Don & Kully's World Cruise on Viking Neptune

Like other Cruise lines, Viking has several on board shops, but they are much different than the large cruise lines. Once again, an example of what Viking is not. There are no tacky port t-shirts, or ceramic models of the ship, no gold chains sold by the inch, no duty-free liquor or cigarettes or the endless daily sales common to most cruises. So, what does Viking offer? 

The largest shop is the Nordic Shop where you can find a wide selection of very nice Nordic themed souvenirs including Silver Viking ships, Scandinavian Wool Sweaters, hats, Nordic themed jewelry and charms, scarves and other beautiful collectables. Viking also has partnered with the outdoor clothing company Helly Hanson (HH) and sells a wide range of their duffels, backpacks, jackets, vest and a few Viking logoed products. Most of the clothing sold is heavy warm weather apparel not real conducive for a warm weather journey. They also sell books, CD’s and other items from guest performers and lecturers. New items are brought out periodically during the voyage for example, after our stop in Los Angeles new polo shirts with the world cruise logo were added but are now nearly sold out. New items generally sell out quickly, so the pro-tip is if you see something you think you might want you should buy it. There is also a very small sundry section to the store with a very limited inventory.  

Kosmetiske is a shop located on deck one next to the Nordic Spa that sells perfume, fine handbags, jewelry, small electronics ( blue tooth speakers, phone cords, headphones, etc)

Finally there is the Juveler, or Fine Jewelry Store. The Juveler sells a wide range of fine jewelry and a smaller selection of quality watches. What is unique about this store, compared to other cruise lines is the store hosts a guest certified jeweler who is only onboard for a small segment of the voyage. The Jewelers work for different companies from around the world and bring with them a selection of the jewels their company specializes in. The guest jewelers are also guest lecturers who do gemology presentations during their time on board. For example, from Fort Lauderdale we had a jeweler who specialized in Emeralds and Jade as they are common to Central and South America. The jeweler currently on board specializes in Diamonds and Black Pearls. Black Pearls come from Tahiti which we will visit next week.

Finally, I have to share a picture of the beautiful sunrise taken from the aft end of the Neptune this morning. We were roughly 200 miles from Hawaii.

“Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” Stephen Covey