Heidi BucoloViking Cruises offers an array of casual and elegant dining experiences on all of the line’s ocean ships. The all-inclusive nature of the cruise line means that all of the onboard restaurants are included in the cruise fare, including specialty restaurants and room service. Offering menus with regional influences, locally sourced goods, and upscale menu items, Viking Ocean Cruises delivers top-notch dining across its fleet. We’ve just returned from the popular Into the Midnight Sun itinerary and have put together this Viking Ocean Cruises Restaurant Guide complete with menus so you can see what’s available.
Complete list of Viking Ocean Cruises restaurants
- World Cafe
- Mamsen’s
- Pool Grill
- Wintergarden
- Viking Living Room
- Room Service
- The Restaurant
- Chef’s Table
- Manfredi’s
Viking Ocean Cruises Casual Dining and Snacks
When compared to Viking river cruises, Viking’s ocean fleet offers a greater variety of casual dining. In addition to the typical cruise ship buffet, Viking ocean ships feature a Scandinavian deli, a pool grill, afternoon tea in the Wintergarden, and complimentary room service. Included room service is definitely one of the pros of sailing with this premium cruise line vs. more mainstream cruise lines.
World Cafe
The World Cafe is Viking’s buffet-style restaurant located on deck 7 on the line’s ocean ships. The World Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner in an open and casual atmosphere. Breakfast is generally available from 6:30/7 to 10 AM, lunch from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM, and dinner from 6 to 9 PM.
At breakfast, guests can enjoy made-to-order omelets, eggs, breakfast meats, French toast, continental items, fruit, and cereal. At lunch and dinner, there’s a wide array from which to choose. Guests can enjoy a salad bar, pizza, a carving station, an Asian station with rotating selections, sandwiches, made-to-order grill items, and a variety of hot international entrees.
At dinner, there’s also sushi and various seafood selections, in addition to occasional themed nights. For instance, there was Taste of Norway, Surf & Turf, Grilled Lobster, Grilled Fish, and Taste of England nights on our recent Into the Midnight Sun cruise.
Located outside of the World Cafe, the Aquavit Terrace is an al fresco seating area, where the destination is your backdrop while you lounge around the infinity pool or snack on some treats from the buffet.
Mamsen’s
Located in the Explorers’ Lounge on deck 7 forward, Mamsen’s is a Scandinavian deli that serves up breakfast pastries, open-faced sandwiches, soup of the day, and the ever-popular Norwegian waffles. This is the go-to spot for a snack or a light meal while lounging in this comfy venue. Further, this namesake deli features original recipes from Viking founder Torstein Hagen’s mother.
Mamsen’s is generally open from 7:30 to 11 AM for breakfast and 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM for lunch. Snacks are served from 4 to 5 PM and 10 PM to midnight.
Breakfast Menu | Lunch Menu | Snacks Menu
Pool Grill
The Pool Grill is your poolside venue serving up classic favorites like hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries for you to enjoy while lounging by the pool. These items are all cooked to order and are available for lunch or a mid-afternoon snack. There is also a small salad bar and a condiments bar for you to customize your order even further.
The Pool Grill is generally open from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM daily and for snacks from 2:30 to 5 PM.
Wintergarden
Adjacent to the main pool, you can enjoy afternoon tea and snacks at the Wintergarden daily. Kick back, socialize with some new friends, and enjoy treats like finger sandwiches, petite desserts, and scones along with a wide selection of tea. This afternoon treat is accompanied by light music from resident musicians and panoramic views. This is the perfect spot to relax after returning from a day of sightseeing.
Viking Living Room
The main bar and lounge on Viking ocean ships is located in the atrium on deck 1. In addition to serving alcoholic beverages, the Viking Living Room is your go-to for specialty coffee any time of day. This venue also has a small food counter with continental breakfast items in the morning, similar open-faced sandwiches to Mamsen’s in the afternoon, and delicious cookies to go along with your afternoon coffee.
The Living Room is open from around 6 AM to midnight daily.
If you’re looking for other places to grab drinks, Viking ocean ships feature a few other bars too. There’s the Aquavit Bar in the World Cafe, Explorers’ Lounge with great forward-facing views and live music in the evenings, the Pool Bar, and Torshavn which features live music and dancing in the evenings.
Room Service
Viking Cruises offers complimentary room service 24 hours a day on all ocean ships. So, if you want to enjoy breakfast in bed, a private dinner for two on the balcony, or need some late night munchies, you can order room service at no additional costs.
For breakfast, the menu features hot items like omelets, eggs, and pancakes, along with continental pastries. For lunch and dinner, there’s a small selection of salads, soups, sandwiches, and desserts. The menu also features a few entrees including steak & fries, salmon, chicken tenders, and pasta.
Viking Ocean Cruises Restaurants
The Restaurant
The Restaurant is Viking Cruises’ take on the traditional cruise ship main dining room. Located aft on deck 2, this venue offers upscale dining and a menu with regional influences. The menu changes daily with a list of always available classic dishes. The Restaurant has open seating during set times for breakfast and dinner daily and lunch on sea days. Reservations are not required.
For breakfast, The Restaurant is open 8 to 9:30 AM and serves all your morning favorites in a sit-down setting. On select days, The Restaurant is open for lunch from 12 to 1:30 PM with menu items such as salads, soup of the day, a sandwich of the day, the always avaible salmon and Viking burger, and three rotational main courses.
The Restaurant is open nightly for dinner from 6 to 9 PM. The dinner menu features a destination starter, entree, and dessert each evening, in addition to a rotational menu and a list of always available items. Always available entrees consist of Norwegian salmon, beer marinated chicken, and Viking steak. The rotational items included dishes like beef wellington, grilled lobster, cornish hen, roasted turkey dinner, and more.
On all Viking ships, beer, wine, and soft drinks are complimentary at lunch and dinner. Additionally, unlike many mainstream cruise lines, there are no charges for additional entrees and there are no up-charge items on the menu.
Below are The Restaurant menus from our recent 14-day Into the Midnight Sun cruise. The menu rotation and destination highlights will vary based on your itinerary.
The Restaurant Menus:
Lunch Sea Day 1 | Lunch Sea Day 2 | Lunch Sea Day 3 | Lunch Sea Day 4
Night 1 | Night 2 | Night 3 | Night 4 | Night 5 | Night 6 | Night 7 | Night 8 | Night 9 | Night 10 | Night 11 | Night 12 | Night 13 | Night 14
Chef’s Table
While Viking Ocean Cruises doesn’t have specialty restaurants per se, the ships do feature alternative restaurants. The difference is that unlike specialty restaurants on mainstream cruise lines that incur a cover charge, these alternative restaurants on Viking are included in the cruise fare. Reservations are required, and they can be made either pre-cruise (for most stateroom categories) or once onboard the ship.
Located on deck 1 aft, The Chef’s Table features a 5-course tasting menu with influence from various regions of the world along with a wine pairing. The wine pairing is included too, with a more premium pairing option available for those with the Silver Spirits beverage package. The Chef’s Table menu changes every few days, so be sure to inquire about the rotation once onboard the ship. We enjoyed the Mexican and Asian Panorama menus during our recent sailing.
As a pretty picky eater, I assure you that you shouldn’t let the set menu keep you from dining here. The chef will work to accommodate the menu for food allergies and dietary preferences if you let the restaurant know ahead of time.
The Chef’s Table is open for dinner only from 6 to 9 PM nightly.
Below are the menus that were available on our recent Into the Midnight Sun cruise. The order and availability will vary based on your specific itinerary.
Xiang | Great Britain | Lotus | Mexico | Asian Panorama
Manfredi’s Italian Restaurant
Mafredi’s is the highly acclaimed Italian restaurant onboard Viking ocean ships and is also located on deck 1 aft. Guests can dine at this specialty restaurant without any up-charges as well, but again, reservations are highly recommended.
Manfredi’s offers authentic Italian dishes in a warm and inviting setting, including Italian wines, delicious breads, housemade pasta, and entrees from various regions of Italy. This menu remains the same for the duration of the cruise, featuring items like Viking Bistecca, osso buco, chicken parm, a daily pasta special, and more.
The food is delicious; thus, we recommend dining here a few times during your cruise so you can sample various dishes.
Manfredi’s is also open for dinner only from 6 to 9 PM nightly.
Comments
Have you sailed with Viking? Which Viking Ocean Cruises restaurant is your favorite? Drop us an anchor below with your dining reviews from this premium cruise line.
3 comments
Tess
Based on our room category (2 couples my friend and I with our husbands) we can only make our specialty dining reservation the day of sailing. Do you think we’ll be able to even book at Manfredi and Chef’s Table? This is making me nervous. I’d be so disappointed if we can’t even try these places out.
ellen
I am not sure I understand the – set times- for dinner?
Rod
I think they mean the normal times of opening for the dining room. In other words, if it is open you can go when you like and dine with whom you like.