World Cruise Cruise Reviews

We took 9 segments on the World Cruise 2019. There are few adjectives that could describe the superlative service available at guests fingertips. If something isn’t available guests tell the butler or guest relations and every effort is made to achieve the request.

Cruise was amazing. Had everything I needed on board but the highlights were definitely the places we stopped. Stumbled upon a facebook profile Costaluminosa Date and hooked up with a chef :) Would definitely book costa again. No hiccups. Everything went to plan. Excursions were a bit more expensive booking via costa but I guess its convenient. Sad its over. Next time I'll book a longer tour.

excellent experience. Can’t wait to do it again next

Loved this cruise, loved the ship, crew and all personnel were great. Thought it was a shame the drinks were expensive and an extra cost to do quite a few extra things. Enjoyed planetarium and lectures aboard, also several different type of religious services for those who wanted.

Smooth cruising ... Ship disappointing for a flagship

We will not be booking further voyages with Crystal, for sure.

We have voyaged on the Pacific Princess for almost two months. Our first on this vessel was in November and December 2016. I posted an excellent review back then and this ship still remains one of our favorites. However, since then on this ship, there has been a little improvement here and there and some degradation. Which has resulted in my dropping the previous rating.

The World Cruise is a unique experience. On a small ship for 96 or 111 days you get to know many of your fellow passengers and the ships staff as you visit exotic destinations around the globe. It is fantastic!!!

Positive: Crew of Navigator is extremely helpful, courteous and charming. Chef Michael is a Gem!! He loves fresh fish - his Sushi and Miso seared seabass are a dream! Cruise director Jamie Logan and his assistant/wife are great in a 24/7/5months constant effort to please!!!! Negativ: excursions always cut short if ship late for some reason - shortest city tour was 15 minutes and could have easily swopped with harbour tour, which understandably has its own scheduling. Saying that excursion department on ship totally inflexible due to restraints from head office Miami. Tab water always brown, use bottled water for toothbrush and avoid laundry.

Best company out of the twelve I have used previously

Have never traveled with so many rude and inconsiderate people. I was pushed, shoved, elbowed, jabbed in the back, tripped on purpose three times, yelled at and all by men. A friend of mine had a glass of water thrown in her face by a man. So many were always first on the bus, first off, first on the tender, first off, first row of the theater, first, first, first. Some quarantined for upper respiratory or lower gastro issues refused to stay in their cabins. Beautiful ship, wonderful staff and crew but Viking does not match its competition in terms of free unlimited shore excursions, pre-cruise hotel packages, transfers from hotel/airport to ship, etc. Penthouse Junior Suite is size of most lowest level staterooms on other ships. For a world cruise designated ship there was very little closet space. Port talks held the day before gave inaccurate or misleading information and there was no time to make a change or choose by then. Excursion evaluations were not read. WIFI was "hit or miss", unreliable and soooo slloooowww. Viking Voyage app is non-functional and useless. Every week of so it kept telling me that my cruise had ended and had to delete and re-download which was impossible with the WIFI. Solo travelers were charged inconsistently - some paid double, some 1.5, some 1.75 and some 1.25. Movie choices were limited and mostly second rate. Salt and pepper mills did not function. Free laundry and dry cleaning, mini bar, alcohol, one included shore excursion (mostly a bus tour with a quick drive by), luggage shipping to the ship, visa processing, business class air to and from ship, all gratuities, medical services were included plus shipboard credits. The itinerary was altered to not overnight in Manila in order to get to Shanghai for the ship's christening and we were promised an exquisite evening off the ship but it was a nightmare - food served was like the backwash of a river, the christening ceremony was blocked from our view and was shown on TV monitors, translations were at the same level of sound so neither the Chinese or English could be understood. And, the Chinese would not allow the American crew to come ashore at any Chinese port. The owner of Viking was not allowed to stay overnight on his own ship in Shanghai and was escorted onboard to retrieve his belongings by armed guards.

The Viking Sun is a beautifully designed ship. It is a combination of class and simplicity. Even with 900 plus passengers on board we found few occasions where crowding was a problem. The port selection was very good. Although we had been around the world two years earlier, there were a lot of ports we had not visited. We loved seeing the pyramids, Shanghai, Sydney and Singapore just to mention a few of the ports. The staterooms are well designed however they are small as compared to other ships. If you need a wheelchair, walker or electric scooter, the veranda class staterooms are too small. In my case I had to lift the walker over the bed to get it out to the door. If that won't work out for you, you will have to go up a step or two for adequate room The stateroom storage is adequate for an around the world cruise. I may not bring as many clothes as Dee, however I make up for it in electronic devices. Viking understands that need by supplying a multiplicity of USB ports and 110 outlets throughout the cabin One of the untold benefits to the Viking ship is the heated bathroom floors. In colder weather it is a real boon, not to mention when you are just getting out of the shower The pool areas were great as were the hot tubs. The Infinity pool located aft is a blast. The main pool area is beautiful. There is plenty of space to lay around. One of the positive points of this area is In inclement weather the pool’s roof can be closed and that is a real blessing. The public areas are also beautifully designed. The atrium has great acoustics so you can hear the music even on the third deck of the atrium. This world cruise was unique for Viking. It was their inaugural world cruise as well as one of the first cruises for this ship. Given this, the cruise benefits were more than their usual. All world cruisers received the silver package. This added mixed and speciality drinks to their already standard wine and beer availability. Free laundry was also included for this cruise. I am told that both of these will not be available for free on subsequent world cruises. The staff was outstanding. Like all long cruises the service gets more personal the longer you are on board. In some cases it was like sailing with friends. There was some staff turnover during the cruise however aside from the new faces there was no change in the quality of service. There is little doubt that the better you know and respect the staff the more personal the service. Viking offers free WiFi on their cruises. For todays traveler this is a great benefit. I would love to tell you that it is as good or better than others, however it is not. At least three to four times a day wifi was just not available. As the trip neared its end the WiFi interruptions increased and the service became worse. Free WiFi is an included benefit but this WiFi benefit wasn’t worth even free. The same interrupted service was true with the television. On numerous occasions during the day the signal was just flat unavailable in the rooms. I include the ship board services in this category. Frankly it appears their whole IT system shuts down as everything including port talks, weather, education programs, and even the bow Camera was unavailable. They even went so far as to end 30% of the service 24 hours before the cruises final day. The food is excellent in all their venues. The World Cafe is the buffet venue. Each evening however they have destination type menus on the Aquavit Terrace related to your itinerary. The Restaurant is not only esthetically pleasant, but the food and wine are excellent as well and the staff was outstanding as well. The design of the Restaurant really may not lend itself to meeting friends or new people. The majority of tables were for two, and after a while shared tables were not offered. The specialty restaurants were excellent in variety, preparation, service and are at no additional cost. If you like Italian Manfredi’s is excellent. If you are more adventurous we would suggest the Chef’s Table. Room service was also very good. From the call to delivery it usually takes about 20 minutes to an half hour which is very reasonable. The one negative issue about their food and wine services was that they often ran out of items. It is certainly not a deal killer and may again be because of their unfamiliarity with this type of cruise and supply chain. The excursions were one of the few down sides of this cruise, in short they really need some work. They appeared to be very interesting on their face but on numerous occasions they didn’t live up to the hype. This may well be because they are new in this region of the world and they need to gain more experience. They do however offer one free excursion per port which is nice. Another thing Viking does well are the port talks. They not only introduce you to the next port, they also go over each excursion, what you will see, and the difficulty of the excursion. I would strongly encourage those with walking difficulties to listen to the port talks as what they classify as moderate may fall into the extreme category for you. The enrichment lecturers were excellent as well. There were a great variety of speakers available and their topics were timely and very interesting. Disembarkation however was very poorly handled. We were docked in the Thames River at Greenwich. For Viking it was a great PR move for getting off the ship it was a mess. Starting at about 2:00 AM they started ferrying passengers off the ship. At 8:15 AM it was our turn. Twenty minutes later they had the ferry filled and we started the 5 minute trip to the Greenwich stop. From there it was single file to the steep ramp. The steepness of the ramp caused problems for those with walking issues, in wheel chairs, or walkers with no one there to help. If it hadn’t been for a few kind locals it would have been a real trial for those in need. Once at the top of the ramp you walked into a park. 75% of the bags were sitting in the grass. Had it not been for the porters no one would have known where the bag sections were. The truth of the matter was if it hadn’t been for the porters it would have been a real mess. We have been on many cruises on a number of different cruises lines and in some cases Viking did not favorably compare to other cruise line we have traveled on. Over all Viking has the ability to give you a good ocean cruise experience but it has to do a lot of work to do before it meets it’s stated goals.

Living in Florida, we were able to cruise around the world without taking a single airline flight. Our 113-Day World Cruise on the ms. Amsterdam was awesome. This cruise appealed to us because it visited Africa. Other exciting destinations were the Caribbean, Central America, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Philippians, Hong Hong, Singapore, Thailand, Sri Lanka and several smaller island. All the extra entertainment, themed balls, Gala Dinners and give-aways, special gifts for each segment and higher quality food choices all made this World Cruise a special one for me. We saw so many wonders at exotic ports that I will never forget this voyage or, the guests and crew that I met on board. Here's my cabin description. Our stateroom, cabin #2599 was quite comfortable, bright and close to the mid ship elevators. We prefer being down low, mid-ship for more stability in case of rough seas. Our cabin had plenty of storage space for our belongings and all of our suitcases fitted under our beds. For the most part, the A/C, heating and water pressure worked fine throughout the cruise. Once we did have water intrusion that was corrected immediateThe one thing missing was a small fridge for my husband’s medication that needed refrigeration. He needed to go down often to the Medical Center to retrieve it. It also would have been nice to have a small night light in the bathroom.

Overall cruise is ok if you just want to relax. But unfortunately I was looking for more.....so I was disappointed. Nothing much happening....below my expectations in most aspects.

Loved the spaciousness, brilliant lecturers and wonderful musicians. The other guests were friendly and varied and the crew also friendly and courteous. Will be looking to sail on the QM2 again now that she has had a refit. 

Sun Princess truly lights up the seas, serving up tantalizing cuisine, dazzling live entertainment and new experiences with our Discovery programs. Relax in The Sanctuary, a tranquil haven reserved for adults, or put your feet up at Movies Under the Stars, whatever you decide to do, your time on board will be unforgettable

When we got on board - we ran into people who have been doing this for 15+ years, some every year, some skipping years but it was a crowd that knew each other and many of the staff.  That's the big difference between a short cruise and a Grand World Voyage. Food good, variety sometimes lacking but still, very good. Steaks in Pinnacle as good as any great steakhouse.  Staff - can't say enough about how warm, friendly and helpful they are. They knew our names within the first 2 weeks and we were greeted by name.  I think if I said we would like to do this again in a couple of years that would say it all.

I have just returned from completing 2 sectors of the world cruise on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth.  We boarded in Melbourne, which was a bit of luxury in itself as we usually fly to overseas destinations to board the Cunard cruises.

Seeing parts of Australia was not bad, although I just used the ports to visit friends, however the least impressive part of this leg of the journey was the number of drunken, rude Australians who were on board with us.  (I should add that I am Australian, which is why is was all the more mortifying for us).

Many of the ports were maiden calls for this ship so we were warmly welcomed at various ports, including Newcastle where I was interviewed on ABC breakfast radio (by a dear friend) about the trip. 

The highlight of the trip were the many Asian ports, including Nagasaki and Hiroshima, where supremely professional and moving performances were put on for us by the locals when we were departing.  It was also a bonus to see Rabaul, New Guinea and I was surprised and impressed with the Philippines and South Korea as well.

rWe took the 35-day leg of this around the world trip from Cape Town to Singapore. We decided on Oceania because of the itinerary they offered on this leg of the trip.

The problems we had with Oceania just getting us transportation to Cape Town should have been a hint of what was to come. We wanted to book a 3-day pre-cruise tour through Oceania, and did so; but then they couldn't get us on a flight to get us there in time; really?  So we ended up having to cancel that safari and wind land 3-day event. Disappointed greatly with that.

There were many problems with this cruise, mostly on the ship, but also with some ports. So much to say...

1st:  Regarding the ship - it is an older smaller ship, with a lot of problems. While we were on it, they had (in  addition to a norovirus-like epidemic) a horrible leak of pool chemicals (sulfur hydrochloride, I believe) which forced us out of our cabin for a couple of hours and was awful to breath in. We didn't hear anything definitive from the captain for several hours - some communication would have been advised. After he finally did make an announcement it was never mentioned again. No "we apologize for the inconvenience and have a drink on us" or "can we make that up to you?". Nothing. The woman in the suite 2 doors down from us had to go to the hospital as it caused breathing difficulties for her, even though we were all exposed. It stunk our eyes, chests, throats, noses - etc. We were advised that it wasn't toxic, but when we asked what it was they said they didn't know. (So how do they know it wasn't toxic?) All I can say about that is that it hurt physically throughout our reparatory systems.

2nd:  The cabin next to our suite had a bathroom leak which leaked into our cabin, causing a sopping wet carpet for several days. It still was soaking wet when we disembarked in Singapore at the end of the trip. Again, no apologies for anyone about it.

Next, let's discuss the attitude of the officers and staff.....

1st: We were on one 35-day leg of the 180-day Around the World Trip. It seemed that the ship's officers and crew catered mostly to the "180's" (as we came to refer to them), and couldn't have cared less about there rest of us. For example - the 180's were given unlimited internet which many of them just stayed connected to full-time. That made it nearly impossible for the rest of us to get on the Internet. Extremely frustrating. Also, they charged 95 cents a minute for internet service, and sometimes it took more than 30 minutes just to get connected! What a joke, and how cheesy of them to charge us that kind of $$ when more than half our time on the Internet was just trying to get connected. Super expensive, we spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars "on" the Internet.

Next, the 180's got free laundry. The rest of us had to pay (despite the fact that we were even in a suite). We've never had to pay for laundry on any other cruise line when you book a suite - again they were nickel and dime-ing us. Additionally, at one point during the norovirus outbreak, they closed the laundramat altogether, meaning that the only way to wash clothes was to pay to have that done; really?

The 180's also were given free excursions, even overnight ones - the rest of us paid dearly.  

All in all, we were NOT made to feel like we mattered at all to this company on this cruise. You know the ads (for other cruise lines) that refer to being treated like queens and kings on a cruse? Well, that was so NOT the case on the Oceania Insignia.

Now, let's talk about the ports of call and excursions --

1.  There were several really depressing, dirty ports of call that should not have even

     been on the itinerary - Maputo, Mozambique for example. Really filthy and urine

     smell everywhere. We did a walking tour there, and couldn't wait to get back on the

     ship.

2.  Several of their excursions had questionable guides. Some of them never shut up

     for hours, and on one, when several of us were trying to sleep toward the end of 

     the long tour, the tour guide came around the bus and in a VERY LOUD voice        yelled "NO SLEEPING". (A similar thing happened with another tour guide, too.)  3.  Several tour guides wanted to sing for us (heaven help us), and as if that wasn't

     bad enough, they were insisting that we all sing with them - songs we didn't know &

     in one case, a language none of us spoke.

4.  We went on a total of 5 game park excursions - not once did we see any elephants

     or big cats (lions or cheetahs). That was really disappointing as it will probably be       the only time we will ever have that chance again in our lives. The tour guides said

     it was because by the time the ship docks at the port and we get to the game

     preserves, it's late morning and most of the animals are already resting. Perhaps if

     Oceania wants to offer these excursions, they should plan to get to the dock earlier

     to ensure that their customers actually get to see some game. (Shimba Hills Park      was the most disappointing - we saw VERY little in the way of wildlife.)

Entertainment and casino.....

Entertainment was disappointing - no shows - just 1 or 2 performing artists with the ship's 5-piece back-up bank. We (and most passengers we talked to on the ship) prefer the shows.

Casino - nice staff, but they didn't offer even one Slot Tourmament - while every day at sea a Black Jack Tournament was offered.

Lastly, the food.......

I would have rated this cruise only 1 star but because the food was so wonderfully delicious and beautifully prepared, they got an extra star in the rating. It was very difficult to resist the temptation to overeat. The dining room service was slow (perhaps due to missing staff suffering from the virus that was so prevalent), but the staff was very good and friendly. Standouts were Neil and Anatoli (sp??)

Should also mention that Andy and Tammy were excellent and really took good care of us while on tours and on the ship - not an easy task with so many elderly people on board.

My wife and I love to cruise. This past cruise was our 15th and it was totally enjoyable.  The Insignia isn't the newest or the largest but it is filled with great crew members who are always available to assist you in any way possible.  Our eleven night cruise from London to Barcelona was out of this world.  This was our first cruise on the Insignia but we are hoping it will not be our last.  Our cruise expert went over the top for us, everything he told us about was 100% correct.  We are so very pleased he helped us with our choice.  Thanks Rickie, you are the best!