The Unique Cruise Beloved by Cruise Fanatics
Crossing an ocean, on the water, is still a big deal—even when you do it on a cushy cruise liner. Day after day, just surrounded by liquid horizons on every side. Steaming between continents, like explorers did way back when they navigated the seven seas in creaky wooden vessels moved by the power of the wind.
In Puerto Rico, I board the Viking Sea, a beautiful, upscale, and relatively small and intimate ship (by today’s mega-cruise standards). After one stop in tropical St. Maarten, we cast lines for a whole new world. Which is actually, technically, the Old World. Soon after we leave the island’s sugary beaches and swaying palms behind, the captain comes on the loudspeaker to give our coordinates, expected weather, and next port of call.
It’ll be more than a week until we make landfall again. In Spain. Sitting there on my balcony, the ship skimming happily along a flat, calm Caribbean Sea—a whiskey drink in hand—it sounds like he’s talking about a trip to the dark side of the moon. And to be honest, I’m just so glad that we have such a gloriously long time to get there.