Venus rising

Renowned maritime writer Tony Slinn took one of the first trips aboard the brand-new Viking Venus when the UK restarted cruises.

COVID cancelled our Viking Elbe river cruise. But the cruise company wasn’t to be stopped, offering us instead an eight-day UK ‘staycation’ ocean cruise aboard the brand-new Viking Venus. Cruise-starved for 18 months, we leapt at the chance. I’d followed Viking Venus’s construction at the Fincantieri yard from 2017 through to her commissioning.

Fincantieri is responsible for all seven ships currently in Viking’s ocean fleet (another is being built), which are all-balcony, 227 metres long by around 30 metres wide, and accommodate 930 guests in 465 cabins. In terms of today’s cruise behemoths, that classes them as ‘small ships’. That suits us fine.

We also liked the fact that they are adults-only, don’t have a casino, serve stunning food in a variety of restaurants and include

The Viking Venus follows the English coast off Falmouth. Right: Soak up the sun and the views from a lush lounger. Below left: Passing by the ‘Three Graces’ (the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building) on Liverpool’s River Mersey.

WiFi, some shore excursions, gratuities, and wine during meals as part of the deal.

We enjoy our wine, which is why we opted for the Silver Spirits upgrade, which covers cocktails, wine and spirits before and after meals and throughout the ship. We’ve always paid for that in the past, but were surprised to see ocean package wine list prices capped at US$25, the base price for house wines. On Viking river cruises we’ve taken in the past, the cap has been double that and included champagne.

That said, the included wines were not bad, and there was a good choice. But, as we both love fine wine, I did have a discussion with the beverage team about introducing a ‘gold’ package. And who knows, it might happen. / THE SCHEDULE Viking TV presenter and British journalist Anne Diamond was revealed as the ship’s ‘godmother’ at the May 2021 naming ceremony, breaking a bottle of aquavit on the hull by using an ancient Viking broad axe to cut the ribbon holding it in place. A mini cruise for VIP guests followed – we were on the second journey, but the first real cruise.

That was a blessing: rain, wind and grey skies greeted passengers on the mini cruise, while we had mostly blue skies and warm sun. This is Britain, don’t forget.

Diamond obviously liked the ship, because she stayed on for our cruise to give a couple of interesting lectures. She was also the guest of honour at the Viking Explorer Society’s past guest cocktail party, where we learnt we were currently the only fare-paying passengers on any ocean cruise ship in the world.

We sailed from Portsmouth, spent day two at sea and docked in Liverpool; Tresco, in the Isles of Scilly; Falmouth; and Portland. We took the included excursions at all four ports. The final day was spent cruising around the Channel Islands, before returning to Portsmouth.

In Liverpool, we took two-hour ‘Iconic Liverpool’ coach tour with a very knowledgeable guide. It’s a lovely city with a great history, and, of course, we visited Penny Lane, to the tune of the Beatles song that made the street famous.

At Tresco, around 45 kilometres off the Cornish coastline, we were tendered to the island for a visit to the spectacular Abbey Gardens, a lush botanical oasis set in the ruins of a Benedictine abbey.

During our Falmouth visit we took a tour that included the old tin and copper mining district and the site of the recent G7 meeting. Sadly, the picturesque town centre was off-limits to our coach.

No such problem at Portland, a former Royal Navy base, and again a knowledgeable guide brought it to life for us.

/ THE SHIP If you’ve sailed aboard any of Viking’s other ocean vessels, you’ll feel right at home. They’re almost all the same. For us, it was all new and half the size of liners we’d cruised on before. In your cabin, you’ll find information about the works of art that adorn the ship. The spa is impressive: there’s a hydrotherapy pool, thermal loungers, saunas and plunge pools, as well as a Snow Room. No snow on our cruise, though, but the room was very cold.

Captain Johan Malmberg was bang-on in describing Viking Venus as ‘the friendliest ship at sea’. You couldn’t ask for more”

Not so in what became our favourite haunt for a late night post-prandial brandy, the Explorers’ Lounge. The space features a huge water-vapour fireplace, an artificial electric device that uses water mist and LEDs to create a realistic flame illusion.

Shops, a well-equipped gym, a pool section with its own grill for casual lunches and a huge sliding roof (ideal for the unpredictable UK climate) plus a latenight jazz club named Torshavn were also impressive. Up top, Viking Venus features separate sun and sports decks, the latter with bowls, table tennis and more.

As for dining, all passengers had complimentary access to the Chef’s Table restaurant, which I’m told usually incurs an additional charge. We were treated to two excellent five-course meals, themed on British and Norwegian food with paired wines. We also had an Italian meal in Manfredi’s – the bistecca Fiorentina was superb. And if you’re looking for a light lunch, I can recommend Mamsen’s for a Scandinavian open-sandwich buffet with gravlax, shrimp and more. wMost of our meals, though, were in the main restaurant and buffet-style World Café, the latter on deck seven. It opens onto the Aquavit Terrace, with its hot tub and infinity pool.

The Brits on board felt at home at the midships Wintergarden, which serves a quintessentially British afternoon tea of scones with jam and clotted cream. As we learned on our Falmouth trip, in Cornwall it’s jam first, cream on top; the reverse in Devon. The Cornish say it’s because their clotted cream is far superior and deserves to be on top.

Entertainment on our trip consisted of live music from the Viking band, a pianist, a classical trio and a guitarist who set up in various venues. Viking normally offers evening production shows in the Theatre, but not on our cruise. It was, however, the venue for well-attended daytime lectures.

Finally, praise for the crew. The ebullient Captain Johan Malmberg was bang on in describing Viking Venus as “the friendliest ship at sea” in his briefings. You couldn’t ask for more.

/ COVID-19’S IMPACT Viking took its pandemic precautions very seriously. Firstly, you had to prove you’d had both jabs and take a health survey before boarding, the latter proving a problem in our case as Viking’s website locked up. No matter, these were carried out in Portsmouth’s cruise terminal before we boarded.

That was followed by a temperature check and the first of daily NAAT saliva tests (nucleic acid amplification technology), with samples tested at the ship’s lab.

Automated temperature checks via infrared cameras equipped with facial recognition technology and hand sanitation stations were in place around the ship, especially in the restaurants. The staff, while charming, made sure these hand sanitation stations were used.

Wearing masks was compulsory in all public areas other than on open-air decks and when you were eating or drinking. We also had to wear a contact-tracing dongle throughout the cruise, including on shore excursions.

Viking limited passenger numbers to half the ship’s 930 capacity, but only 284 were aboard our cruise, which aided social distancing. Measures such as well-spaced restaurant tables and lifts restricted to two people or a ‘household’ of four also helped.

In the World Café, normally a self-service buffet, staff and all food were behind glass screens and served to you. Again, with so few passengers, no real queues resulted.

These measures extended to shore excursions: you were not allowed off the ship by yourself, only with fellow guests on organised trips. Other than at Tresco, on our complimentary excursions we remained in our coaches with only ten-minute outside breaks. In Liverpool, we didn’t even get those short breaks.

As a result, only one passenger tested positive for COVID-19 and was immediately disembarked. And on

Approaching the historic English town of Portsmouth.

Left, from top: a Deluxe Veranda cabin; waffles at the Norwegianthemed Mamsen’s dining venue; enjoying the view from the infinity pool. Clockwise from right: the light-filled Explorer’s Lounge; afternoon tea at Wintergarden; the well appointed spa.

THE VERDICT

HIGHS: Superb staff, excellent food, beautiful ship, attention to detail evident everywhere, top-level organisation of boarding, excursions and disembarkation. LOWS: High-priced optional excursions. Dumbed down Silver Spirits beverage package compared to Viking river cruises. Lack of evening theatre shows. Cramped and crowded private tenders at Tresco. vikingcruises.com.au

final disembarkation, the rest of us were given negative NAAT test certificates, though these were not required by the authorities for British residents.

/ CABINS All have balconies and Viking Venus has options for every budget. Even basic cabins are spacious, have huge beds, benefit from minimalist Scandinavian design, have plenty of wardrobe and cupboard space, multiple USB and power outlets, heated bathroom floors, free WiFi, and 42-inch flat-screen interactive TVs with complimentary movies on demand.

We travelled in a Deluxe Veranda cabin on deck five. Veranda and Deluxe Veranda cabins are both 25 square metres. The deluxe version gives you a few extras, such as one guaranteed priority reservation at the speciality restaurants 60 days prior to departure, priority booking of spa treatments 60 days prior to departure, and a coffee brewer.

Penthouse Veranda rooms are slightly larger, at 31 square metres. Then there’s the Penthouse Junior Suite and Explorer Suites, which range from 70 to 108 square metres and have varying layouts depending on where they are on the ship.

And the Owner’s Suite, on deck seven, has a private library, a boardroom seating 12, and wine and music collections curated by Viking chairman Torstein Hagen.