Cruizin’

by Duane Harris

It all started when my wife Carol said, “You’ve got a big birthday coming up. What do you want to do? A party? Travel”? To the thought of a party I said, “Not only no, but heck no!” So with that option promptly excluded, we then discussed where we wanted to go. Very shortly into that discussion the idea of taking a cruise – something we had not done in 20 years – was broached. (continues)

A visit to our travel agent on St. Simons Island resulted in the decision to do the West Indies Explorer aboard the Viking Star. The Viking line is probably best

known for their European River Cruises. They’ve only been in the ocean cruise business for a couple of years and currently have just two ships: the Viking Star and Viking Sea. One of the reasons we opted for using Viking is the small number of passengers, only 930 on the Viking Star.

So, on December 7, we departed Jacksonville, Florida at 6:00 a.m. en route to Atlanta, where we boarded our flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. In San Juan, we were met by Viking Star personnel who loaded us and our bags on a bus for the 30-minute trip to our ship and the beginning of our ten-day cruise to eight different ports and islands in the Caribbean. Once on board, we found our bag already in our spacious stateroom. We had a deluxe veranda stateroom, and were pleasantly surprised to also discover that

the staterooms aboard the Viking Star are twice as large as any we’ve ever experienced on any other cruise ship.

As on most cruises, passengers have a variety of shore excursions from which to choose. Some shore excursions are included in the cruise package and some may be reserved at additional cost. We did some of each. Rather than bore you with each of our excursions, I’ll only mention the most notable. In Saint Lucia, we opted to take the aerial tram ride through the rainforest. It was breathtakingly beautiful and well worth the extra cost. And in Barbados, we toured Harrison’s Cave, a spectacular underground world with stalactites, stalagmites, streams and waterfalls. The best included excursion we took was on Antigua where we saw amazing views of the island and toured Nelson’s Dockyard, named for Admiral Horatio Nel-

son, who commanded the navy there for three years. Included in this dockyard tour was a rum punch, and I mean to say, it packed a punch! Another interesting included excursion was on Guadeloupe, where we visited Morne-a-l’Eau and its picturesque checkerboard cemetery.

Aboard the Viking Star, we enjoyed fabulous food and entertainment. The Norwegian Spa was beyond description. And the workout facility was superb. I’m so happy I took advantage of this gym as I only gained four pounds during the 10 days. I worked hard enough to maintain my weight, but the food was just too good! Every afternoon, our cruise director gave a talk about the next day’s’ port and the excursion coordinator (continues)

Celebrating �0 Years in Business

28 Market Street, Suite 124 St. Simons Island, GA 912.638.5100 IN SAINT LUCIA, WE OPTED TO TAKE THE AERIAL TRAM RIDE THROUGH THE RAINFOREST. IT WAS BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL AND WELL WORTH THE EXTRA COST. AND IN BARBADOS, WE TOURED HARRISON’S CAVE, A SPECTACULAR UNDERGROUND WORLD WITH STALACTITES, STALAGMITES, STREAMS AND WATERFALLS.

Carol and Duane Harris in St. Kitts with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on the other.

told us all about the various opportunities to explore. Every night, the entertainers provided a variety of shows, all of which were wonderful. These performers could be on Broadway one day!

We returned to San Juan early in the morning hours ten days after our departure. We had to be out of our staterooms by 8:00 a.m. as another cruise was scheduled to depart on the Viking Star that afternoon. We were bussed to the airport where we, unfortunately, had a four hour wait for our plane. That was probably the only really disappointing part of our trip. The San Juan airport is not the most comfortable airport we’ve ever experienced. Taking that birthday trip was a terrific choice. Choosing to sail on a smaller ship was even better. One of the best things about taking a cruise on a smaller vessel is the opportunity to meet the other passengers and staff. We met the man who designed the opening and closing ceremonies for the Calgary Winter Olympic Games in 1988. What an amazing story! And we also met several folks with whom we discovered we have friends in common. It really is a small world! And after our experience aboard the Viking Star, we can definitely say that we recommend exploring that world with a cruise!

SERVING UP SPRING ON A Silver Platter

SHOES STUART WEITZMAN • DONALD PLINER • ICON • KATE SPADE • AMALFI GENTLE SOULS • MICHAEL KORS • MEPHISTO • NAÖT • COLE HAAN • SAM EDELMAN JACK ROGERS • MARC JOSEPH • FRENCH SOLE • TONI PONS • WONDERS • AUDLEY • LOUISE ET CIE SESTO MEUCCI • VANELI • ERIC JAVITS • GEOX • THE FLEXX • CLOUD • ICON • ANDRE ASSOUS

APPAREL FRANK LYMAN • HANRO • LYSSE • GERRY WEBER

ACCESSORIES M.Z. WALLACE • LODIS • SUZI ROHR • ERIC JAVITS • MICHAEL KORS

3419 Frederica Road, St Simons Island 912.638.1413 Monday-Saturday 10:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

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