VIKING OCEAN CRUISES - WORTH IT? HONEST REVIEW
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- Опубліковано 8 чер 2024
- Thinking of booking a Viking Ocean Cruise? As a repeat Viking cruiser, I am counting down the pros and cons of booking this cruise.
The Viking Ocean Cruise includes an all-inclusive experience with all veranda suites on board. Excursions are included at every port with a focus on creating an immersive cultural experience. There are also several surprises when aboard this ship, so stay tuned to find out more.
More about the Viking Cruise Ships:
www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/...
*This video is NOT Sponsored.
Vlogs from the Viking Cruise:
Kusadasi Turkiye: • WELCOME to KUŞADASI TÜ...
Naples Italy: • WELCOME to NAPLES! TOU...
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The best video about Viking cruises! Lots of useful information and great shots of the ship. state rooms and destinations❤
Glad it was helpful! 🚢🚢🚢🙌
@@RunTheAtlas are all food and drinks included or are the better wines extra?
Your video is spot-on and one of the best I’ve seen! We took our 1st Viking Ocean Cruise to Norway and Iceland in 2022 (13 days). The ship was stunning, the service so accommodating, the cabin roomier and more comfortable than other cruise ships we’ve been on, the food absolutely delicious, and while it doesn’t have the “entertainment” you’ll find on other cruise lines, we were very happy with the evening show and the piano player, guitarist, and violinist were wonderful! We took advantage of some of the “included” excursions and they were quite nice. If you’re back from an afternoon excursion early enough, “Tea Time” is very nice! Our 2022 trip was truly enjoyable. We are now leaving for the 13 Day Viking Mediterranean Cruise in October. I just am baffled that you state you paid $2,899 per person? We paid $7,200 per person for our 2022 cruise and $10,547 per person for our upcoming cruise. Did your cost include airfare? And how many days was your cruise?
There is another UA-camr that has done over 100 cruises all over the world. He has been to Greece many times. He did a Viking Ocean to Greece in the last 2 years and said he learned more about Greece than all the other cruises he had gone on to Greece combined. He loved the learning aspect. He is a more of a solo cruiser, but well educated. That was the only downside of Viking. Most of the passengers of Viking are very well educated. That is a major positive in my view.
We just completed a Viking cruise from Rome to Barcelona. Your comments are spot on👍 It’s was a wonderful experience and we hence booked a river cruise for next year. The adult only, small ship, all balcony and all inclusive format appealed to us! We have cruised with other fine cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean and Princess, but Viking is more to our liking at this stage of life!
We are doing the Rome to Barcelona with Viking in December. I've been trying to find out train information to get from Rome Airport to downtown Rome, then downtown to the ship for embarkation, to Monte Carlo (this sailing does not stop there) and Barcelona downtown and airport. Any ideas please?
We are going on that same cruise May 1st.
Karenbastin9991 I take it you didn’t book your flight through Viking? When you do, they take care of arranging all your transfers. I hope someone can help you! We’re doing this trip in October.
Thank you. That was a great video. My wife and I are going on the Saturn in about a month. Our first Viking cruise. We are truly excited and looking forward to it. Have a great day!
Glad it was helpful! Enjoy your cruise - it's so exciting to set sail on the ocean!
Thanks for your very informative detailed video!
Great review, I really appreciate this.
The free shore excursion per port is typically under 4 hours, and you have to get back to the ship yourself if you want to explore longer (some people use the tour as transportation only and let the guide know). To see the excursions generally offered, click on the itinerary, then click on the specific day, looking closely for the one marked included. Details will be available at time of booking, about 100 days before the cruise (best rooms can book sooner).With the overnight stay in Livorno, there is a free tour to Pisa, but no free tour the other day. We are opting to use the train to get to Florence (trenitalia, tickets available 2-4 months in advance) , as the 9 hour Florence on you own only gives about 5 hours to explore Florence and then tour Pisa the second day as we set sail at 8pm tour (independent tour transportation has less free time). Florence tours include one of the top two museums, so I booked independent to hit them both. We are flying into Rome for 3 days on our own, and staying an additional day in Barcelona. I think our cost will be one half what Viking would have charged for add on days, staying in $200 hotel, 1-2 guided tours per day, restaurants, using metro, train and a couple of taxis. The convenience of not having to plan is not cheap! Tours are pre-paid at booking and may be refundable as ship credit. Final cruise payment is due 1 month after booking, while other cruise lines allow more time to pay. While it is refundable, your money is tied up. Many times the specials offered are for specific cruises, what we booked didn't have as good an offer. I am still looking forward to our cruise, but am learning to read the fine print. I think we are only using two of the five free tours. For the cost of the cruise, I don't want to be limited to 3 hours in port and am willing to to pay more.
Best video about Viking Cruises! The Eagle excursion with Seafood Boil and walk was an highly recommended excursion on the Princess Alaskan cruise 2022, but extra.
Great video. Thank you for posting :)
Glad you enjoyed it!!
Thank you.
We just got back from The Rhine Viking trip & loved it. U can do the excursions or go on ur own, eat wherever u want, as long as the ship is in port. Pay attention to the time u must be back on board! But u can dive deeper into the culture, if ur that kind of more experienced unafraid traveler! The more u travel with Viking, the more perks u get (discounts on ur choice of wine upgrades, room upgrades, if available, etc.). The only way to go! It is getting younger. We r active tourists in early 12:33 60’s & noted many family groups! Already have trips planned for the next 2 years with Viking. We have traveled with families & found it affordable for all. It is expensive for singles, though. There’s other cruises for 18 & over that’s more affordable for singles, like Virgin.
Great observations! We took the Romantic Danube River cruise one year and it was great. I’ve always wanted to do the Rhine - how did you like that one?
Excellent review. We did the Midnight Sun cruise last fall and the Christmas Markets River Cruise in December. Fabulous! Headed to southern France river cruise soon.
Glad you enjoyed it! The Christmas Markets River Cruise has been in my bucket list for years!
I`m watching a documentary about Christianity currently & making use of your cruise videos. On your day in Ephesus you may have stood in some exact spots where the Apostle Paul stood 2000 years ago during his missionary journeys. On a personal note I think its amazing to have a video of your trip there (& other creators) so easy to view. In years past the Aegean basin area seemed like a far off land which I could only read about because I`m just a small town kind of person. Travel Possibilities are exciting.
Viking actually has one of the best itineraries if you’re interested in Paul (and John). The Greek Odyssey cruise goes to Thessaloniki which is rare, and there’s an optional excursion to Corinth, as well as the port of call near Ephesus. And a couple other Islands Paul went, I think.
We did Barcelona to Venice on Viking, wonderful cruise, best staff on the water. We've also done river cruises with them and in a few weeks we are headed out on the "Search for the Northern Lights" cruise to the northern tip of Norway. We did 6 cruises with other cruise lines (Carnival, Holland America, Norwegian, and Celebrity) but after trying Viking we will probably never be going back. Just love the low key and all inclusive nature of Viking.
Going on the Barcelona to Venice 13-day Mediterranean Odyssey trip in Sept/Oct. Would you recommend any specific paid excursions that you felt were worth it vs the free included excursions? Thx
@@kevinmchugh870 I'm sure the offered excursion have changed some since our cruise, but some of the non-included excursions we enjoyed were: Montserrat tour of monastery of the Black Madonna, Boat tour of Calanques near Marseilles, Tour of Da Vinci museum (I loved it, wife was bored), Dinner tour of Colosseum and Imperial Forum, Tour of Herculaneum (I think my wife would have preferred Pompeii), Wine and Oysters in Dubrovnik (our favorite of the cruise), and a tour of Krka falls in Split.
Enjoy your trip...I'm sure you can't go wrong with anything you choose.
It depends on the itinerary you're doing with Viking as it pertains to how long you can do stuff in each port. If you're doing a 7-8 day cruise, you may only be in each port for 1 day or half a day. I did a 15 day cruise with Viking this past summer in the Scandinavian region. I did a 2 day pre extension, so I got 4 days in Bergen, Norway but if you flew in the day of, you still could have stayed out late the day you arrived since we didn't leave until the afternoon the next day. We were also in Oslo for 1 1/2 days, so you could do whatever you wanted the first day. The optional excursion we chose for Oslo basically included the included excursion, so we spent most of the first day wandering around the city on our own. If we really wanted to, we could have gotten on a train and went somewhere else in Norway since the ship was staying overnight.
Great video I’m looking into a Viking cruise I’ll let you guys know which one I decide on 👍
We’d love to know which cruise you go with!
Thanks for the review. Most of the ‘cons’ are really about any ocean cruise, regardless of brand. One definitely has a trade off between ease and ability to really dive into a culture when cruising. Sometimes I want to just relax and not have to worry about logistics and sometimes I want to plan my own trip.
That is true! There are a lot of trade offs with cruising in general.
We do both. No matter what tour or cruise we’ve been on, we start or end with a few days to a week on our own. Usually it’s because there’s something I really want to experience in depth. And because we don’t go abroad for less than 2-3 weeks. We live in MT, it’s far to anyplace & we do love that business class air travel, haha. So it’s always a big trip.
I’m a self-organizing traveler - I’ve driven rental cars in several European countries and love to stay in one place for 3 - 5 nights. I also have taken only one cruise - a so-so cruise on one of Royal Caribbean’s smaller boats when my daughter was in elementary school - she loved it, I didn’t. But I am very excited to be cruising with Viking from Athens to Istanbul this spring. My friend and I paid the single supplement to get our own rooms, but we took advantage of a huge sale, which steeply discounted the rooms and gave free airfare. I think Viking just might change my opinion of cruising. I’m very excited! We’re staying in Athens several nights before the cruise and in Istanbul several nights after, so we’ll get a wonderful immersion into those cities, and the other ports of call are places I’d probably only want to spend one day in anyway - except Crete. If I really like it there I could see returning there in a self-organized trip. But I don’t know that I’d take a cruise where a large city is a port of call rather than the embarkation or disembarkation city - it might be too frustrating for me.
That’s so exciting!! Athens and Istanbul are beautiful ports to sail into. Istanbul is particularly stunning in my option. The cruise is definitely more of a hand holding experience than what you’re used to which makes it relaxing! You can still do your own thing if you want when you get to the ports, but the Viking cruise includes their own tours. They are very introductory to the place.
This was so helpful. We are going on our first Viking cruise, doing the same itinerary you describe here. We are a bit worried because for all the pros of uncrowded adult-only experience with very good rooms, the "nanny feel" of having everything planned out and structured, with little opportunity to do a deep dive into culture and restaurants, scares us. We also dislike being looked at when we are traveling as "tourists" and the thought of standing out with a guide with a sign and a big crowd of obvious older Americans, makes me shiver. Oh well, I think we'll have to go in with our eyes open and recognize that we should enjoy this, knowing it might not be the best fit for the way we like to travel. (Also, I *hate* that we chose to have them handle our flights, as we disliked the itinerary very much but weren't allowed to change it.) 'Nuff said that we will hopefully enjoy this, but this may be a one-off for us.
One thing you can do is a trip extension in the beginning or end so you have some time to explore on your own. You also can just do shore excursions on your own dime too if you just want to walk around without their included bus tour.
We will be doing a Viking cruise from Istanbul to Athens and we will have one morning in Istanbul before the included afternoon Bosporus strait cruise excursion. Could you tell me if it is convenience to leave the ship and explore the city (to Blue Mosque) then return to the ship. From other videos, we saw many check points in the port to the actual ship. Thank you for the video and the information!
We completed a Viking cruise like yours in January this year (2024). It was like you said except for Crete and Athens. We were able to temporarily ditch the tour to partake of some authentic Greek food.
Yay I’m glad to hear! We def wanted to ditch the tour to get the real foodie experience. Greek food is amazing
We are taking our first Viking cruise in October.
Took our first last Nov. You won't be disappointed!.
Thank you for your honest opinion. I was getting very interested in Viking cruises but we are indeed foodies and I like to explore so they are not yet what we would really enjoy.
Glad it was helpful! Yes ,if you're a major foodie and love trying local cuisine, it might be best to do a different type of trip. It would be hard to miss the Neapolitan pizza experience in Naples!
@@RunTheAtlas if you do enjoy local cuisine, which cruise would you recommend?
Are the optional tours less crowded? I’m not a huge fan of tours in general, but feel too lazy to plan this time. TBH it doesn’t matter the size of the tour, you’ll look like a tourist if you’re in one. Also, they’re less than half a day, so is there any reason why you can’t spend the rest of the day on your own?
My wife and I went on a Med cruise (Athens -Ephesus-Crete-Sicily-Naples-Rome) last November. We enjoyed the no kids and no casinos (and no sales) part. The excursions were quite good. Super-friendly crew. Morning buffet felt like a cattle car. Generally restaurant food was "fair". One dumb thing they do - they have the "port talk" at 4PM. If you go on an afternoon excursion, you miss it. Why they don't record it and make it available on the TV I don't understand. Room was very comfortable (Jr. Penthouse). Absolutely LOVED Ephesus, and highly recommend going to Taormina if you go to Sicily.
Haha we agree on the morning buffet - it felt chaotic at times. I would try to get there when it opened to avoid the crowd or get room service. We missed most of the port talks as well. It's definitely hard to attend everything you want to see.
Oh yes - Ephesus! Such impressive architecture. I love how the cruise focuses on learning and education about the sites.
I just wanted to share something I found amusing: The UA-cam ads that popped up before/during your video for me were for Viking River Cruises.
I noticed that as well! This video is not sponsored but I suspect Viking bought the “cruise” or “Viking” keywords which are in the title of the vid
Going on theViking Mediterranean cruise in a few weeks. Our first cruise ever. I think we will like it and glad to hear so many good things about it.
Have fun! It's such a memorable travel experience. Which ports are you headed to on your cruise?
@@RunTheAtlas Barcelona, marseille, Monte Carlo, Florence, Rome, Naples, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Split, Venice!
@@betha59 We are going on the same trip in Sept/Oct. Cant wait it will be our first cruise.
I agree with your comments, both good and bad. We make it a rule to find our own local restaurant at least a few times to experience the cuisine, even though that means "wasting" the money for the onboard meal. The onboard meals are great, but they are an interpretation of the regional cuisine, not exactly authentic. Some of our most memorable experiences have been when we skipped the included tour and explored on our own.
As a fan of Viking, I'll add my observations: the thing we like most about Viking, is it's not a party cruise. It's more educational (if you want to participate in that experience, not something you have to do). I tell folks that are considering Viking, that if you like specialty dining, wifi, and the included excursion, then the price difference isn't that great. Also a hint, when you make your reservation, you select a certain number of specialty dining..BUT, the moment you check into your room, go on the TV and make all the reservations you want. We've had experience when booking, the only meal times were very, very late, but the first thing we do when we get to our room, is go on the TV and every reservation we wanted was available. I guess they prebook a small Orton of the meal service and leave the rest for once folks get to the ship. Having been on 3 Viking cruises we often pay for specific excursions to see and do what we want to. The free one/ included one, is usually just a basic tour of the area with a few stops for sightseeing. If you are going to a port and want to experience a specific thing, buy that excursion. For some, the entertainment is not good, but it's okay to us. Usually very basic but good enought to provide an enjoyable evening.
Agree - we weren’t looking for a party cruise as I was traveling with my family. It’s more classy and educational on board.
Great feedback. This will be our very first cruise and wasn't sure if the price of the additional excursions were worth it. We plan to book 5 free and 5 paid excursions. Do you have any tips on when the excursions become available to book? Do these book quickly from your ex[experience?
very informative. I would be traveling solo. I guess I need another cruise line.
Yes - to clarify, you can certainly travel solo with Viking, it just can be pricey and we noticed the rooms are more geared to double occupancy. They do have solo traveler get togethers most nights, like happy hour.
According to their site: On occasion, Viking will make special solo traveler fares available.
@@RunTheAtlas awesome.. thanks
Just booked our fourth Viking Ocean cruise since 2018. One of the best amenities is the free guest laundry. On a recent 13 night cruise I brought only 7 changes of clothes plus what I had on. That made for easy packing. And yes, I'm one of those more interested in the journey than the destination which is why longer cruises with several sea days are so great.
Yes same! I loved having the laundry service, it saves so much space in my suitcase. I just have to bring a couple changes in clothes.
Does the ship move around a lot on the open sea or does the ship's stabilizers smooth things out?
It’s pretty smooth and most of the time we barely noticed we were moving. The most you’ll feel is when entering / exiting ports because it involves some turns. You won’t see stuff shifting around, however you’ll hear the boat vibrating and maneuvering around a bit. The Mediterranean is fairly calm waters overall, but if there’s a storm you can feel it a bit. No one got sea sick on any of our cruises.
Great video. Iam booked for iceland in June. My only other cruise was 35 years ago. Just retired so iam nervous.
Have fun! Once you get in board you’ll feel like you’re home! They even say welcome home when you come back on the ship after the excursions.
Don't be nervous. The only nerve wracking part is getting to the city where you board the ship. Once you get to baggage claim, there will be Viking reps looking for you. That's why they give you red luggage tags, and red Viking stickers. They will look for the red tags/stickers and come find you. The boarding process usually takes less than 20 minutes. Once you're onboard you can tour the ship, or just relax and meet new people. The staff will almost always do everything they can to make your trip as fun and relaxing as possible. I witnessed several staff members in the buffet re-aligning tables so that they were perfectly spaced. If you prefer to have a certain alcoholic beverage or coffee, they will have that memorized in less than a day, as well as having your name memorized.
Looks like Viking will be great if you want evverrrything taken care of. I just came back from Mexico with Holland America, I prefer skipping cruise excursions and doing my own thing heading into a town and checking out the food. So, for Europe I'll probably pass on Viking, though it does look like they provide an amazing service, I wouldn't want my hand held the entire time. Would love the onboard lectures though..
It’s a lot of hand holding. There are some ports where you can just DIY and walk around yourself or use a taxi. It was rare to see someone not take advantage of the included tours though.
Anything special onboard for Christmas?
Christmas movies in the theater, carols and live music, Christmas dinner, complimentary egg nog, everyone working on board wears a Christmas hat. And a Christmas fruit bread was in our room as a gift.
What type of currency do you bring?
I brought dollars and some 💶 euro. Kusadasi took euro since it’s a big tourist cruise port
The cost of your cruise was 2900 pp for how many days?
8 days - www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/western-mediterranean/journey-to-antiquities/index.html
Thank you!@@RunTheAtlas
Their average cruise is normally double that price. They went during Christmas time and not a normal touristy time of year, so the prices for those types of cruises are significantly cheaper.
I was wondering about that. The cost sounded too good to be true! I'm going on my first Viking river cruise this summer and for an 8 day cruise it is considerably more expensive than the price she quoted. We're also looking into a Viking ocean cruise for next year and all prices appeared to be double, However I prefer either spring or early autumn. @@erics607
Funny - your cons, are my pros!
Haha!! Which is your top reason to join the cruise?
Just completed a four-day cruise to Nassau and Bimini. I've never, ever seen so many obese people in my life. Soo much food was wasted by people that needed exercise more than eating. Wasn't a black woman over 20 who wasn't 50 pounds overweight.
Haha my uncle used to call cruises “fat boats” for this reason
PS. My 1st cruise was with NCL Epic. My start SUCKED as they left my luggage out in the rain. They washed it and it shrunk. however the food, the ship & the service were great. I went this year on Carnival Horizon & IT SUCKED SO BAD. NEVER EVER AGAIN. The food was over cooked & dry. It was the same old crappy stuff. I would go NCL any day over carnival.
Viking is the ONLY cruise line that I have EVER beeen servered a day-old leaftover steak from the day before, in the specialty resturant. O.o did I forget to mention the Peking Duck Burrito. ROFLMAO Defently not worth three times the money. I'm not the only one.....
Peking duck burrito?! That’s an interesting one… 🤔 I did notice the creativity of the menu was a little far fetched. The reservation dining had items like elk tartar and rabbit ravioli… (something along those lines) I didn’t want to be on a boat / tour buses the next day after eating experimental cuisine. How did you know the steak was old?
Oh snap! Sorry, all of us boomers messed up your cruise. God forbid you would be standing in the line with a bunch of old people.!!!!!!!
That’s the demographic of this cruise. If it was Contiki it would be 18-35. Every cruise and tour has a diff demographic group. I’m calling it out because if you’re not in that age group, you’ll be one of a few.