Viking Commercial
A river cruise can be exactly as relaxing or as busy as you please. Viking includes one free excursion every day, usually a walking tour. And there are countless optional ones (available for purchase, of course) All meals are included, as are beer and wine for lunch and dinner. For a modest additional fee, you can add on a Spirits package which covers any beverage, at any hour of the day. Want a glass of the Veuve but not the bottle, go see our favorite barkeep, Jeffrey, and he'll open up that bottle and serve you a glass. Want a Sidecar with your Cheerios? Whatevs, they've got it covered.
The ship:
As I've already said, there is not much excitement on board. The ships are minimal, and the fun is in being right in the middle of the city and having such easy access to come and go as you please. That said, I am completely content to find a comfy, quiet spot to sit down and do a bit of journaling. I could likely spend hours just with a book, a pen and a journal.
For those a bit more Antsy Pantsy, there are other options. The top deck has a walking track, herb gardens that I'd imagine you might be able to poach from, and nice deck chairs.
The Rooms:
They're small, and no mistake. Organize your stuff, early on. Here's a few pics of our room. We had a French Balcony. Which is I guess the 2nd tier. You get a sliding door but no balcony. It was just fine for us!
The trouble with any sort of a balcony room, is when the ships do this thing they call "rafting". Sometimes the docking locations are busy so they stack the ships up side by side. This is a pic of someone else's room, within arms reach of ours. Its weird, not gonna lie. Luckily we only had this happen once. I have heard that in the busier seasons, this can happen an unfortunate number of times.
The Schedule: Here is a look at a day in the life of a Viking Cruise:
8:30-9:00am - At this unholy hour, most of the included excursions are being sorted up in the lobby. Make sure to bring your ear phones with the listening boxes. If you want to cram in a made-to-order omelette or my personal favorite, their house-made Muesli, you'll need to factor in about 15 minutes in the dining room.
Noonish - return to ship if you want, for lunch. Or just stay in town, because guess what, its just a short walk back to the boat. You're on vacation, yo!
After lunch - Did you sign up for another excursion? Or would you prefer an afternoon off on your own to explore? Maybe a nap?
6ish - Meet in the lounge for a Port Talk. This is one of my favorites. They tell you all about where you'll be tomorrow. History, culture, food...Yep, I was that one geek taking notes.7:00 or thereabouts - Dinner is served. Options are the dining room or the terrace. And blessedly, it is informal and casual. No sequins required. The food is un-freaking-believable. They did a great job of tailoring the menu to the current city and if you aren't interested in the local fare, feel free to have the Steak or Chicken.
After Dinner - Back up to the lounge. Sure there are no neon clad dance clubs or loud casinos shrouded in smoke, but the entertainment on board was fantastic. Local musicians, folklore groups, etc. Sadly I missed most of it. By the time they were serving the soup course, I was already washing off my face and sinking into my comfy bed. Jet lag and travel fatigue are no joke!
This is usually how I ended my evening, after realizing that the TV has nonstop Downton Abbey episodes on demand. Actually this was probably in the morning before leaving our hotel ship, since I had my shoes on the bed. I don't ever do that.
There was that one night though, where I managed to stay up for the entertainment. It was a Slovakian Men's Choir. They sang us Christmas Carols and they were divine. And wow, the main dude, MC and lead whatever they call him, looks so much like a grownup Liam, don't you think?!
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