Heidi BucoloWe recently sailed on Viking Radgrid, one of Viking’s many river cruise ships. This Viking Seine River cruise was our first river cruise, so we weren’t quite sure what to expect. We stayed in a balcony room, which is our usual cabin preference on ocean ships. But, how did these river cruise accommodations compare? Well, we break down all the details with our Viking River Cruise Veranda Stateroom review.
Our Viking River Cruise Veranda Stateroom Review
When comparing ocean ships to river ships, there are much fewer cabin options. In fact, there are only 84 staterooms in total on Viking Radgrid. The options include 22 Standard Staterooms, 18 French Balcony Staterooms, 35 Veranda Staterooms, 7 Veranda Suites, and 2 Explorer Suites.
The Veranda Staterooms are broken down into Veranda A and Veranda B cabins based on location. For our sailing, we were assigned to cabin 219. This Veranda B stateroom is located on the starboard side of the Middle Deck, or deck 2 of this four-deck vessel.
Give the size of river ships, it was never a far walk anywhere. The Restaurant was on our deck and The Lounge and Aquavit Terrace were one deck above. Thus, there’s really not much difference among any of the veranda cabins.
Inside a Viking River Cruise Veranda Stateroom
Layout
This Viking River Cruise Veranda Stateroom is 205 square feet and includes a personal balcony.
Immediately upon entering the room, the bathroom was to the right and the closet was to the left. Continuing past the bathroom and closet, the long dresser/vanity area was to the left and the bed was to the right. The bed in our Viking veranda stateroom was on the aft wall facing forward.
Between the bed and the balcony, there was a small shelf-like desk which doubled as a nightstand along with an upright chair. The television was on the wall opposite from the bed above the dresser, and there was a small nightstand on the other side of the bed as well.
Finally, there is the balcony, which felt small when compared to balconies on ocean ships. The balcony was fairly long and narrow and had just enough room for two upright chairs and a small table.
Overall, the cabin was a bit cozier than we expected, but we were glad to have a full balcony.
The finishes and décor of the cabin were very on brand for Viking. They looked very similar to the cabins we stayed in during our Viking Ocean and Viking Expedition cruises in the past, except smaller.
Bathroom
The bathroom in this Viking Veranda Stateroom was a little small even by cruise ship bathroom standards. Yet, it still featured all the necessities and even some upgrades like heated floors.
Opening the bathroom door, the stand-up shower was to our left, the toilet immediately in front, and the sink/vanity area to the right. There are a few shelves for storage and adequate counterspace.
The shower was a rectangular set-up with a glass door. This innovative glass door is hinged in both directions, making it easier to get in and out. Further, all Viking ships provide premium Freyja bath products.
Closet
Across from the bathroom are the closets. The closet size seemed on par with other cruise lines. One side featured a full length clothes bar with hangers. The other side featured shelves along with the safe.
Given the weather was cooler during our sailing and we had packed several layers, we were thankful for the addtional dresser drawers. It would have been very difficult to fit all our clothes along with jackets otherwise.
Main Cabin
While the dresser/vanity area was very generously-sized, we did miss the traditional seating area with sofa found on most ocean ships in this Viking Veranda Stateroom.
The dresser portion housed the mini-fridge and six additional drawers for storage. The vanity area had a small stool and plenty of counterspace. Even though there was no shelving here, the area was plenty big for getting ready and storing many of our toiletries.
This area is where you will find the glass bottles of provided water, the ice bucket, and the QuietVox device charging station as well.
You will also find 1 US and 1 European power outlet near the vanity and 2 USB outlets and 1 additonal power outlet above the dresser portion.
In terms of the seating area, it was basically just one upright chair and a larger nightstand/desk. This became our charging station for laptops and cameras during the cruise. There is 1 US, 1 European, and 2 USB outlets near each nightstand.
The queen-sized Viking Explorer bed provided adequate comfort during our trip. We had no issues falling asleep after our long days ashore exploring new and exciting ports of call.
Balcony
Lastly, there is the balcony which always provides a great spot for taking in the scenery. Given that the weather during our trip was rather cool and rainy, we unfortunately did not get to use this balcony much. Though, it was nice to watch some of the scenic sailing.
It’s important to note that river cruises are known for tieing up next to each other while in port. So, you might not always have a view while docked even if you have a balcony. On our sailing, we were lucky that whenever this double docking occurred it was always on the other side of the vessel.
Viking River Cruise Veranda Stateroom Inclusions
Across the fleet, all Viking River Cruise Veranda Staterooms come standard with certain amenities. These include:
- Floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door opening to veranda with river views
- 12 PM Embarkation
- Queen-sized Viking Explorer Bed
- Free Wi-Fi
- Television with live TV channels, complimentary movies, and in-house programming
- 110/220 volt outlets and USB ports
- Bathroom with glass-enclosed shower, heated floor, anti-fog mirror, and hair dryer
- Premium Freyja toiletries
- Plush robes and slippers (upon request)
- Telephone, safe, refrigerator
- Individual climate control
- Bottled water replenished daily
- Twice-daily housekeeping
- Under-bed suitcase storage space
- Wardrobe with wooden hangers
Recap of Our Viking River Cruise Veranda Stateroom Review
Our Viking River Cruise Veranda Stateroom offered all of the amenities you would expect to find in a standard cruise ship cabin. However, when compared to Viking Ocean and Expedition ships, the staterooms are smaller. To be fair, we’ve never sailed on any other river ships for comparative purposes.
We did make the accommodations work for our week-long cruise, but it would have been nice to have a bit more space in the closet and bathroom. It was also a tight squeeze to walk between the foot of the bed and the dresser. We missed having a sofa as well.
But, we did enjoy having a traditional balcony and some of the other upgrades like heated bathroom floors and twice daily stateroom service which is a thing of the past on most mainstream cruise lines.
Overall, river cruises are more about the destinations than the ship anyway. So, it’s always a benefit to have our accommodations, dining, and transportation taken care of for us. The ability to pack and unpack once while exploring multiple destinations is why we love cruising in all its forms–ocean, expedition, and river!
Comments
Have you stayed in a Viking River Cruise Veranda Stateroom? What is your preferred cabin category when you cruise? Drop us an anchor below with your Viking stateroom reviews.
