In today's video, the most interesting cruise ship I've ever been on...
Viking's new expedition ship, Viking Octantis.
It launches special operations boats out a slipway at the back of the ship.
It carries not just one, but two submarines...
Which can take passengers down hundreds of feet below the surface.
It's got a cool lounge hidden in the front of the ship...
With heavy duty windows that let you see the view from just above the waterline.
And it can take you to some of the most remote destinations in the world!
I feel like such a lucky guy, because I got to spend ten days aboard the coolest cruise ship I've ever been on, Viking Octantis.
This is Viking's new expedition ship...
Designed specifically for cruising in Antarctica and other remote parts of the world.
But my cruise on Viking Octantis was in a wonderfully warm region of the world, the Caribbean.
Viking Octantis only visits the Caribbean two weeks a year...
One week in the Spring, and another in the Fall, as the ship repositions...
Between the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere, or vice versa.
I want to start by saying that my expectations for this ship were a bit off.
All I knew when I first heard about this ship is that it is smaller...
And carried less passengers than Viking's other ocean ships.
I interpreted that to mean that it was going to be a scaled-back version of their other ships.
That it would be somehow inferior.
But after a 10-day cruise on Viking Octantis...
I'm here to tell you that this is an improved ship.
Viking took everything they learned from their ocean ships, and improved on things for this ship.
Let me give you an example.
If you've ever cruised on a Viking Ocean ship, I'm sure you were impressed by the bathrooms in the cabins.
They're brilliantly designed, including heated tile floors...
So, when you wake up in the morning and walk in to the bathroom...
The floor isn't cold on your bare feet... it's warm.
Well, Viking managed to improve on that with their new expedition ship.
Yes, the floor in the bathroom is still heated...
But there's also a way to turn that heat off, if you don't want the floor to be warm...
And there's also a control to adjust how warm the floor is.
So, you can set the temperature of the bathroom floor to whatever your preference is.
It's a smart improvement on the already smart design of their previous ships.
Another example can be found in the buffet restaurant, the World Cafe.
On the ocean ships, I was able to ask them to grill me a steak in the buffet...
But it took them a long time to cook it...
And there was only one type of steak available.
In the World Café on Viking Octantis, they went all out with their grill.
At dinner time, they offer many different types of steaks...
Several of which would have cost so much in a restaurant that I never would have ordered one.
Filet Mignon, gigantic Tomahawk steaks, ribeyes, prime rib, and sirloin.
Many of them were so large that there was no way I would have been able to finish it myself.
It was easily enough for two people to share.
I just loved that Viking went all in with the grill on Viking Octantis...
Making it more like a steakhouse than a buffet restaurant...
And offering big high-end steaks at no extra charge at dinner every night.
At lunch time, there's an entirely different menu at the grill...
Including a personal favorite of mine, the Viking burger.
Which is topped with grilled purple onions...
And has an especially nice taste, thanks to just a little bit of barbecue sauce.
And another improvement over the ocean ships: They stopped serving cole slaw with the burgers.
That just didn't work well.
The liquid in the cole slaw got in to the bun on the burger and made it soggy...
And made the fries soggy, too.
It was a bad idea, that I noticed that they weren't doing on Viking Octantis.
Another innovation I saw on Viking Octantis that I hadn't seen on their other ships was...
For a lack of any better way to describe it...
A Viking version of Coldstone Creamery.
I was always able to get gelato or sherbet on Viking Ocean ships, but...
On Viking Octantis, in the World Café, at no additional charge...
They would make you a special frozen treat Coldstone Creamery style...
On a freezing slab, mixing in whatever you want in to it.
I just absolutely loved this.
And the staff was so wonderful.
One night they made me this fantastic strawberry frozen thing with fresh strawberries mixed in to it...
And I loved it so much that the next night I wanted another one.
Well, they hadn't brought out any strawberries that night.
But the woman working the desert area went all the way downstairs to some store room...
Got me fresh strawberries, and made me the dessert I had been craving...
Even though they weren't really offering it that night.
It was incredibly great service.
Something that you'll get used to on Viking... it's just the way they do things.
The way the staff treats the guests on Viking is completely different...
Hugely better... than what I've experienced on most other cruise lines.
Another thing they've improved on Viking Octantis compared to previous Viking ships is the thermal suite within the spa.
This one has big picture windows that give you a beautiful view while you're relaxing in the thermal suite.
On the other Viking ships, there are no windows to the outside from the thermal suite.
This one on Viking Octantis is much nicer.
And the hot tub that's a part of the thermal suite is open to the outside air, too... which I liked.
And check out the snow, falling from the ceiling of the snow grotto...
Another part of the thermal suite.
If you'd like to book a cruise on Viking, or any other cruise line...
Feel free to use the services of my travel agent, Caitlin Gallagher.
If you've ever tried to call one of the cruise lines...
To resolve some kind of problem, or make a change...
You know that wait times with the cruise lines can be just insane.
And that's actually one of my favorite reasons to use a travel agent to book a cruise...
Rather than booking it myself.
Caitlin, my travel agent, is now the one that sits on hold with the cruise line...
Sometimes literally for hours, while I don't have to.
The theater on Viking Octantis is also very different from other cruise ships, including the other Viking ships.
It's at the back end of the ship, and it has big views of what's going on outside through a lot of glass.
It's a perfect venue for enrichment talks and lectures about where the ship will be the next day...
All the while guaranteeing that you won't miss the view of what's happening outside.
But, if needed, window shades can be lowered down to cover the windows and black out the room.
And for movies, or videos, or PowerPoint presentations...
A huge screen that is normally stored up, out of the way, in the ceiling...
Can be lowered down in to place.
In the back of the room, there's a state-of-the-art 4k projection system.
And it makes movies and videos, or just about anything projected on that big screen, look real good.
A small thing they did in the theater that is such a nice touch is that they put in a few double-wide chairs.
That's great not only for extremely large people...
But also just for couples that might want to snuggle up together.
Another thing about the expedition ship that is just better than on the big cruise ships...
Whether we're talking about Viking's ships...
Or the mega cruise ships from the big cruise lines...
Is that Viking's expedition ship is small enough that it can take you places that the big ships won't.
The big ships almost always like to tie up at a dock for the day...
And those docks are located in the big ports at the big cities.
An expedition ship is totally different.
Here's an example...
When Viking Octantis visited the island of St Kitts...
It just positioned itself off the coast, near the Carambola Beach Club.
Viking rented the entire beach club for the day, including an open bar...
And if you wanted to spend a few hours there at the beach club...
A tender would take you there, and bring you back to the ship again later.
And all of this was at no extra charge for the passengers.
I absolutely loved it.
That is so much better than docking in a big port city and taking a bus to a beach club.
In fact, I've been to St Kitts on cruise ships many times before.
Never in all those times did any of them ever offer a beach excursion.
So, Viking Octantis gave me the best visit to St Kitts that I've ever had.
I should also mention that another great thing about Viking Octantis...
Is the fact that the ship is full of toys...
Everything from Kayaks to Zodiac boats...
To the fast special operation boats that can get you to anything of interest nearby.
And it's a smooth ride, too...
Each seat has its own set of shock absorbers.
And the coolest part is the way the special ops boats slide in and out of the ship.
This slipway leading from the water in to the hangar makes things so much easier and safer.
And finally, perhaps the biggest innovation on Viking Octantis...
Two yellow submarines, appropriately named John and Paul...
That can take you down under the water for a look at what you can't see from the surface.
Now these subs are the real deal... not just some Disneyland simulation.
They are capable of dives down to depths hundreds of feet below the surface.
I'm putting a link up in the corner of the screen to my full video about the submarines.
I want to give a big thank you to my friends at Viking...
Who invited me and my wife to fly down to the Caribbean and cruise on their new ship...
All at their expense, so that I could make some YouTube videos...
To show the world how great this new class of ship is.
I'm a licensed commercial drone pilot, so...
Viking allowed me to launch my drone right from the top deck of the ship...
And get all these nice aerial shots you've been seeing of Viking Octantis in the Caribbean.
Any shots you've seen in this video of the ship in Antarctica...
Those shots were supplied by Viking.
I'm Jim Zim. Thanks for watching!
If you've got 24 minutes to watch another video...
And you'd like to see a complete tour of Viking Octantis from top-to-bottom...
Which shows off just about everything onboard the ship...
Follow the link that should be on the screen right now...
To watch a great video made by my friend, Jason Leppert of Popular Cruising.
It's unusual for me to recommend a video by some other cruise YouTuber...
So, you know this one must be really good.
Go watch it, if you have time.