My wife and I have cruised many times in the past. we usually cruise with some friends who decided that we all should cruise the Baltic for our annual cruise in 2019. They chose Viking Ocean cruises, due in no small part to the excellent reputation of which they had read and the fact that what could be better than to take a Scandinavian ship to cruise the Baltic. At the outset, we were shocked to find that the entire cruise needed to be paid at least one year before the cruise. That has never been our experience in sailing with multiple lines and future patrons need to be aware of this requirement. The ship is beautiful.The public rooms are wonderful especially the Explorer Lounge. Our cabin was quite roomy and the bathrooms excellent. special kudos for a lovely shower without having to step over a tub.I found the heated floors in the bathroom to be a nice touch. The spa area is spectacular and if going to a spa with virtually everything-hot tub, small therapy pool, sauna and ice room is your thing, this is your ship The company touts its multiple channels of communication available to those who are scheduled, but that is primarily limited to receiving one way announcements from them, done well, but not to any dialogue or getting personal support for questions which arise and may not be answered in their stock announcements.Poor communication seems to be common on these cruises. For example,special meals opportunities, lobster tail and steak, special buffets, at the grill were never announced well and one learned to look for these each day by dropping by the grill itself or asking of the crew in a restaurant or bar. The ships plan is good but when the special meals take place in the grill area there is inadequate seating for the number of cruisers wishing to partake in the meal. The seating in the cinema is wholly inadequate for the number of passengers. Quite a few performances occurred with many passengers standing in the back to observe the show. The back two side areas were totally inadequate both for seeing the show and hearing it.The need to get to the venue 30 minutes before shows began was difficult for those of us who tended to to eat dinner at about 7 to 7:30. I was quite disappointed to discover that we did not receive services comparable to what we had received ion either Oceania or Azamara in spite of the fact that the per night per person cost to sail with Viking was considerably more than either of the other two. My concern with the cabin service is that when I wished ice, I had to go to housekeeping, when I wished lime I had to go to room service and when I wished to change my complimentary liquor and the amount of tonic I needed to speak to the drink steward.This in my view is rather poor considering the price of the cruise and the plaudits from other cruisers. Viking offers one free shore excursion at each port.The walking tours we took, 4, were excellent, but those in a bus were not worth the time spent at all. I was quite disappointed in the meals in the Restaurant ,in the Chef's special restaurant both times and at Manfredi both times. To be fair, one night the prime rib served at the restaurant was amongst the best I have ever had. The waffle at the Explorer Lounge was exceptional. On at least 4 occasions the cookies offered with the buffet were stale. the wines with meals were acceptable if unremarkable. One could upgrade wine selection and liquor for an extra daily per person charge. The speakers/lectures seemed excellent, for those we could make, but we missed the largest number as they were scheduled during dinner hour or just prior to dinner hour. Getting on, on the day of sailing from Bergen, and off the ship in Stockholm, with our luggage, were superbly handled even though we left the ship at 6 am to make our plane. Read Less

My wife and I have cruised many times with Celebrity and always received 1st class service. We have completed many of the popular cruises more than once so was looking for alternative itinerary's. We booked an Explorer Suite with Viking (similar price to a Penthouse with Celebrity) expecting a premium cruise experience but how wrong we were. We opted for the flight and cruise package just in case of any delays etc but unable to pre-book our seats so we could not sit together. Check-in was OK but the welcome champagne was an inch in a glass and no member of staff to show us our suite. The suite was as expected, sensible size decorated with furniture from Ikea. The one big issue was trying to keep the room warm as the outside temperature was as low as -18. We had all the curtains closed, all heating including an electric panel heater on full, blankets on the bed and still cold. The same for the pool area and the world café, you needed a sweater or fleece to eat your lunch. Service was very slow with many dirty tables waiting to be cleaned and members of staff just walking past. Must say food quality and variety was good. Room service was very slow to start, 1230pm and still no clean, 8.40pm no clean or turn down. After a couple of complaints this did improve. Shore excursions a complete joke, they were either cancelled or changed at the last moment and those that did proceed were poorly organised. I complained to Judi Buikman the shore excursion manager as she cancelled Northern Lights tours as not dark enough, tidal water phenomenon as it was low tide and a train and snow mobile tour as there was a road incident at 7am and she was worried the bus could not return passenger's back to the ship at 4pm. When I pointed out she failed to do her homework on the excursions, she replied "fair comment". We had arranged dinner reservations prior to sailing for the specialty restaurants but then refused to alter the seating from 2 to 4 persons as we had met new friends. After a sharp conversation with the Hotel Manager and Restaurant Manager this was changed but it should not be this way. The service in the Lounge Bar was very slow if at all, quicker to order drinks at the bar. The evening entertainment was fine for us, either a guitar or piano entertainer. One day the Cruise Director Drew Raitch performed his song book for us, it was embarrassing, the man cannot sing at all so please don't try. Viking Ocean Cruise are a new start-up cruise line (not river cruises) and it shows. The staff are not trained or experienced at ocean cruises and require constant direction from the Officers who themselves require more training. The ship itself was very well maintained but then it is only 2 years old, it is however very noisy when in rough seas and when using the bow thrusters, no pods fitted to this ship. My wife and I really wanted to like Viking as our new "go to" cruise line with different itinerary's but not a chance. Viking are now what the cruise industry was 10 years ago and customers paying premium rates for the top suites and Penthouses demand service. Celebrity have a Butler who takes care of everyday issues such as excursions, dinner reservations, laundry etc. They also have a dedicated restaurant and lounge bar with concierge for suite guests only and unlimited use of the speciality dining rooms. We are so glad we booked Alaska with Celebrity in May and not Viking, we would have been so disappointed. Read Less

We were very disappointed with our 2 week British Isles cruise on Viking Sun. Viking pricing and advertising would lead one to expect a premium, e.g. Crystal, Silversea, Seabourn, cruise experience. Not even close. Viking offers a somewhat smaller cabin with a nice, by cruise-liner standard’s, shower. No tubs or walk in closets here. Occasionally good, but generally poor to mediocre food. You pay for liquor except for complementary beer and rather dull wines at lunch and dinner. It says a lot about the claim to be a luxury company when you end complementary wine and beer at the poolside grill when the inside dining rooms are not open. The crew is very warm and pleasant but unprepared to deliver the level of service one gets from the other mentioned cruise lines. One gets the feeling that the onboard management is more concerned with the bottom line than with passenger happiness. Profitability issues should be left at the home office. Tipping is not included, it is charged to your onboard account. Onboard entertainment is skimpy. On our voyage, a 4 man show band and 4 singer/dancers performed 2 shows on 2 evenings. There were 3 guest entertainers who each performed 1 show on 2 different evenings. Unfortunately, the show theatre cannot accommodate all the guests at one seating. At the “one performance only” shows late coming passengers stood or squeezed into seats. A classical trio, a pianist, and a guitar player perform at various onboard venues. There is no casino. 1000 piece puzzles, scrabble games, checkers, dominoes, and several other physical and digital board games can be found in an area called the Atrium. Internet access is free for all guests and lots of passengers are playing games or otherwise busy on their cell phones. The so called enrichment lectures are a tall tale. There are accomplished lecturers speaking on topics that are of very little interest to the vast majority of passengers. Lecture attendance averaged 15 to 30 people. Bottom line, unless you really want a Viking itinerary, you can do a lot better for your money by shopping elsewhere. Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary and because the Viking Sea was a new ship. We have been on a Viking River Cruise and enjoyed the cruise. The embarkation was easy to move through and our luggage was delivered promptly. We found the ship to be fantastic, beautifully decorated and easy to navigate. No area of the ship ever felt crowded. The crew, for the most part, was be top notch, very friendly and accommodating. The food was very good with varying venues. The beverage package was a bargain, but I do not remember that it was marketed that well. We were very disappointed in the air arrangements on both ends of the trip and would probably do our own in the future. Shore excursion information was not delivered to customers in a timely manner. We thought choices were very limited and were not executed well. Because of a biking event, we were not able to see Bergen except from the water and we were there 1 1/2 days. Read Less