Any reports from the November or December 2023 West Indies Explorer cruises?

[Breckski]

23 hours ago, stephenandrew said:

FWIW, If you are unable to book this with Viking, I wouldn’t worry.  You can book this same excursion independently….just google it to find the company/website.  Instead of relying on Viking getting you to the excursion, you’ll just need to catch a cab, which won’t be a problem.  

 

On our cruise there wasn't an option for doing this independently as the provider only ran the event once that day, and Viking had exclusivity for excursion.

 

Also, it's a simple walk on the dock.  From where we were docked a cab would extend, not lessen, the distance one had to walk.  

[mluzzy1]

3 hours ago, hadone said:

Also curious how was the weather? Water warm enough to enjoy? Cool at night? Trying to pack now...Thanks!

Weather was typical Caribbean this time of year . Pleasant temps in the day high 70's to mid 80's. 70's at night. I would say not cool. MDR was cool (pleasant) one night and warm another. Manfredi,s , Chef's table were similar. You should expect warm water ....

[mluzzy1]

3 hours ago, Texanniew said:

Mluzzy1, what excursions did you do?

We did our own exploring as usual, But we had been to all of our ports before multiple times.

 

[Hanoj]

On 12/31/2023 at 6:18 AM, stephenandrew said:

We just got back from the 12/20 to 12/30 cruise. 

 

If we found a cruise with an attractive itinerary, price, and schedule, we would certainly consider another Viking cruise, but I’m not sure taking what is essentially a standard Southern Caribbean cruise on Viking represents a fabulous value. I think you can get a nearly equivalent experience for less money.   I know I could have taken a similar itinerary for a significantly lower fare…and for me, Viking doesn’t add enough value to justify paying for this itinerary.

 

I’m happy to answer any specific questions you may have.

 

@stephenandrew, which cruise lines do you feel would provide greater value for a similar itinerary?

 

We are considering this Viking cruise in December 2024 or 2025. We have only cruised with Viking (pre-shutdowns) and Oceania (August 2023). This Viking itinerary is appealing since we desire to reconnoiter the Caribbean Islands (I've never been) to get a feel for ones we may want to do extended resort stays in the future (most likely St. Kitts and or St. Thomas). This cruise is scheduled to call on 9 ports over 10 nights and appears to suit our interests more closely than itineraries with other premium/luxury lines we would consider (Oceania, Seabourn, Regent, and Windstar). We won't cruise Oceania's R class ships (due to small cabins though the smaller guest capacity is enticing) and their larger ships (we sailed Vista) at 1200 - 1250 guest capacity are at the upper limit of ships we are willing to sail.

 

These Viking West Indies Explorer cruises are scheduled for the Viking Sea (their second ship launched in 2016) and represent a lower cost pp/pd than other Viking itineraries on their newer ships. Our last Viking cruise in 2019 was on the Sea.

 

Another thing we find appealing about this San Juan to San Juan itinerary is our flights will be domestic since we will depart from Portland, Oregon.

Edited January 28 by Hanoj
misspelled word

[hadone]

Hi. We just returned from this itinerary. It was 2nd time on Viking & 1st time in West Indies. We truly enjoyed ourselves. January weather breezy, not hot, few showers but pass quickly. All crew, staff lovely. Food was good, public areas pristine. Our cabin just a bit tattered around edges, ie drapes, mattresses due change. We snorkeled a lot. All excursions well run. Overall, for us, 8 out of 10 experience. 

PS. We booked our own air. Nonstop. Had no issues. Those on Viking air were distraught. 28 hours to arrive.

[Texanniew]

19 minutes ago, hadone said:

Hi. We just returned from this itinerary. It was 2nd time on Viking & 1st time in West Indies. We truly enjoyed ourselves. January weather breezy, not hot, few showers but pass quickly. All crew, staff lovely. Food was good, public areas pristine. Our cabin just a bit tattered around edges, ie drapes, mattresses due change. We snorkeled a lot. All excursions well run. Overall, for us, 8 out of 10 experience. 

PS. We booked our own air. Nonstop. Had no issues. Those on Viking air were distraught. 28 hours to arrive.

Did you book your own excursion or just taxi to a beach to snorkel? Did you fly non stop on United? Were there people from the Houston area who took 28 hours to get there???

[hadone]

Hi. We did All viking excursions. No independent ones. We flew United & were lucky being in between cold fronts.Other folks routed to east coast on Jet Blue. Hope this helps. All islands were great. St Lucia was a favorite, along with Dominica.

[Texanniew]

10 minutes ago, hadone said:

Hi. We did All viking excursions. No independent ones. We flew United & were lucky being in between cold fronts.Other folks routed to east coast on Jet Blue. Hope this helps. All islands were great. St Lucia was a favorite, along with Dominica.

Thank you! Others from Texas or just others on the trip? I have not dealt with Viking air and am trying to figure out if they will send up direct or all over the country. 🙂

These were all extra, not included, correct?  Would you mind saying how much the excursions cost? I have realized that we will being paying to do the ones that attract us the most and am trying to budget. 

Edited January 29 by Texanniew
Edited to add

[hadone]

Hi. Yes the excursions were extra. We probably did too many. Should have alternated days. We were very busy. They will publish & prices when open. Example we were last group back from 2:30 snorkel on Dominica but no worries b/c with Viking. Worth it.  As to air, trying be discreet, book your own! I have the Mileage Plus CC. Actually got my air w/miles. Very pleased. 

[Hanoj]

2 hours ago, Texanniew said:

Thank you! Others from Texas or just others on the trip? I have not dealt with Viking air and am trying to figure out if they will send up direct or all over the country. 🙂

These were all extra, not included, correct?  Would you mind saying how much the excursions cost? I have realized that we will being paying to do the ones that attract us the most and am trying to budget. 

 

We are in the process of booking this cruise for a November 2024 sailing. We previously used Viking Air Plus for our 2017 - 2020 cruises. We paid for the business class upgrade each time. Things went smooth but for the last trip in May 2020 (which of course ended up being cancelled). Since we had another cruise booked when we added the May 2020 cruise our PIF date wasn't until 6 months out. We were having a difficult time with Viking Air to get the flights we wanted (and yes, they wanted to send us on a route that included an additional flight) and it wasn't until one day before PIF that our TA told Viking we would cancel the cruise if they didn't give us the requested flights. This was not a bluff. Viking acquiesced. YMMV,  but we don't like haggling, so now we just book flights separate from the cruise line through our TA.

 

If you use Viking Air, I recommend paying extra for Plus assuming they still offer this.