Great ship, but disappointing firm

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 2

Review summary

We chose Viking for our Alaska cruise because of many good reviews. And on its own, the Viking Orion deserves 4.5 stars. Other than a very early room service breakfast delivery (I was still in the shower), the ship and its staff were superb. If we could have transported directly on and off, we would have been thrilled. But the Viking company deserves only 2 stars.

 Our embarkation was a disaster - not because it was delayed (beyond Viking's control), but because of the terrible way Viking handled it. Poor communication about the delay ahead of time (hard to know what to expect), no signage at all on arrival at the Vancouver Cruise Terminal (so we had to schlep our luggage down a flight stairs and wander around before finding a port worker to guide us), a checkin process that ignored the advance ("comfort") boarding pass that we had prepared, a numbered slip of paper for our “boarding group” that was never used, a crowded waiting room (with food and beverages, at least) - once again with no information about the next steps, and a chaotic exit to search for the right elevator to our ship. As one of the staff in that waiting room said, "We're just making this up as we go along." Disembarkation wasn't as bad, but Viking still seemed to be making up the times and transport options as they went along. 

 We did get two nice calls from Guest Services during the cruise, apologizing for such issues and promising that customer service would contact us about our experience. But of course they never called. So unless you have a Star Trek transporter to beam you directly on and off the Orion (or any other Viking ship), you may want to find a company that actually knows how to manage a cruise.

Embarkation

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

Onboard Activities

Entertainment

Service and Staff

Ship Quality

Cabin / Stateroom

Ports of call

Vancouver (Canada Place), British Columbia

Cruise Inside Passage, Alaska

Ketchikan, Alaska

Sitka, Alaska

Juneau, Alaska

Skagway, Alaska

Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska

Cruise Yakutat Bay

Valdez, Alaska

Seward (Anchorage), Alaska

Disembarkation