Tour of the Viking Vili River Cruise Ship

During our Castles & Legends cruise with Viking River Cruise, we had the chance to sail on the Viking Longship Vili. This was our first experience on a river cruise, and we are so excited to share with you everything we enjoyed on the Viking Vili.

Today we are excited to take you on a tour of the Viking Vili River Cruise Ship where we enjoyed an amazing week sailing on the Danube River.

Tour of the Viking Vili River Cruise Ship

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Room - Veranda Stateroom 317 on the Viking Vili

Our room was located on the third floor of the Viking Vili partway down the hallway. It is a short walk to everything on the ship from the room.

The room includes hotel-style beds 79 inches x 63 inches (with optional twin-bed configuration). The bed originally came with a couple of pillows, but we asked for additional pillows from reception. The bed is quite firm!

There is a floor to ceiling sliding glass door that opens up onto the veranda. This is a great way to let additional light into the room. One note is to make sure you close your curtains when you are sleeping or getting ready. You may look up and realize that you are docked next to another ship or next to the sidewalk in town.

The deck has two small chairs and a small table along with room to lean against the balcony. We did not have the chance to use the balcony much due to sailing in November and the weather being a bit chilly.

One of the best parts of the room is the bathroom heated floors. Your feet will thank you when you walk into the bathroom after a long day of walking tours. The bathroom includes a shower and toilet along with mirrors and two shelves.

The shower is not large but very functional. The bathroom has Freya shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and lotion in pretty good size bottles when you check-in. Our toiletries were refilled every time we took one off the shelf.

Staterooms include both European and US plugins in multiple places around the room. We still brought this international adapter so we would have it for any nights off the ship. This also worked great for extra plugins while cruising.

The stateroom also came equipped with the quiet vox headsets that are needed for the walking tours and excursions. It is your responsibility to plug these in nightly and make sure you grab them for each of your tours.

There are two sets of earpieces on the desk when you check-in. You can use your own earpieces if you do not like the ones that go over the top of your ear.

The stateroom had a large glass bottle of water, two glasses, and an ice bucket ready for use. The water bottle was replaced each time we were low on water. There is a small refrigerator built into the cabinets next to the drawers.

Viking allows you to bring on your own wine or beer from ports!

For clothes, there are six drawers along with the counter space. Four smaller drawers and two larger drawers for storage. There are two segments within the closet. The first segment has hangers and open space the 2nd segment has large shelves and a large safe. The safe is large enough for a camera, iPad or other devices. We did not see if a laptop would fit, but I think a smaller laptop would fit without a problem.

Each side of the bed also has a nightstand with storage space. Along with overhead lamps and reading lights that are directly over the bed. We had the beds put together into one large size bed instead of the twin bed configuration.

A hairdryer is provided in one of the drawers so you do not need to worry about packing one. The room also has a 40-inch Flat-panel TV with a premium entertainment package including BBC News, CNBC, CNN, National Geographic, TNT Series, Sky Sports, videos on demand, and “View From the Bridge”. We found multiple movies and TV shows available during our cruise.

Dining/Lounge areas

Aquavit Terrace

Located on the third floor, the Aquavit Terrace is an indoor/outdoor dining and viewing area at the front of the ship. You can enjoy a continental breakfast or a small breakfast menu in the morning in the Aquavit. For lunch and dinner, the Aquavit offers a smaller menu than the main dining room.

One thing to note if you are vegetarian I did not see vegetarian options listed on the Aquavit menu. I was told that you could ask for the vegetarian options from the main dining room and they will be brought to you in the Aquavit Terrace. There was a slight bit of confusion on this at the beginning of our cruise, but it was quickly fixed.

You can also request gluten-free menu items if you do not see them on the Aquavit Terrace Menu.

Observation Lounge

The Observation Lounge is also located on deck three of the Viking Vili. The room has floor to ceiling windows and offers amazing views as you cruise. This was the meeting spot for most of the evening's entertainment programs along with the daily briefing held by the program director before dinner each night.

The Observation Lounge has a lovely pianist that plays while you are relaxing with a cocktail or beverage of choice.

Coffee/Tea Station

Right outside the Observation Lounge is a coffee/tea station that includes a small coffee machine that makes a variety of coffees along with hot chocolate. You can also get hot water for tea from the machine.

On the Viking Vili, there was an assortment of tea varieties available along with cups and to-go cups.

One thing to keep an eye out for in the coffee/tea station area is the daily rotation of cookies. Each day there was oatmeal raisin along with chocolate cookies available.

There was also a rotation of cookies specific to the area we were sailing in. From Linzer cookies in Austria to Hungarian cookies as we sailed towards Budapest.

If you like a certain variety of tea I highly suggest bringing it with you along with a travel mug. the cups provided are small coffee cups and if you have a coffee habit, you may want a larger mug.

Main dining area

The main dining room is located on deck 2. There are ample seats available in the dining room for all passengers on board. There is one set time for lunch and dinner seatings. You can stroll in a few minutes late but try to be near the time, so everything flows smoothly.

The tables in the main dining room sit 6 to 8 people at a time. There is a combination of chairs with sides and open sides for comfort.

On our cruise, the following meals were served in the main dining room

7 am-9:30 am - Breakfast with a buffet and choice of dishes cooked to order

12 pm - lunch served in the main dining room with a buffet, normally a salad and appetizer choices along with dishes cooked to order.

7:00 pm - dinner served with the main menu and a few nights there were buffet options. Keep an eye out for theme nights during your cruise to sample food from the areas you are traveling in.

Internet area/lounge chairs

On the third floor, there are a few computers with internet access available to all passengers. Internet access is included in the price of the cruise. The service is best when docked in cities, but we did not have any problems with the internet during our cruise.

It may not be fast enough to download a new movie, but we were able to share photos via social media and on the blog without a problem.

Reception/Store

There is a small reception desk on the main deck of the Viking Vili. This is the area where you check-in for the cruise and also pick up your excursion cards daily.

Next to reception is a small store with Viking River Cruise products. You can find Helly Hanson jackets, some jewelry, a teddy bear, and a few books in the store. It is not very large but has a nice assortment of products.

Sun deck

The sun deck is the place to be when the sun is out, or you are enjoying the scenery along the river. During our cruise, we experienced some interesting weather, so part of our viewing was done from the lounge or our room.

One thing to note is the sundeck may be closed when you have to pass under bridges or go through the locks. For some bridges, the covering on the sundeck is lowered along with the wheelhouse lowering into the ship so it can fit under the bridge.

On the sundeck you will find a walking track, putting green, shuffleboard, and depending on the time of year an organic herb garden for the kitchen. There are multiple types of chairs including lounge chairs and upright sitting chairs. There are also tables if you want to set up your camera gear or work from the sundeck.

We talked to a few guests who sign up for the Silver beverage package and enjoy a bottle of wine while sitting on the sundeck during cruises in warmer months.

Misc.

There is an elevator between the 2nd and 3rd floors on the ship. There is no elevator access to the 1st floor or the sundeck.

Laundry service is available from your stateroom steward. There is a cloth bag provided in the closet along with a form to fill out. Our laundry was returned the same day, but it says it can take up to 24 hours for laundry to be returned.

Daily printed papers are left in the lounge areas with news from the US and Canada. There may be other countries news provided on other ships, but we only had passengers from the US and Canada on board our ship. The paper includes the highlights of the news, sports, and weather around the world.

The Crew

The heart of the Viking Vili is the amazing crew! They made our cruise a truly amazing experience. They greeted us at the door with sweet treats, gluwhein, and a smile. Throughout our entire cruise, they made sure that we were having the best time possible. From the hotel manager to the cleaning crew every crew member had a smile and took the time to get to know us.

Flor our favorite waitress in the dining room had us giggling at every meal. I hope that we get to cruise with her again soon! She was so much fun and a true highlight of our Viking River Cruise experience. She was small in stature but big in wit and fun! I love that she was barely taller than John while he was sitting down.