Big disappointment for those of us who were on for 127 days not 40.

Item: Viking Sun
Rating: 3.9
Author: laurengarner

Viking Sun Cruise Review to Transatlantic

laurengarner

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 53

Overall rating:

3.9 out of 5

40 Night British Isles To Eastern Seaboard (London To New York)

Sail date: August 31, 2019

Ship: Viking Sun

Cabin number: PV

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

This cruise was advertised as a 245 or 127 day world cruise. Unfortunately neither sold and only 178 of the 930 passengers were on for the world cruise portion, unbeknow to the world cruisers Viking sold segments to fill the ship. That meant 700+ passengers got on/off the ship every two weeks and Viking entertainers repeated the same shows every two weeks for the 700+ new passengers forgetting about the 178 passengers who had already seen the shows. This happened six times in the 127 day portion of the cruise with an occasional, mediocre entertainer brought on board to supplement Viking's entertainers. Segment passengers did not know they were on a world cruise until after they boarded. We would not have booked this trip if we'd known how many very disrupting segments had been added, Viking should have notified us and given us the opportunity to cancel.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Great business class flight on BA included in fare.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

We were frequently looking for something we liked to eat. Fortunately we had a fallback plan of caesar salad and chicken breast in "The Restaurant".

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

The program kept repeating every two weeks for the entire four month cruise. Most of the day card playing, puzzles and knitting classes were the main activities. This felt like a floating retirement community.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Very few outside acts, mostly it was the ships own band and vocalists performing the same acts, Beatles, ABBA, Ship Happens.....

Children's Programs

No-one under 18 allowed

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Staff is super friendly and efficient.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Design is great, furniture cushions were soiled, faded and showing wear.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Penthouse Veranda cabin is a great size with lots of storage, rug and sofa need a good cleaning. Sofa cushions show wear.

Ship tip

Avoid the speciality restaurant "Chef's Table" they have a set menu and do not allow you to order anything else. It's difficult for a couple who like different foods to find a night where both can enjoy the meal.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

London, England

5 out of 5

Greenwich (London), England

5 out of 5

Dover (London), England

5 out of 5

Cruise English Channel

3 out of 5

Dublin, Ireland

5 out of 5

Holyhead, Wales

5 out of 5

Liverpool, England

5 out of 5

Belfast, Northern Ireland

5 out of 5

Ullapool, Scotland

5 out of 5

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland

5 out of 5

Edinburgh, Scotland

5 out of 5

Invergordon (Inverness & Loch Ness), Scotland

5 out of 5

Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland

5 out of 5

Bergen, Norway

2 out of 5

Rained and this was the day we found out that this world cruise was actually a heavily segmented cruise. 700+ of the 930 passengers got off the ship here and 700+ new passengers got on the ship. This happened every 2 weeks. It was also when the ship started repeating the entertainment for the new passengers, ignoring the world cruisers who had already seen the performances.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Only complaint was how early we had to get off the ship despite and afternoon flight and the airport being only 45 minutes away.

7 Comments

Sogmoore 1 year ago

Sorry to hear the cruise wasn’t what it should have been. Someday we hope to do a world cruise and I hope ours goes better. With this information I will research be for booking. Thanks for sharing

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VikingCruises 4 years ago

Welcome home, laurengarner, and thank you for your constructive post-cruise feedback. Though we are saddened to learn that your global sojourn was not the five-star voyage you had envisioned, we are grateful to receive your comments for further review and are interested in learning more about your overall experience. Accordingly, we have arranged for a member of our Customer Relations team to contact you and address the details of your review. We look forward to connecting and wish you a lovely day.

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Cruiserike0322 4 years ago

Don't think I would like the same shows over and over

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CruzeFan 4 years ago

I doubt they would ever fill a ship for the full world cruise. Most lines sell segments in addition to the full itinerary. I would think most that can afford the cost and time to take a 127 day cruise would be more interested in the ports than the onboard entertainment.

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dmfpenguin 4 years ago

I’m curious about what age group you think can afford a “world cruise,” or afford neglect work or their other obligations for over 127 days. Of course its a floating retirement home.

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jenyfur 4 years ago

How can you be bewildered about getting off? You had 127 days to prepare for getting off, really??

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dragz 4 years ago

Thats a long cruise

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