For our anniversary this year we chose to board the Viking Sea, Feb. 17 - 27, 2019  for their "West Indies Explorer" cruise to various Caribbean islands. This shop offers guests almost all-inclusive pricing which includes wi-fi, 24-hour room service, complimentary beer and wine for lunch and dinner, guided tours included at every port, and no extra fees at any of the restaurants. We booked a Deluxe Veranda Stateroom on deck 4, and we were glad we did! We loved sitting on our veranda to watch the passing boats and enjoy both sunrise and sunset.

We invited our sister-in-law Paula to join us, and she in turn invited her friend Claudia. I see Paula fairly often, nut I had not seen Claudia since our last Viking Cruise through France. It was a fun time for "the girls."

Long before our voyage we each reveived a 76 page booklet from Viking, individualized for each of us. These two booklets contained all the information we needed regarding ports, dates, and including personalized pages. We packed these booklets with our important papers. Each booklet had our names on each of the covers, plus booklets from Torstein Hagen, Chairman. (Dear Torstein Hagen, I love you!)

This luxurious 930 guest-room ship is handsome and well decorated. We loved exploring all the nooks and crannies shere we found some amazing jewels (like the Infinity pool.) The ship holds a capacity of 930 passengers and it offers 10 beautiful decks. A ratio of approximately one crew member for every two pasasengers means excellent service! The Viking also offers dry cleaning and laundry services, including pressing (available for a small fee) which may be arranged by your housekeeper. Self-service launderettes including irons and ironing boards are located on decks 3 and 6 and are free, including detergent. The Viking Sea is beautiful and luxurious. The main dining room is spacious and it was never crowded, even when almost completely filled

The staff members don't overlook anything. You will not see a casino or children on board any Viking cruise, but you will find a laundromat where the detergent is included.

It didn't take long to get spoiled when dinner time was near.Fresh white napkins were spread on our laps by attentive staff members (who even remember your name!) And no matter which restaurant we chose for dinner each evening the menu would feature something different as well as specials of the day. Breakfast is the same every day, but there is a huge collection of favorites (including a beautifully delicate Eggs Benedict), omelets, yogurt, cereal, pancakes, waffles, French Toast, mixed fresh berries and much more. Each morning the staff members were prompt in making sure we had our morning coffee and juice (and a "smoothie of the day.")  Both lunch and dinner include beer and wine. The brands change on a daily basis, and the stafff is happy to explain each wine before it is served. Passengers can also order room service (it's complimentary) any hour, any day. Here's a sample of a  menu.

Wally and I are big fans of the Caribbean, so we were llooking forward to visiting a few islands we've not seen before. Unfortunately, the Viking Sea had to cancel out day in Antigua. We all can understand how something like this happend. The ship's Captain, along with employees who who help him run the operations, tried to stay the course and battle winds and rains, hoping to catch a lag in the stormy weather. But it just could not be done, so we headed to St. Martin. (However, my husband and I took a tour of Antigua in 2016, so if you are interested in this Viking cruise, you can view our photos on the link below.

If y'all recall, there was major damage to many of the Caribbean islands in 2017 when they were hit by devastating hurricanes. During Hurricane Maria, the British and US Virgin islands reeled from the impact of Hurricane Irma, on the heels of Maria as they passed through. Dominica to St. Kitts, Puerto Rico, Turks and Caicos. Every affected ares haf to deal with cleabup and emergency operations. The storms of 2017 took at hot on the cruiselines as well as their destinations. One ray of hope was the relatively quick time span of cruise ships bringing thousands of visitors and millions of dollars to areas where many hotels are still shuttered. There was still a lot if visual damage to the islands when we visited in February, 2-19. in the photo below. The Managers along with other personnel at the various islands expressed their thanks for our visit, and in return, we found plenty of fairly priced items to purchase and bring home.

Our big disappointment was not seeing the Pitons while docked in St. Lucia. It was not available on either the standard or optional (fee charged) tour. When I asked the Tour Director she told me it was "too far north." Actually, I did some research which comfirmed my initial thought - it is not too far at all. They must hae other reasons, but I can't figure them out. Having been to St. Lucia twice in the not-far-distant past, the answer of it being"too far" is just wrong. I googled to discover that from Castries (where the ship docked) to the Pitons takes about an hour by bus or car.  The tour bus could have easily done this, just as it did to other island ports of equal distance where we spent the same amount of time getting there! The Pitons are a World Heritage site with 7,190 acres located near the town of Soufrière. In my experience as a traveler (including several experiences at the Pitons) this is THE MOST IMPORTANT SITE NOT TO BE MISSED. But miss it we did, I'm sorry to say.

I hope you will enjoy our photos from the Viking Sea, just below.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me:
Patricia Blackstock 843-215-7338
or: patricia@funbeaches.com
I am also in Facebook. Look for me, Patricia Blackstock in Myrtle Beach, S.C.