Looking for information on Viking Carribean cruise Leaves Jan 26

I am considering booking this cruise but it is a big financial stretch for me. It does include a lot of extras though so hoping it will balance out. A few questions: would a cabin near the elevator bay be noisy? 4th Deck? (we have a hold on this cabin) Are the included excursions good for a first time traveler to the area? Better off private tours? We would be celebrating a special occasion so would like something elegant for that night. Any other information about this ship and this area would be greatly appreciated.:p

I am considering booking this cruise but it is a big financial stretch for me. It does include a lot of extras though so hoping it will balance out. A few questions: would a cabin near the elevator bay be noisy? 4th Deck? (we have a hold on this cabin) Are the included excursions good for a first time traveler to the area? Better off private tours? We would be celebrating a special occasion so would like something elegant for that night. Any other information about this ship and this area would be greatly appreciated.:p

Which cruise are you looking to book? All but one (two? three?) of the Caribbean cruises are new starting Dec 2017. If it's a new one - there's no user experience to tap into for the included or optional excursions. If you're doing the West Indies Explorer, the only one I think they did from Dec 2016 to March 2017, you'll have better luck. We will be doing the 7Jan2018 sailing of Panama Central America.

Re your special celebration, bring this up with your TA. Viking will do whatever they can to help you. I know that Viking River does a great job in this department. I'm sure Viking Ocean does too but I'm counting on others in this forum to answer this for you.

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This would be the cruise that leaves Jan. 26th 2018. I did not find anything on this tour on the Viking Sea but I am hoping to find cruisers who are familiar with this ship. It sounds great but I do have a couple of concerns about the cabins that are still available. Funny that my info re cruise date didn't seem to show up on my post. I don't believe this is a new one but I really don't know for sure. Viking seems to offer so much more and we are interested in excursions that teach us some of the history and culture, either ship sponsored or private. We have narrowed our choices down to 3 possibilities and seeing how cabins are booking rapidly we need to make our decision ASAP. Wishing you a great cruise to Panama and Central America.

This would be the cruise that leaves Jan. 26th 2018. I did not find anything on this tour on the Viking Sea but I am hoping to find cruisers who are familiar with this ship. It sounds great but I do have a couple of concerns about the cabins that are still available. Funny that my info re cruise date didn't seem to show up on my post. I don't believe this is a new one but I really don't know for sure. Viking seems to offer so much more and we are interested in excursions that teach us some of the history and culture, either ship sponsored or private. We have narrowed our choices down to 3 possibilities and seeing how cabins are booking rapidly we need to make our decision ASAP. Wishing you a great cruise to Panama and Central America.

All three of the ships are the same (except for some changes in the spa area on the Sky--less beauty salon and more exercise equipment). After two sailings on the Sea, with rooms halfway down the aft corridor, on our upcoming cruise we have chosen cabin 4082 which is right by the aft stairwell--we passed it all the time and realized that it is really far enough away from the stairwell that we won't hear the very little noise that emanates from the stairwell. One thing that we have noticed is that corridor noise does not seem to penetrate into the cabins and a number of time we have opened our cabin door expecting to see no one only to find that the corridor is actually bustling with activity.

As CharTrav has said, so far Viking has only sailed one season in the Caribbean and only one itinerary--and fortunately, it seems to be the itinerary you are looking at. There has been a lot written about it in this forum but not all in one place or one thread and not necessarily under the banner "West Indies Explorer." And, because Viking has not sailed sailed that itinerary since February and March, you might have to go back a few pages to find information. I had to go back to page 8 before any of these threads showed up. (Sorry. Strange format compliments of Cruise Critic).

Viking West Indies Explorer, Feb 5-15 2017 - Wonderful!

West Indies Explorer Review Posted. Great Trip.

Long review of Viking Star West Indies

West Indies: Reviews of 3 Ship's Excursions

San Juan airport

All three of the ships are the same (except for some changes in the spa area on the Sky--less beauty salon and more exercise equipment). After two sailings on the Sea, with rooms halfway down the aft corridor, on our upcoming cruise we have chosen cabin 4082 which is right by the aft stairwell--we passed it all the time and realized that it is really far enough away from the stairwell that we won't hear the very little noise that emanates from the stairwell. One thing that we have noticed is that corridor noise does not seem to penetrate into the cabins and a number of time we have opened our cabin door expecting to see no one only to find that the corridor is actually bustling with activity.

 

As CharTrav has said, so far Viking has only sailed one season in the Caribbean and only one itinerary--and fortunately, it seems to be the itinerary you are looking at. There has been a lot written about it in this forum but not all in one place or one thread and not necessarily under the banner "West Indies Explorer." And, because Viking has not sailed sailed that itinerary since February and March, you might have to go back a few pages to find information. I had to go back to page 8 before any of these threads showed up. (Sorry. Strange format compliments of Cruise Critic)

Should have hauled out my VO catalog to make a guess as to which cruise she was referring to. Thanks Peregrina for taking that extra step!

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I would also suggest this review http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2421572

We will be Elite Plus on Celebrity after our cruise in late October. Here is my review of our February 2017 cruise on the Star: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2457374

We have another Celebrity cruise booked in May and are trying Oceania next Fall. We have a Viking Ocean cruise booked in 2019.

Thank you Peregrina651 for saving me a lot of time by posting the links about this cruise. Most helpful and they have pretty much given me all of the information I need.