A little background

The “cruise” industry is extremely diverse. Ships range in size from a few hundred to several thousand passengers. Then you add staff to take care of all those passengers.

 

So, a little about Viking Ocean Cruises.

Viking is considered a “small ship” for ocean going itineraries. Maximum number of passengers is 930 and they have staff of around 550, which is an excellent ratio. All cabins have verandas with a sturdy table and 2 sturdy chairs. Viking designed their ships from the water up to reflect the company’s philosophy and approach to cruising.

All the Viking Ocean ships have the same floor plan and features.

Because of their smaller size, (745 feet in length, beam of 94.5 feet) they can get to destinations that the typical cruise ships cannot.

 

Although the following are not unique to Viking, these features are not typical on the mega ships. 

        The minimum age is 18. (we like that there won't be any little kids aboard) 

        There are no casinos on Viking ships (we aren't gamblers, so think that is a positive). 

        No formal nights (we are pretty laid back people, so are glad we don't have to pack formal wear). 

        Beer, wine and soft drinks are included with lunch and dinner. 

        Even coffee and tea are available throughout the day including specialty coffees, such as lattes. 

        Wifi is included. As with any cruise, wifi can be sketchy at any time depending on locale.

 

There are no set dining times or tables. You can choose from at least six venues (more about this in a future post) for dining plus complimentary 24/7 room service. Two of the restaurants are considered specialty and reservations are recommended, but there is no upcharge. 

There are complimentary laundry facilities (including the laundry soap) with irons and ironing boards on each deck.

 

There are seating areas scattered throughout the ship, so it is easy to find a spot to sit and veg, and there are libraries in several locations that you are free to borrow from.

Entertainment is quite varied, from “Port Talks” to local entertainment, shows, magic, concerts, comedy, etc. On the newer ships, they even have a planetarium. Resident historians are on board for lectures and even maintain an office to visit with passengers privately.

How it all began

In January 2021, in the midst of the Pandemic with everything around us locked down, we got a hankering to travel. Who wouldn't.

We've been fans of Viking Ocean and River Cruise Line since we took our first River Cruise down the Danube at Christmas time 2011. We have since taken 2 Ocean Cruises (the Baltic in 2016 and Bergen, Norway to Barcelona, Spain in 2018) and 1 River Cruise (Moscow to St. Petersburg in 2019).

We started looking around for an adventure and stumbled into a World Cruise. So we contacted our travel agent and got the process started. We paid our deposit and started following the Roll Call on Cruise Critic. The next big hurdle will be when we have to pay the rest of the money in May of 2022.

We chose to start our trip in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The Adventure will commence in late December 2022 when we will fly to Ft. Lauderdale. We hope to do a little exploring around there before we are allowed on the ship on December 22, 2022. The ship we will be sailing on is the Viking Neptune which is currently under construction.

Although there is a published itinerary, we know many things can/will change. 138 days, 28 countries. We head south from Florida, through the Panama Canal, up the west coast of Central America, Mexico, and California. Then on to Hawaii, south to Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, on westward and through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, past Gibraltar and up the west coast of Europe, finishing in London (Greenwich),

But wait, there's more!

We've added another two weeks to our journey by sailing around the British Isles, adding four more countries to the list (Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Norway).

So stay tuned. We'll update this infrequently until December of 2022.