14 night Far East -- Mostly very nice cruise, some room for improvement
Viking Orion Cruise Review by MexAlaViet
- Sail Date: Apr 2019
- Destination: Asia
Started with this 2-week cruise from Hong Kong to Tokyo, then a week in Japan on our own.
We did a Viking River (Grand European) last year so wanted to try one of their ocean cruises. Loved the Orion. Beautifully designed public spaces without over the top, trying too hard of some of the other, bigger ships. True casual elegance. All very spacious, comfortable AND at the same time cozy.
We liked this ship much better than the full size ships we have taken. Great space for passenger count. Sometimes felt almost empty. But not at meal times!
Service was great. Except occasionally (again) not at meal times. A couple of "flubs" in main dining room when all passengers hit at once. Overall very good food and wine selection. Our two specialty restaurant meals were lovely. And buffet always a good alternative, fresh and appetizing, sometimes hard to find a seat though.
Disappointed specialty restaurants and excursions so hard to book into beforehand. Because we were "only" DV category, things often sold out before we could book. Very frustrating. If we'd been regular veranda, even worse? Viking needs to adjust capacity or ...?
Staff really did work hard to please. Pleasant, personable, and efficient.
Appreciated enrichment and port talks before excursions. Learned lots. Some excursions were great. A few could be improved. I'd suggest more time AT points of interest, once bus gets you there. And info in description about travel/visit time ratio, (not everyone thinks to research maps.Google when selecting).
Entertainment varied. Local dance group fantastic, musicians very good, some onboard singers excellent, others OK. But TURN DOWN the volume please!! Mics or control room? cranked up to excruciating levels sometimes.
Didn't use spa but fitness suite exceeded expectations. Nice to keep up routines and offset some of those calories.
Planetarium didn't do it for me. over hyped, with awkward viewing angle.
And see more under cabin review about my "big" gripe: no pressure balance in shower.
Cabin Review
Decent size -- with very comfortable bed and linens -- and IMPECABLY serviced daily by Josephine. Loved the veranda, although didn't use it as often as anticipated. (Too many other nice places onboard.)
Best soundproofing on any of the 5 cruises we've been on. And I had worried its proximity to elevator would be noisy, but no problem.
Small complaint...half-of-closet access is awkward due to encroaching nightstand. And a bit more drawer space would be better. Neither a deal breaker though.
Bigger complaint!...bathroom looked great, lots of function in small but well designed space. BUT shower door leaked water into floor, potential slip hazard for older or infirm passengers,
And NO PRESSURE BALANCE on shower valve! Two weeks of hot/cold/hotter/cold/warm etc
showers left me really longing for our unit in our en-suite at home. A really DISAPPOINTING oversight in an otherwise lovely bathroom.