Viking Orion Review

Disappointed Overall

Review for Alaska Cruise on Viking Orion
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Oskareppl1
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jun 2019

We booked this cruise directly through Viking in November 2017 - 18 months prior to departure. We were advised at that time we could upgrade flights as soon as flights became available. We duly did this through Viking. They organised the flights on our behalf. Five weeks prior to departure for Seward, Alaska we were contacted by Viking and advised that we would need an earlier flight to get us to Seward on time for the cruise. As we were taking a regional flight they advised that we could depart 24 hrs before the previous arrangements and spend a night and day at Heathrow airport. This was perceived as unacceptable. After much “discussion” we finally agreed to fly out to Alaska one day earlier than Viking had scheduled. Not an encouraging start to our cruise or to showcase their organisational skills.

The cruise overall went well. Orion is a beautiful ship and our Stateroom on Deck 8 was very well appointed and we were looked after vey well by our Personal Stateroom Attendant. We were unfortunately disappointed overall with the standard of evening meals. Food in the Restaurant was as good as that in Manfredi’s but standards at the Chef’sTable were quite poor. Vegetables served were consistently overcooked in all restaurants and requests for veg to be served al dente were ignored. Evening meals were therefore variable. Service in the restaurants tended to be inconsistent and erratic. Requests for a pre meal drink whilst waiting to be joined by fellow travellers at the table took so long that the meal was alrady served before the wine arrived. We bought the premium wine package but standards of wine were no better than the standard package, although aperitifs / after dinner drinks etc were included in this plan. We were led to believe wine would be of a higher standard. We had the opportunity to make three reservations at the Chef’s Table. The one experience was enough - the menu was limited and standards not high enough.

We booked extensive excursions, this being a once in a lifetime experience. Largely they were good but the Viking grading system was yet again inconsistent. Demanding, moderate, easy categorisation for excursions was variable. At Icy Strait Point we went on a “demanding” wilderness hike which compared with a gentle stroll so limited that the excursion leader stopped frequently to expand time taken. On our return we expressed concern with othe guests about our experience as on this occasion no evaluation sheets were dustributed. Viking staff reaction was disappointing. They did not want to know.

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