We really loved our Viking cruise and as Viking regulars appreciated the familiarity and excellent service from the very friendly staff. I will get the negatives out of the way straight away - there are administrative shortfalls on board. These may be common to all the ships - there are many minor administrative errors between finance, guest relations and excursions. There has been some reorganisation since the early days and things have definitely gone backwards in this area. We had several finance errors on our account which needed resolution. On the other hand we do love Viking - the food on board was very good indeed - I don't think we had a bad meal in a month, We enjoyed all the restaurants several times. There were a few issues with room service breakfast on the first sector, and also the bar staff could be "variable". There were a lot of crew changes during the month we were on board and this could make things difficult I am sure. Our cabin stewards were amazing for the full four weeks. The entertainment is low key which we like but there is always something to do if that is what you want or a nice corner in which to read and chill. We went from Bangkok to Tokyo and enjoyed the schedule very much indeed. It can be a challenging programme and those with limited mobility should think twice before heading out into Asia . Overall we were very pleased and have no hesitation in booking with Viking again. We think the value for money equation compared to the competitors is excellent and are very satisfied. It could be really excellent if the problems are properly addressed. There is no point in expanding fast if the standards cannot be maintained. Read Less

This cruise was a little different from all the other ones that I've been to. It is more relaxing, and more intellectual. The ship is newly commissioned, mid size but spacious for the number of guests. Except in the main theatre, and in the World Cafe where breakfast and more casual meals are served, I was able to find a spot all to myself. The ship has all the amenities that are expected, including a fitness centre, (free) Nordic hot and cold spa and whirl pool experience, and a mini planetarium. In room entertainment is excellent, consisting of many live TV stations, a wide variety of movies, TV series, recorded TED talks, and of course all kinds of music stations. The main shipwide entertainment include shows performed in the theater by a 4 members band and a 4 members singing and dancing group. On some nights local artists performed traditional dances. The ship also has a resident pianist, a guitarist, and two classical string instrumentalists. The planetarium provides three 3D shows, but unfortunately, after the first show, the 3D equipment did not work. What I enjoyed most was the lectures given by various speakers, some of whom are very knowledgeable, and spoke with lots of energy and passion. One of them spoke about the Vietnam war, which changed my perspective of what I used to believe - that the war was a struggle between communism and democracy. The performances in the theatre usually lasted about an hour, leaving me with enough time in the evening to finish watching all 10 episodes of the National Geographic series on Albert Einstein. The food was good, with the usual choices, and wine and beer and specialty coffee were included with every meal. I like the large selection of fruits, and the generous but not overwhelming portions of the sit down meals. There are two alternative restaurants which required booking. One of them pretended to offer oriental cuisine but I wasn't impressed. The menu consisted of a four course meal, each with a different choice of wine. The on board staff was efficient, very courteous, and eager to please. Service desk is open 24-7. Services were offered with smiles and humor. All my request for information and change of land excursions were resolved promptly. The itinerary includes a free excursion for each port visited, with a reasonably good selection of alternatives for additional fees. The ship stayed more than one day in most ports, which means that you will have plenty of time to explore on your own, if you do not sign up with the offered alternative excursions. However, some of the excursions were "sold out" as soon as booking became available. Many of the excursions lived up to expectation; the scenic boat tours of the beautiful Ha Long Bay were memorable. For some excursions, the descriptions on Viking's web site were more enticing than the actual trip, e.g., the "Ream National Park" trip in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, was no more than a long boat ride on a river. It was a relaxing ride, but I failed to see the flora and fauna mentioned in the Viking brochure, neither did the local guide point out any interesting features. Some of the land excursions took more than 2 hours to reach the destinations, because the ports were far from any interesting sites. I wish the long traveling time was clearly stated in the trip description. One of the excursions that I signed up was modified one day before the trip, without a clear explanation of the reason for the change. One of the places I really looked forward to visiting was Haikou, China, but this was taken out of the itinerary a month before the cruise started. The stated reason was "poor feedback from past guests" which I doubt was the true reason. My email to Viking requesting further explanation was never returned. Another feature which attracted me to this cruise was the advertised $600 deduction for air fare. Before I joined, Viking assured me that I could choose any airline, but in the end, they could not book me on the airline of my choice, and I had to forgo the $600 deduction. If you are looking for a relaxing cruise, with high quality enrichment programs and lots of free time, and don't mind paying a little more for the services, this cruise is for you. Read Less

A great itinerary in Southeast Asia. This was my fifth Regent cruise, and found the overall experience very good, but slipped from past Regent Cruises. Ship recently refurbished and very attractive. Would have rated it excellent, but for the dining experience, which I found to have slipped compared to previous Regent cruises. Menu in the Compass Rose was adaquate, not particularly creative. Service was inconsistent for both food and wine. I understand that a major staff change was made in port, an explanation, not an excuse. Dinner in Prime 7 a big failure. Ordered a filet, medium. Received a filet well done on outside, red raw on the inside. Not certain how they did that, other than cooking meat not completely thawed.Other dining options Dining in Chartreuse a beautiful experience. An imaginative menu, perfect excecusion. Have always enjoyed Regent, bot there were enough stumbles to suggest looking at other cruise lines Read Less

We chose this cruise for the destinations namely- Thailand, Cambodia,Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. All destinations varied as Cambodia and Vietnam in comparison to the others are a tad behind with the modern World, however we had done our research, therefore they came as no surprise. We enjoyed having a taster of all the places and Singapore was the cleanest place we've ever visited, it's spotless. Malaysia was fantastic. The cruise experience was mixed due to poor entertainment for us. Emphasis was on game show and quizzes galore. Two comedy acts, one of the Grumbleweeds and Peter Piper a seasoned comic pro. An Asian 4 piece male ensemble, good to be fair, especially the Operatic songs. The Bangkok lady boys show was excellent. Two resident bands one British who were okay. The other Asian who were excellent. Food on board was average to good, service was excellent. 99% of staff are a credit to themselves and Marella all over the ship.....always polite and smiling. Cinema on open deck showed poor films, one night Jaws was on???? Why not put a film on in afternoon instead of quizzes!!!! Films on in cabin were not advertised so you never knew what or when they were coming on? I mention this because the ship was plagued with coughs colds and chest infections. To which I succumbed to myself and could have done with an itinerary when I took to my bed ill. The medical team looked after me putting I.V. Antibiotics into me getting me in reasonable shape to fly home. Cabin steward Willy was top notch along with his team. As I fell ill towards the end of the trip fortunately this did not distract our overall enjoyment. A great taster for this part of the world which has enabled us to most certainly go back. Read Less

Check in took place on the ship in the Squid and Anchor, it was ok, there was a lot of people checking you in but still a long wait. (Royal Caribbean are outstanding at check in and getting you holiday off to amazing start) The entertainment was excellent, the team performed 12 different evening shows twice a night, we find that all Marella / Thompson ships entertainment team are the hardest working team compared to the 3 other cruise companies we have sailed with. 2 different comedians, a little old fashioned but it suits the age range. The final show when we docked in Bangkok was the Lady Boys and there was standing room only. We dined most nights in the main restaurant which is any time dining, great service and great food ! Great choice of drinks on the all inclusive drinks package that comes as standard - no need to upgrade. Great choice of different bar areas, we found the best cocktails in Barr 11. Excursions - we did a mixture of booking with Marella and making our own way, some of them cheaper to do on your own and others not much difference. We took one of the guided bike tours which is always a great way to see the local area. Destinations - as always with Marella the stops are very good, over 14 nights we had 3 days at sea and the rest exploring places such as Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpa, Penang, Mellaka, Vietnam, Cambodia and more. Overall we had a great time, we found that the age range was more mixed on this Marella cruise with at least a handful under 30 which is nice for a change. Read Less

have cruised many times but wanted something different for our 40th anniversary. disappointingly, we found out from another cruiser that our stop to cambodia would not be happening due to immigration problems but the person we spoke to had been informed by their travel agent before they left home so was annoyed we hadn't been emailed at home as we booked online. to replace this stop, we diverted to singapore. shame as we we were scheduled for another stop there later. would have been nice to have two days together rather than separate visits. next stop was vietnam. we did the mekong delta excursion. 3 hours to get there and was disappointed with a grotty , cramped mini bus, yet river was an eye opener to life on the delta. a six hour journey travelling there and back. cannot understand why coach was not used for this 10 hour excursion. malaysia was a delight, especially langkawi. kuala lumpur was a complete opposite to all other malaysian stops. trip to the mangroves and batu cave was excellent. singapore is a wonderful diverse place to visit. it really deserves a week to explore properly. for 1 day visits, buy a one day ticket for the metro, unlimited use for under 10 dollars. spotlessly clean carriages. last stop, koh samui, a tender stop. lovely feel and make sure you visit the temples. you won't be disappointed. our airport was changed from bangkok to a utapau, nearer to laem chabang where you join cruise but not much of an airport. you wouldn't like to be delayed at this airport. entertainment was average to good. the shows were ok but have seen better on other thomson and tui cruises. the best group was b12 who joined the cruise after the first week. the casino was pokey and cramped. food was very good and bars well spaced out. Read Less

This was a special holiday and very expensive chosen as a one-off treat never again The cabin looked lovely but we had problems with the carpet being wet from the balcony to the middle of the lounge area as did a lot of the same side of our deck . The Butler was visible sometimes and not others . Tried twice to phone room service and was cut off . The patio door was not sealed properly and difficult to open/close . The weather was appalling on 90 % of the journey and was too near the front of the ship despite being described as midship and the rolling and banging was awful . Many of our group were sea sick . No kettle or tea coffee in room at all , water was provided in mini bar from a unsealed bottle that was refilled by the butler . The ship needs a refurb and is tired and tatty in some areas The food was not as good as I expected from this high end cruise line . The breakfast was bland and most of it congealed warm at best and the choice was limited .Hot plates available on request ?? Eggs available on request which took 10 minutes hardly anyone serving behind the station , burnt ( every day ) pastries. The only thing the staff insisted on in the terraze is carrying your plate from the buffet where you had chosen your food to the table ( could be as near as 5 steps ) which is the most ridiculous thing ( unless you needed help of course ) and I tried to avoid this with no success most days . Lunch wasn’t much better except on deck ( when it was open due to extreme weather ) where the food was really tasty and hot . Dinner in the restaurant was ok , the portions were a joke , with a steak one night there was three tiny pieces of warm pepper , a sliver of cooked onion and nothing else . The choice of puddings were sparse except ice cream and much too much chocolate . You could have three praline sweets and that was a choice ! On New Year’s Eve there was a gala dinner which was ok a few tiny courses and a main. There was very little to do during the day , the chronicles which advised the activities included picking up your crossword and daily puzzle from the library and the fact that there was someone to help with language for foreign speaking guests . The daily quiz with Moss was a highlight but the singers were mediocre and on in the theatre far too many times. We sailed from Bangkok into a tropical storm and had to miss ho chi minn city completely and spent 5 days anchored in Ha Long bay where after having done trips the only activity was being taken by shuttle to a large shopping centre half an hour away . Setting off from there eventually more high seas until arriving in Hong Kong where once again the shuttle bus dropped people at a shopping centre about half an hour away . At night was looking forward to the light show I had heard so much about only to be told we were in the wrong harbour and wouldn’t see it where we were . At dinner that night all we could view from the windows in the restaurant was the side of the boat refuelling for the next trip . I have never paid so much for a cruise and been so dissapointed. The weather could not be helped but everything else was such a let down . The only thing I will say is if you are a budding alcoholic this is the cruise line for you . Far too much alcohol with nothing else to do , many guests took full advantage and were loud , brash and inconsiderate despite being very upper class. I would never recommend this ship or company to anyone and I have read dreadful reports about p and o on cruise critic as well as good ones but for me there is no comparison . This is definately Not 5 star or and higher and its back to p and o for me and reasonable priced drinks and excellent itinerary . Read Less

I love SliverSea for its high end attitude and small ship feel. The food was great and the unlimited wine and liquor make for a great social atmosphere. I thought the nightly shows were good and well produced. The cruise director Moss did a great job keeping everyone informed of daily activities and updates. I enjoyed the travel series type lectures by Peter LaSorsa, as I learned a great deal of useful information. The other lecture series on destinations was also informative. My butler was amazing and it really adds a great touch to the cruise. I found the laundry facilities to be fine and not too crowded. I also enjoyed listening to the two talented musicians onboard. Vlad on guitar and Alexsandra on piano. They are both so talented. I could listen to both all day. On most days Alexsandra also played piano during the tea hour which was wonderful. I would highly recommend this ship and cruise line. Read Less

What a disappointment Viking proved to be. On a cruise from Bangkok to Bali and beyond thank goodness I got off in Bali and not beyond. The plus was the food was quite good. The penthouse veranda does not live up to its name and lacked even sliding glass doors to the veranda. The ports of call were a bad choice on Vikings part most of which I am sure management never stepped foot onto. The included excursions were pathetic as there was nothing to see in theses container ports in Indonesia yet we only spent one day in Singapore and no overnight and in Bali there was no included excursion, the two highlight ports of the trip. The entertainment was mediocre luckily highlighted with Balinese dancers brought on the ship on the last night. Enrichment lectures lacked spunk and basic information on the ports of call. But if you like seeing reindeer hides, fireplaces, and the guest service dressed in Nordic sweaters while cruising through the tropics then this cruise is for you. Oh did I mention everything was shut down for a couple of days due to Norovirus? Read Less

We were looking forward to a stellar Viking experience-such as we've had previously on Viking River cruises. This Bangkok, Bali & Beyond embarking from Bangkok on November 16, 2018, was a rather dismal journey. 1. The ports and excursions were not that interesting nor enjoyable. The Viking contracted buses were almost shoddy and had no bathrooms (some of the drive times, exceeded 1.5 hours). We heard very negative reports from passengers who took the additional ($$) excursions. 2. After a norovirus break-out, the ship instituted CDC precautions--this is very understandable. However, this caused the serving staff to dole out the buffet food and many times it felt like high-school/college cafeteria lines. The serving staff seemed unprepared for this process, were not literate in English, and usually unattentive (backs turned) when one needed some particular food item. 3. Due to CDC precautions, spa and pools closed for a few days ( not Viking's fault, but again, disappointing). 4. At our reserved dinner at Manfredi's Italian restaurant, wait staff was particularly unskilled in serving. After our appetizers, we waited for almost 30 minutes for our main entrees to appear, but were only given the dessert menu!! at that point. Manfedi's staff seemed chaotic at times and not all the tables were in use. This dining venue had poor supervision. 5. A lovely classical violin/cello duo played in the evenings in the main atrium, but was situated a mere 15 feet from the noisy and at times boisterous bar and crowd?? I believe this cruise was not up to Viking standards. They have a beautiful ship and it's cruise was majorly marred by the the poor port/excursion planning and more than occasional, sloppy buffet/restaurant service. Disenchanted we were... Read Less

This was our third time to travel with Viking Cruises. In spring of 2017 we traveled the Danube river from Bucharest to Budapest. This was such a fun and exciting trip beginning in Bangkok with a two day pre-cruise stay. We enjoyed the city market and the temples including our favorite, the Golden Reclining Buddha. The cruise journey found us visiting Jakarta, Singapore, several stopes in Malaysia and Indonesia. Bali and Komodo Island were exciting and then we were off to Darwin Australia. The first part of our curse we experienced very warm temperatures with high humidity which allowed us to spend most afternoons in the beautiful on board pools. From Darwin we experienced may beautiful cities as we cruised down the eastern coast of Australia with Cairns, Hamilton Island Brisbane and Sydney some of our favorite locations. The service was excellent throughout the ship. Our suite was top of the line with the wrap around balcony for outstanding views. The food was excellent in all of the locations, although Manfredi’s has always been our dining experience. The journey was not complete as we left Sydney on our way to Auckland New Zealand with these last fifteen days were the cherry on top of the wonderful trip. Beautiful landscapes, cities and people. Read Less

We have taken numerous Viking river and ocean trips. I never write reviews, however travelers need to know this trip is not worth the time or money. Until this trip we have had wonderful experiences with Viking. Picked the Bangkok, Bali and Beyond because we hadn’t been to this region and the ports looked interesting. The trip started off rough when we missed a connecting flight, bad weather, and the ship. No biggy, we made our own arrangements and connected with the ship at their next port stop. Our disappointment was the excursions consisted of riding around on buses and the points of interest were not interesting. One tour in Surabaya was terrible. We were suppose to see ancient temples and we went to a temple at a run down theme park! Seriously! The port stops need to be re-evaluated, maybe not stop at so many ports, and pick the quality stops and stay longer. The staff at guest services need more training about the region and Viking systems. This ships staff in general need more training in customer service. The biggest slap was when we learned after we were on board that the “two days” in Bali amounted to four hours before we disembarked for the airport and the flight home. The 13 day trip is really 11. Is Viking’s desire to grow their company impacting their quality for quantity! Would not recommend! Read Less

Chose countries I was interested in exploring...Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. I have traveled on Viking Riverboats twice before, and I was disappointed in the ocean cruise experience with Viking compared to other lines (I have traveled on Holland America, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, and Silver Seas). Overall, I felt the excursion experience lacked attention to the travelers, as excursions sites were poor, and we spent most of the time on the bus driving around. The local tour guide companies were less than well experienced, and the guides themselves were simply not helpful beyond the script they read to us. I realize that several ports were primarily for commercial travel with few amenities geared to the passenger ships, but Viking did little to compensate for that. When we exited the ship there were no personnel in the 'tents' at the bottom of the gangway, and as a passenger you were on your own to find your way to the terminal or to the buses (somewhat dangerous in an unknown country). The preparation for off-board travel lacked useful information also. I must give complements to the onboard staff who were wonderful, taking good care of my roommate who contracted the 'noro' virus and was isolated in the room for 2 days. In my opinion, the overall experience was 'not up to Viking standards'. Read Less

This was our 3rd cruise on Viking Ocean, before on the Star & the Sea. Both were quite enjoyable. This one not so much! We boarded the ship in excellent health (and I have the blood work to prove it having been tested just 48 hours prior to embarkation). Within 48 hours on the ship, developed ottis media (inner ear infection) which was a cause of concern. Went to sick bay & the treating doc gave me 500 mg of amoxicillin 3 times a day for 7 days. The interesting thing is while in sick bay, the nurse was a bit frazzled since they had a big emergency the evening before, no other details were provided. I can only guess. A day or two later the ship was put under quarantine and all swimming pools, and the spa were put off limits for 3 days. In The restaurant, no more self serve at the buffet. Consequently long lines developed as the staff was not equipped to handle this. After taking the amoxicillin I went again to sick bay, and requested anti diarrhea medicine as I was under the impression it was a side effect of the amoxicillin. I was told in no uncertain terms "no way this was possible" and in turn was quarantined to our cabin. Anyone can google "side effects for amoxicillin" and diarrhea is a common side effect listed. What were they talking about? So I in turn was quarantined for 3 days to my stateroom. They told me I was contagious. Guess what, my wife slept with me and stayed in the room with me for 3 days, she never developed diarrhea. And the bland food they sent up, frankly was inedible. Regarding the ports of call, we couldn't even sit out on our terrace as the air in the ports they took us to had an extreme foul smell! Fortunately we stayed in a penthouse veranda which made our 3 days incarceration a bit more comfortable. However we were warned by the ship's captain if we left the cabin we would be subject to being kicked off the ship and returning home would be our problem. Nice, you would think I could order reasonable food instead of their inedible "bland diet". Finally we gladly disembarked in Bali. Frankly we should have just booked our stay here and by passed the Viking ship. Upon returning I contacted their customer service to articulate my concerns. The person I spoke to seemed unaware that the ship was under quarantine for 3 days and she would research it and get back to me. She never did return the call, hence the impetus for my posting. We are now almost two weeks being home and are just getting over whatever we contracted on the ship. My wife while on the ship developed a cough and also ear infection which she to this day still has. Viking offered us a $300 pp credit for our next trip. A mere pittance considering we had spent in excess of $20,000 on our trip. For those considering booking this trip, it certainly did not replicate our past experiences with this line and I dare say it will be a long time before we re-book another cruise with them., Read Less

The ship was absolutely beautiful - new and very well designed. PRE-ARRANGED TRANSFER: Had a bit of a problem upon our midnight arrival in Bangkok when there was no one to meet us, despite assurances that there would be. After several hours passed, we rented a van for the 1.5 hour ride to the ship (for which we were reimbursed). EXCURSIONS: Included excursions were so-so. There seemed to be a formula for sightseeing in each port: flower market, national monument and temple. Quality of guides was inconsistent with respect to understandable spoken English and initiative. BALI EXTENSION: The Bali extension excursion consisted of hours of driving to visit 3 different temples - extremely long day (10+ hours) to visit sites that were similar to each other. Would have preferred to visit some sights in Ubud, which is well known and also located closer to our Nusa Dua hotel. The Laguna hotel was very nice, and we enjoyed having 2 nights there after we disembarked from the ship. ONBOARD THE ORION: Experiences on board the Orion were lovely - variety of activities, excellent staff, well run dining venues, and public spaces that were suitable for private reading or social gatherings. So many pluses about our time on the ship! A norovirus red alert prompted the closing of pools and public parts of the spa for several days. While we appreciated the precautionary measures, the exclusion of those activities was very disappointing - especially on days at sea. Nonetheless, I loved the cruise overall and love traveling with Viking. Read Less

My husband and chose to go on Viking’s Orion Bangkok to Bali cruise with our good friends. They have been on a number of Viking river cruises and we have been on 6 cruises however not with Viking. The ship is beautiful and the rooms were as expected, small but nice. However, the “free excursions” were terrible! The ship docked so far away (1.5-2 hours each way) from what they included in the sites that the tours were mostly bus rides to, from and around the cities. We could not take one of the included tours and also pay for one of the extra tours in one day because they were scheduled so that they overlapped my 1/2 hour. Which means when the pool was closed because of the norovirus (yes, norovirus was part of this cruise) and you were back from one tour, there was not much to do other than playing games because the pools were closed and they did not add any extra activities. The crew was very attentive and friendly however there were problems that could be attributed to management (room service tray only picked up after 2 phone calls and finally put out in the hall, ice requested never delivered, unresponsive staff at pool cafe (requests for sweetener and refills) and serving out of date diet sodas in all areas of the ship dispite that being pointed out to servers). But the most unbelievable event was that we had an opened bottle of bourbon on our desk. We had 2 drinks but noticed 4 days later that the bottle was half full. We did not say anything even though we had not had another drink. A few days later, we noticed the bottle was 3/4 empty. We reported it to guest services, who said they would investigate. The next day we were told the only people that went into our room, was us! When my husband said that clearly was not true (someone came in to clean and another came in to fill mini bar) the response was that it could not be the crew because “ they are not allowed to drink”. No apology, basically we were called liars. The cruise was called Bangkok to Bali. We arrived in Bali at 6pm. There was no included excursion there because we were required to leave the boat at 8am the next morning. If we had not scheduled an extra stay there, we would not have seen anything of Bali. I would definitely not do this cruise again. I would tell anyone that if they were interested in seeing any of the cities included in the cruise to just fly to that city and hire a car to take you to the sites (as we did in Bali). We have written to Viking Cruises and although we did get a call from a representative, we were not satisfied with what she said and requested that her supervisor call. That was 6 weeks ago. It appears that Viking does not care about customer satisfaction. Read Less

Our voyage on the Viking Orion from Bangkok to Bali was certainly one of the most memorable cruising we have the pleasure to partake. Viking has a way to pick the best crew, and this is no exception. As this is a new ship, our review reflects the fact that every detail has not been worked out, and polished on this ship. Our cabin configuration was very well thought of, with plenty drawers. The under bed has enough clearance to easily stow our empty luggage. A little quirk; the shower stall is designed in such a way, that one is forced to exit the stall completely to get to your towel! An extra hook adhered to the side glass panel just outside the door would solve that problem. We prefer fantail room for its views, and we enjoy sitting on the balcony for that reason. That is the reason we booked cabin #4123. Disappointingly, because of a design flaw, which blocks water drainage, we constantly have inch-deep water pooling on the balcony; and the water is not only from rain. The infinity pool above us constantly splashes water to our balcony! Our cruise mates, in the cabin directly above us (deck 5), does not have this pooling problem. We were not able to enjoy the balcony as we have in past cruises. We recommend avoiding booking cabin #4123, and #4122, for this reason. We enjoy wine pairing with our food, and definitely it is worth purchasing the beverage package. Viking wine selection and premium liquors are extensive, and the package allows liquor enjoyments outside the dining room. We were able to sample some of the best wines on a cruise, in part because of the expert guidance from our knowledgeable sommelier, Kat! We were truly excited that there is an onboard planetarium and with an astronomer crew member. We feel that the planetarium and the astronomer are not utilized to their full potential. People have to book ahead for the 3D shows, as the facility has limited seating capacity. I love watching 3D movies. Unfortunately, only one of the shows (Space travel) requiring tickets, pertained to space, or astronomy. The best presentation was conducted by the astronomer, unfortunately also have limited times. My recommendation is to try to see the Space presentation and attend the astronomer's lecture, and skip the rest. Karaoke is not for everybody, but having no karaoke in an Asian tour seems a bit extreme. We asked the Cruise Director if a karaoke session is possible, and was told that the company CEO forbid that activity on board! The trip from Bangkok to the ship docked in Laem Chabang, because of traffic, took over 2hrs! Is there a nearer port from Bangkok, other than Laem Chabang? Wouldn't it be a unique experience to for passengers to be shuttled to the ship on a fast boat, like a hydrofoil? How boarding a hydrofoil from Klong Toey on the Chao Phraya River, and shuttle us to the ship in it, if Laem Chabang is the only cruise ship friendly port from Bangkok? There is nothing worth seeing in Laem Chabang, so all tours are centered in Bangkok. Realizing how long it is to reach Bangkok, we even skipped an included 9hr tour, because we know we will be wasting at least 5 of those hours, just for the commute! Our only disaster, was our pre-cruise tour of Bangkok. The guide failed to provide us with rain gear, and we were soaked to our skins in the downpour! Viking learned from that goof, and we were given rain ponchos at every shore tours after that. Read Less

Viking reputation. We have been disappointed with this cruise. Most of the ports have been one to two hours bus ride from the city of destination and tours to the attractions sometimes more. We have been for the most part docked in large commercial ports which are not very appealing. The cabin is very nice and good service by the room attendant. Some of the other staff seems a little unenthusiastic. The “vibe” has not been great. We find the the restaurant Chefs Table is not for everyone. We had a 6:30 reservation and walked out at 7:45 still waiting for our main course. On the other hand the Italian restaurant is wonderful. It is not Vikings fault but the Norovirus has changed the onboard experience. Meal service has changed in the World Cafe. The spa, hot tubs and pools have been closed for several days. Very good haircut by hairdresser. Read Less

We travel in a party of 11 which every one is experienced cruise traveller. The only reason that our family chose this cruise is the period time of the cruise. I am so disappointed with almost every thing including poor boarding, bad dinner, stinct lobster, worst breakfast, too limited choices of lunch, wrong, ineffective and annoying announcement, poor quality announcer, too limited tender boats causing too long line, bad organizing, etc. It took us more than an hour for boarding with limited assistance of staff. The only meat I found at breakfast was corned beef, no sausage, bacon nor ham. Pork bun was terrible. At dinner, the lobster we ordered and was supposed to pay extra was stinct. It was probably frozen for years thus the meat was unfresh and yucky. Supervisor seemed to avoid responsibility once first informed. At an island where anchored, only 3 tender boats with a capacity of 110 pax per boat were prepared. Only passengers who bought excursions can disembark at 8 a.m. Queing of the rest passengers lasted from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Every one has to come back to boat before 4.30 p.m.!!! What an absurd organizing. I encountered the problems with cabin facilities including hair dryer, hot water and blinking light. The latter was not able to solve even the technician came. Announcement was made with wrong information and ineffectively. It was made in the early morning to room thus annoying sleeping guests. Oh...there is a lot more to share. That should be enough to refrain all potential travelers from the ship. What a horrible cruise. The worst ever indeed. Read Less

We love to cruise, but we are getting weary of the giant cruise ships. It takes forever to get from one space on the ship to another and there are crowds everywhere. We have read the great reviews of Vikings new ocean ships and had a wonderful Viking river cruise a few years back. Once we had picked Viking we looked at itineraries that would take us someplace new. That's how we ended up on this trip form Bangkok to Hong Kong. What a great decision! This itinerary was new to Viking as well and there were a few rough spots, including the boarding process in Bangkok. They were all minor in the whole picture. The ship is beautiful and never crowed. The size allows you to quickly pop down to your room if you need a sweater and you're back in a jiff. Service was nothing short of amazing. Some areas of the ship were overly air-conditioned. We were happy we added a couple pre-trip days in Bangkok to recover from the jet lag. Our tour guide helped us arrange an in-Hotel massage that made me wish we had a couple more days. The stops in Cambodia, Vietnam and China were all fascinating and well run. Viking will be my first choice (and second choice) from this point on when we are ready to cruise. Read Less

We chose this cruise because our travel agent brought it to our attention. She and others from our area were going and it was going to a part of the world we had never visited. The ship is great and the food is very good. With multiple restaurants, there was enough variety. They were also able to accomodate my gluten free requirements. We had a wonderful suite on the 7th floor. Some of the tour descriptions were more about flowery words than about where the tour would be taking us so sometimes we were signed up for two tours that were doing basically the same thing. They were very good about allowing us to cancel tours. Some of the areas we visited were very poor. Wouldn't go back. I did enjoy seeing Haikou, China and Ha Long Bay in Vietnam. We were usually too tired in tht evening to attend the shows. Read Less

We had never been to Asia and were interested in exploring this area of the world. We also had never done a cruise before as a couple but were impressed with the Viking review and reputation. The trip was fascinating as we got a chance to learn about this area of the country. Each stop was a new experience and learning adventure. At the same time, we had time to relax. As my husband and I both work, it was wonderful to have this combination. The Viking experience was excellent with only a few minor glitches. The boat was beautiful and comfortable. Excellent food choices. They did a great job of offering local food that tied into each of our stops. WE also greatly enjoyed the fitness center. Our only issue was that some of the shore excursions needed improvement. This was the first time that Viking had done this itinerary and that showed in a few places. I am sure that they will iron it out as they were very interested in feedback. Based on our trip - we just booked our next trip to Australia with Viking Read Less

My wife and I have been to most of Europe and South America, but never to Southeast Asia. We had sailed on the Voyager about five years ago and were eager to set it since its refurbishment in 2016, and a cruise from Bali to Hong Kong looked good. It was! The ship looks wonderful, and our cabin (853) was beautiful in an excellent location. The cabin attendant kept it looking clean and fresh all of the time. The cruise director, Ray, was the best we had ever had in our twenty years of cruising. The lectures were wonderful, and most informative. The food was mostly excellent, although I didn't think that the French restaurant was anything special. Although Prime Seven was excellent, we enjoyed the Compass Rose the best because we were able to dine with and meet a lot of interesting fellow passengers. The shore excursions were mostly good, but we understand that having several excursions in every port for all 700 passengers is difficult. I do suggest that when several full buses are going on the same excursion that Regent consider have the buses alternate their routes so that they don't all arrive at the same place at the same time. Read Less

This is our fourth Regent cruise and first on the Voyager. We took the pre cruise tour to Chiang Mai. The air included was basic economy and when we arrived in Chiang Mai the tours were decent. The dinner we were served with local dance was not a Thai dinner. Getting back to Bangkok and to the ship was efficient but we arrived to the ship just prior to setting sail. Our room was across from the laundry. The depiction in their brochures does not show it directly across from the suite door but it is. You open your door to the open laundry room. Mind you, these are Penthouse B suites and the noise, smell and heat from the laundry room was a definite miss. Additionally, there is a definite vibration from the engine in the rooms and dining areas. So much, the liquid in the glasses moved from side to side. Dining was good at the specialty restaurants. Chartreuse is nice but the menu didn’t change. Same with Prime Seven. Compass Rose had some major issues this cruise. Basics such as sorbet served between courses and petit fours at the end were not offered. The food on occasion was cold. The lunches in Compass Rose were excellent. Just the dinners were below par. The entertainment was excellent at times and just OK at other times. The lectures were good but the Harvard Professor wasn’t knowledgeable about specifics for Regent. The shore excursions were hit or miss. There were many spot on itineraries and then you had the mediocre required gem store stop or government required museums and unappealing included lunches. Regent tends to charge for popular tours such as Valley of the Kings and Petra which defeats the purpose of an all inclusive. Service was lacking on this cruise. The cabin steward was not up to the Regent standard. Missing basics such as trash, time change notices and distribution of daily “Passages”. Overall, the service has declined from our past experiences in 2016(2) and 2017. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we wanted to explore parts of Asia. We were pleasantly surprised that the quality of the food had returned to what we had experienced on Oceania cruises years ago. The flow of guests and food in the Grand Dining Room seems to have been helped a lot by having waiters put in orders on an "iPad." There were no long waits for our food. Many evenings the delicious sea bass which is served in Red Ginger on the larger ships (and Sirena) was an entree in the dining room. It was cooked perfectly! Many of the staff on the cruise seemed especially friendly and content. Some of them would tease us a little bit...Which we thoroughly enjoyed. We talked to several members of the staff who lived in the countries we were visiting. Oceania tried to accommodate these people's desire to spend a day or two with their families. Because of changes in the tides, our arrivals and departures from some ports were changed and it interfered with some of our excursions. One of the disappointments on the smaller ships is that there really isn't enough room in the exercise area for many people to take Pilates and/or yoga classes. Because it was really warm and muggy where we were cruising, it didn't work very well when the classes were moved to an outside deck. Embarkation was not a good experience, but it wasn't Oceania's fault. Because we were a small ship we were able to board very close to central Bangkok, and that was appreciated. Most cruise ships have to board much further away. But, the closer facility did not accommodate a cruise ship very well. People would arrive at their scheduled time and would be told to have a seat, rather than just walk up to an Oceania employee ready to greet them. Some people waited more than an hour. We finally just moved ourselves into a small group that had randomly been sent to the next room. Then, from there, we were told to go outside and walk at least 50 yards out in the hot sun, and then to climb up the ship's stairs. We literally went onto the ship to do our embarkation paperwork, have our picture taken, etc. Even so, I preferred this to having to drive over an hour away to board the ship. Read Less