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P&O Cruises

MV Victoria

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Stephen Moore
# previous cruises: 10+
Date of Trip: June 5, 2000
Itinerary: Scandinavia

Victoria is a ship everyone who loves ocean liners should consider. This cruise took us to Ireland, Iceland and Norway in comfort and style, wonderful places in a wonderful ship. The service and food were first class and our fellow passengers most pleasant travelling companions. I have been fortunate to travel on many ships over the years and Victoria ranks amongst the very finest.

From the moment you step aboard Victoria you realise you are aboard a special ship. No soaring atriums or neon lights but rather acres of real wooden panelling, teak decks, and well decorated but understated public rooms. My favorites were the Starlight Lounge with it's views over the bow from stuffed leather chairs and the ever so tasteful, wood panelled library. The pool area doubles well as the ships indoor/outdoor buffet eating area and at the stern is a well laid out sports deck. The promenade doesn't wrap completely around the ship, which is a pity, but there is a very good open deck below the bridge for watching the view when entering or leaving port. Victoria has lots of little spaces outside the main rooms to sit and is a very comfortable ship.

Food and service were excellent. Menu's were biased to favor British rather than American tastes, which suited this Australian quite well. The ships dining room is a study in understated elegance, with wood panelling, etched glass and well placed mirror, only the recently laid coral patterned carpets adding a jarring note. Table service was very efficient and friendly and cabin service unobtrusive. Bar and drinks service was prompt but nothing special.

Cabins on Victoria range from very comfortable to very large and comfortable, as befits her beginnings as an ocean liner. My cabin was one of the cheaper grades on Coral Deck with a porthole but still had a small sitting area, two generously sized beds and a large bathroom with a real bath. Like most of her cabins, ours was panelled in light oak veneers. Victoria started her life in 1965 as the Swedish America Line flagship Kungsholm, and as completed was considered one of the finest liners of her era. Her original cabins show this. During a refit in 1978 some new cabins were added aft on Riviera Deck and these do not match the standard of the rest of the ship. If considering travel on Victoria avoid these cabins and you can't go wrong.

The cruise staff and entertainment on board were very good. Being a smaller ship of 28,000 tons carrying 700 passengers she doesn't offer the grand shows seen on mega liners but the modest shows were faultlessly performed by a talented group of people with genuine smiles on their faces. In the two weeks there were about 9 major shows, including a Rodgers & Hammerstein night, a Western night and an Abba night. Also on board were a couple of cabaret singers and a comedian. There was never a shortage of quality entertainment to choose from on any night.

The ship visited Dublin, three ports in very scenic Iceland and five further ports along the Norwegian Coast before finishing at Southampton, England. Dublin was pleasant but probably better visited for longer than a day by cruise ship. Iceland was a spectacular land of thermal activity, thundering water falls and many contrasting landscapes. Visiting by cruise ship is an ideal way to see the island. Like Iceland, the Norwegian Coast is also ideally suited to visiting by cruise ship. Victoria stopped at Throndheim, the stunning Geirangerfjord, Eidaflord and the thriving cities of Bergen and Stavanger. For the most part the ship docked right in the centre of town and the walking tours available were excellent ways see the main sights. At some ports we had to use the ships boats to go ashore, which for some elderly passengers was a handful. The ship itself had a small gym, three heated swimming pools, two outdoor and one indoor.(Just like all the old Atlantic liners had.)The Victoria has a small children's room but is not really well suited to youngsters.

Most passengers were British, with a handful of Americans, Canadians, Japanese and my small group of five Australians. On the whole they were most pleasant travelling companions and, if some of them lived a little closer to us, they would most certainly become dinner guests at my home. The average age would have been about 55. About a third of the evenings were casual with the remainder being dress up affairs. I highly recommend this ship.