Viking Star Cuba, Panama Canal and the Pacific Cruise

 

Wednesday, November 21, 2018 And so we begin another adventure. Tomorrow, we embark on the Viking Star, a Viking Ocean cruise ship. This will be our first Viking Ocean cruise trip. So far, our favorite cruise line has been Princess Cruises, but we did enjoy our experience on the Viking Atla Romantic Danube river cruise in 2015. The Viking Star is the smallest ocean going cruise ship we have ever booked. It is 745’ long with a beam of 94.5’ and carries 930 guests. The Viking Star was the very first Viking Ocean cruise ship, launched in 2015. There are now 5 ships in their fleet. Her Gross Tonnage is 47,800. This gives her a Gross Tonnage per passenger of 51. This is a measure of the usable space within the volume of the ship per passenger. This compares quite favorably to the Regal Princess 40.1, Island Princess 46.1, and the Norwegian Pearl 39.1. The ratio of passengers to crew is a very low 1.5. This also compares quite favorably to the Regal Princess 2.6, Island Princess 2.2, and Norwegian Pearl 2.2.   The cruise fare prices on Viking tend to cause sticker shock because they appear so much more expensive than other cruise companies, but in all fairness, they do include lots of extras that other cruise companies charge for, such as free Wifi internet, beer and wine with lunch and dinners, free self service launderettes, free land excursions at all ports of call, and free specialty dining, although you do have to make reservations.  All of the Viking Ocean staterooms have verandas, or small balconies.  Viking differentiates the categories of staterooms based on size, location, and included benefits that primarily include being able to make shore excursion and specialty restaurant reservations earlier than lower categories.  We are booked in the lowest category- Guaranty Veranda, so we could not book our excursions until 30 days prior to sailing, and can’t book any of the specialty restaurants until after we board the ship.   We booked our air travel through Viking. They offered a special $299 per person round trip airfare rate, which was about a $400 per person savings.  This fare includes airport transfers, which is very convenient. We like being greeted by a friendly person holding a sign when we arrive.   This, being the day before Thanksgiving, was challenging travel day.  Add to that the fact that blustery cold and wet weather just blew in compounded the headaches of traveling.  We took Whidbey Sea-Tac Shuttle tonight because our flight actually leaves at 12:30AM on November 22nd, just after midnight.  Taking a red-eye to Miami gets us there early enough to board the cruise without having to arrive a full day earlier and paying for a hotel room overnight.  We were glad to have the Shuttle do the driving in the dark and rain because the traffic at the airport was terrible.   Oddly enough, one of the passengers in the shuttle took to laying out on the floor in the aisle to sleep and then talk loudly on his cell phone.  Someone noticed this and started to alert the driver that there appeared to be a medical emergency going on, but they guy said he was just sleeping.  During the short ferry ride from Clinton to Mukilteo, we boarded a brand new ferry, the Suquamish.  It has a larger capacity than the older boats, and was all shiny and new.   Getting through security was a breeze.  Our Nexus Pass membership gives us a Trusted Traveler number that gives us TSA PreCheck, as well as Global Entry privileges.  Sea-Tac has a security station dedicated to Clear and PreCheck passengers (Station 4).  We don’t have to take our shoes off, but they don’t have trays for things that come out of your pockets. They all have to be stuffed into your backpack or carry on.

  American Airlines did let us check our carry on wheeled suitcases at the gate for free.  We did check a larger suitcase at the check in counter for $25.  Even though we didn’t pack any formal wear, we still filled our 2 carry on sized and medium checked bag to capacity.  For a 3 week cruise, our shoes took up more than half the medium suit case when you have work out shoes, walking shoes, water activity sandals and slippers.  We also checked one bottle of wine (a nice Malbec from Argentina) to enjoy during our transit of the Panama Canal.  Viking Ocean cruises actually let passengers bring any wine or spirits they want onboard and they don’t charge a corkage fee.