It’s interesting, the way we anticipate a travel experience in advance.  After a short preview visit to Viking Star last Spring for the ship’s historic inauguration, I thought ‘if you like Viking Longships on the river, you’ll like Viking Star in the ocean’.  That notion has proved accurate on our longer Empires of the Mediterranean sailing but for some different reasons.

 

The Ship Becomes Part Of The Destination

Stopping in Kotor, Montenegro for the day, Viking Star was the only ship in port.  Nearing the end of tourist season in the Adriatic, along with even more stunning sunsets than earlier in the year come fewer visitors.

An included Viking orientation tour here covered a bit more ground than others, mainly because Kotor is really not all that big.  A beautiful place to be sure, dotted with restaurants and cafes that would normally call us to sit and linger a while.

It’s one of the things we like to do wherever we go in the world to take advantage of our time ashore.  Rather than squeezing in as many things as possible in a flurry of activity, we’ll pick one or two and really get into it.  It was here in beautiful Kotor Montenegro that I realized just how inviting Viking Star is.

We wanted to get back on the ship to see what was being offered for lunch at the various dining venues on board.  We wanted to stop by the pool bar and continue exploring the menu, chatting with one of the well-traveled other Viking passengers we had not met yet.  That happens all the time, anywhere on the ship.

Today, with lovely weather in Kotor, huge glass panels at Viking Star’s World Cafe were opened to make a bona fide connection of sea with land.

Like yesterday, back this day up a bit and the morning brought a similar photo opportunity as the previous day with the culinary department.  Today was the housekeeping department, a similarly happy bunch of people who do a good job of keeping their ship in like-new condition.

The undeniable camaraderie of these hard-working people is infectious and transfers to the passengers as well.  That’s huge.  I can’t recall experiencing that transfer of happiness before in other cruising situations.

 

Talking to others on board, many booked this sailing two years ago, when the ship was announced in a gala Beverly Hills event.  They have been anticipating this ship as much as the diverse itinerary and all seem quite satisfied in that decision.

That initial thought of being a Viking river cruise fan-favorite proved true on the decor comparison.  But that was just the tip of the iceberg as we are continuing to find out on this voyage.  Also similar, front line crew members that connect with passengers from bartenders to dining room managers, cabin stewards and even members of the culinary team.

At the time of the dream-come-true Bergen christening, that familiarity came mainly from the ship’s design, layout and decor.  Inspired by Viking Longships, also emulating an artist’s blank canvas, Viking Star too provides the opportunity to create a travel masterpiece.  At the disposal of Viking artist/passengers are a variety of tools from which to choose.  This is more than the standard ‘there is something for everyone’ big ship cruise experience though.  Frankly, quite the opposite is true; there is surely not something for everyone here.

But oh, for the right person?  This might be the perfect ship.

 

Follow Along On Our Viking Star Voyage

Right here at ChrisCruises.com-

• Viking Star: Examining What Really Matters
• Viking Star Dining Options
• Flight Change No Big Deal For Vikings
• Your Travel Agent And Viking Cruises
• Viking Star Included Tours: Promise vs Reality
• A Day In Dubrovnik With Viking Cruises
• Viking Star: Paint Your Masterpiece

See our Flickr Photo Albums–  (check back often, more photos added as we sail)

• Travel Day To Viking Star
• Air Dolomiti- A lovely little airline we experienced thanks to the Lufthansa strike.
• Venice, Italy- Where we met the Viking Transfer Army
• Viking Star Ship Shots- Photos from around the new Viking Star
• Pula Croatia– Our first time visiting but surely not our last
• Viking Star On Instagram- Our experience, one Instagram a day
• Viking Star Staff– Photos of the crew, collected throughout our voyage
• Viking Star Culinary- Menu items we tried as we sailed
• Viking Star Sunrise and Sunset- Marvelous events that bookended each day
• Dubrovnik, Croatia- What we did, saw and consumed
• Dubrovnik Sunset- Probably the prettiest sunset we have ever seen
• Kotor Montenegro with Viking Cruises– our day and then some
• Viking Star Tea Time- like no other tea time anywhere

Facebook Photo Albums-

• Dubrovnik Sunset– perhaps the most beautiful we have ever seen

Instagram

Twitter and #VikingStar