We chose to do the last segment of a World Cruise because of its southern African Itinerary. The highlight of this journey was the pre-cruise extension, a safari to Krueger National Park in South Africa. This extension was well worth the time and money. We chose to let Viking plan our air travel and we were very happy with our flights (NYC to Heathrow and then on to Johannesburg). Viking had us start in Johannesburg for an overnight and then we flew to Krueger Park. Our group of 18 went to Inyati Game Reserve. We saw Africa’s “Big 5” and more. The accommodations were lovely, 5 star all the way. If you were to rely solely on the port excursions you would not have a safari experience.

The Viking Sun is a lovely ship. Our cabin, (a deluxe veranda) was sleek and comfortable. We enjoyed the dining venues, pools and spa.

A BIG disappointment was that many optional shore excursions were sold out before our cabin class could even book. These included several animal based excursions to coastal South African game reserves and excursions to Boulder Beach (home to the penguin colony). We were able to arrange for 3 private excursions that mimicked the sold out excursions. We were able to go on each included port excursion but these did visit wildlife venues, just overviews of the port cities. This is the main reason for a less than 5 star rating. One goes to South Africa for the animals. Read more