Viking Sea Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Great bucket list cruise. Very port intensive so was also very tiring but we enjoyed it greatly. Gives you just a taste of each country so you can decide if you want to go back anywhere to spend more time in the future.

Evert hing about our cruise was top notch except for the food, in our opinion overall it was just slightly above average.

Overall, having been Holland America customers, we thought this would be a step up. In fact, it was a bit disappointing. Viking really needs to be more helpful with air arrangements and allow more flexibility. Dining room service should have been much better, and food should have been better prepared. Very nice, clean ship with friendly staff and excellent entertainment. Cabin service was superb.

Viking is a class operation but some areas need to be fixed. I.e wait staff

A Viking cruise is a great experience. Only area that is not up to Viking standards are their shore excursions. Included tours of islands were repetitive and buses and tour guides ranged from excellent to poor. Had 1 great paid tour and one paid tour were they had to refund 50% due to a horrible bus and driver.

Great cruise, crew and staff were outstanding. The ship is smaller and very easy to get around on

Going here in November it is still part of the rainy season and we did have rain everyday. Most of the time it was just a couple of hours. Which caused it to be really humid. So even though it was 70 degrees it felt much warmer. It was good to see the officers of the ship around the ship and helping out. Most of the other cruises you only see them at the Captains party, or just eating. The food supervisors also assisted in the buffet area. The crew took great care of the passengers.

Overall a OK cruise, had higher expectations since Viking markets themselves as a high end cruise experience. I thought it was an average experience. The ship also needs a new horn. Sounds like it has laryngitis. We all had a good laugh we it was blow. All other ships in the harbor had real horns!

We were actually shocked at the number of non ambulatory passengers. All of the included tours were slowed down as usually there were two of these passengers per bus. We were not expecting that at all. It would be better if they had these passengers step aside as they unloaded the buses. Many of the non-ambulatory passengers had to climb stairs to get on and off the ship. That could take a long time. There was no option of getting off on a lower deck, so I actually felt badly for these passengers, who struggled to get up and down the stairs.

This was our first Viking experience but it won't be our last!

very relaxing cruise and perfect weather and crew.

We sailed on Viking Sea 12 months prior to this cruise. We were happy to see that, generally, the quality of staff had improved and there was a significant improvement in the excursions.

Excellent cruise! This was our #12 cruise and the first Viking ocean cruise. We plan on cruising on Viking again soon. We especially liked the fact that no one was constantly trying to sell us something. Also all wine, beer and soft drinks were included at both lunch and dinner. Cold bottled water was provided at the beginning of every excursion and occasionally they had wine for us upon our return to the ship.

Viking Ocean Sea Jewels of the Southern Mediterranean mini review I just disembarked the Viking Sea. The ship is lovely and offers great amenities throughout the ship as well as in the cabin. Being a techie, I loved using the free WiFi Web Access throughout the cruise as well as being able to access my personalized daily calendar which listed my booked excursions and restaurant reservations on my phone, tablet or cabin tv. In the cabin, I had plenty of power outlets as well as usb plugs just above the bedside tables. Each headboard also has a built in swivel reading light making it easy to read in bed without disturbing your partner. The spa and gym were well equipped and open most of the time . A nice amenity in the spa was having an ample supply of robes, towels, even comfortable plastic sandals to wear in the spa or up at the pools. It eliminated the need to use the robes in your cabin and to get them wet unnecessarily. The mid ship salt water pool was open all the time which was nice. The temperature was set about 81degrees F. The aft infinity pool was out of commission and I never found out why. The ship has the look and feel of a fine five star hotel rather than a cruise ship. The public areas and the spa on Decks 1 and 2 are beautiful but somewhat enclosed so it's easy to forget you are on a ship. The staff go out of their way to be cheerful and helpful although I found the service in all the dining rooms a bit uneven at times, depending on the waiter. Several times during the week we our entree didn't arrive for 15-25 minutes after our salad. I don't know if the delay is caused by the kitchen backup or something else. I suspect Viking will work it out with time. Viking promotes having women serving people in the dinnertime which is nice to see after so many male dominated cruise lines. My favorite space in the entire ship is the Explorer Lounge on Deck 7 forward. It is simply stunning and a great place to read, get a snack and watch the world go by. There is ready access to the outside as well if you want to venture out for photos or to get a broader view. The the World Cafe is nicely designed and the food was just as good or better than the dining rooms. The only problem we encountered was on days when there were many excursions returning to the ship at the same time, or excursions leaving around the same time. Then it was really crowded and not especially pleasant. I'm sure Viking can work this problem out over time by staggering their tours better. The singers and dancers performed in the theater which has a state of the art sound and lighting system, including the latest in LED screen technology. The shows were not always successful in showcasing the talented singers and dancers, a couple of show themes kissed the mark. But the Abba song show was a huge crowd pleaser as well as a perfect way to showcase their singers. The two classically trained dancers could have been used more effectively and more often. For those who enjoy non alcoholic beverages, they have the best selection of choices of any cruise line I've been on, including, non alcoholic beer, wines and even champagne. EMBARKATION and disemarkation was the smoothest of any cruise line I've been on too. They break up the departures for example in 15 minute intervals so that there isn't that giant crush of people looking for their luggage at the same time. Bags are tagged and organized ashore according to each group of 25. Very nice. Our cabin attendant did a great job, although I hardly saw him and couldn't get him to understand my desire to keep the beaker of fresh water provided in the cabin each day in the bathroom where I used it. I was so busy with extra excursions that I didn't spend much time aboard during the day. One disappointment on our itinerary was that in two ports we couldn't take advantage of the included tours because the optional paid cruises we took returned to the shop 15 minutes after the free tour departed. I would have expected Viking to work this out and to make accommodation. The Excursion desk people said they could not. Overall, I am very impressed with Viking Ocean. Their ships have much to offer above others in the small ship market. The staff are a wonderful United Nations, especially of Eastern Europeans etc. And having women servers was nice to see. Our cruise director was a very talented Mezzo soprano who at times was a bit too overbearing/ dictatorial and somewhat condescending to passengers for my taste, but she softened and grew on me as the cruise progressed. She went out of her way to give credit to the entire staff the lady night and made the passengers feel appreciated. One big advantage Viking has over other American based cruise lines is that Viking goes to more places off the beaten track like Algiers, Vallencia and Tunisia, Egypt and Istanbul that I want to continue to visit. They are a little pricy but I hope they can offer sales that will enable me to use them more often. We used their air offering both going and coming. The pricing was unbeatable given our itinerary arriving and departing from different ports.

We picked this cruise because of the unusual ports like Tunis and Algiers - true , we had to be on escorted bus tours in Algiers - but not many Americans are willing to take taxis or go on private excursions in those countries of north  Africa . In the other ports, we hired our own private tour guides so we didn't have to go on the bus tours provided by the ship . The Viking Sea is a beautiful vessel - spotlessly clean. Very helpful staff. Shows were nice enough - outdoor Beatle  show was fun .

I'd the tour was run very efficiently and am surprised at some negative comments . I think those were due to bad weather the week before we sailed - you have to be lucky with that - no fault of the cruise line - we'd take another cruise any time Viking has some unusual ports of call . 

Had an amazing time. We're not particularly interested in mega ships with dodgems and the like, for us it's about the destinations, but obviously each to their own. Food, room and service were excellent. Given it was January the weather was changeable and affected our trip to Rome. However, Viking coped with this by changing the excursions and meal times to accommodate, and within 30 mins of docking in port had everyone on coaches. Would I travel with Viking again? Absolutely!

Maybe the nicest ship we have been on. Beautifully appointed, lots of blonde wood and Scandinavian furniture. The food was hit and miss. Ate at Manfreddi's twice and had to send three of four entrees back- overcooked, undercooked, not not fresh fishy. Maitre'd didn't seem to care much.

Chef's Table much better experience. Loved the premium wine pairing with courses.

Free Wi-Fi was great the entire trip!

Had premium beverage package. Viking recently decided to exclude French Champagne from allowed drinks, even through it priced within the limit for " any wine or drink" up to $15.

Lots of less sophisticated first-time cruisers, the kind that don't wash their hands leaving the public washroom on a ship!

Eight of us who met on a Viking River cruise decided to do it again.  The ship was splendid, the crew first rate and the food good. so why never again.  Most of us book predicated on the ports of call and the ship et.al. a means to see these places.  For openers the itinerary was changed shortly before departure so "visiting Norway" consisted on arriving in Bergen and 8AM and being bused to the airport for the flight home.  Viking has never reviewed any of the trips and some were absolutely horrible.  We complained and thereafter a crew member attended but for them the first time as well.  The excursions were not well planned and many times did not allow us to visit the city whose port at which we arrived.  River trips allow you to arrive in most cities whereas ocean trips often necessitate long bussing.  This trip based on the excursions and how many were misdescribed was horrible and we're done with Viking, very done!  Having to take water taxis was another issue, sometimes a bit dangerous to which a gash in my head will attest.  If you traveling only to be aboard a ship, Viking is the answer.

Amazon was great. Loved piranha fishing. Saw great wildlife. Isle du Salut was very cool. Lucky we got to go!

A classy experience. Not for foodies, high quality.