2023-01-22 20:09:14

A Return to Our Viking First Love Having disembarked the Viking Neptune just a few weeks ago, we were interested to see how our first love - the Viking Venus would compare. We love the Venus because of the special memories we have as it was the first ship we embarked upon after Covid. Coincidentally, both the Neptune and the Venus were new when we first sailed upon them. The itinerary for this short 7 night cruise was Barcelona-Cartagena-Malaga-at sea - Vigo- at sea- Portsmouth- Tilbury. The embarkation process was amongst the best we have ever had, from kerbside to boarding the ship took only a matter of minutes, disembarkation worked really well too. One of the things we love about Viking is that all of the ships are the same, so it’s easy to find your way around. What we love most about Viking, is they are cruise ships in every sense of the word, unlike some of the larger ships which we describe as floating hotel resorts, Viking ships provide the perfect opportunity to experience the true essence of cruising. From the Explorer’s Lounge on the bow, to the outside area on deck two at the stern - these ships provide plenty of uncrowded outside areas. I have to say, Viking Ships are easily our favourite shops amongst the cruiselines we have sailed upon, but then, we love smaller ships, but understand many people enjoy the larger ships. On the Neptune we had a Penthouse Junior Suite, this time on the Venus we had a penthouse Veranda, and to be honest, there wasn’t that much difference - we will probably stick with the Penthouse Veranda in the future although it means less reservations for the two speciality restaurants - The Chef’s Table and Manfredi’s. The other difference being you have to pay for your laundry, but you still get your free alcohol in your stateroom. The cabins are a classic Nordic design with plenty of storage space, though a little cluttered. We love the heated floor in the bathroom. Both the main restaurant and the world cafe buffet are spacious and never seemed crowded, though oddly we never had to queue for the main restaurant on the Neptune but had to on a few occasions on the Venus. There is also a pool bar and grill and Mamsens in the Explorers Lounge for additional dining opportunities. We were disappointed by the food - not the quality, but the lack of variety and repetition. The Lounge areas are mainly open and spacious, but we find Torshavn - one of the main entertainment venues a little cluttered and too dark for our taste. Entertainment on board consists of enrichment lectures, a guitar/vocalist, a classical duo, a pianist and of course a number of shows in the main theatre, all of which are of a standard you would expect from a premium cruise line. In over 60 cruises Paulo the guitarist/vocalist is one of the best we have ever seen - be sure to catch his late shows too. Elmer the cruise director was also top class - and their joint sing-a-longs were great fun. There is a clean,spacious and modern well-equipped gym, with additional space for floor exercising and stretching etc. I’ll say what I always say - we feel the Spa is expensive and it’s not a facility we would use. The main pool and hot tub are under a retractable roof, so you can swim whatever the weather. There is an additional hot tub and small infinity pool on the Aquavit Terrace on Deck 7. Once again we met some nice people on this cruise which always enhances your cruise experience. We had the impression that many of the staff were new and still getting used to their roles. Needless to say, we have the upmost respect for their dedication and hard work. One of the other things we really love about Viking is their brilliant internet which is so reliable and best of all, free. IN SUMMARY We have a theory that the best staff are always deployed on the new ships, which as previously stated, this ship was when we first embarked on her after Covid, and the Neptune hadn’t even been christened when we sailed on her before Christmas. I mention this because the service was exceptional on both of those occasions - sad to say we could not say the same about this cruise. Now before I end this review, there is something I want to address, which, having received feedback from a number of cruise related Facebook groups and other social media, it is abundantly clear that many people were not aware of the importance of ensuring your passport is stamped when leaving the EU/Schengan country, assuming it was stamped upon entry, as ours was when we flew into Barcelona. Two days into this cruise, we went to Guest Relations to ask what the arrangements were to ensure we had proof of our departure from spain ie a passport stamp. Non EU/Schengan citizens are only allowed to spend up to 90 days in any 180 in the member countries, They looked at us like we were crazy and it took several days before we were able to speak to a Senior Officer who finally made the arrangements to ensure that non-EU/Schengan citizens could have their passports stamped before leaving our final Spanish port. Do not assume that the cruise line will automatically take care of this. We are in no doubt that these arrangements would not have been put in place if we had not persistently raised the issue, as was confirmed to us by the lovely General Manager ( thanks to him for his persistence too) and it’s not just a Brit thing. When we raised this across several Facebook sites a helpful American friend who had previously worked in this field for the state department told us that lots of US citizens had encountered problems because they hadn’t realised. Since we raised this we have heard lots of horror stories about problems people have had when trying to re-enter an EU/Schengan country, you can be liable for a heavy fine or even denied entry. So please, to prevent any unnecessary problems, make sure your passports are stamped.