One of the phrases cruise lines try to stay as far away from as possible is ‘nickel and diming’. It refers to a business model which offers a very attractive price but includes less than we might reasonably anticipate. In other words, it’s often an unpleasant surprise travel companies would rather not dwell on.

It’s that disparity between our perception of what the experience should add up to and the reality of what it actually does that’s the problem really. And that’s just talking price without mention of the experience itself.

All of the above: a simple example of just how quickly we can become immersed in a part of travel that probably won’t matter to us 20 years from now. The experience, however, will matter and be recalled with extremes topping our list of both good and bad. Everything else falls somewhere between the two.

Thoughtful Inclusions

As I write this, I am sitting on a new Viking Longship, launched yesterday in Basel, Switzerland. I like this brand because much of what other cruise lines charge for is included. If I have written that once, I’ve written it a hundred times. Thoughtful? Yes.

Two things happened in the last few years that could very well have driven us away from the world of cruising: I pretty much stopped drinking alcoholic beverages and officially became an ‘old person’ sailing past 60 a while ago. Let’s talk about stopping drinking thing for a moment.

The effect of alcohol either clouded my thoughts or forced temporary happiness where it might not be due. For me. I can’t speak for anyone else nor would I try. Actually, I do not believe I have talked about this topic very much at all here so it’s probably overdue. The only reason I bring it up here is for the way Viking handled what is normally an accepted but unpleasant part of reality on other ships.

For Every Season, There Is A Cruise

Cruise travelers who do not drink are for the most part ignored on most other cruise lines. Wine glasses will be kept full. Water glasses, not so much. I get that; there are no $$$$ signs on my forehead in the alcohol department.

Here, in one of the most astounding displays of caring and thoughtful service I have seen, I asked for juice once and never had to ask for it again. Granted, that’s a memory thing. They remembered. That’s the icing on the cake. The icing on top of the icing is that they have been quite pleasant about it every single time they served me.

At a press conference before the 2019 Viking Longships Naming Ceremony, Viking Chairman Torstein Hagen ran down a list of inclusions in both the river and ocean operations as well as their current status and some of what the future will bring. The numbers are impressive and I’ll come back to those shortly.

Of more importance to me and I hope to you as well; core values of the company.

Beliefs and vision that guide what they do now. Those same beliefs will guide what you might experience sailing with them in the future. Hagen’s closing included thoughts that inspired the creation of Viking, have fueled growth and created a sustainable model that will indeed be what you think it will be.

In the course of doing it right, a profitable company was created. To Hagen, it is a rather simple matter of not putting the cart before the horse. Quality does indeed endure.

We could have stopped right there, called it a day and walked from that press conference armed with all the facts and figures we normally would from such an event on other cruise lines.

Then Hagen dropped the bomb.

Actually, just a little comment as we were getting up to leave. Speaking of all Viking represents he closed with “because when people travel, the world is a better place.”

I have heard this on two and only two cruise lines, this one and Windstar Cruises. That’s not an indirect dig at other cruise lines. They all have value when matched with the right traveler.

It’s the reason I got into this business in the first place and the reason I have embraced it for decades in multiple roles. I think it’s a really good reason to travel with Viking as well.