t eat a lot so call it whatever. I cannot go from America back to Europe. I never got adjusted to the time change never so we did not get to enjoy everything.The Mars ship. Next time we’re gonna keep it a little closer so a time difference is not so severe of seven hours. and I wish they had a like a little commissary. I wanted a bag of chips. There was nowhere to get a bag of chips. I know that sounds silly, but there was nothing even close to that small little commissary would’ve been just lovely even if you had to pay a little something for it trust me there’s pretty the room on the ocean cruise ships to put one .thumbs up for Viking Ocean
Thanks so much for not only watching our video but taking time to provide such meaningful comments. We would encourage you not to write off Europe. We now try to take a couple days for a pre-cruise before we board a European cruise specifically to help assuage the effects of jet lag--which can be a bummer. Of course, taking a transatlantic cruise to Europe also helps gradually adjusting to the time difference ;-) Europe is so rich in culture and so many wonderful experiences, its one of our favorite travel destinations. Once again, thanks for watching and for your considerate observations!
We are getting ready to take our first Viking cruise in late November: Panama Canal and Central America, 14 nights. We watched your review and was very surprised about your food review as all we've ever heard (not from personal experience) is that the food is great. Now, our tastes aren't that sophisticated (I like a Waffle House breakfast :) so we will most likely have a great food experience. Sorry yours wasn't what you hoped it would be. Thanks for the review. We learned a lot!
We were surprised as well. Many people have told us that they love Viking’s food. We wish that had been our experience. However, as we always say, ours was an experience of two people on one cruise on one ship of one cruise line. Things happen. It really is a beautiful ship and we are sure you’ll have a great time. Thanks for watching!
I"m so surprised about the food. We just got back from a 7-day Mediterranean cruise with Viking Saturn and we absolutely loved the world cafe. So many choices, so fresh, so interesting. We ate all lunches and dinners there, and ate breakfast at Mamsens, which was totally outstanding for breakfasts. Maybe our expectations are different from yours, and maybe we aren't as much "foodies" but we just loved the world cafe and Mamsens.
Oh no. We would never assume that our tastes or expectations are unique as I'm sure you did have great food on the Saturn. We operate on the idea that food from one ship to another--even on the same cruiseline can be different. In fact, even from one cruise on the same ship to another these things can change. All we can do, especially when we've only done Viking ocean cruises once, is report on our experiences on this one ship on this one cruise. The reality is that we do love Viking and are more than willing to try it out again (and again and again). Thanks for watching and caring enough to comment.
That’s great to hear. As we explain, our video provides our observations of this one cruise on this particular ship. We intend to sail on Viking again and are heartened by your experiences that the food is usually much better than we experienced. Thanks for watching and caring enough to comment.
Thanks for watching and the honest feedback. How to use music is always an evolving learning process. Without music, the space seems too empty. One of the hardest tasks is to find music which fits the mood. Maybe we missed the mark here a bit. Thanks though for the really helpful feedback!
The food can be really good on their ships. From my understanding it all depends on the head chef and how much of the staff changes over between itineraries. With the included excursions, it's hit or miss how good they are. I have been on some that were phenomenal, and one where I thought it was a waste of time.
I agree with you on the food. Wasn't impressed with either of the speciality restaurants and only went once. Which line do you think has better food consistently? I think maybe oceania is better.
What we thought we knew about cruising and food has been challenged greatly by the post-pandemic cruise experience. In our experience, there was a period through late 2022 through 2023 in which we felt food across the industry was sub-standard. We had sailed on the Oceania Marina and thought the food was exceptional. We have an upcoming review of the Oceania Regatta in which we were disappointed with the food. Yet, we've seen food in 2024 begin to pick back up. Our NCL Prima had some flashes of the cuisine we used to enjoy. Our Atlas Navigator trip to Antarctica had exceptional food as did our Explora Journeys. We just completed a transatlantic on the Oceania Vista and the food was also back on top. (Yes, we have a backlog of lots of content to get out). So we like to think that the industry is finally correcting the food and we do look forward to another cruise on Viking. Thanks for watching and caring enough to comment.
agree on Oceana for food. Excellent every meal in restaurant. We skip buffets. Specialty restaurants also excellent. We will be on our first Viking cruise coming up & hope the food is good.
@@janandtraceytravels Thank you! I'm hoping they've upped their food game before my July British Isles trip. This will be our first ocean cruise, but we've been on many Viking river cruises and a Great Lakes cruise last summer.
We've heard that Viking has great food on their other ships. We found that food can be very time-specific based upon the ports that they provisioned their food and who was the head chef for that cruise. We were on another premium cruise line which is known for their cuisine and found the specialty restaurants lacking. Yet, friends of ours had great food on the same ship just a couple months earlier. Hope for the best. This ship is so wonderful that even with the food we had, it isn't going to dampen your experience. Enjoy your cruise!
We completed 3 out of the 4 month world cruise but we got off early because of the issues in the Red Sea. Viking was not only amazing while we were on the cruise, they were very accommodating for those of us who chose to leave early rather than choosing the alternate itinerary. Viking flew us home with a stop along the way to allow us to extend our cruise with independent travel. We have 2 more cruises booked with Viking and look forward to getting back to Viking. I found the food to be great. The main restaurant was fine and the wine stewards made the meal excellent.
When we were on the Viking Sky, we talked about how perfect their ships would be for a WC. Sorry yours got cut short. Glad to hear about the food.
@@janandtraceytravels Viking was excellent. The sea days with the spa and enrichment lectures were great. The many spots on the ship to sit and relax were wonderful. My wife did art classes, I joined the choir and played baggo and we made many new friends. I highly recommend Viking for a world cruise if you can do it. Because everything is included, when the wine steward recommends a particular wine to go with your entree, it is because it is the right wine, not because he/she is trying to sell you a high priced bottle. We had cruised with Crystal before they had issues. We found Viking to be a modern version of the Crystal we enjoyed previously. We have a 28 day Baltic cruise planned in 2025 and a 14 day Asia cruise with Viking in 2026. We are considering an Oceania transatlantic repositioning cruise in the fall of 2026.
Like we said, we would love to do a WC on Viking. We did the 2023 WC on MSC as it was achievable on our current budget. However, in a few years we will be old enough to begin taking fund from our IRAs and the math changes a great deal. Thanks again for the comments and safe traveling! Sounds fun.
Just curious if you checked both sides of the buffet? Lack of selection is something I’ve never noticed, but many don’t realize until late (or never) that the selection is different on each side. The fresh seafood and sushi every night, the gelato bar, the best paella I’ve ever had, and many cook to order options we had on the Sky makes me wonder what the big changes are.
Yes we did. There was one evening in which the special was lobster and they made a rather big production out of it, but for the most part, we found it wanting. Of course, this is an experience where N=1, so maybe we hit Viking not at their best. Although, outside of the food we greatly enjoyed everything else.
I am confused, dinner ends at 9 and the show starts at 9. Maybe don't go to dinner at 15 min. before 9. We never missed either. I do agree with the trivia comment. Chef table was a disappointment. I had to ask for sever 3 times and were on our 3 course before it came. Food was unforgettable. Manfredi's Rib Eye was merely OK but the pasta was very good. The Restaurant was the most consistent with good choices. The World Cafe was average.
Thanks for watching. We were with a group traveling and unfortunately we were eating a 8 (might have been 7:30) and the dinner service was not finished before we needed to head off from the show. You’re right that if we were traveling alone we usually eat earlier. Sorry the food seems to be as inconsistent as ours was. Thanks again for watching and caring enough to comment.
My husband and I have been on 14 Viking cruises: 6 river, 8 ocean. I agree with much of what you said. One thing about the food--I think the more you cruise, the less you care. The ships and service are incredible. The "free" excursion is "included." We have been disappointed in many of them. For us though, and I'm not sure why you didn't mention it, they can be incredibly SLOW. We just sailed with Viking in February from Barcelona to Athens (3 weeks, plus 1 week extensions). We are both 59 and active--by the time our cruise ended, we were so tired of waiting, and especially the restroom breaks that seemed to last forever. We currently have 4 cruises booked--two on Celebrity (our favorite!), and 2 on NCL's smaller ships. I'm sure we'll go back to Viking, but we need a break from the slow pace of Viking.
We have certainly had this issue (slow excursions) on other lines and with the exception of our Athens excursion, we were pretty impressed with those we did with Viking. With that being said, when distance and safety are not an issue, we normally would rather self-explore than do an excursion. So usually at the end of a cruise we (55 and 54) are so tired of walking as its not uncommon for us to do over 30K steps through a city.
We will be slowing down a bit for the summer from cruising. Our next is in June and then nothing until fall. Although we have other travel plans including diving, a trip to Hawaii, and some camping in our new motorhome. However in the Fall, we will be trying Princess for the first time as well as some other trips on NCL and a few others.
Thanks for watching and caring enough to comment!
We have done Viking and just recently Regent. Wow...Regent is definitely a step up, especially the food and entertainment. They also have several at each stop, choices of free excursions...not just one. Yes they are more expensive but you should really give them a try.
We just got off the Mars May 12. I’m with you, 15:26 the food was par. We r not big drinkers so we just purchased. The cruise shuts down at 10 ish. My big down was the coffee cups!! as Americans like to drink coffee I took two sips and it was empty very frustrating, especially to me in the morning one of the big big pluses that I’d never seen was the laundry mat on each floor complementary that was a complete score. We could’ve brought a quarter of what we bought.. I think we definitely will go back on a Viking but with saying that the food was not just Yum Yum Yum we didn’t eat a lot so call it whatever. I cannot go from America back to Europe. I never got adjusted to the time change never so we did not get to enjoy everything.The Mars ship. Next time we’re gonna keep it a little closer so a time difference is not so severe of seven hours. and I wish they had a like a little commissary. I wanted a bag of chips. There was nowhere to get a bag of chips. I know that sounds silly, but there was nothing even close to that small little commissary would’ve been just lovely even if you had to pay a little something for it trust me there’s pretty the room on the ocean cruise ships to put one .thumbs up for Viking Ocean
Thanks so much for not only watching our video but taking time to provide such meaningful comments. We would encourage you not to write off Europe. We now try to take a couple days for a pre-cruise before we board a European cruise specifically to help assuage the effects of jet lag--which can be a bummer. Of course, taking a transatlantic cruise to Europe also helps gradually adjusting to the time difference ;-)
Europe is so rich in culture and so many wonderful experiences, its one of our favorite travel destinations.
Once again, thanks for watching and for your considerate observations!
We are getting ready to take our first Viking cruise in late November: Panama Canal and Central America, 14 nights. We watched your review and was very surprised about your food review as all we've ever heard (not from personal experience) is that the food is great. Now, our tastes aren't that sophisticated (I like a Waffle House breakfast :) so we will most likely have a great food experience. Sorry yours wasn't what you hoped it would be. Thanks for the review. We learned a lot!
We were surprised as well. Many people have told us that they love Viking’s food. We wish that had been our experience. However, as we always say, ours was an experience of two people on one cruise on one ship of one cruise line. Things happen. It really is a beautiful ship and we are sure you’ll have a great time. Thanks for watching!
I"m so surprised about the food. We just got back from a 7-day Mediterranean cruise with Viking Saturn and we absolutely loved the world cafe. So many choices, so fresh, so interesting. We ate all lunches and dinners there, and ate breakfast at Mamsens, which was totally outstanding for breakfasts. Maybe our expectations are different from yours, and maybe we aren't as much "foodies" but we just loved the world cafe and Mamsens.
Oh no. We would never assume that our tastes or expectations are unique as I'm sure you did have great food on the Saturn. We operate on the idea that food from one ship to another--even on the same cruiseline can be different. In fact, even from one cruise on the same ship to another these things can change. All we can do, especially when we've only done Viking ocean cruises once, is report on our experiences on this one ship on this one cruise. The reality is that we do love Viking and are more than willing to try it out again (and again and again). Thanks for watching and caring enough to comment.
After 12 Vikings, I disagree with you, I found that the food was excellent.
That’s great to hear. As we explain, our video provides our observations of this one cruise on this particular ship. We intend to sail on Viking again and are heartened by your experiences that the food is usually much better than we experienced. Thanks for watching and caring enough to comment.
Great video but the music was too intense.
Thanks for watching and the honest feedback. How to use music is always an evolving learning process. Without music, the space seems too empty. One of the hardest tasks is to find music which fits the mood. Maybe we missed the mark here a bit. Thanks though for the really helpful feedback!
The food can be really good on their ships. From my understanding it all depends on the head chef and how much of the staff changes over between itineraries. With the included excursions, it's hit or miss how good they are. I have been on some that were phenomenal, and one where I thought it was a waste of time.
You should try the French cruising ships. They are so nice cose and for me as a European the french food is nice.
We’ve looked at Ponant and friends of ours have sailed on one of their ships and enjoyed it. Maybe one day. Thanks for watching.
The food and the crew make the cruise.
Thanks so much for an honest and thorough review. Just subscribed.
Thanks so much for the kind words and the subscriptions. So much more to come!
I agree with you on the food. Wasn't impressed with either of the speciality restaurants and only went once. Which line do you think has better food consistently? I think maybe oceania is better.
What we thought we knew about cruising and food has been challenged greatly by the post-pandemic cruise experience. In our experience, there was a period through late 2022 through 2023 in which we felt food across the industry was sub-standard. We had sailed on the Oceania Marina and thought the food was exceptional. We have an upcoming review of the Oceania Regatta in which we were disappointed with the food.
Yet, we've seen food in 2024 begin to pick back up. Our NCL Prima had some flashes of the cuisine we used to enjoy. Our Atlas Navigator trip to Antarctica had exceptional food as did our Explora Journeys. We just completed a transatlantic on the Oceania Vista and the food was also back on top. (Yes, we have a backlog of lots of content to get out).
So we like to think that the industry is finally correcting the food and we do look forward to another cruise on Viking. Thanks for watching and caring enough to comment.
agree on Oceana for food. Excellent every meal in restaurant. We skip buffets. Specialty restaurants also excellent. We will be on our first Viking cruise coming up & hope the food is good.
Viking ships are gorgeous
They are!
When was your Viking Sky cruise?
It was this past fall. (Our editor is backed up with way too many trips to get out as soon as we would like. Sorry).
@@janandtraceytravels Thank you! I'm hoping they've upped their food game before my July British Isles trip. This will be our first ocean cruise, but we've been on many Viking river cruises and a Great Lakes cruise last summer.
We've heard that Viking has great food on their other ships. We found that food can be very time-specific based upon the ports that they provisioned their food and who was the head chef for that cruise.
We were on another premium cruise line which is known for their cuisine and found the specialty restaurants lacking. Yet, friends of ours had great food on the same ship just a couple months earlier.
Hope for the best. This ship is so wonderful that even with the food we had, it isn't going to dampen your experience. Enjoy your cruise!