Viking Cruise Review

Update from last post: we met with the shore excursions manager and had a productive conversation. Still not resolved as the people he needed to get in touch with are off on Sundays. Still, I felt like he listened to us and sided with us/understood our frustration. Sometimes that's all people need is to be heard and understood. 

Now for the Viking Review...
First, here are the reasons a Viking Cruise was appealing to me in the first place:

- No kids/No one under 18

-Smaller ship with around 900 passengers

-Didn’t nickel and dime you… higher price, but everything was included (wifi, room service, drinks, etc)

-Dubbed “the thinking persons cruise” aka not a party ship

-Heard super good things about Viking from many people 

-Liked the itinerary and excursions this cruise offered

Before our trip:

-I had some issues with the sales lady who booked us. She didn't always get back to me in a timely manner and sometimes I would email her a week later as a reminder before she would actually respond to me. She didn't seem to be very friendly or to be bending over backwards to assist me.

-Sadly, multiple excursions I was really excited about had been completely wiped out as an options. What if those excursions were part of the reason I booked with Viking in the first place?? That was disappointing.

Our trip:

When we boarded: we quickly realized we were the youngest on board. We knew going into it that a lot of people were of retirement age, but the comments were constant. “Are you traveling with parents/ grandparents?”, “how do you like being on a cruise with a bunch of old people?!" ... everyone was friendly though and we enjoyed talking to many other passengers throughout the voyage. 

Overheard in the elevator from one man to another:  “I’m 70 and I thought *I* was bringing down the average age of people on this ship."

I don’t mind traveling with this demographic (and I honestly prefer it to wild partying types)... It also led to some funny moments.

---One of our tour operators asked our bus if anyone had any trouble hearing. (He needed to know if he needed to use a microphone or not) The bus roared with laughter as, again, most guests are probably 60+.

The major downside is there probably weren’t as many adventure activities, hikes, etc as a normal cruise because some people have a harder time getting around.  I feel like on a couple occasions our walks were cut short/had a slow pace because of the demographic. 

Once on board the ship the staff was super friendly and what you would typically expect from a cruise ship. Very accommodating, friendly, etc.

Since it's a smaller ship the entertainment isn't as exciting as some larger ships. It was okay though. I didn't think it was anything special, but the artists were talented.

I was also pretty disappointed in the food. I'm a picky eater and the quality of the food/selection was just ...ehhh.

OVERALL... my verdict is: It was a nice cruise/experience, but I don't think it was worth the amount we paid for it. I wouldn't mind doing a Viking Cruise again if the price was better, but I probably won't seek it out. I would like to try others before doing a Viking trip again.

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Past cruises:

My first cruise was to Alaska and it was through Celebrity. This was probably 20 years ago and I don't really remember it well enough to rate it.

My dad and I took a river cruise down the Yangtze River in China and it was a small ship... I'm not even sure the name of it -I just know it wasn't a big name. It was fine, but I wouldn't classify it as a cruise.

Mike and I took an ice breaker ship to Antarctica with the Ocean Nova and I would, again, not really classify it as a cruise. No entertainment, not a lot of options, not luxurious at all...

Last year I took a Norwegian Cruise to the Bahamas and it was nice. I liked the ship, the food options, but I did not like the cruise director AT ALL, nor did I care for the entertainment which was a bit raunchy. Norwegian seemed to nickel and dime you, but I liked the excursions offered.

It's very hard to say which one I liked better -Viking or Norwegian. I liked some aspects of Viking better and some aspects of Norwegian... I think I just need my own ship. LOL
I want the smaller passenger size /no kids of Viking, but want excursions, entertainment (good, non raunchy kind please), and food of another cruise line.