Ship Review: Viking Neptune

Trip Report: Athens and a Mediterranean Cruise
Lounge Reviews: The Club CLT and Centurion Lounge Charlotte Airport
Flight Review: Lufthansa A340-600 Charlotte-Munich
Lodging Review: Academias Hotel, Autograph Collection, Athens
Our Time in Athens, Part I (Acropolis and Museum)
Our Time in Athens, Part II (Roman Agora, Hadrian’s Library, Ancient Agora)
Our Time in Athens, Part III (Kerameikos, Temple of Zeus, Panathenaic Stadium)
Our Time in Athens, Part IV (Restaurants and Observations)
Ship Review: Viking Neptune
Our Time in Ancient Olympia (Katakalon, Greece)
Our Time in Corfu, Greece
Our Time in Kotor, Montenegro
Our Time in Dubrovnik, Croatia
Our Time in Zadar, Croatia
Our Time in Venice, Italy
Flight Review: Iberia A330-300 Madrid-Chicago

While this was our fifth cruise with Viking, three of our trips had been on their iconic European longships and the other had been in China on a larger river ship that was basically like the longships, only with more decks. But this would be our first cruise on one of their larger boats. I had done three cruises back in the mid-to-late 2000s on ocean-going vessels. Two of these were quite large boats from Royal Caribbean and Carnival but our Viking ship would be a bit smaller than those. I was curious in the differences between larger boats and versus the longships.

The Viking Neptune only launched in November 2022, so it is still quite a new boat. Shortly before our trip I began looking for reviews and found this extremely helpful one from MJ. While she had a different itinerary (it was actually very similar to the Carnival cruise I took in 2008) I thought she did a great job in a very thorough post. She included all the ports of call in this single post so it’s a long one but worth your time if you want even more detail than I provide and/or want to read about the ports on that trip.

Exterior

The ship is nearly 745 feet long and nearly 94 feet wide and can accommodate 930 passengers on nine decks. Compare that to a longship which is 443 feet long, 37 feet wide and can carry 190 passengers on four decks and you can see it’s a much different experience!

Compared to some of the other cruise ships that were in ports at the same time, our ship looked positively small! As big as our ship seemed, these larger ships could handle 3-4 times as many passengers and we decided that smaller was better.

Another benefit was that we could dock quite close in some ports. In Kotor, Montenegro the bow of our ship was practically hanging over the road!

Common Areas

Deck A

Entry and exit from the ship was on Deck A, the lowest one. The key card for your room served not only as its key but was used to check you in and out from the ship. In some ports you’ll have to go through the country’s security process while on land. When you don’t do that you’ll go through the metal detectors/scanners aboard the Neptune. The only other public area on Deck A is the medical center which we thankfully had no reason to visit.

Deck 1

Deck 1 has a number of common areas and specialty restaurants. The Nordic Spa has a number of rooms for massage therapy, hot & cold tubs and a freezer room, saunas, and an indoor lap pool and hot tub.  Many of my photos were taken on the day we arrived and for many people on our ship this was the beginning of the second week of their cruise. So the gym, pools and hot tubs were in use and it was tough to take photos at the time though I did manage to get photos of some of these areas later.

Also on this level is the Fitness Center which is pretty large. There are three separate rooms: one with weights, ellipticals and stationary bikes, another with treadmills and the third had a pulley machine that could be used in different ways and seemed to be the place for stretching and doing yoga, etc. Beside the Fitness Center is the hair salon and a shop. Note that none of the shops can be open while the ship is in port so if you find something you like be sure to purchase it while the ship is in motion!

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Deck 1 is also the lowest floor of the Atrium which spans three decks. There is a piano here and in the evenings there was musical entertainment in various forms. Sometimes it was a solo piano player, sometimes he was accompanied by a singer and sometimes there was a piano-violin duo. Around the edges of the Atrium was The Living Room where various seating groups were arranged as well as a bar – which always had fresh cookies!

This is also where you can find Guest Services in case you have questions or want to arrange tours.

The business center was located just behind the staircase and had 4-5 computers set up for use.

Though still technically mid-ship (I would assume), the rear portion of Deck 1 is used for some of the ship’s specialty restaurants.  You will need to make reservations for these restaurants.  I do wish they opened before 6 PM.   Unlike some cruise lines, there is no extra charge for these restaurants on Viking. Manfredi’s is the Italian restaurant:

The Chef’s Table offers perfect pairings of food and wine. As reservations here are often in demand, the same pairings will be offered several nights in a row so check the menu to be sure you get a different menu if you want to visit more than once.

The Kitchen Table is essentially an on-board cooking school so you’ll need reservations to participate. We visited Manfredi’s but did not try either the The Chef’s Table or The Kitchen Table.

NOTE 1: while there are no formal nights or captain’s dinners and such, Manfredi’s, The Chef’s Table and The Restaurant do not allow shorts or jeans. I did not see a notice about that anywhere in our trip documentation. While they weren’t any dressier than jeans, I wore some olive hiking pants and hiking boots to these restaurants and wasn’t turned away though we both felt under-dressed. Next time I will bring a pair of twill pants and a pair of regular street shoes!

NOTE 2: None of the restaurants begin serving dinner until 6 PM.  This was a problem on our night in Kotor, Montenegro as we had an evening concert and were supposed to board the buses by 6:20 PM.  We were able to do a hit-and-run at the World Cafe before we left so we didn’t go hungry but it would have been nice to know ahead of time when we selected our tours.  We specifically chose the later tour so we could eat earlier and that came back to bite us.

Deck 2

All the way aft on Deck 2 is The Restaurant, which is the main dining area along with Deck 7’s World Cafe.  I think we had dinner here 3-4 nights, one night at Manfredi’s and the other nights at World Cafe.  The timing of the evening concert in Montenegro was such that we only had about 15 minutes to eat before we had to meet for our excursion and the restaurants would have been closed when we returned.  So it seems to me that at least one restaurant (World Cafe would make the most sense) should be opened a little earlier on that one night.  Pro tip: if you want a window seat, go very early as they start seating folks from the windows and work their way to the middle.

We did have breakfast here the first morning, since we did not reach our first port until midday.  If a leisurely breakfast is your thing, this is the place.  But every other day we had breakfast in the World Cafe.

The Atrium continues up the middle portion of the ship with walkways on either side. There are seating areas on each side and tables suitable for your cocktails or playing games or working puzzles. On the port side you’ll find this model of Viking:

Just behind the model is the office where you can make reservations for future cruises. I had already had an idea of which cruise I wanted to do next and with only $25 down and nearly 18 months to pay for a 2025 cruise, we went ahead and signed up while on board.

Also located on this deck is Torshavn, the ship’s bar and lounge. According to the website it is open from 9 PM to midnight. We wouldn’t know as we were always tucked in our room by 9 PM!

All the way forward on this deck is The Theater. It is cleverly designed to be able to handle three separate events at once. Two areas can be sectioned off as movie theaters while the main part has a stage. This is where port talks and lectures were held although you could watch them later on your in-stateroom TV.

There were a couple more stores on this level as well, including the Nordic Shop which had loads of lovely (but expensive!) clothing items as well as souvenirs.

Deck 3

Deck 3 is also open to the atrium in the middle but it’s otherwise given over to staterooms. This is where our stateroom was located. One thing I did love was that on most of the stateroom decks there was a self-serve launderette with four sets of washers & dryers – and they were complementary! Fortunately MJ’s review mentioned this so we took fewer sets of clothes than we would have otherwise. The temperature was warmer than we’d expected so I was glad I was able to wash my shorts and short-sleeved shirts and wasn’t left to swelter in the warmer clothes I’d brought (though they came in handy towards the end of the cruise).

Decks 4-6

These are all passenger staterooms. I believe each deck has its own self-serve launderette which also includes irons and ironing boards.

Deck 7

I think of Deck 7 as the “Fun Deck”. Aft you’ll find the Infinity Pool and Hot Tub along with the Aquavit Terrace. Those who’ve sailed on the longships will be familiar with the Aquavit. It’s an al fresco dining area that can be used when not dining in the main restaurant.  Towels are provided poolside, so no need to bring your own.

The aft third (or so) of the ship is taken up by both the Aquavit Terrace and the World Cafe. The World Cafe is the buffet area and is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are several separate buffet sections: one for appetizers/starters/salads, one for main courses/entrees, and one for desserts and pizzas. Insider tip: the most aft section on the port side has the desserts and ice cream/gelato while the most aft section on the starboard side has the pizza. Obviously for breakfast the sections are different with the most aft section having pastries instead of desserts, etc. Passengers only need to worry about getting their food; staff members will come by and take your drink orders. Wine is complimentary with lunch and dinner.

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Mid-ship is the main pool and another hot tub beneath a retractable roof. The roof was open during much of our time in Greece but as our trip progressed the weather cooled off and the roof closed. There are loads of deck chairs around the pool and a row of loungers on each side facing the windows. We saw plenty of folks enjoying their reading while on these loungers. The deck chairs are in “layers” from the pool with dividing rails between them and the second layer switches from loungers to tables and chairs where you can bring your food from the Pool Grill and be served beverages from the Pool Bar, which are on opposite sides of the ship but still within the larger pool area. Some nights there is entertainment in this area. We walked through one evening where it was 80s Night and the live band was playing and passengers were dancing.

Walking forward from the pool area on either side you’ll pass through a library nook called the Lanai. There are bookshelves and comfortable chairs. There’s also another set of doors to be passed through before you can go even further forward so it means this is a very quiet area.

The Lanai areas bracket Wintergarden, an area that seemed to be used mostly for afternoon tea and maybe some drinks after dinner.

There are a few staterooms along the port side as you go forward on this deck and the owner’s suite is on the starboard side. If you go all the way forward you’ll run into Mamsen’s, named for the Hagen family matriarch (founder Torstein Hagen’s mother), which offers Norwegian specialties. We did not dine here but it’s a lovely area.

At the very front of the ship is the Explorers’ Lounge, a large area that extends over two decks, each with lovely “front window” views. There is also more reading material available here and some nights feature a guitar player/singer. You can step out on the deck to the very front of the ship.

Decks 8 and 9

Deck 8 has more staterooms in the forward part of the ship and the upper deck of the Explorer’s Lounge.

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You can walk by the retractable roof over the pool on this deck as well.

Deck 9, the Sports Deck, has no indoor areas for passengers. There is a small miniature golf area and an outdoor gym and yoga area. We only visited this area one night so I don’t know what else is available up here.

Veranda Stateroom

As with many things in this world, paying a higher price comes with privileges. Though everyone who sails on one of Viking’s ocean ships can begin the boarding process at 11 AM, not all staterooms will be ready at the same time. The higher the stateroom category, the earlier access you get. We chose the most, um, economical stateroom, the Veranda Stateroom so we did not have access to our stateroom until 3 PM. While we could have gone ahead and boarded at 11 AM and had our lunch on board, we were fine with hanging around Athens for a few more hours. Of course if we’d just flown in that day we would have gone straight to the ship, regardless of the time we could access our stateroom.

The Veranda staterooms are all located on Deck 3 with the cheaper V2 staterooms all the way aft and the V1 staterooms all the way forward. The staterooms are the same, only their location within the ship – and their price – are different. Personally, I prefer being on a lower deck and mid-ship to aft as the ship feels more stable.

There are no inside passenger staterooms with Viking. All staterooms have a balcony, or as Viking calls it, a veranda. It’s not large but it’s perfectly fine for two people to sit outside and watch the world go by. The partitions between stateroom verandas are sturdy but it’s easy enough to talk with your neighbors if you’re both standing at the rail. During our week-long cruise two days were devoted to cleaning the outside of the ship (one day for each side) and we noticed the partitions had a swinging panel so it could be turned sideways, allowing crew members to easily pass from one stateroom’s veranda to the next. We were notified the day before the cleaning was to occur so we had time to prepare.

When we cruise on Viking’s European longships, we typically stay on the Main (lowest) deck, below the waterline. The staterooms there are 150 square feet. So by contrast the 270 square foot Veranda Staterooms on the Neptune felt roomy! The room is laid out much like a standard hotel room: a small entry hall with the bathroom on one side before opening up into the rest of the room.  The difference between this layout and the one on the longship is that since the distance between the door and the windows (veranda) is longer on this ship, some of the drawers are actually built into the hallway area while the others are built into the closet. This had been a concern of mine before we boarded because I could not tell that there were drawers anywhere in the room but there turned out to be plenty of storage space.

The closet had plenty of hangers, two bathrobes (one larger, one smaller although we were able to get the smaller one swapped out for another larger one), slippers, and the ubiquitous red Viking umbrella. Although only one was provided in the stateroom, there were always plenty of umbrellas available when exiting the ship.

When we arrived, our bed was set up as a king. I’ve yet to figure out how to make it known ahead of time that we want separate beds, though when we signed up for a 2025 cruise while on board this one, the rep indicated that he would put that info into our reservation. So we’ll see how that works! Once we gained access to our stateroom we still had to wait for our luggage to be delivered. We each kept a carry-on with our electronics and medicine but our big bags had been left at the cruise terminal with Viking staff.

While we were waiting, our housekeeping team stopped by and introduced themselves to us. They were an absolute delight and remembered our names from the very first time. Right away they offered to put a card in the ‘power slot’ in the room, the one you’re supposed to put one of the key cards in so that the power is only on while you’re in the room. While that’s a lovely power-saving sentiment, it’s not very practical in areas that are very warm or very cold. Fortunately our housekeeper saved us from using some random card to keep the power going. The team then offered to split the beds for us before our luggage arrived, so I took the opportunity to explore the ship and take photos while they worked. When I returned they’d split the beds efficiently and moved one night stand from beside the chair to between the two beds.

As a side note about the air conditioning.  It was quite warm during our first few days on the cruise, in the 80sF/upper 20sC, and I never felt like our stateroom got cold.  It certainly never got as cold as our room at the Academias Hotel!  If there had been a top sheet in addition to the duvet, that might have been fine but the duvet was so warm that I woke up hot most of the first few nights.  As the weather cooled off it was better and I never needed the very pretty second blanket that was folded over the bed in the above photo!

Unlike the night stands on the longships, which are simply pieces of furniture, these night stands plug into the walls themselves so that your outlets (US AC outlet, Europe AC outlet, 1 USB-A outlet, 1 USB-C outlet) are still accessible. On the longships, whichever person’s bed is moved for the split will find their outlets in the wall, often right behind their pillow, which can be awkward.

Beyond the beds and against the same wall were two chairs and a coffee table. Across from them was a desk.

On the desk were a pen and a note pad as well as our QuietVox receivers and two sets of earbuds. These receivers are what we take on shore excursions and it’s great that the guide can use their microphone to tell us about what’s around us without us having to be right beside them to hear.  There are more easy-to-access outlets as well.

The top of the desk had what I assume to be a makeup mirror and spots to store makeup and jewelry. Since the only jewelry I wear when I travel is a $12 Wal-mart digital watch and neither of us wear makeup beyond maybe a little mascara, we didn’t have a use for this area.

Where you’d normally find a file drawer on a desk is instead a small pull-out mini-fridge with soft drinks. The first round of the drinks is complementary though you have to pay if you drink more. We were successful in getting everything but Coke Zero replaced with more Coke Zero, which was nice. As a side note, it was interesting that every place we went it seems Coke Light (Diet Coke) had been replaced by Coke Zero in Europe. I still find it hard to get Coke Zero as a fountain drink at restaurants here in the US.

The bathroom was noticeably larger than the one on the longship with some nice extra touches. The toilet and the shower were along the wall of the main corridor.

The shower may actually be a tiny bit smaller than the one on the longship but it’s still a very generous size. I’ve stayed in hotels that had a smaller shower stall! There were also a couple of handles which was nice because I’d forgotten how much more a taller ship moves from side to side as compared to the longships! There was also a tiny shelf? seat? along the back wall of the shower that was wonderful for putting our toiletries and made shaving our legs much easier. The showerhead itself was a hand-held model with an adjustable spray and its holder could be height-adjusted too. Whereas the longships have two smaller doors that meet in the middle to enter/exit the shower, this had a more traditional one-door setup and it did a very good job of keeping the floor dry. There’s also a laundry line in the shower that can be used for hanging wet things like swimsuits. On this particular cruise I wouldn’t necessarily expect clothing to get super-dry from hanging up as this is a humid region but it’s certainly nice for items that are dripping wet.

The sink not only had counter space on either side, but there was a small set of shelves on either end. Plus each side had a drawer. It was so nice to be able to put our toiletry bags in the drawer instead of having to bend down and put it on the shelf under the sink. Two very sturdy cups were included and we used these as toothbrush holders. The trash can was under the sink and extra towels and wash cloths were on the lower shelves under the drawers. The provided 1800-watt hair dryer was stored in one of the drawers.

Toiletries were Viking’s signature Freyja brand, which I find perfectly acceptable.

The back of the door had two hooks. We mostly used these for our bath towels (though those can be swapped out every day if you wish) but on the one day we went to the hot tub we put our bathrobes here when we were done. There was really nowhere to hang wet wash cloths except for the handles in the shower and when I left a cloth there it was always replaced with a fresh one.

Shore Excursions

In the same way that those with more expensive staterooms found their rooms were ready earlier in the day, these same folks also had earlier access to the shore excursions. Those of us in “steerage” weren’t able to select our excursions until August 22, 60 days in advance of the cruise. While we were eventually able to sign up for all the excursions we wanted, we found that we weren’t always able to select our preferred times.

Signing up for Excursions

When there are two people sharing a room and paying separately, only one person at a time can be logged into the reservation. Several weeks before we were allowed to sign up we determined which excursions we wanted but it wasn’t until my roommate logged in that we could see what times were available. So she made her selections for herself, paid for them, and logged out of the reservation. I then logged in and selected the same excursions…except for one. One of the optional excursions now showed as sold out. Fortunately when I came back the next day a few more spots had opened up and I was able to get one of them. When we’d signed up for this cruise in November 2022, our deal was that if we paid for the whole cruise by the end of 2022, we’d get $200 in shipboard credit. So we did that and that money sure came in handy for excursions! While one shore excursion is included in every port, most of those are 2-4 hour jaunts and oftentimes you’ll be in the port for the whole day so it’s nice to have the option of taking another excursion.

Ensuring You’re in a Tour Group with Friends

The assigning of groups to excursions works a bit differently from how the excursions work on the river cruises, simply due to the fact that there are a whole lot more people to consider. Both river and ocean cruises have nightly turn-down service and your copies of the Viking Daily newsletter are left on your bed. On the river cruises your excursion tickets for the next day will also be left and they will have a letter on them (A, B, C, D, etc.). When you disembark the ship for your tour, just look for the tour guide holding a placard on a stick (sometimes called “lollipops” since they’re basically a circle on a stick!) with the corresponding letter. If you are traveling with a group of people, be sure to let the folks at guest services know when you embark and they will put you together in the same group.

On the ship you’ll receive all your excursion tickets when you check in at the cruise terminal, before you ever board the ship. There will usually be multiple offerings of the included tour. Some may be in the morning and some in the afternoon and you’ll note the excursion’s code will end in a letter. The A tour will leave first, followed by B, and these tours may only leave 10 minutes apart but it has to do with ensuring the flow of passengers doesn’t get too congested on the dock.

If you’re traveling with friends you first need to all sign up for the same excursion time. This may mean that those who can sign up earlier need to wait until everyone in the group can sign up. Then, when it’s time for the cruise, it’s crucial you all meet and leave the ship at the same time so that you all get put on the same bus. Unlike river cruises, most of the excursions on this trip departed on buses. With the exception of Kotor, Montenegro, even those billed as walking tours had a bus to get you to the city center.

In the end

I loved the ship. It practically had that “new ship smell” as it was less than a year old and everything was in good repair. The crew was uniformly wonderful, the food was very good and we loved the familiar feelings from the longships brought to a bigger ship. I’d love to do a few more of their ocean cruises like in Scandinavia or the British Isles. I’m also hoping to do their expedition to Antarctica one day but none of these are planned as yet.