Dream itinerary booked for 2024 (18-Day Voyage Of The Vikings, Zuiderdam)

[robotpony]

On the last leg of our 2022 Caribbean cruise we saw a future cruise talk, something like the top 10 unique cruises. We fell in love with the idea of the Voyage Of The Vikings, but sadly the 2023 dates did not work for us. Instead we booked a 2024 Solar Eclipse cruise to the Mexican Riviera, which will be our first smaller ship trip.

 

Last week we noticed that 2024/Europe had opened up and we rushed to book the Netherlands → Ireland → Iceland → Greenland → Canada → Boston tour, so we booked it as quickly as we could and passed it on to our TA.

 

For anyone new to Holland America I believe this is one of their strongest suits: unique and interesting itineraries that few other lines can match. The Vikings cruise is one where very little of the ship itself matters, as most of the time will be spent exploring and watching the unique coastlines pass by. I look forward to the EXC talks and ports on that cruise, as well as the cooler climate beauty. It should be a nice contrast to the other warmer cruises we've been on (and slightly less commercial than Alaska).

[RuthC]

Congratulations on booking a desired cruise. 
Is this the second half of a round-trip? Or is it the Viking Passage cruise? They are very similar, and both are fantastic. 

One great thing about this cruise is the balance of sea and port days. There aren't so many consecutive ports that you get worn out, and there aren't so many consecutive sea days that you get bored. I did this one a long time ago, and fell in love with the ports. 

[robotpony]

26 minutes ago, RuthC said:

Is this the second half of a round-trip? Or is it the Viking Passage cruise?

 

I'm pretty sure it's half of the Viking Passage cruise. We didn't have 35 days open in 2024, so 18 will have to do.

[RnR17cruisers]

We also booked that 18-day voyage of the Vikings in 2024! 508 days to go! I created a roll call for this sailing.

[OlsSalt]

Floating slowly through the Prince Christian Sound at the bottom of Greenland - silent, majestic, serene, alone -- one of our very, very best cruise memories. Pray for an open ice passage. 

 

We did the RT Voyage of the Vikings (August) and on the eastbound leg, the Sound was still blocked with ice at one end, but the captain arranged with the local pilot to go in as far as he could and park overnight, so we could float back out the way we came in the next morning.

 

On the return west bound leg, we were able to make the entire passage.

[Cruiz'nBaers]

6 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Floating slowly through the Prince Christian Sound at the bottom of Greenland - silent, majestic, serene, alone -- one of our very, very best cruise memories. Pray for an open ice passage. 

 

We did the RT Voyage of the Vikings (August) and on the eastbound leg, the Sound was still blocked with ice at one end, but the captain arranged with the local pilot to go in as far as he could and park overnight, so we could float back out the way we came in the next morning.

 

On the return west bound leg, we were able to make the entire passage.

We were very fortunate on the 2022 VOV, we were able to cruise through the sound both going over and returning.  A most memorable cruise.