Counting down the days until we sail with Viking Cruises aboard new Viking Star on her inaugural Caribbean sailing, we thought you might like to come along.  As the Viking Ocean Cruises empire continues to expand, their version of all things ocean cruising is proving quite popular.  There are a number of reasons for that popularity, now documented with endorsements from respected authorities and multiple awards.  We’re covering all of them on series of Live Event posts that readers can subscribe to for instant notification when a new post goes live.  As that library of interesting information grows, readers will find all of those West Indies Explorer Countdown posts right here as well.

West Indies Explorer Countdown Puts Viking Under A Microscope

Based on the experience of Viking River Cruises and the now time-tested fleet of Viking Longships, Viking’s ocean cruise experience is producing rave reviews following a similarly simple plan: give cruise travelers what they want and mean it. We’re breaking down exactly what that means as we have on previous Live Events with Viking.  Different this time, the experience happens in a part of the world most North American cruise travelers are quite familiar with: The Caribbean.

 

The plan is to examine unique features of the 930-passenger Viking Star, and anticipate how those features will work in the Caribbean.  We’ve seen the Viking way of cruise travel applied in the Mediterranean on Viking Star and sister ship Viking Sea, finding an ever evolving for the better travel option.  Once on board Viking Star, we’ll have a total of 14 days to re-examine those features and see just how well (or not) they do in the Caribbean.

PreCruise Countdown Posts – In Progress

• Coming Up: Viking West Indies Explorer, Epic Invasion
• Viking Cruises Caribbean: Island Connected Dining Like Never Before
• Viking Cruises Caribbean: Panoramic Island Hopping
• Viking Cruises Caribbean: West Indies Explorer Countdown (this post)

Live Day By Day Reports From Viking Star (coming soon)

1. New York City- getting there, transfer to the ship, sightseeing along the way, embarkation
2. At Sea- Exploring the ship and what to do on board
3. At Sea- Dining detailed
4. At Sea- Enterainment available onboard
5. San Juan, Puerto Rico
6. San Juan, Puerto Rico
7. Tortola, British Virgin Islands (Road Town)
8. St. John’s, Antigua
9. St. Lucia (Castries)
10. Bridgetown, Barbados
11. Guadeloupe (Pointe-a-Pitre)
12. St. Kitts (Basseterre)
13. St. Martin (Phillipsburg)
14. St.Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands  (Charlotte Amalie)
15. San Juan, Puerto Rico

Daily Flickr Photo Albums Posted Live From Viking Star (coming soon)

1. New York City
2. At Sea
3. At Sea
4. At Sea
5. San Juan, Puerto Rico
6. San Juan, Puerto Rico
7. Tortola, British Virgin Islands (Road Town)
8. St. John’s, Antigua
9. St. Lucia (Castries)
10. Bridgetown, Barbados
11. Guadeloupe (Pointe-a-Pitre)
12. St. Kitts (Basseterre)
13. St. Martin (Phillipsburg)
14. St.Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands (Charlotte Amalie)
15. San Juan, Puerto Rico

Enjoying the Viking ocean cruise experience in the Baltics or Mediterranean was easy for us to compare; we have sailed in that part of the world before on multiple cruise lines. Still, the bulk of our cruise history is tagged to the Caribbean, from a variety of angles.  We sailed there as a family when the “kids” were in high school.  We returned later as a couple and I’ve done the Caribbean by myself too as a solo traveler.  As a travel agent, I booked a thousands of travelers just like us as well as group cruises ranging from celebrations like high school graduations, weddings, anniversaries and birthdays to neighborhood groups, multi-generational families, business incentives and at-sea training sailings.

This is the part of the world many of us know best and for Viking, the stakes are high.

 

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