[Worldtrippers home] [2025 Crystal-Viking]
Today’s port was Koper, Slovenia. Gail has never been here before. Russell was here last October, when he took an “Empires of the Mediterranean” cruise with his cousin Ernie.
Koper is the country’s only container port, and it is just across the Adriatic Sea from Venice. When Russell and Ernie were here, it was their grand finale port. They had a wonderful time climbing the campanile bell tower and enjoying a vegan lunch at Avokado Restaurant.
Sadly, Avokado is closed on weekends (today is Saturday), and Gail was not up for climbing 200 steps. We walked around town for a bit in the 90°+ heat before heading back to the ship.
In the afternoon, Russell presented the first of his three lectures for the shakedown cruise. In the evening, we attended the “Captain’s Welcome.” This is a tradition on every Viking cruise, where the captain gives a short talk and introduces the executive staff.
Tonight was special because Viking Founder and Chairman Torstein Hagen gave a presentation, providing a business update on the company. The good news is that the company is doing very well. Viking has confirmed orders for a whopping 10 new ocean ships in 2026-2031, and options for four more in 2032-2033. Vesta is the company’s 11th ocean ship (not counting Viking Sun, which was sold to China), so Viking’s ocean fleet will more than double over the next few years.
We feel proud and privileged to work with this amazing company. We hope to keep sailing with Viking for as long as we can.
