Q:

What are meals like onboard?

A:

In Europe, all meals aboard are prepared by European chefs and consist of European-style food adjusted for Americans. In China, all aspects of your dining experience are overseen by our Western European hotel management, and we ensure your meals onboard and ashore meet our high standards of quality and choice.

Generally, breakfast is a substantial America-style buffet. Lunch offerings are generally lighter and may include soup, salad, sandwich bar and/or a pasta dish, choice of entrée and dessert. Dinner is a multi-course meal with a selection of entrées.

In China, you will have a number of Western lunches and dinners as well as some that will be Chinese cuisine served family-style. Many of our Cruisetours, both in China and Europe, include one or more festive meals featuring regional specialties.

Q:

Can I sit wherever I want in the ship restaurant?

A:

All of our ships' restaurants, except on the Ukraine ship, are open-seating. No table reservations are accepted, so that you may sit wherever you like to meet new people. Our Ukraine itinerary is also marketed by our sister company to European passengers who prefer fixed seating. On this cruise, tables are assigned on the evening of embarkation.

Q:

What is the dress code onboard?

A:

Dress aboard and ashore is casual, and we suggest you dress comfortably. You should bring sturdy walking shoes for sightseeing excursions. Dinner attire is “evening casual”: open-neck shirts, slacks, dresses and sport outfits. Captain’s Welcome and Farewell Nights are dressy, but not formal.

Q:

What if I have special dietary needs?

A:

Passengers requiring special diets such as vegetarian, low salt and low cholesterol meals should alert us prior to departure as well as informing the Maitre d’Hôtel when onboard. The chefs will make every effort to accommodate special dietary requests.

Q:

What amenities will I find in my cabin?

A:

All of our rooms include private bathrooms with showers and air conditioning/heat. All rooms on ships in China have balconies. Most ships have hotel-style beds and windows that open. All ships in Western Europe and China have in-room televisions with English language programming. Russian and Ukrainian ships have a public color television and a supply of movie videos. All ships have in-room phones for calling cabin-to-cabin; cabin phones on European can also dial outside the ship. Hairdryers and in-room safes are also provided on most ships.

Q:

What is the electrical current onboard?

A:

Onboard electricity is 220v. Most rooms have hair dryers. You will need an adapter or converter to use any small personal items such as a razor, curling iron or alarm clock.

Q:

What kind of entertainment is onboard?

A:

Viking River Cruises offers programs to further enhance your understanding and knowledge of your selected European or Asian destinations. These include, lectures, demonstrations and theme dinners. With highlights featured both ashore and onboard the ship, it’s a wonderful way to enrich your adventure with an offering of cultural and historical experiences you won’t find anywhere else.

Q:

Is smoking allowed on the ships?

A:

Smoking is not permitted anywhere inside our European and Russian ships. It is only permitted on the walk-around Promenade Deck outside the lounge and on the Sun Deck. On the Ukraine and China ships, limited smoking is permitted in a designated public area (not the dining room).

Q:

Is there Internet access onboard?

A:

Internet is currently unavailable on all ships, except in China. On the China ships, there is an Internet Café where you can access email and the Internet for a fee. Depending on ship location, the Internet may not always be available.

Q:

Is there medical service onboard?

A:

Staff are trained to care for passengers in need of medical assistance. While there is no doctor on board the European ships, due to the ships’ constant proximity to land, medical services can be called from shore rapidly. Russian, Ukrainian and Chinese ships have a small clinic and physician onboard. Additionally, a physician travels onboard the ship for the Eastern European Odyssey itinerary.

Q:

What is the policy regarding tipping and gratuity?

A:

Gratuities onboard and on land are not included in your Cruisetour price. Tipping is a personal way to show satisfaction for good service and is always appreciated. You may tip in cash, and all tips for shipboard staff may be charged to a credit card.

In Europe, the suggested amount is $10 per passenger per day, which will be distributed among the ship’s staff, including your Cruise Manager.

In China, the suggested amount for shipboard staff is approximately $7-$10 per passenger per day, which will be distributed among the ship's staff and shore excursion guides, and $1-$2 per person per day for the Cruise Manager.

Additional tipping is at the passengers' discretion. Your pre-cruise information will include further guidelines for other service people (taxi drivers, waiters, porters, etc.) you may wish to tip as well as information on where there is no need to tip.

Q:

Are your ships wheelchair accessible?

A:

Europe:
We welcome guests with special needs. Guests who have any medical, physical or other special needs must contact Viking River Cruises, Inc., at 1-877-66VIKING (1-877-668-4546), to obtain our Policy Statement. Our vessels and motorcoaches are equipped to European standards. Viking River Cruises will, under appropriate circumstances, permit its passengers to use motorized scooters and wheelchairs which satisfy the criteria stated in the Viking River Cruises, Inc. Policy Statement, based upon a full understanding and appreciation by its passengers and their companions that our vessels do not have elevators which would permit easy access from deck to deck and that some decks are multi-level or contain significant thresholds. Accordingly, a physically challenged passenger will require the services of a responsible adult since crew availability is severely limited in most circumstances.

China:
While we welcome guests with special needs on the great majority of our river cruises, we are advised by the owners and operators of the China river cruise vessels that water transportation, as well as schedules and activities, are subject to change depending upon changing water levels, port accessibility and weather conditions. Ships and destinations in China generally do not have facilities to accommodate wheelchairs or physically challenged passengers. Embarkation and disembarkation facilities are extremely steep and impossible to navigate with wheelchairs, scooters or any other mechanical devices Additionally, shore excursions may include walks of up to one to two miles over steps and uneven ground, which are also not wheelchair-accessible. We regret our inability to offer these cruises to physically challenged passengers due to conditions and circumstances beyond our control. For your safety and enjoyment, we recommend that all passengers be in good physical condition, so that you may participate, enjoy and benefit from all tours and shore excursions, as well as the cruise experience.

Q:

Are pets allowed onboard?

A:

We regret that pets are not allowed onboard.

Q:

Is there laundry service?

A:

Laundry and pressing services are available aboard for a fee; price lists are in your cabin. We regret that clothes cannot be dry cleaned onboard. For safety reasons, we ask that passengers do not iron their clothes in the cabins.

Q:

Is childcare available?

A:

Due to the nature of our cruise itineraries, Viking River Cruises does not maintain facilities or services for children aboard our vessels. On all Viking River Cruises, minors under the age of 18 must be accompanied and share a cabin with a parent, legal guardian or other responsible adult over the age of 21. We regret that we cannot accommodate children under 12 years of age, and we reserve the right to limit the number of minors on board under the age of 18 years.

Q:

Can I get married onboard?

A:

We regret that marriage services are not available.

Q:

Can I send mail onboard?

A:

Stamps and postcards are available for purchase at the reception desk, and mail will be sent from port each day.

Q:

What about shore excursions? Do they cost extra? Are they mandatory?

A:

All sightseeing tours and shore excursions are included in your cruise (“Cruisetour”) price unless noted as “optional” and sold aboard. These are noted in the itineraries, and described in full (including prices) in your Final Documents.

TYPICAL EXCURSIONS:
Some of your excursions are designed as panoramic tours or are shorter walking tours to give you an overview of a town or site. Other excursions may be more in-depth or concentrate on one particular site or attraction. Included meals, including lunch, are generally served onboard ship or in a local restaurant.

Depending on the day's schedule, you may be able to choose to remain behind in a city center or at an attraction for more in-depth independent exploration while the rest of the group returns to the ship or hotel. Your Tour Escort will make clear where you have this option. On some tours, coaches will let passengers off for the walking portion of the tour, returning later to collect them; passengers may not be able to remain on the coach.

You are always free to forego a tour and explore on your own; ask your Viking River Cruises Escort for suggestions. There are no refunds for unused tours, meals or other portions of the program that you choose to forego.

Q:

How physically demanding are the sightseeing tours?

A:

Sightseeing programs are walking tours, panoramic coach tours or a combination of both. Many include a fair amount of walking, since many of Europe and Asia's areas of interest are best accessed on foot. Some tours may require that you be on your feet for an extended period of time. Because of greater distances and more ancient sites, some of the excursions in China are more demanding than those in Europe. In order to enjoy all of the excursions, you should be in good physical condition and able to walk easily over uneven pavement, cobblestone streets and up and down stairs and inclines. Again, you may choose to forgo a tour at any time.

Q:

What is a typical day onboard?

A:

Day-to-Day Itinerary: Your final day-to-day land/cruise itinerary will be sent to you with your Final Documents. It will describe each day’s activities in depth, including cruising time, excursion logistics and free time.

Typical Cruise Day: All of our cruise itineraries have been designed to give you the best possible balance of shore excursions and time cruising past riverside scenery. Depending on your cruise itinerary, you may have a tour in the morning, return to the ship for lunch, and have another tour in the afternoon. On some days, you have only one tour in the morning or afternoon and cruise for the other portion of the day. Some cruising is done during the night. Some itineraries contain one or more full days of cruising due to the exceptional quality of the river scenery and restrictions of local river authorities.

Itinerary Subject to Change: In all cases, your day-to-day itinerary may be subject to change due to local circumstances such as moveable holidays, museum/site closing days, safety considerations, river and weather conditions, local river authorities and border entry/exit formalities. Our brochure is printed many months before your departure. Occasionally, circumstances subsequently change—for reasons ranging from a hotel being closed for renovations to an unscheduled conference in a certain city. We make the best possible alternate arrangements based on the circumstances. When possible, we notify you of these changes as we learn of them.

Q:

What is a shipboard account?

A:

For your convenience, all purchases and paid services aboard are billed with a guest check and added to your personal shipboard account. At the end of the cruise, you will receive a total which can be paid with cash or charged to a credit card.

Q:

Are there telephones available on board?

A:

All ships have in-room phones for calling cabin-to-cabin. Cabin phones on European ships can also be used for ship-to-shore calls. On other ships, ship-to-shore calls can be placed with the Reception Desk. The Reception Desk on all ships can send a fax for you. Charges for faxes and ship-to-shore calls will be added to your shipboard account.

Q:

What time is disembarkation?

A:

All passengers are requested to disembark by 10:00 a.m. If we are providing your transfer to the airport on disembarkation, we will transfer you at the appropriate time to catch your flight.