Viking Star Room

We originally booked a Veranda room on the Viking Star.  This is the lowest level of room for the ship, although it still has 270 sq ft and a balcony.  We chose not to select a specific room, leaving it to-be-determined.  This worked in our favor, as we ended up getting bumped up one level to Deluxe Veranda.  The main benefit of the upgraded room is a larger bed and the ability to book excursions/dinner reservations at an earlier time.  The overall size of the room and most amenities were otherwise the same.

 

 As you can see, there was plenty of room for two people (even with an over-stuffed suitcase on the bed).  In terms of storage, there were a few drawers in the nearby alcove below the coffee.  There was also plenty of closet space for two people to the right of the bed, along with a provided umbrella.

There was area for a desk which included the Quiet Boxes and ship phone.  The Quiet Box listening devices were used on all of our tours and provide an easy way to hear your tour guide even in large groups.  They were easy to use for us with one machine per person that you would charge overnight then change to a pre-selected channel, with one ear piece connected to the machine.  For those who use hearing aids, I did see non-standard earpieces provided by Viking which appeared to work well.

One nice touch was the ability to turn off the room lights from your bed, along with a built-in reading light at bedside.  There was also a small desk at each side of the bed, with drawers.

The bathroom was a nice upgrade compared to many cruise ships. There was ample room available, with a nice shower with detachable head.  However, there was always a good amount of water on the bathroom floor after exiting the shower, possibly secondary to the design with the open hole  for a handle, seen in the third picture below.  The included shampoo/washes seemed to be of high quality and were of the Freyja brand.  I've heard that the bathroom tiles are heated at times, although this wasn't needed on our cruise given the nice weather.

There was also a nice, flat screen television in the room.  It had a few live television channels, although the reception was sometimes spotty.  More importantly, you could access your schedule, dining options, as well as recorded enrichment lectures and port talks.  See below for the television interface (allow a few seconds for the focus to adjust and correct).

There was an included mini-bar with some soft-drinks and snacks (no free alcohol from the mini-bar), along with a coffee-maker.  Finally, you can also order room-service 24/7, which I'll talk about more in the food page.

There is also a balcony area with a small table and two chairs, plenty of room to lounge out if desired.

The staff was excellent, with a morning cleaning and evening turn down service.  At the evening turn-down service, they would also provide an itinerary for the next day.  You can also get the next day's itinerary in the evening at the first floor Explorer's Desk if desired, along with maps of the upcoming port.  See below for a sample itinerary including day's activities, port instructions, etc.