Don & Kully's World Cruise on Viking Neptune

I’m dedicating this post to my brother-in-law Gavin Johnson, the proudest American-Norwegian I know. My sister Jennifer even says he’s the sexiest Norwegian alive, but I know for a fact she was dropped on her head several times as an infant, so she’s never been quite right. So, here’s to you Gavin, hope you enjoy the post.

Viking is the only privately owned Cruise company in the World. The founder and CEO is Norwegian billionaire Torstein Hagen who takes great pride in his Scandanavian heritage, part of the reason the company is named Viking. The Scandanavian and Viking heritage is very evident throughout all of the Viking ships from the furnishing to the artwork to the Viking Heritage Museum found on every Viking Ocean Ship.

Norwegian art is everyone on the ship. One of the most prominent displays is of the “Bund” or Norway’s national costume.

The Viking Heritage Museum is located in a very prominent location off the ship’s main foyer. The museum showcases the history of the people during the Viking Era lasting from 782 AD – 1066 AD with influences lasting through the present day. The display includes replicas of sculpture, jewelry, Nordic artifacts, books, photographs and a replica of a drekar, a Viking longship.

The Viking people themselves did not belong to a particular race or culture. The name Viking originated from the Scandinavians themselves, from the Old Norse word vik, meaning bay or creek, this formed the root of vikingr, or pirate. The Vikings originated from areas known today as Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

Here’s an abbreviated tour of the museum.