We thought we would add a little bit of information about our Expedition Ship, The Viking Octantis. The Octantis was launched in 2022, and is the sister ship to the Viking Polaris, also launched in 2022. Both of these do expedition cruises to the Antarctic during the southern hemisphere summer, and also cruise in the Great Lakes in the USA during the northern hemisphere summer. There are other voyages available as the ships transition between these two main destinations.
Some facts about the ship
- Only 378 guests
- Crew: 256
- Length: 665 feet
- Beam: 77 feet
- Class: Polar Class 6
- Year built: 2022
These ships are state of the art and have a “Hanger Deck in the interior of the ship where they launch Zodiac Boats as well as Special Ops Boats that are launched out of a doorway in the stern, and even two small submersibles that are lowered into the water through an opening on the side of the ship.
All of the cabins have balconies, but only the most expensive have actual balcony decks. Most of the cabins have a “Nordic Balcony” which is a large window that opens via a motor at the top half, affording one the ability to look outside without glass, weather and seas permitting.
Every expedition cruise guarantees each passenger time ashore as an included excursion. Travel to and from the landing area is via Zodiac Boats. Each excursions to shore is approximately 90 minutes.
There are also excursions in Kayaks as well as the Special Ops boats, which are specifically used for higher speed sightseeing via water routes. Depending on cabin classification, you get more reservations for the Kayak and Special Ops boats. We are limited to one reservation each for Kayaking and Special Ops boat rides per cruise until we get on and can try to make more in person, depending on availability.
The submersibles are really limited to just a few passengers who are lucky enough, and wealthy enough to have first dibs on excursion reservations based on cabin classification. The more you pay for a cabin class, the sooner and more often you get to make reservations for both excursions and dining venues. Some people liken this benefit to establishing a caste system among passengers, but if you have that kind of money to reserve Suites, then I guess you deserve to get more. Think of the Titanic Movie, Steerage versus First Class. We are in Steerage with our N2 Nordic Balcony cabin, but we get to go to the same places for far less cost.
Of note is the limited usage times of the submersibles, apparently, they have a lot of technical issues that keep them from being able to be used. Weather is also a factor and these are only used on perfectly calm days at certain stops. At least this is our understanding.
There are special mandatory orientation classes held onboard at the beginning of the cruise for anyone doing the kayaks or the submersibles.
One major difference in these ships is that The Restaurant, normally the main dining room that is on a first come, first served basis on Viking Ocean ships, is only available by reservation on the expedition ships. There is also a Manfredi’s Specialty Restaurant that is normally by reservation only on Ocean Ships, as well as these expedition ships. With our “steerage” guarantee cabin, we can’t make reservations at these two restaurants until we are on the ship, which is OK. Apparently, the World Cafe Grill in the buffet restaurant has some spectacular made to order specialties.
One thing to consider about dining venues is that there is spectacular scenery and wildlife to see at almost anytime since the daylight hours are extended because we are so close to the South Pole. For our cruise, we have not yet tried to determine how many hours of daylight we will have. The most flexible dining venue will be the World Cafe, getting up in the middle of a specialty restaurant meal may be more difficult, we will see.
Here is a link to some additional information and deck plans for the Viking Octantis Ship.