wraparound balcony on the Explorer Suite
Viking Skirnir is one of many of Viking’s longships sailing Europe’s rivers. Sister ships to the Skirnir have identical deck plans. There are no inside cabins on a longship, but the below water level cabins just have long narrow windows near the ceiling since the rest of the cabin is underwater. Tall people can see out of the window from the floor, but shorter people will need to stand on the bed or a chair in order to see out. There is a wide ledge by the window that is useful for storing things, but also eliminates floorspace from the cabin.
balcony from balcony cabin
All cabins have a closet with hanging space and shelves. There’s a few drawers too and room to store suitcases under the bed. The shower has a small clothesline. Sending laundry out for the crew to wash is expensive. You can wash a small amount of clothing in the little sink. The line doesn’t hold much, but there is a bit of structure in the shower that can be used to either hang things on or tie a clothesline to. Most of it is on one side, but there’s a bit on the other side to tie the other end of a line.
standard bathroom
Some walls in the cabin are magnetic enough to hold up magnetic hooks. The wall under the window in the below water level cabins comes in useful for that. Cabins on higher decks have glass on the outer wall which is great for a view, but leaves them only the outer wall of the bathroom for any magnetic needs.
outlets on one side of the bed in a standard cabin
There are 4 sets of outlets with one American and one European style outlet above each nightstand and at either end of the long desktop that runs from the closet to the end wall. One of the European ones has the charger for the audio receivers for the shore excursions plugged into it. The ones by the bed have switches above them for controlling the room lights from the bed. A bottle of water and an ice bucket are provided. There is an ice machine in the hallway for anyone who wants to get some. Cabins are cleaned twice daily. Beds can be split into two as on ocean ships.
standard cabin – below water level except for the window
Standard Cabins
We stayed in a standard cabin, which are found on deck 1. Only the little slit window is above the waterline and the rest of the room is below it. These are considerably less expensive than cabins on higher decks. On a wintertime cruise the room was very cold when we first got there, and it seemed to take days to get the heat to go up a degree or two. It gradually got slightly warmer, but was pretty cold in there for the whole trip as the actual temperature never reached where the thermostat was set. Public areas in the rest of the ship weren’t exactly warm either, but not as cold as our room. Whether it was because they keep the ship cold or because of the cold water on one wall of the room I can’t say. The warmest place was the bathroom because it had a heated floor. The cabin had very small nightstands on either side of the bed and a stool under the desk. For anyone who can afford it, I’d recommend booking one of the above water cabins. Besides the chill in the standard cabins, you hear the ship’s engines. The movement of the ship through the water is also loud sometimes. Even when it is docked you can often hear sounds from other ships passing by. You also definitely know when the ship goes through locks, even if it is pitch dark in the room in the dead of night because of the noises passing through the water. These cabins are listed as 150 square feet, but that is more likely square footage of the ceiling area rather than the floor since the ceiling extends out to the window, but the wide ledge under it shrinks the floorspace by about a foot and a half across that side of the room.
French balcony cabin
French Balcony Cabins
Deck 2 has French balcony cabins down one side of the ship. There are also a few on deck 3. These cabins have sliding glass doors that open for fresh air or window free viewing, but they do not have an actual balcony outside of those doors. Other than being above the water and having a view, the interior is similar to that of the below water level cabins. Views from deck 2 are just above water level. Though the square footage of 135 square feet makes these sound smaller than the standard cabin, they really aren’t since the shelf under the window takes up quite a lot of what would otherwise be floorspace there.
balcony cabin
Balcony Cabins
Balcony cabins are found on decks 2 and 3. These rooms have an actual small balcony outside of the sliding doors with chairs and a small table. These rooms are a bit bigger than the below water and French Balcony cabins at 205 square feet. They have space enough for a bigger nightstand and a chair besides the stool underneath the desk.
Veranda suite living room
Veranda Suites
Veranda suites are more spacious than regular cabins at 275 square feet. One side is set up as a bedroom and the other as a sitting area or living room.
bedroom of veranda suite
The bedroom has a French balcony and the living room has a couch, chairs, and table as well as a full veranda with sitting area. The suites have a larger bathroom than the other staterooms.
explorer’s suite living room
Explorer Suites
There are just 2 explorer suites at the back of deck 3. These are significantly larger than the Veranda suites at 445 square feet and have wraparound balconies from the back to one side of the ship. They also have a French balcony in the bedroom and a dressing area between the bedroom and bathroom.
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