Before “reporting” on today’s still-at-sea exciting activities, let’s talk about staterooms on the Viking Ocean ships … There are six categories of room, all of which have a veranda.

Veranda Stateroom (270 sq ft)

• Ocean-view stateroom with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door opening to full-size veranda
• King-size Viking Explorer Bed (optional twin-bed configuration) with luxury linens & pillows
• Free Wi-Fi (connection speed may vary)
• 42” flat-screen TV featuring MSNBC, FOX News, National Geographic and more
• 110/220 volt US & EU outlets & USB ports
• Large private bathroom with spacious glass-enclosed shower, heated floor, anti-fog mirror & hair dryer
• Premium Freyja® toiletries
• Plush robes & slippers
• Direct-dial satellite phone & cell service
• Security safe
• Individual climate control
• Purified water refilled daily
• Stateroom steward & twice-daily housekeeping
• 24-hour room service
• Under-bed suitcase storage space
• Spacious drawers & closet with wooden hangers
• Mini-bar with soft drinks, water & snacks
• 11 AM Embarkation
• 3 PM stateroom access
• Shore excursion reservations 60 days prior to departure

Deluxe Veranda Stateroom (270 sq ft)

As the Veranda Stateroom except:

• Mini-bar with soft drinks, water & snacks (replenished once daily)
• 2 PM stateroom access
• Priority shore excursion reservations 67 days prior to departure
• 1 priority reservation at each alternative restaurant 60 days prior to departure
• Priority spa treatment bookings 60 days prior to departure
• Binoculars
• Traditional Norwegian Marius-weave blanket
• Personal coffee machine with premium coffee & tea selections

Penthouse Veranda Stateroom (338 sq ft)

As the Deluxe Veranda Stateroom except:

• Mini-bar with alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, water & snacks (replenished once daily)
• 1 PM stateroom access
• Priority shore excursion reservations 77 days prior to departure
• 2 priority reservations at each alternative restaurant 70 days prior to departure
• Priority spa treatment bookings 70 days prior to departure
• Welcome bottle of champagne
• Complimentary pressing & shoe shine services

Penthouse Junior Suite (405 sq ft)

As the Penthouse Veranda Stateroom except:

• 11 AM priority stateroom access
• Priority shore excursion reservations 87 days prior to departure
• 3 priority reservations at each alternative restaurant 80 days prior to departure
• Priority spa treatment bookings 80 days prior to departure
• Additional 42” flat-screen interactive LCD TVs in sitting area
• Large private bathroom with spacious glass-enclosed shower, double-sink vanity, heated floor, anti-fog mirror & hair dryer
• Complimentary laundry, dry cleaning, pressing & shoe shine services

Explorer Suite (757 - 1,163 sq ft)

As the Penthouse Junior Suite except:

• Ocean-view two-room suite with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door opening to a generous veranda (layout varies)
• Well-appointed living area & dining area that seats 4
• Priority shore excursion reservations 97 days prior to departure
• 3 priority reservations at each alternative restaurant 90 days prior to departure
• Priority spa treatment bookings 90 days prior to departure
• Large private bathroom with spacious glass-enclosed shower, bathtub, double-sink vanity, heated floor, anti-fog mirror & hair dryer

Owner’s Suite (1,448 sq ft)

If you can afford it, booking the Owner’s Suite gets you:

• Ocean-view largest multi-room accommodations onboard
• Separate bedroom suite
• Spacious, well-appointed living room
• Separate dining area that seats 6
• Private library, wine & music collections curated by Chairman Torstein Hagen
• Ocean-view dry sauna
• Boardroom that seats 12 for meetings & catered dinner parties, with first oceangoing vapor-light fireplace
• Pantry for room service & hosted events
• First priority shore excursion booking 107 days prior to departure
• Complimentary shore excursion with private car & driver (up to 4 guests) in port city of your choice (valued at up to $800)
• 4 priority reservations at each alternative restaurant 100 days prior to departure
• First priority spa treatment bookings 100 days prior to departure
• Two additional 42” flat-screen interactive LCD TVs in living area and boardroom
• Large master bathroom with spacious glass-enclosed shower, double-sink vanity, heated floor, anti-fog mirror & hair dryer, plus two guest bathrooms
• Welcome bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne
• Mini-bar with alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, water & premium snacks (replenished once daily)
• 24-hour room service, including service from any restaurant during open hours
• Daily personalized tea or pre-dinner cocktail & canapés on request
• Dinner & guided tour with ship officers (subject to availability)
• Spacious walk-in closet with wooden hangers & drawers

A couple of other things that relate to the staterooms and to how Viking treats guests generally:

• There is no loyalty scheme other than a discount on sailings after you’ve been a customer once.
• There is no part of the ship that is “exclusive” to guests in certain staterooms or who have done a certain number of cruises.
• The only notable and practical difference between the staterooms (apart from space) is how early you can book excursions and the alternative restaurants.

Our 4th consecutive day at sea and our 4th clock adjustment.

Our trivia team, after the three previous days of scoring 11, 12 and 13 out of 15, is now in the Top 5 teams. Today, we managed 13 again! Just didn’t know how long the Suez Canal was or the name of the first National Park in Australia. Some of the other questions were pretty tricky and we were really pleasantly surprised to have got so many correct!

My wife & I had originally been planning to exercise/do deck walks in the afternoon but losing the hour each day has meant that afternoons suddenly get shorter! We’ve therefore switched to doing that in the morning. Not today, though - we were so tired after staying up to watch the Coronation! So we squeezed in the walk after the clocks changed and completed 6 laps (1.5 miles) on deck 2 - the “jogging” deck. Yet to see anyone jog on this cruise …!

The weather today not quite as good as yesterday. Back to grey skies without too much visibility. We can just about see the Russian coastline on the horizon but there isn’t much to see.

Tonight, the World Cafe hosted an Indian Buffet Night, with exotically-named dishes like “Dhabe ka Gosht”, “Dydhiya Murgh Tikka”, “Lasooni Palak Chilgoza”, “Jalebi Rabdi” and “Mishti Dhoi”.