Cruizin'
By Duane Harris
It all started when my wife Carol said, “You’ve got a big birthday coming up. What do you want to do? A party? Travel”? To the thought of a party I said, “Not only no, but hell no!” So with that option promptly excluded, we then discussed where we wanted to go. Very shortly into that discussion the idea of taking a cruise – something we had not done in 20 years – was broached.
A visit to our travel agent on St. Simons Island resulted in the decision to do the West Indies Explorer aboard the Viking Star. Viking is probably best known for their European River Cruises. They’ve only been in the ocean cruise business for a couple of years and currently have just two ships: the Viking Star and Viking Sea. One of the reasons we opted for the Viking line is the small number of passengers, only 930 on the Viking Star.
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So, on December 7, we departed Jacksonville, Florida at 6:00 a.m. en route to Atlanta, where we boarded our flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. In San Juan, we were met by Viking Star personnel who loaded us and our bags on a bus for the 30-minute trip to our ship and the beginning of our ten-day cruise to eight different ports/islands in the Caribbean.
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Once on board, we found our bag already in our spacious stateroom. We had a deluxe veranda stateroom, and were pleasantly surprised to also discover that the staterooms aboard the Viking Star are twice as large as any we’ve ever experienced on any other cruise ship.
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As on most cruises, passengers have a variety of shore excursions from which to choose. Some shore excursions are included in the cruise package and some may be reserved at additional cost. We did some of each. Rather than bore you with each of our excursions, I’ll only mention the most notable. In Saint Lucia, we opted to take the aerial tram ride through the rainforest. It was breathtakingly beautiful and well worth the extra cost. In Barbados, we toured Harrison’s Cave, a spectacular underground world with stalactites, stalagmites, streams and waterfalls. In Tortola, we planned to make the 40-minute boat crossing to Virgin Gorda and the Baths. Unfortunately, this tour was canceled due to rough seas.
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The best included excursion we took was on Antigua where we saw amazing views of the island and toured Nelson’s Dockyard, named for Admiral Horatio Nelson, who commanded the navy there for three years. Included in this dockyard tour was a rum punch, and I mean to say, it packed a punch! Another interesting included excursion was on Guadeloupe, where we visited Morne-a-l’Eau and its picturesque checkerboard cemetery.
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Aboard the Viking Star, we enjoyed fabulous food and entertainment. The Norwegian Spa was beyond description. And the workout facility was superb. I’m so happy I took advantage of this gym as I only gained four pounds during the 10 days. I worked hard enough to maintain my weight, but the food was just too good! Every afternoon, our cruise director gave a talk about the next day’s’ port and the excursion coordinator told us all about the various opportunities to explore. Every night, the entertainers provided a variety of shows, all of which were wonderful. These performers could all be on Broadway one day!
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We returned to San Juan early in the morning hours ten days after our departure. We had to be out of our staterooms by 8:00 a.m. as another cruise was scheduled to depart on the Viking Star that afternoon. We were bussed to the airport where we, unfortunately, had a four hour wait for our plane. That was probably the only really disappointing part of our trip. The San Juan airport is not the most comfortable airport we’ve ever experienced.
Taking that birthday trip was a terrific choice. Choosing to sail on a smaller ship was even better. One of the best things about taking a cruise on a smaller vessel is the opportunity to meet the other passengers and staff. We met the man who designed the opening and closing ceremonies for the Calgary Winter Olympic Games in 1988. What an amazing story! And we also met several folks with whom we discovered we have friends in common. It really is a small world! And after our experience aboard the Viking Star, we can definitely say that we recommend exploring that world with a cruise!
