Caribbean

I’ve gone back quite a ways on the posts but I don’t see anyPertaining to Caribbean cruises. We are scheduled for December 2019 and the Vikings Sea. Has anyone been on this ship yet? Or done a Caribbean cruise with Viking? Thanks in advance

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We are doing Some Caribbean ports and the Amazon on the Sea in November. Would love to hear what others thought about the Caribbean ports. Take an included tour or just get yourself to a wonderful beach for the day?

this was Viking's ship #2 i think so many people have experienced the wonder of Viking. The ships are VERY similar!!

There were quite a number of roll calls last year during the Caribbean season. Unfortunately due to the Hurricanes several regular ports were required to be changed due to all the damage.

I know the Sea was one of the ships, and i think it was Star the second. Spring sailings were more successful in docking at originally scheduled ports, but there were some changes to excursions offered still at that time due to the damage.

Hopefully some who sailed could chime in here and add their excursion experiences -we are sailing on the same journey as Deec later this year. I have already booked a couple of private tours at Caribbean ports, but still have a few islands to decide on.

I'm not sure what you are trying to find out but comments about any particular area can turn up in the oddest places. I searched "West Indies" and came up with seven pages worth of responses. Other searches you might try include the individual ports of call on your itinerary.

For 2017-18 season, the Sea, Star and Sky wintered in the Caribbean. The Star did the inaugural season in the Caribbean in 2016-17.

Viking Sun ~ Caribbean West Indies Explorer West Indies Explorer Itinerary

Viking sea west indies explorer october 13 cruise

There were quite a number of roll calls last year during the Caribbean season. Unfortunately due to the Hurricanes several regular ports were required to be changed due to all the damage.

I know the Sea was one of the ships, and i think it was Star the second. Spring sailings were more successful in docking at originally scheduled ports, but there were some changes to excursions offered still at that time due to the damage.

Hopefully some who sailed could chime in here and add their excursion experiences -we are sailing on the same journey as Deec later this year. I have already booked a couple of private tours at Caribbean ports, but still have a few islands to decide on.

On their website, Viking Oceans has a category for cruises and one of the titles is America and the Caribbean. If you go there you should be able to find a cruise or two that fit what you are looking for. Going to those cruise Itineraries should eventually get you to day by day of the type of shore excursions that will 'probably' be offered. At least that will give you an idea of what to expect. Don't see what you are looking for there, check out port threads here or Viator for the islands you're looking at and that should give you some insight as to what else might be available.

Thanks Peregrina. I think having feedback on excursions offered is the main thought. For me, it would mostly be for the optional excursions vs DIY or private. Except possibly Trinidad. That might be wise to stay with ship sponsored from what I have read.

Thanks Peregrina. I think having feedback on excursions offered is the main thought. For me, it would mostly be for the optional excursions vs DIY or private. Except possibly Trinidad. That might be wise to stay with ship sponsored from what I have read.

Oooooooo...Trinidad (well Tobago actually). I agree that you should definitely stick with a Viking excursion instead of attempting to plan anything on your own. Aside from the inclusion of a dive, the Viking excursions on the website cover pretty much most of what there is to do on the island.

If you or anyone else has any questions about Tobago please feel free to ask...if I don’t know I will seek out the answers as I’m going to be there fairly regularly for the next 6 months as we are renovating our house there.

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I did New York-Miami 15 days (Trip was called Around the Caribbean Sea) last Oct.27th on the Sky. We missed Bermuda because we hit a storm leaving New York

and window blew up in the gym area and water flooded in, pretty intense! I think we had 3 or 4 sea days in a row at the beginning.

I really enjoyed the Caribbean, ports. We went to St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Curacao, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Aruba.

I did one included excursion in Jamaica which was nice but other than that I went off on my own, grabbed a taxi to the local beach, found a nice bar and spent the days sunning, drinking, and swimming.

If you have any questions about those ports I am happy to answer.

We did the West Indies Explorer on the Viking Sea this past March. We left from San Juan and sailed to St Croix, St Kitts, St Lucia, Guadeloupe, Barbados, Antigua, St Martin and St Thomas. It was fabulous.

We skipped Tortola and had St Croix as a substitute because of the hurricanes.

I wrote a review - that was picked as one of the reviews of the week, I might add! [emoji16]. You can find it in the review section under Viking Sea reviews. I also started a trip report, but life interrupted [emoji16]. As soon as I finish organizing my photos, I’ll try to finish.

I’d be happy to answer any questions you have about the ship or the ports we went to. They were Eastern Caribbean and it sounds like you may be doing a Western itinerary.

We did a mix of included excursions (mostly bus tours) and optional tours. The optional tours with one exception (Guadeloupe) were all fantastic!

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Thanks Kath and Squatsandchampagne. I enjoyed your review Kath It contained a lot of really good Information.

We tend to DIY in a lot of ports as you did Squats. Outside of the Amazon, We are in fact visiting some of the same ports as you.

Barbados, Tobago, St Lucia, Antigua, St Thomas.

I have booked privates in Barbados and St Lucia. From what I have read and been advised, Tobago will be best on a ship sponsored tour.

We did a photography tour in Barbados (through Viking) that was amazing. We have done a number of these in different ports and they are always good. Local photographers know the off the beaten path spots. And they are usually knowledgeable about the area. Plus you get good photo tips.

We had people in our small group who weren’t all that interested in photography, but who have learned that these are excellent excursions m

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I went to some of these places on another cruise line and here's what we did (no ship excursions):

Barbados - rented a car and drove around the island. Beautiful shoreline. I believe there's a Concorde museum there, but we didn't make time to see it.

St, Lucia - took a van excursion with others. I forget the name of the vendor, though! The Piton mountains are beautiful, but the beach we were taken to by boat was small and not that fantastic. I was a little disappointed with St. Lucia.

In Antigua, we took a van tour I found by googling, but I forget the name of the vendor (again). There's a good amount to see, although of course you ARE in the Caribbean, so the sights are not the same as in, say, Europe.

St. Thomas is a favorite of many people, but I found it only so-so just because it was SO crowded. It is definitely beautiful, though. First time, we got off the ship and went on a tour on a little "train." Then I walked around the town. On our second visit, we took the ferry over to St. John (or is it Saint John?) and just nosed around.

I haven't been to Trinidad/Tobago. I don't know where else you go.

The Ports of Call section might give you more info on Caribbean (West Indies) ports.

Yes, there is a Concorde Museum on Barbados. We visited it several years ago and it was very interesting. We hired a private driver on Barbados a couple of times when we were there and we really liked him. We saw more of the island with him and ate at a fabulous oceanside restaurant for lunch at his recommendation. He even went to the Concorde Museum when we went, as he had never been. He liked it as well.

Becki