Here are some details about what life is like aboard a Viking River Cruises ship, presented in alphabetical order.
Beverages
Hot coffee and tea are free all day. Soft drinks and alcoholic beverages are available for an additional charge. Complimentary bottles of water are placed in your stateroom each day; additional bottles are available for purchase. You may bring local wine aboard and enjoy it with your meals for a modest corkage fee.
Cash machines
Cash machines or Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) are a good source of cash abroad; please bear in mind that they may or may not be conveniently located in the larger cities and may be rare in smaller towns along the rivers. When available, ATMs dispense local currency for internationally accepted ATM cards and/or credit cards, and have a service fee of approximately 3%. If you are planning to use ATMs, you should confirm with your bank prior to departure that your ATM/credit card and Personal Identification Number (PIN) will work abroad.
Clothing suggestions
Dress aboard and ashore is casual; we suggest you dress comfortably and bring sturdy walking shoes for sightseeing excursions. Dinner attire is “evening casual,” and the Captain’s Dinner is dressy, but not formal.
Credit cards
Euro card, MasterCard, Visa and American Express cards are accepted in all countries in major shops, restaurants and hotels as well as to settle your shipboard account. Before you depart, we recommend that you alert your credit card companies that you plan to use your card(s) on your trip as they will often refuse to honor credit cards if they notice irregular and/or overseas activity.
Cuisine & dining room service
All meals aboard are prepared by local chefs under the guidance of our European management team. Meals are open seating during set meal times—no table reservations are accepted. Room service is not available.
Dietary needs
Guests requiring special diets such as vegetarian, low salt, diabetic or low cholesterol meals must alert Viking River Cruises one month prior to departure and inform the Maitre d’ when on board. The chefs will make reasonable efforts to accommodate these requests.
Electricity
Onboard electricity is 220V; for more detailed information on plugs and adapters click here. Staterooms will have one or two 115V outlets for North American guests to use with shavers, etc., in the bathroom and/or desk area.
Emergency contact information
If there is an emergency and you must be contacted while traveling, your family/friends should attempt to reach you directly by contacting the ship or hotel. The ship’s phone and fax systems operate on mobile reception and may not get good reception throughout the trip. If unsuccessful, your family/friends can call Viking River Cruises London head office 020 8780 7900 during our normal business hours. (Monday-Friday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.; Saturday 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Sunday 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m).
Exchanging currency or travellers cheques
Unfortunately, your ship will not be able to change money for you or accept travellers cheques for payment of your shipboard account. You may be able to change cash or travellers cheques at some hotels, most banks and exchange bureaus for a fee.
In China: Chinese law prohibits exchanging cash or travellers cheques onboard your ship. To change Chinese currency back to U.S. dollars, euros or other currencies, you will need to provide all receipts and currency declarations. Because this process can be quite time-consuming, we suggest exchanging currency in smaller increments, as needed.
In Russia/Ukraine: Russian and Ukrainian currency is regulated. Change your hard currency (U.K. pounds, U.S. dollars, euros, etc.) only at official exchange points and use only rubles or hryvnia as cash (by law, our ships cannot exchange cash or travellers cheques for hryvnia). A fee will be charged. Locals will be happy to accept your dollars for tips, taxi rides and souvenirs, but it is technically not allowed.
Fitness equipment
Some ships have fitness equipment, but most do not. Guests enjoy getting their exercise during daily shore excursions, and promenade decks provide opportunities for “power walks” while enjoying the scenery.
Hair dryers & amenities
Your ship has hair dryers for guest use, as do most hotels. Your stateroom amenities include shower gel, shampoo, lotion, shower cap and vanity kit.
Internet access
All Viking ships have internet access. Our ships in Europe, Russia and Ukraine have free wi-fi, so you can bring your laptop and get online at any time. Alternatively, each ship has a few computers for guest use; there are desktop machines in Russia for use free of charge, and laptops in Europe that guests may rent for a nominal fee based on amount of time used. Guests who bring laptops to Russia may wish to bring a LAN cable for use in their stateroom; this may work a bit better than the wireless LAN in rural areas along the river.
In China: There is an internet café with desktop stations for guest use free of charge. There is no onboard wireless network in China so you will not be able to get internet service on your own computer on the ship, although you may be able to do so in hotels. Please note that shipboard service may be unreliable during certain parts of the journey. The internet connection functions via cellular service or satellite, and there may be times when reception is not possible and/or when the connection is quite slow. For this reason, we recommend only checking and sending email. We do not recommend surfing the Web or downloading large files.
Laundry
Laundry services are available for a fee; we regret that clothes cannot be dry cleaned. Typical lists of laundry charges are available here—please note that prices are subject to change.
Europe laundry list
China laundry list
Russia laundry list
Ukraine laundry list
Medical services
In China and Russia, there is a small clinic and a physician onboard your ship; however, the physician may not speak fluent English. A staff member fluent in English will assist you. On European ships, medical care is readily available using local resources. If you are feeling ill, inform the Reception desk immediately.
Onboard currency
The onboard currency is the euro. All onboard purchases are billed with a guest check and added to your personal shipboard account. At the end of your trip, you may pay in cash (U.K. pounds, U.S. dollars or euros), or by credit card (your bill will be converted at the current exchange rate). Unfortunately, travelers checks cannot be used for payment of your shipboard account. Please review your shipboard bill upon checkout so that we can more easily assist with any questions you may have.
Onboard language
The onboard language is English. Your Tour Escort, Programme Director, key staff and tour guides all speak English.
Onboard shopping
Each ship has an onboard shop area offering Viking River Cruises logo items, batteries, film, souvenirs and select toiletries. Our China ship also has a tailor who offers custom-made silk jackets and dresses, neckties and other items.
Other services
Most ships offer a library where reading material, games and puzzles may be borrowed free of charge. A few ships have additional services, such as a hair salon or massage services. Access detailed information about each ship from our fleet pages or within any itinerary.
Packing tips
A page of tips and suggestions is available here.
Physical fitness
Our tours and cruises are not physically demanding; however, because of the nature of many of the sites you will be visiting, this tour may not be appropriate for guests with certain medical conditions and physical restrictions. Walking tours are often on uneven ground or cobblestones and may include stairs and steep inclines.
Some ships have elevators and some do not; some ships have split-level decks and/or significant thresholds that could make movement difficult. Guests who have any medical, physical or other special needs should check the fleet information here to gain an understanding of the layout of any particular ship, or contact us directly with any questions you may have.
Safes
Please keep all jewellery and valuables in your stateroom safe.
Ship phone numbers
A list of ship phone numbers can be found here.
Smoking
Smoking is not permitted indoors on any ship.
Telephone service
Each stateroom has its own telephone that can be used for stateroom-to-stateroom calls. Ship-to-shore calls can be placed at the Reception Desk, and charges will be added to your shipboard account. The phones function via satellite and there may be times when reception is not possible.
Televisions
Most staterooms have a colour television. Depending upon satellite transmission, most ships receive CNN, BBC and other English-language programming. There are usually itinerary-specific films as well.
Tipping
Tips are not included in your cruise price, but it is customary to give gratuities at the end of your cruise presuming satisfactory service has been received. £5-£10 per guest is general guideline. This is distributed among the ship’s staff, unless you specify particular recipients.
Viking News & onboard activities
The onboard daily newsletter, Viking News, features information about daily activities, shore excursions and tour departure times.
Weather
Here are some charts that show the average temperatures in major cities in the regions we visit:
China weather chart
Europe weather chart
Russia/Ukraine weather chart
For live weather reports and forecasts, you can visit weather.com, BBC Weather or CNN Weather.