This isn’t our boat but all of the Viking longboats are identical so ours looks exactly like this one. Just don’t bother zooming in and looking for Chuck, because he’s not there.  And if he is, well then I’ve missed the boat.

Most of the sun deck is covered with chairs, tables, and umbrellas that are constantly moved around based on the activities on the deck.

The sun deck was one of Chuck’s favorite places on the boat. An unobstructed view.

This photo shows how everything on the sun deck has been lowered in anticipation of approaching a low bridge.

The roof over the lobby is glass so when you’re on the sun deck, where this photo was taken, you can see people below. Chuck was walking on the sun deck one evening and took this photo of me working  at one of the computer stations.

This is one side of the dining room, so try to imagine this area 4 times larger. There are tables for 6, 8, and 10, so you meet new people at every meal, especially in the beginning.

This is the Aquavit Terrace at the front of the boat. When the weather is nice, people can eat either inside or outside. But when it’s cold outside, like it was on our trip, then people only eat inside, where there are 2 tables for 2 and 3 tables for 4. For breakfast, this is where the Continental Breakfast is available. For lunch and dinner, the same menu is available here and in the dining room.

This is a portion of the lounge which had a bar in the middle and was huge. There was a really talented singer/pianist who was seemingly glued to that piano behind the post 24/7.  The lounge is where the nightly entertainment happened and it was also where ship meetings were held although you could also see those meetings on the TVs in the staterooms.

Our stateroom was on the Upper Deck. This photo shows the staircase that went from the Upper Deck to the Middle Deck. The Dining Room was on the Middle Deck while the Aquavit Terrace and the Lounge were on the Upper Deck. There were staterooms on the Upper Deck, the Middle Deck and the Main Deck. And there’s an elevator that goes between the Middle Deck and the Upper Deck. The reception area was on the Middle Deck while the Library and the Computer Stations were on the Upper Deck.

This is our boat’s front door on the middle deck. This is usually where the ramp was lowered when we left the ship for excursions. However, depending on the circumstances, we could also disembark from the sun deck or the upper deck.  And every time we left, we had to scan our room keycard so they would know who was on the boat and who wasn’t. And they handed us a bottle of water on our way out.  Sometimes when there were several boats like ours in port, they lined us up together side by side and we had to walk crosswise through another ship to get out. And when we had our drapes open, we were looking right into another cabin. It was kind of weird, but infrequent.

This was one of my favorite places on board – the coffee bar. The coffee machine had 8 different beverages including several coffees, hot chocolate, and hot water for tea. I WANT ONE OF THESE! And on the left, 2 trays of fresh pastries showed up first thing in the morning and during the rest of the day, freshly baked cookies appeared regularly.

Nice library considering the size of the ship, with books curated just for the ports we were visiting.

Once I realized that the wifi in our room would never support my blog in a timely manner and my tablet was giving me fits, this area right next to the library and across the hall from our room became my second home. And luckily it was just down the hall from the coffee and cookie station. It just doesn’t get any better than that.

We had a great balcony. Our room was in the middle of the boat, the first room at the start of the hall  leading to the rooms, which turned out to be a really great location.

The literature said these are queen-sized beds but I really think they’re closer in size to our king bed at home.  Each night when we came back from dinner, the newsletter for the next day and our tickets for the next day’s excursions had been placed on our bed.

The amount of storage in these rooms is amazing. In this storage area are a refrigerator (the far left panel with one door handle) and 6 drawers. There’s a big mirror in this area which really helps make the room look larger too. There’s also a TV here where you can find everything you need to know about this cruise as well as some US news channels and a big bunch of movies. Or you can just turn the bow cam channel on the TV and watch the scenery ahead. Under the TV is where our quiet boxes and headsets were recharging so they would be ready to take along on tomorrow’s tours.  This is the area where the tightness of the room is most noticeable. Sliding past one another in this area, especially if someone is sitting on that stool in front of the mirror or if either one is carrying something, can be problematic. But it’s a small problem, all things considered.

Next to the front door with its full-length mirror is a large lighted closet with one side for hanging clothes and the other side with shelves and a safe.  And all luggage fits easily under the bed.

For its size, the bathroom is a real marvel. There are 3 shelves to the left of the sink and 2 more long shelves to the left underneath the sink. The shower is very adequate, all things considered, and has a non-slip floor and a detachable wand. The floor in the bathroom is heated. And they provide 2 sets of great toiletries – one for the shower and one for the sink. No worry about getting into the shower and then discovering the shampoo is on the shelf above the sink. And the toilet has a silent lid. In my opinion, they have truly thought of everything. And each room has its own thermostat.