River cruising: It's about destination immersion

River cruising is about the destination probably more so than the ship. The ports of call shadow the onboard amenities; however, Viking Skadi helps guests learn about the local culture, history and highlights of the places that they visit. Don't be surprised to see local dishes on the menu or local entertainers sharing their music, dancing and stories.

Viking includes daily tours as part of your cruise fare, which makes the hassle of figuring out logistics less challenging. Most tours are done around lunch, and then you are free to do what you choose until the ship leaves port. We were given a daily briefing the night before we arrived to our new location. The cruise director would inform us of the highlights of the town's history, art, food, music and architecture of the cities and towns we visited. 

Also on board, we were invited to sip local beer, sample local fare — it sometimes seems that every day is Oktoberfest in Germany — and watch performances from local musicians and dancers.

ChrisCruises / Creative Commons BYViking Skadi in Passau, Germany.

Dining

Viking Skadi has one restaurant fittingly called The Restaurant. During breakfast, I ordered an omelet or I enjoyed fresh yogurt and fruit. Depending on what time our tour was over, I either ate in town or headed back to the ship to eat in the dining room. Dinner was always served in the main restaurant. Seating is open, so be prepared to sit with new people.

There was also an alternative choice upstairs in the Aquavit Terrace, which is an outdoor space for you to watch the river while enjoying a coffee, cocktail, pint or al fresco dining. The Aquavit Terrace is also equipped with grills for outdoor cooking.

When Skadi was not scheduled to leave port until later in the evening, people were permitted to come and go from the ship as they pleased. Our group went to a Hungarian restaurant in Budapest, for example.

Staterooms

I stayed in a balcony room that was average size for a river boat. There was plenty of closet space, and extra storage was available under the bed. The bathroom has a pocket door, which was nice because the lack of a swinging door saved space. The issue I had with the pocket door is that it did not close all the way.

I loved scenic cruising on the Danube and leaving the windows open to enjoy the scenery. The extra space from the balcony area was welcome, and we took advantage of the chairs and small table in our balcony. The 40-inch flat-panel TV and in-room refrigerator were nice additions to our stateroom.

Activities

I was cruising during winter, so taking advantage of the sun deck was not optimal (brrr). But I could see that the space was perfect for scenic cruising. There is an oversized chess game and lounge chairs to kick back. Other activities included learning about making gingerbread, making Gluwein and listening to a lecture about the history of the Christmas markets.

Volker Preusser / Courtesy of Austrian National Tourist Office Melk Abbey, a Benedictine abbey overlooking the Danube above the town of Melk, Austria, one of the stops on a Viking Skadi itinerary.

Entertainment

River cruising is a pretty mellow activity. There are not any large production shows or comedy clubs. What you will enjoy is some light piano music played by the house musician and local entertainers who are brought onto the ship to sing, dance or tell stories from the local perspective. While I was on Skadi, there was a performance by a local singing group and a lecture about the history of Christmas markets in Europe.

After dinner, people can hang out in the lounge and have an after-dinner drink, or they can walk back into town if the ship is not leaving port until later in the evening.

Fun facts

• Viking Longships are 443 feet long and 38 feet wide because those are the maximum dimensions possible for river ships navigating the locks on some of Europe's waterways. If they were even two inches longer or wider, they wouldn't fit in some locks. 
• Viking names its ships after Norse mythology. As Wikipedia tells us: "In Norse mythology, Skadi is a jötunn and goddess associated with bowhunting, skiing, winter and mountains." Who knew?

Disclosure

Carrie Finley-Bajak sailed on Viking Skadi on a social media outreach cruise as a guest of Viking Cruises. See Cruiseable's Ethics & Disclosure policy. 

Updated from an earlier review.

Your take

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