Viking Ocean Cruises: What’s included (11 things)

If you are considering a Viking cruise, you may be wondering what is included in the cruise fare. I’ve cruised with Viking, and in this post, we will look at the most important inclusions.

	Viking Cruises
WiFi	Included
Drinks	Included With Meals
Spa Access	Included, Treatments Cost Extra
Excursions	Included (1 Per Port)
Bottled Water	Included
Tea and Coffee	Included
Minibar	Included
Restaurants	Included
Room Service	Included
Flights	Included if Booked From The UK
Laundry	Included (Self Service Laundry Access)

My first Viking cruise

My first Viking ocean cruise was onboard the incredible Viking Sea.

I was invited by Viking to join them on a portion of their ‘Into the Midnight Sun’ cruise. I was blown away by the ship and the itinerary.

I was amazed by the number of things that were included in the cruise that cost extra on other cruise lines. During this post, I will detail everything included in your cruise fare and explain a little about how it works/my experience with it.

To find out more about this cruise click here:

Viking Sea, into the midnight sun (Norway 2018). 

#1. WiFi is Included on Viking Cruises

Wifi is completely free on Viking. It was pretty good, and you can use it on as many devices as you’d like at the same time.

You just log in with your room number and surname. There is no limit on how much WiFi you can use although Viking do reserve the right to kick you off if you start downloading movies or things like that.

We cruised around the Norwegian Fjords and didn’t really need to use the WiFi too much because we had great 4G signal.

I understand the above picture isn’t of WiFi.. but it’s quite hard to photograph WiFi! So here is a lovely place you could sit onboard while using the Wifi.

I managed to send photos and update my Twitter, Instagram and Facebook without any problems. It wasn’t good enough for videos, but it was okay to make WhatsApp/Skype calls without the video part.

#2. Drinks are Included With Lunch and Dinner

During meal times wine, beer and soft drinks are included.

This isn’t just in the main restaurants, you can also get the drinks from the buffet or if you are eating at places like the poolside grill you will be offered drinks.

If you are in the buffet you can pick up a can of coke/fanta etc as you walk past which I love. It makes it so easy.

If you’re ordering room service for your lunch you can also order a drink and you can pick up one from the pool grill.

#3. Spa Entry is Included on Viking Cruises

Entry to the spa is inclusive in your cruise fare. On most other cruise lines you have to buy a pass to the thermal area either on an hourly, daily or whole cruise basis.

The spa onboard the Viking Sea includes all of the usual things you’d expect from a spa, including pools and saunas, but it also includes a snow grotto and a water bucket!

The snow grotto is a room which is filled with snow (no surprises there) and the water bucket is so that you can pour cold water on yourself… I decided not to do the water bucket.

Blue Nose Ceremony

Prior to going into the spa, we had taken part in the ‘Blue Nose Ceremony’ which is a ceremony where you jump into a pool filled with ice. This ceremony takes place when you enter or leave the Arctic Circle.

We joined partway through the cruise, so we missed the ‘into the Arctic Circle’ ceremony, but the Viking team were great and organised it so that we could do it on the way out. They used 40 bags of ice!

#4. Daily Excursions are Included on Viking Cruises

Excursions are included with your cruise in every port. Excursions can be expensive, so I was surprised to find that they were included in the fare.

We took the included excursion in each port and they were really good. I’m not normally a person who books excursions, preferring instead to get off the ship and do my own thing.

However, the included Viking tours were never more than half a day-long meaning that you also had time to get off the ship and wander around.

All the excursions that we took were mostly by coach but there were plenty of opportunities to get off and admire the views/walk around.

Find out whether it is better to take cruise line excursions or do your own thing in port in the post below. Obviously, if the excursions are free, it would be rude not to take them – but excursions aren’t included on mainstream cruiselines…

Shore Excursions vs. Exploring Solo: Which is Better for You?

#5. Bottled Water is Included on Viking Cruises

Bottled water is available at no extra charge, both in your cabin and around the ship.

On most other cruise lines you have to pay for bottled water or buy it as part of a package.

There are a couple of cruise lines where even if you buy the unlimited beverage ‘ultimate alcohol’ package they still will not include bottled water.

Having the bottled water around really encouraged me to drink more water which is always good. It’s also great to be able to pick up a bottle when you get off the ship.

#6. Tea and Coffee are Included on Viking Cruises

Tea and Coffee are free all the time, everywhere! I’m not much of a coffee drinker but I’ve been told by my friends that I was sailing with that the coffee was really good.

There is also a coffee machine in the stateroom and it comes with little coffee pods. On some cruise lines, you have to buy those pods!

In the buffet, there are take away cups which you can use to make a cup of tea/coffee in. I love being able to wander off with my tea so this was appreciated! My cup of tea seen below in the winter garden.

#7. The Minibar is Included on Viking Cruises

For the first time in my life, I helped myself to snack from the mini bar! I would normally never consider paying for the items in the mini bar, instead viewing the mini bar as just a fridge.

Onboard Viking the mini bar is included. How often it is replenished depends on your cabin grade.

The standard balcony cabin is only filled at the start of your cruise but the other categories are filled whenever they are empty. That said, my minibar kept filling itself up.

I took a luxury cruise on Emerald Azzurra, but even on that superyacht, you didn’t get free access to the mini-bar – so Viking is pretty special.

Find out about that amazing Yacht cruise here:

#8. Alternative Restaurants Are Included on Viking Cruises

Viking doesn’t have any restaurants where you have to pay extra.

Once you are onboard, it’s actually pretty hard to spend money because so much stuff is included.

They do have restaurants called ‘alternative’ restaurants. These would definitely be extra-cost speciality restaurants on other cruise lines.

The food on Viking was absolutely amazing. I could fault a single thing with the food at any point.

Below is the food from the Chef’s table Asian tasting menu.

#9. Room Service is Included on Viking Cruises

I am used to cruising on cruise lines that offer room service, but it is often a very small menu or you have to pay for it.

Some cruise lines offer free breakfast room service but very few have a menu as big as Vikings.

Onboard Viking, you can get a 9-oz steak delivered to your room for no extra cost! I enjoyed breakfast room service, which came promptly at the time I requested.

You simply fill out the order form, leave it on your door before 11 p.m., and your food arrives in the morning. Easy peasy! (They even cut up my banana for me.)

#10. Return flights

If you’re in the UK and you book a Viking cruise return flights from the UK will be included.

All transfers are also included which means that you don’t have to worry about anything!

Viking’s main market is the UK, although many of the passengers onboard our Norwegian cruise were from the US.

#11. Laundry is Included on Viking Cruises (Including washing powder)

Many other cruise lines have free-to-use laundry, but you usually have to pay for the washing powder, etc.

On some cruise lines, you have no option to wash your own clothes at all and have to pay to have them washed for you.

Onboard Viking there is a laundry on every floor, open all day and completely free.

I usually only use the laundry to iron the odd dress or shirt, but many people choose to do all of their washing onboard so that they don’t have to do it when they get home.

Would I recommend Viking Ocean Cruises?

I would 110% recommend Viking. The ship was absolutely gorgeous and the atmosphere onboard was so relaxing.

I have written a full diary/guide of my time onboard, detailing everywhere we went, everything we did, and, most importantly, everything I ate!

To get an idea of what it is like to cruise with Viking, click here:

Viking Sea: Into the midnight sun. 

DISCLAIMER: I was invited onboard as part of a press trip. All views and opinions are my own! 

Have a look at my tour of Viking Sea in the video below:

Before You Go

Have a look at the luxury “Yacht Club” area onboard MSC Euribia here – It is a “ship within a ship concept” on a larger ship, rather than a smaller ship like Viking Sea:

Inside Look: MSC’s Luxury Ship Within a Ship (MSC Euribia) #ad

Find out about all the food I ate on the luxury cruise line Uniworld (when we sailed around the Venice Lagoon) here:

Here’s Everything I Ate on a Luxury River Cruise (Main Meals, Buffet and More)