On Board Viking Octantis

Late this morning, Tim and I caught a shuttle at our hotel and were driven to the Port Everglades Cruise Terminal, where we boarded Viking Octantis. All the other passengers on the shuttle were headed to one of the large cruise ships, and I was so happy that we would not be joining them.

My First Sighting of Viking Octantis as We Drove to the Cruise Terminal

Viking Octantis is identical to Viking Polaris, which we sailed from Toronto to Fort Lauderdale last October. Both are expedition ships designed for exploring remote regions in elegance and comfort. These ships are small, compared to Viking Ocean ships, and hold just 378 passengers. What a perfect size. 

After our mandatory safety briefing, we made our way to the World Café for lunch. I was starving since we had missed breakfast. Before long, our stateroom was ready, and I spent much of the afternoon unpacking and finding a place for everything. There’s lots of storage in our room, more than on the Viking Ocean ships, I think. Of course, I packed way too much stuff, but we will be gone for quite a while and will experience temperature extremes, so that’s my excuse.

We attended the Daily Briefing, where we met our Expedition Team. Instead of a Cruise Director, expedition ships have an Expedition Leader, as well as a Chief Scientist and other experts. Multiple naturalists, expedition guides, and scientists, as well as specialists in geology, ornithology, and history, will accompany our journey.

Our Expedition Team

Our cruise is broken into several segments, and our first one is from Fort Lauderdale to Valparaiso, Santiago, Chile. We learned that 55 passengers are on the Arctic to Antarctic Longitudinal World Cruise. They boarded the ship in Nuuk, Greenland, and will disembark with us in Ushuaia, Argentina. I must admit that I would have loved to have done the entire journey, but I am also thrilled to be doing our portion.

Expedition Leader Isabel Described Our First Segment

As I was wandering around the ship, I passed by Guest Services, where I saw Margie, one of my favorite crew members from our World Cruise. We had a wonderful reunion with hugs all around. Later in the evening, I spotted Ashley, another crew member from the World Cruise. Amazing! It is always so much fun to run into staff that we know.

Margie, Sarah, and Ashley