Viking River Cruises: Ships, staterooms and 2027 sailings

The Longship is the backbone: 443 feet long, 190 guests and a crew of 53 on every one of the 69 Viking lists, built from 2012 onwards with four more dated 2027. Where a river needs something else Viking builds for it: 168-guest ships for the Seine, 106 guests on the Douro, 98 on the Elbe, 82-guest ships on the Nile, 80 on the Mekong, and Viking Mississippi, 386 guests in 193 outside staterooms, on the Lower Mississippi.

The fare covers an excursion in every port, all meals, beer, wine and soft drinks with lunch and dinner, specialty coffee and tea, Wi-Fi, port taxes and fees, and visits to UNESCO sites on the itinerary. Gratuities and the Silver Spirits package (USD 27 per guest per day, for drinks beyond mealtimes) are extra, and fares are cruise only, so flights are separate.

Compared with Uniworld, a Longship is a well-designed standard room on a standard ship, repeated across the fleet, rather than a one-off. The drinks stop at mealtimes unless you buy the package, and the top of the range, the Explorer Suite at 445 square feet, is a fine room, and there are no butlers. In return you get consistency, a guest list without children, and no casinos.

Choose by river and by stateroom. The Veranda Suite (275 square feet with a full veranda and a French balcony) is where the room starts to feel like a hotel suite; the Explorer Suite adds a wraparound balcony and the drinks package. On the Douro, Nile and Mekong itineraries the published day list starts on land, in Lisbon, Cairo or Hanoi, before the ship.