Viking Star's November in Kuşadası: ship-day ride or a hotel day

Viking Star's Kuşadası year is short and arrives soon. The port schedule as of early October 2026 lists five calls for her over the next 12 months, and four of them fall within three weeks of each other: Thursday 5, Wednesday 11, Tuesday 17 and Monday 23 November 2026. Each comes six days after the last, which moves the weekday back by one every time. The fifth call, Thursday 17 December, is on its own.

None of the five has published port times yet. They will appear on the Viking Star page once announced. Because the first call is only a month away, this post looks at two practical routes to a ride: on the ship day itself, or on a day you spend in Kuşadası off the ship.

Viking Star entered service in 2015 and belongs to the Viking Star class. She carries about 930 guests in 465 staterooms, according to Viking.

Route one: riding on the ship day

This depends entirely on her hours, which we do not know yet. The rule is simple, though. Our rides start at 11:00 and 16:00, and we bring you back to the port at least 60 minutes before the ship sails.

For the morning ride, Viking Star has to be in port by 10:10 and leave no earlier than 15:15. For the afternoon ride, she has to be in by 15:10 and leave no earlier than 20:15. Look also at the all-aboard time printed in your daily programme; it is usually earlier than departure, and if so, it is your real limit.

If her times for your date fail both tests, a ship-day ride is off, and route two below is the one to look at.

How a November morning would go

If a call passes the 11:00 test:

• Leave the ship and walk the roughly 50 m from the cruise port exit to the Kervansaray meeting point (The Big Ottoman Palace). Here is the map pin.
• 10:10: meet us there.
• About 15 minutes' drive to the pine-forest trails behind Pamucak beach.
• 11:00: about two hours of riding, including a 30-minute break on Pamucak beach.
• 13:45–14:15: back at the port, with the rest of the day for Kuşadası itself.

For the 16:00 ride, the meeting time is 15:10 and you are back between 18:45 and 19:15.

Route two: a day in Kuşadası off the ship

If your plans include one or more nights in Kuşadası before or after your Viking Star cruise, the ship's hours stop mattering for those days. You can book any date in our season (April to November), choose either the 11:00 or the 16:00 ride, and we pick you up from your hotel instead of meeting you at Kervansaray.

For a passenger with a November call whose times turn out not to fit, this is the obvious fallback. Our trails run until the end of November.

The December date

Thursday 17 December 2026 falls in our winter closure. The quad, buggy and horse safaris are closed from 1 December to 31 March, so there is no safari that day, whatever time she arrives or leaves. They run again from April.

Picking your safari

On the quad safari or the buggy safari you can do the driving yourself; no licence is needed, drivers must be 16 or older, and single or double vehicles are available. A helmet, goggles and a safety briefing are included, and the group rides in convoy behind a guide. Children under about 2 cannot take part. The horse safari is for beginners aged 8 and up, younger children with an experienced companion, in a small group with a riding guide. Swimming at the beach on that one depends on the season.

Booking either route

For a ship day, wait until the times for your call are published, then choose Viking Star and your date in the cruise day planner. It tells you which ride fits and fills in the form. For a hotel day, go straight to the reservation page. If anything is unclear, including a call that looks like an overnight, message us on WhatsApp.

Times are added as they come in, so keep an eye on the full list of Viking Star calls in the weeks before 5 November.