After over 30 very enjoyable cruises aboard Princess ships we were invited by friends to join them on the Viking Star this past Feb. 21 out of Barcelona. I don't plan an exhaustive review or comparison between lines, but just some major points of observation in no particular order with a "winner" in the category determined.. We were in a DV4 cabin on deck 5.
Passenger load: Personal choice but we prefer smaller ships vs larger 3,000+ passenger loads. The Viking ships are set at 900 pax.
Cabin: Hard to compare because of different categories and we haven't sailed the newer Princess ships. However, the Viking mattresses were superior.
Bathroom: Viking. Large shower, room can accommodate 2, doesn't steam up, and the heated floor is great.
Passenger Services Desk: Viking by a smidgeon.Smaller passenger load allows for better individual service. No real desk, but friendly reps seated at tables with a computer. No real lines either.
Shore Excursion Desk: Hard to strictly compare, but again Viking by a nose. I was missing a pair of tickets discovered just at the meeting time and they printed them out on the spot, no questions asked.
Staff responsiveness: A subjective comparison for sure. I did write a note with a suggested area for improvement and received immediate feedback by phone from the dining room head and head of ship services. I was impressed at the speed and personal call. Viking wins here.
Food: Viking, no contest. however to be fair, the per diem cost of the viking cruise was significantly higher than Princess, so they have more to work with.
On board ambiance: Again hard to make a fair comparison because of the cruise fare. Viking has no photo department and no casino. Much of what princess pesters you for by way of extras (beer, wine, coffee etc) is included with Viking. however, Viking wins my preference because i am not asked continually to pay for these items. It is a personal preference, but IMHO worth the cost. You don't think twice about some things.
Specialty restaurants: Again hard to strictly compare, but my chips here go to Viking. Better food, great service, and no extra up-charge as it's all included. We ate in the Italian restaurant 3 times and twice at the chef's table. The included wines poured were from the port regions we had just visited and were of excellent quality.
Main dining room service: Princess without a doubt. Viking will figure it out, but our experience was the service at breakfast was abysmal. Orders were mixed up, came out piecemeal and waiters were hard to grab for more coffee or such. We tried breakfast twice but it was so disconcerting that it put us in a bad mood at the start of the day and so we used the buffet. Dinner was a little better, but slow.
Informational talks (port talks, enrichment): Princess. While available on demand on the Viking TV, we prefer to see them live. However they were scheduled during the 6-8PM time, when we like to eat dinner and so we never made a one. Of course with every day a port of call, it's operationally hard to schedule them otherwise, but we still prefer the Princess scheduling.
Entertainment: Hard to make a call, but for now I'll go with Princess. The Viking theater is intimate, more of a cabaret style and no glitzy production shows. Like Princess, they use computer graphics for sets and all recorded music (no band). The entertainers seemed less experienced than Princess' singers/dancers. but still put on enjoyable shows. Only one show per night, at 9PM. The theater was never filled.
Laundromat: Being Elite with Princess we enjoy complementary laundry, but the Viking laundromats are free, easy to use and even add their own detergent. Edge here goes to Viking because they're free with supplies.
Spa: While we don't use the spa proper, Viking has a superb salt water pool, sauna, steam room, and amenities. They provide robes, slippers, towels etc., all included with your fare. Very nicely done and the winner here is Viking.
There are probably other things I could compare, but these are my major highlights. We'll continue to sail Princess until they are fully engrossed in the mass market ship sizes with mega passenger loads, but have booked our next two new cruises with Viking. Quality pays...it doesn't cost.