Viking Star Review
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The Viking Homelands cruise on May 30th from Stockholm to Bergen ranks as one of the best cruises we have ever taken. We had some initial concerns about the cruise (based on comments in the Viking Oceans Board) but thankfully many of the issues identified there appear to have been resolved and we ended up having a really good experience.
We can echo all the comments made about the new ship - it's really a beautiful new ship with some really delightful areas - particularly the 2 level Explorers Lounge which gives a wonderful panoramic view of the front of the ship from both inside and outside on the surrounding decks. At one side of the Explorers Lounge is Mamsens, a small deli area where you can have a shortened breakfast menu (e.g. oatmeal, fruit and waffles) or later an abbreviated lunch or snack menu for example deli items such as gravlax. The Wintergarden is an excellent place for afternoon tea, cakes and scones. Very relaxing and a wonderful choice of teas. The Atrium is on 3 levels and at one end they show interesting large photos with different themes which are always changing. We enjoyed sipping a martini or g and t at the bar on level 1 while listening to the wonderful trio playing classical music.
Prior to our cruise (arising from the hierarchical method of reservation based on cabin categories) we had serious concerns about being able to book dining arrangements, both in the main dining room and in the speciality restaurants, but thankfully our fears were not realized and we had no problems at all. By the time we went on board they had changed back to flexible dining so it was first come, first served and that never presented any problems and we were always able to get a table for 2, or to join others if we wished. We went to Manfredi's on 3 occasions, and the Chef's Table once and both were excellent. The menu in the latter is changed every 9 days…if it had changed sooner we would have returned but we didn't want to repeat the menu (which is fixed and includes wine pairings with each course). We were misinformed that it was "Indian" food whereas in fact the emphasis was on the use of East Indian spices to enhance flavours.