Viking Line, Bygg nr. XSI488A ved Xiamen Shipyard, Car- & Passenger Ferry "Viking Glory"

 
Seems to operate now well and relatively fast also, f.ex. today afternoon ca. 1 hour with a speed of 22,7/22,8 knots.
For me the "ferry of the year 2022" :)
 
I am every year for some weeks in spring in Sweden and so i made (together with 1 family-member) on a midweek-day end april a 23 hours-mini-cruise Stockholm-Turku-Stockholm with the actually 3rd biggest ferry of the world, the VIKING GLORY. It was a very nice trip on a nice ferry, but there was also a lot of "not optimal points"... for to say it positive... . You can read here my personally impressions:

We arrived in the early afternoon by car in the half-full parking house of Viking Line and bought the tickets (ca. 45,- Euro including 4-bed-inside cabin + 27,- for the lunch-buffet next day) in the Viking Line terminal. First Amorella and Cinderella was departing in the afternoon and in the evening Viking Glory. There was some mostly older people on all ferries, but far away from full... . There is a waiting-area before boarding similar like in an airport, so you can very good see how much people (+cars, campers + trucks) are boarding. It was circa 220 people only and maybe it was ca. 250 more already onboard from Finland. Additionally ca. 40 cars + 2 motorhomes and ca. 25 big trucks.
Just for info: Similar cruise same day to Helsinki with Amorella was be possible for 36,- and with Cinderella to Mariehamn for 22,- only.
At 19:00 the Viking Glory arrived in Stocholm and the boarding via a closed finger-pier-bridge starts at 19:48 and ends just exactly before the timetable, we was going onboard as last people at minute 19:59 and directly behind us the boarding-bridge was deleted for the departure at 20:00. So other ferry-companies can learn here something about to turn and clean (there is a big special cleaning crew onboard circa 19:05-19:45) a XXXL-ferry in 1 hour only.

There is no reception-info desk anymore ! So all people has got her key-cards for the cabins already before check-in and are searching then self her cabin onboard. The cruise-programm is full running because of the finnish cruise-people stays mostly onboard in Stockholm.
The cabins are not bigger than in the 70ies or 80ies, but with TV including swedish and finnish channels, good madrasses, but narrow beds with only 80cm. The weather was cold but sunny so we was on the after sundeck first. It is very nice looking like on real cruise-ships with comfortable chairs and wooden floor-design. But if you go outside direction front/midships there are many stairs and no further possibilities to "hang over the reeling" - everywhere high glass-walls instead. So on the after sun-deck was ca. 20, 30 people often - but all other outside areas was complete empty during the whole trip ! Outside-bars was also closed.

Inside at the front is the A-la-carte-restaurant-bar Kobba/Fyren. Extremly high prices and only every ca. 2nd table with people. The top-room 1 stairs up with full 360° view is always closed as me the staff told. The conference-area beside is free to walk around, conference-bar was closed. The spa area beside is also mostly empty with only 3, 4, 5 people inside depending of the times, costs 26,- Euro for 90 min + 30min shower/change ! Be carefully, mostly 1 or 2 loud playing kids inside – so the Spa is theoretic looking good on pictures – but you can not use it in the practice. Here it would be better with a bigger normal family-pool-area – or an adults-only zone for calm relaxing... - but both together is not working. Is it really making more money with only 4 „rich“ people paying astronomic 26,- than f.ex. 20 happy normal people paying a normal entrance-fee of f.ex. 6,- ??? There is a lot of space lost and unused with the Spa-area, also many massage-rooms there – but normally always empty as me the staff has told.
So also here – a lot of expensive crew is hanging around with nothing to do – instead of a normal-size pool-area with 1 pool-boy only like it is in every big hotel.

The highlight on the ferry is the Vista Room Showlounge in the after-area of the ferry. Here is day and night live music and shows with a stage, dancefloor and 2 big bars at the diagonal-corners. There was alternate 1 big swedish band "The Royal Swedes", 1 finnish band, a very nice and long showact with a percussion-band from Germany including a dancing "Devil-Violinist-girl" with standing ovations from the people and addition/ encore – really a good show 2-times in 23 hours, Bingo-games, DJ-disco, a VIP-stargast on stage, kids-hour etc. . Not optimal: Between the bands, artists etc. was already 15min breaks for changing of the instruments on the stage etc. - many people then was always leaving the Vista Room. So you have always for 30min live-music or show or game and then 15min nothing. From ca. 0:30 to 2:30 it was discomusic with a DJ, but it was much to much light ! Normally in a disco it is nearly dark... . So the fun for the ca. 20 younger dancing people was limited... . The Vista Room was mostly full, no free table - but we had always a good place, sitting there many hours. But i am wondering how is the situation with 1500 or 2000 people onboard, there are 930 cabins + capacity for some hundred day-travellers without cabin ? If we calculate on my cruise 250 finnish + 220 swedish cruisers + some truck-drivers (was also seating there) and some car-travellers there was max. 550 - 600 people onboard this 23 hours cruise only. So if the ferry is not good booked all is fine in the Vista Room - but if the ferry is full this Show-Lounge is much too small !
Why Viking has ordered this Showlounge not much bigger via 2 or 3 floors as on Cinderella f.ex. ? With ca. only 80, 90, 100 people the Vista Room is complete full !!! Seats are very comfortable - but too big ! In Cinderella is space for many hundred people in smaller seats and on 3 floors !

Midships is another stage with a 3-people-band with Saxophon and Piano playing 30 min and 30 min breaks up to 22:00, next day also a single-singer sometimes there. But here only a few people was sitting - it is more a big cafe-bistro-area over 2 floors. The food-prices are extremly high - f.ex. simple "Meat balls with stamped potatos" costs 15,- Euro (!)- in Sweden all over the country in BILTEMA-restaurants only 3,50, in IKEA-restaurants maybe ca. 4,- or 5,- Euro. So the most tables here was empty day and night... . There is the self-service "Food-market-system" with small food-kiosks, f.ex. one is a bakery, another has Sushi or the 3rd has vegan food etc. . I think that this system is completely wrong and ineffiency. Instead a big classic self-service cantin-restaurant-cafeteria like a big university-mensa where you can watch all products behind glas, choose self what you want on your tablet (salad, soup, sandwiches, meat, potatos etc.) and go further then to pay all at the end would be much better. Looks "oldstyle" and not "cool" - but would be much better than to search one special food-kiosk between many other food-kiosks. And would be possible also which less staff. A lot of the food-kiosk-staff are hanging around there one hour after the next and has nothing to do... .

Generally the layout of the public-decks is not optimal - it feels very complicated to go from one area to the next, often you must open strong hard doors, go through a small closed bar with 2 strong doors - where other ferries has long arcades to walk easy around from the front to the end or vice-versa. Many older people walking around like helpless without any orientation - and there is no reception to ask for the way... . Instead of a big arcade-walk-way with big windows to the sea or a pedestrian-zone like in Silja Symphony/Serenade Color Fantasy/Magic there is a narrow dark way inside the ship to walk from behind to the front or vice-versa. This was a big negative surprise especially because Viking has so long experience with cruise-ferries.
PART 2 will follow !
 
We had a cheap meal just before departure and just after arrival in Stockholm-City. So we have booked only the Lunch-buffet (is also cheaper than the evening buffet and during lunch time is less music- and show-action onboard what you can miss then) in the big buffet-restaurant at the front. This was the most chaotic experience... .
We was exactly there 3 min before our booked time (12:30), the entrance-lady give us a table-number and we was searching it through mass of people... . Chaotic and full like on a german christmas-market. Then - not to believe - it was still actually with Covid-19 restrictiones (wear masks f you to the buffet) - there was a table with 6 seats and we should take seat number 5 + 6 - together and directly beside with 4 foreign people ! Also the other tables around was full with mi xed foreign people. So we walked all the way back through the mass of people to the entrance of the buffet-restaurant and i have massive protestet loud and strong that we need our own private table in a calm quiete corner and can not sit with other people on the same table together. Then the lady there give us another 6er table around the corner, very quiete and calm and OK and for us alone. Behind our table was another section without any people and maybe 40 or 50 more free available tables. But why they press all people together with others on 6er tables ?????????? Totally crazy and absolute negative ! So maybe 300 people pressed on the first 60 tables together - and in the last section very behind around the corner all tables stay always free !!! And the most other people accept this to share a table for 1,5 or 2 hours eating together with foreign people, maybe also talking all the time in another language and complete without any privacy. There was 2, 3 other people trying protesting like we have done it - but all the others - eating like students in a 15min break between 2 lessons in the university-mensa-hall... .

But the tables - why are there nearly all tables with 6 seats ??? 97% of the people are travelling with 2 people or alone. Families or mini-groups was really nearly not to find. And furthermore very negative: You must hurry up in the first 20, 30 minutes for to get all the good / better food-things. You have time 90-120min for eating, but after this first 20, 30min only very basic food like potatos and basic meat will be renewed... . So f.ex. Kaviar, exclusive salads, better vegetables like f.ex. Brocoli - be fast or other people will get it only. We have seen this problem directly after seating and then we has taken fast all what we wanted to eat – but it is absolute chaotic and superfull of people, 60, 70 or more people between the stations for the food always at the same time – everybody has panic not to get the wished food etc. . After ca. 40 min nearly nothing is anymore on the buffet... - also desserts, cakes, fruits, ice etc. - all empty, finished or away.
Further negative point: There was 3 scandinavian male waiters waiting in our corner all the time that somebody has finished a part of the meal. Then very fast they started „a race“ who bring our used plates away 1 second after a plate was empty ! So maybe in our part of the restaurant there was 3 waiters for 5 or 6 tables – only for to bring away the used plates – during all the 2 hours !!! So the crew is very uneffiecency placed – at the entrance of the restaurant only 1 lady with many many people waiting normally – and around the corner some waiters has nothing to do all the time... .

So there are 2 ways for to eat onboard in the buffet restaurant:
A) You are happy with sitting for 1-2 hours together on a 6-er table very narrow with 3 or 4 foreign persons and eating basic-food in a loud chaotic full hall similar like in a train-station is what you like – then the Buffet will be OK for you. (There is no space for to collect the better food on the table, so in practice you will eat here normally only the basic food...)
OR B) If you are a big and strong person and with a very loud voice to discuss hardly with the lady at the entrance to get a quiete calm private good table with sea-view around the corner and then furthermore you are fast to take all good high-quality-food between masses of people on the buffet-stations quickly - THEN you will have a very good big quality-meal for (prebooked) 27,- Euro including softdrinks, juice, beer and wine so much as you can want.
If A) and B) both is NOT a good a good choice for you – then go better before the cruise in a supermarket in Stockholm, buy some sandwiches, fruits, drinks etc. and eat and drink it inside your cabin or on the sundeck. Because all other options onboard means extremly high prices for only a few food. And with the saved money you can go in a restaurant in Stocholm before and after the cruise.
Furthermore there is theoretic a space left side of the buffet for another „a la carte Restaurant“ - but this was always closed and the tables there also not in use = more lost unused space !!!
So my urgent advices to Viking Line:
  • 95% of all the 6er tables move out and replacing them with 2er tables.
  • Use of the complete restaurant (including the a la carte tables and the big section behind the right corner) for the buffet. -
  • Fill up again all the food-stations during the complete time, then nobody needs to hurry up, needs to be fast, taking food in panic etc. .
  • Check the waiters there, much too much expensive crew in the buffet-restaurant !
There is a big halfclosed terrace-area midships with the DJ playing playing music next day daytime – but there was never any person, always a very big and complete empty area with a lot of cheap plastic-seats... also in the evening before. So here maybe the best solution would be to rebuilt this area into anything else... .

Then the last hours in the afternoon we was again sitting in the Vista Room Lounge, live-music and shows are continues all the time. There is a nice funny thing with a glass-floor at one side of the Lounge – but because of loud playing of some kids for longtime there all people moved to the other side of the Lounge... . Why the architects has placed this glass-floor here ? In an area which is not allowed after 22:00 for kids ?
Anywhere midships f.ex. nearby the elevators or the kids-playrooms would be much better... .

Many people in maritime forums are always sceptical aganist the quality of ships built in China.
But here on Viking Glory i have really not seen any quality problems, all seems to be good and well processed and to be of a good quality. The problems are in the inside-layout responsible by the european design- and architects, these people has made a number of mistakes and bad-planned things. so in summary the ferry is the 3rd biggest worldwide, but the public-spaces are really small and partly in practice unused and it feels complicated to walk around inside the ferry.

So we arrived in time in Stockholm and it was a really nice 23 hours-cruise on a nice ferry – but some things as written was really not positive... . Also i am wondering how is the situation onboard if the ferry is full with ca. 2000 people (theoretic it could be 2800) if we calculate 930 cabins x 2 persons + 140 one-way-day-cruisers Turku/Aaland-Stocholm without cabin onboard. If it is warm and sunny ca. 40 people find a comfortable seat on the after sun-deck and max. 100 people in the Vista Lounge – but then all the other ca. 1860 people has no good possibility for hanging around the 23 hours... .
And already during our really not good booked cruise with only a few hundred people onboard the Vista Lounge was overloaded during the shows with many standing people already... .

Correction: There is a reception-desk on deck 9 ! But many people and me too has not seen it !
 
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