After three months with the family in Perth WA, how comes it that Roy and I are indulging in such an extravagantly long cruise?
Well, my Chief Planner of Travel & Leisure found a ship that could take us from Australia to South Africa – the Viking Sun would be docking in Fremantle port during the 28-night Sydney-to-Durban leg of her Miami-to-London world tour.
No problem for us to board in Fremantle, said cruise consultant Faye Pirrie from the Viking desk in London – but there’d be no discount for missing the first half of the cruise: we’d have to pay the full whack. That would have been silly, so we flew from Perth to join the ship in Sydney.
Qantus brought us comfortably into Sydney in a little over four hours, and a 20-minute taxi ride got us to to White Bay Cruise Terminal around 8pm.
Twenty-eight nights at sea did sound long. Our two longest cruises so far, both on HAL’s Noordam, had each been two weeks in duration: Auckland to Sydney in February 2017; and a South Pacific cruise round trip out of Sydney, in March 2018.
For seasoned cruisers, however, it seems that a month at sea is pah! – nothing! We were soon to discover that about 450 of our 900-odd fellow passengers – mainly American, but with a good smattering of other nationalities – were “world cruisers”, doing the entire 127-night cruise. What is more, a good number of them have been cruising extensively like this for years.
Why Choose Viking?
Viking made its five-star name in luxuriously cruising the rivers of Europe and elsewhere, and it launched its brand-new ocean fleet only a few years ago.
Classified by Cruise Critic as “small ships” – each carries just 930 passengers – the Viking Sun and her five identical sister ships are described as “state of the art” and “engineered at a scale that allows direct access into most ports”. Every stateroom has its own verandah.
Viking did its homework to find exactly what people like us really want in a cruise. Here’s what first appealed to us:
#1 No children are allowed – you have to be at least 18 years old.
#2 No casinos, nor space wasted on tacky photo galleries.
#3 A magnificent Nordic spa that’s open to all at no additional cost.
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Other highlights include:
- Plenty of drawer-space in our well-designed Penthouse Verandah Suite. (This got ten out of ten from Roy, who unpacked in great haste so as to hog most of it).
- Beautifully clean, light-filled Scandinavian interiors throughout the ship.
- Free wifi everywhere.
- Lots of dining options, including fine dining every night in The Restaurant, with an ever-changing choice of dishes from foie gras and fresh lobster to Thai red curry and herb-crusted loin of kangaroo.
- 8am classes in yoga, Pilates, tai chi, qi gong, meditation and more, led by instructors who actually know what they’re doing.
- Peace and quiet. Birdsong plays in the restrooms, gentle classics play in the background. (Except for the Captain’s noonday message, you seldom hear the PA system.)
- A well-equipped gym with sweeping ocean views – one day, from my treadmill, I watched literally hundreds of dolphins surfing the ship’s wake.
- Two outstanding Filipino singers who sing with the ship’s band, performing most nights at Torshavn nightclub.
- A free mini-bar that’s restocked every day.
- 24-hour room service at no extra cost – not that I’ve tried it yet, but it could come in handy.
Sail-away from Sydney
Oysters, green champagne and Guinness ruled at the St Patrick’s Day-themed sail-away from a miserably rainy Sydney.
Having sailed away from Sydney previously (on the Noordam last year), I was a bit late to this St Patrick’s Day party because I’d snuck off to the spa. There, in glorious solitude, I indulged in the big, hot, bubbly mineral pool, the small and even hotter spa pool, the “snow grotto” and the heated stone recliners, the sauna and the icy-cold plunge pool. Bliss!
Have been waiting for this blog to start! Great first post with wonderful photos to go along with the commentary. Looking forward to more. Hope you have the best cruise!
Patricia
Sounds glorious!
Pure luxury. Enjoy every moment of it. Hope to hear from you when you dock in Durbs.