Embarkation and disembarkation was relatively smooth. Don’t expect much hospitality. Employees are not excited about their jobs so don’t expect many smiles either. We spent much extra to stay in a (PHS) Penthouse Suite and was advertised our own personal Butler, (which was shared by many other suites so personalized is the farthest from the truth.) He is given too many rooms to service. We also understood we would have preferred tendering, (which we were first to get tickets, but told we would be last. Yep, last to tender.) We almosted missed our excursion. Does the ship care? Nope! If you book through them then you are first to tender. *Know b4 you go! Next the food. Why does everyone rave about the food? Ugg! My wife got sick on the fish. It was not cooked though enough. The Caesar salad is soaked in dressing every time! It was gross! Our friends lobster was over cooked. The buffet breakfast is pretty good but basic. We ordered room service breakfast. The scrambled eggs were runny, boiled eggs inconsistent. The fruit was mushy & over ripe most of the time. If you wear a hat to dinner, be prepared to be kicked out!! We were late for almost every port with little time anyway. Then paying extra to be in a PHS and having to be last to tender. What a slap in the face. Bottom line: a PHS gives you nothing extra really! The laundry service is terrible it took four days to get 20 items back! Four tiny washer & dryers for the whole boat so get ready to stand in line!! Now Entertainment: (———.) that describes it. VERY limited, basically nothing. The butler &/or staff is always pressuring you to buy something like an excursion or wine tasting or martini tasting (they must be getting a commission!) It just sucks!!! The rooms are small and closets are too. We have sailed other cruise lines and not had such a terrible experience. Oceania is not for me. Read Less

I chose this cruise for the worldwide destinations. However, the whole four month experience was life changing. The reception staff were great, especially Mimi. The ship was very clean. I liked the hot tub and the loungers were comfortable and there were plenty available. The entertainment team were very talented. Especially Alex Kemp, Joshua Marlow and Freya Brown, who jelled very well on and off stage. I especially liked being in the choir, meeting fellow singers and benefitting from choir leader, Josh Marlows fast knowledge and talent. It was great fun and I learnt new skills. Joining the quilting club was a good move. I made a quilt to hang on the wall and also, several memory cushions. I liked the choice of buffet meals or restaurant service. Waiters Ewhyan and Simon were attentive and prompt with serving. All activities were well subscribed to, including pilates, art classes, creative writing, choir, and dance classes. Shore excursions to India and China were memorable. The hotels used were top quality. I loved climbing the Great Wall of China and visiting the Taj Mahal. Miss Pam Read Less

Booked this cruise for two reasons, the itinerary and to see for ourselves if Cunard is what they say they are. The itinerary was great, Cochin excepted but we expected that. We had three complaints about this cruise, first of which was the visas for India. We had no plans to go ashore in Cochin but was told that we must have full tourist visas otherwise we would not be able to embark the ship in Singapore. Due to a lack of time we had no choice other than to use Cunards intermediary CIBT visas, at a significant cost to us. Due to a lack of communication it turned out the visas were not required pre cruise. We watched people board the ship who had no visas. Cunard have since agreed to reimburse us, but only because we complained. If you were on this ship and had a similar experience then complain, they won't contact you! Secondly the stateroom------ We were in 13024 which is a club balcony cabin. The room itself was very nice with a roomy balcony and was well maintained by the steward, thanks Salvi.There is tea making facilities in the room which is always a bonus. Further to the stateroom there is significant vibration most of the time which is apparent to both port and starboard. Theses staterooms were a recent addition made during the last refurbishment. Cunard of course are aware of this and I'm told by a guest services executive that they are looking at ways of factoring it into the brochure stateroom descriptions. Too little to late for us, Cunard got our money, my wife got no decent sleep. As a matter of interest the vibration has nothing to do with sea conditions as it was present when the ship was on its mooring lines. Finally, the food--------I was served raw ( yes you read it right, raw) chicken with bloody juices running from it! As you can imagine there was mayhem, the servers, maitre d, chef and executive chef all arguing amongst themselves as to who was at fault, with fellow diners looking on in disbelief. I left the dining room and went for a meal. The outcome of this was that I was not allowed to make a formal complaint at the pursers desk,I wanted a case number so that I could take the matter up when I got home but was refused and told to drop the matter.I was given a complimentary meal in the Italian specialty restaurant, special it wasn't. Since being home Cunard agree that we have had a shocking experience with the three complaints and have offered us 20% of the cost of the cruise plus reimbursement of the cost of the visas. Is this commensurate with the cruise experience ? The service in the dining room was, we found, fine. The food in general in the dining room was adequate, but no more. A bit hit and miss. The service in the bars was, at times dreadful. Gone are the days of being escorted to seat and waited on for a drink, like it used to be. More often than not I got my own drinks at the bar and carried them back to where we were sitting. Staff work hard enough but there just isn't enough of them. The experience made me that I was at home in my local Wetherspoons. The entertainment for us was a mixed bag with no hint of a wow factor. The two productions shows were very poor and most certainly the entertainment was geared toward classical recitals and ballroom dancers with some jazz thrown in. The resident orchestra was very good as was the dance band. All in all we found the entertainment to be low key and not to our taste. Some of the sea day lectures were good though, as was the planetarium. Shore excursions were robbery but they are everywhere. The price of drinks was also robbery but we have seen worse, can't remember where. In the end we were glad to get home. Would we cruise Cunard again? Highly unlikely. For the life of me I can't see any evidence of a White Star experience, perhaps it's reserved for the grills? As for us we will continue cruising but methinks we will body swerve Cunard in the future. Read Less

We have done 4 world cruises previously and wanted to try their first World Cruise 141 days.The ship is lovely the food was like most ships we did not as a whole enjoy the specialty restaurants the food was not the higher quality we expected. The portions were small and usually too salty or strange to our taste that even though they were offered to the world cruise set free we canceled our reservations after the 5th try! The Italian restaurant was good but did not offer spaghetti or angel hair pasta without previous arrangement. The room was lovely we had a Deluxe Veranda and the heated floors and large flat screen TV was the best we had seen, even in some of the ships highest end rooms! The service was excellent the restaurant staff and bar service was top notch. Because the ship was financed by the largest Chinese Bank the serving staff had to be a large portion of the staff was Chinese and they were well trained and excellent at their jobs! They went overboard with their on board cultural experiences! Entertainment was often local and the ship usually did only one show unfortunately there was no way to display the talent properly. Their theater seating could not seat everyone on board so many had to stand or dodge the person in front or get there early to get the front row. For some reason the ship refused to do 2 shows a night even though they know neither the pool area or theater could seat everyone on board. This was something we had never run into before so if you are going for entertainment you might pick another ship. All entertainment except for 1 night a week at the disco (the dance floor will only accommodate 6 or 8 couples) the bar was the only place they had real rock and role to dance to everything else was very cultural high brow. Guitar, Chamber Music,Opera ,Piano and Violinist were the order of the day every day!!!! If this is what you like this is your ship but if you were raised on Rock and Roll like most Americans seek another ship! A once in awhile comedian or magician was a treat. Believe me this can make a lonnnnnggg World cruise! If you like musical theater and dance this is not your ship. The ports of call were standard fare and as they were new at this some mistakes were made they did not have the money to pay for us to cruise Hulong Bay as we were promised we were not happy! One of the best things on board was the large outdoor seating for meals on the stern. When the weather was good they threw all the sliding doors back and it was wonderful. The Spa is spacious and the extras they offer are great fun. The Gym is well thought out and works very well. Only it does not open early so if you want to exercise early or late you will find that it is closed to the guests and opened for the crew only! Beware we were told Cruise insurance was included of 150% when my husband became ill but they paid us less than 100%. There was no asterisk or foot note to say up to etc. even on the contract but the insurance company refused to live up to the promises that Viking made to us in their brochures so you might want to get additional insurance. In essence she is a lovely ship but would be better on a shorter cruise. Also beware the promises that Viking makes they will not pay 150% they lied! When I booked the cruise they said they had Zumba on board and they did not! Read Less

We have always enjoyed cruising with Viking. First with their river cruises and then Ocean cruise. We initially were skeptical about a 120 day ocean cruise but we were. very happy that we chose to take this cruise. I had some food allergy issues but the staff were very good to make sure my needs were accommodated. The staff of the ship were excellent. From the Barista who made us Capuchinos, to the bartenders and all the dining staff in the various restaurants. The Captain had a good sense of humour and kept us informed of what was going on. The Cruise Director was outstanding in all aspects and readily available to talk to anyone. The entertainment throughout the cruise was excellent. The enrichment lectures were very good for the most part. The shore excursions surprised as and were very good. Overall, no complaints at all. I would gladly recommend this cruise and Viking to anyone. Read Less

The Mighty Amazon River has long been on our bucket list, & the newly refurbished Sirena's 34-day sailing from Miami to Buenos Aires sounded like the way to go!! The first week at sea was uneventful & unexciting, as we bypassed devastated Puerto Rico, & visited St Kitts, Antigua, & Barbados! We enjoyed the day we spent exploring the ruins of Devil's Island, the former penal colony off the coast of French Guyana. Unfortunately, we were totally taken by surprise as it was announced that almost all purchases aboard ship for the next 3.5 weeks (as we sailed thru Brazilian waters) would be subject to an extra 25% tax. (We solved this problem quite simply, by halting all unnecessary shipboard spending!!) Almost everything was included in our ticket price: air, gratuities, 7 shore excursions per person, internet package. There were no art auctions & no pushy shipboard photogs to contend with. We were not nickled and dimed over soft drinks, specialty coffee, & bottled water. Since the Sirena drew only 20 feet of water, We were able to travel 900 miles upriver to Manaus in the heart of the triple canopy Amazon rainforest. While the destination speakers for the Amazon region were well chosen, the Oceania home office staff of millennials let us down when it came to providing suitable movies that might have dovetailed with our journey!! As we entered the River Platte, it would have presented a great opportunity to view "The Battle of the River Platte". It would have also been timely to have watched "Evita" again, as we neared Argentina. Instead we were subjected to current, inane films, such as one depicting Breaking Bad actor Cranston hiding out in his garage for several months!!! We manged to dine in Sirena's Specialty restaurants on numerous occasions - especially in their magnificent Red Ginger Asian Fusion spot. Afternoons the main dining room was converted into Jacques - a specialty French Bistro - with mixed results. The Waves grill by the pool closed way too early @4PM. Read Less

We booked an excursion to Paphos in Cyprus. The description of the tour which appealed to us was 1. Taken to Paphos and have three hours free time to explore independently or 2. Visit the Villa and see the mosaics and the tombs of the kings and lastly 3. Take a stroll along the harbour. However, we were given no choices at all! We were dropped off at the harbour and left there. There was only a few restaurant and tacky gift shops. I was in a wheelchair and on 24/7 oxygen. We tried to find some shops but it was a long trek and we only found a very small mall and went back to the harbour and waited there for a coach to return. We put in an official complaint at this persons desk when we returned and received 10% refund which was an absolute joke we had wasted our money and our day in Cyprus. The literature is completely misleading and if we had known what was in store we still could of taken the free shuttle bus or gone to Limassol where apparently the guests had a fantastic time which made us even more fed up ..... I keep trying to get in touch with the excursions specialist team as we was advised to do once we got back to UK but I have had no luck getting through so needed to vent my feelings somewhere. As for the cleanliness of the newly refurbished Kings Court, we found it dirty, especially the walls next to the tables, the skirting, the windows. Infact, a lot of the communal areas needed TLC. They were cleaned but the staff were very lethargic and did everything at a snail's pace and didn't seem to take any pride in the fact that they were on a Cunard ship, although they cleaned they didn't clean the edges or the corners. This is where germs lie ......... Read Less

I have always liked the Whisper but will never take a segment of a world cruise again. In this segment, the majority of the passengers had been on this cruise since January and had established little groups to dine, drink and socialize thus the new passengers had to find other new passengers in order to have a good time. This segment from Dubai to Athens had fewer new passengers due to the possible danger passing Yemen and other countries in the news but the tours to Luxor, Petra and Gisa were very worthwhile and Silversea takes precautions and has never had a threatening incident. The familiar crew on the Whisper helped make the trip more enjoyable. On the next segment from Athens to Monte Carlo, it was reported that 160 new passengers would board so I'm sure they outnumbered the tired world cruisers but we have cruised the Mediterranean many times and had seen many portsand we departed the Whisper in Athens. The food was wonderful in all dining venues and tasted better than I had remembered. The evening entertainment was professional and entertaining, Day lectures were educational and worthwhile and included a travel professional who highlighted the upcoming tours with a visual presentation describing history and cultural advice and additional sights. On days at sea, two speakers entertained passengers, one on British spies during World War 1 and two The other speaker told us his fascinating experience in Africa with camels. He actually rode by camel across the Gobi desert. Also on the British experience in Africa. The swimming pool was active with sun worshippers throughout the day as well as the hot tubs. Underwater exercises took place at 2 pm followed by water volleyball at 3. Read Less

Lovely ports of call made us choose this itinerary and adult medium ship. Dining was excellent, lectures varied and interesting, the evening entertainment was on the whole very good but the Headliners on ship singers and dancers were absolutely excellent. All very talented and ranked as good as any west end show. The cabin was the problem A86 mid aft four down from midships on port side. See cabin review and beware! Not worth the money. Excursions were varied and we took advantage of many in countries as Australia, New Zealand, Papa New Guinea, Japan, South Korea and China all well organised on time and educational. The dining area was well laid out although our table 48 was over the top of the propellor shafts and not only noisy but juddered from the vibrations. Most ships seem to think that rear ship for dining front for theatre and entertaining all at low level. Better if higher up, less shaking and stick the night club and gyms down the rear. Conversation had to be raised when ship moving above 17 knots, obviously designers never take a holiday on cruise ships. Still did not spoil a wonderful holiday (except cabin) see below. Read Less

We sailed from San Francisco (February 4, 2017), with final destination in Sydney. It sure beat having to fly from Orlando, to Sydney. There were stops in Oahu, Maui, Western Samoa, Tonga, Auckland, and Bay of Islands. I highly recommend this ship; the best way to some up the ship, would be elegant. Karen (Activities Staff) made the time fly by and extremely fun!! My wife and I are Elite Plus with Celebrity, so we know what fine cruising should be!! When we crossed the Equator, the ship had a big ceremony for all the Pollywogs to trans form into Shellbacks. All the passengers and crew had to lineup to "Kiss the Fish." Some received more attention then others. Ha Ha We sailed on the Azamara Quest, in November, this is the type of ship we expected. The only thing some cruiser might not like, is you have to dress up for dinner, we enjoyed it. Read Less