Does viking have a cabin that sleeps 3?

[james'mommy]

Looking to do a Viking cruise in 2014. Does the veranda suite sleep 3? It doesn't say on the website. The sitting room has a couch.

Also, is a river cruise appropriate for a child? 11 year old DS who is well traveled. TIA.

[travelfirst]

Originally Posted by james'mommy

Looking to do a Viking cruise in 2014. Does the veranda suite sleep 3? It doesn't say on the website. The sitting room has a couch.

Also, is a river cruise appropriate for a child? 11 year old DS who is well traveled. TIA.

Could the child sleep on the sofa?

When I was on Viking in 2006 there was a family on there with children, I think there were four children. The oldest ones had a cabin next to us. Two were young girls and they had a lot of fun. I think they were in the cabin with the parents.

[pacmom]

Viking has an age limit--no one undere 12. Both Tauck and Uniworld offer "family cruises" in the summer. If you search you will find the topic well covered on this board. Well traveled is a term I could never use with a child. Being well traveled comes with maturity. There is really nothing on river cruises for children. We are going on #16 in June and have never had a child on a trip--late teens with extended families, tho. You could probably have a roll away bed put into a suite, but not any other cabins. Good luck finding a company that fits your needs. Pat

[travelfirst]

On the Viking website it says all minor children must be in a room with their parents. It does not say children are not allowed.

[Lobes1]

Originally Posted by james'mommy

Looking to do a Viking cruise in 2014. Does the veranda suite sleep 3? It doesn't say on the website. The sitting room has a couch.

TIA.

Have you asked Viking?

[Bellarose]

Called Viking today. Kids are allowed. I specifically asked about the 12 age limit because I had read that somewhere, other than cruise critic, and it's not true. Bad news is, cabins only sleep 2.

We are taking our kids next year. Have fun planning your trip.

[pacmom]

The lack of age limit is both encouraging and discouraging. Even tho minor children must be in the adults cabin, there is nothing on a river cruise for children...no cribs, highchairs, children's menu or activities. If I were to take a child it would be on one of the lines with family cruises usually in the summer where activities and tours were geared towards the child's enjoyment. There are no connecting cabins, no safeguards on the ship for children. Am playing devil's advocate here. As more and more ocean cruisers are looking towards river cruising for "something new and different" maybe more lines will do family friendly trips. As I said previously not one child on any of our 15 river cruises to date. Pat

[Andromeda93]

Originally Posted by pacmom

The lack of age limit is both encouraging and discouraging. Even tho minor children must be in the adults cabin, there is nothing on a river cruise for children...no cribs, highchairs, children's menu or activities. If I were to take a child it would be on one of the lines with family cruises usually in the summer where activities and tours were geared towards the child's enjoyment. There are no connecting cabins, no safeguards on the ship for children. Am playing devil's advocate here. As more and more ocean cruisers are looking towards river cruising for "something new and different" maybe more lines will do family friendly trips. As I said previously not one child on any of our 15 river cruises to date. Pat

We've only sailed on 2 river cruises so far, but as Pat says, there have been no children at all. The daily walking tours of older European towns would probably be of little interest to younger children. There is no room service for lunch or dinner, and little space to eat in the cabin. In addition to no child-specific menu items or activities, I would also be concerned about physical safety. The river ships have steep, narrow metal stairways connecting the sun deck to the lobby level; the interior stairs are almost as steep. During each of our cruises at least two people slipped and fell on the stairs. Since the ships are docked all day in each port town, there are also a lot of people on and off the boat who are not passengers or crew - delivering supplies, taking off trash, etc. We have never felt a safety concern for ourselves on a river ship, but for a young child it might be a different story. Older teens who would not mind the sedate pace and would find the tours and evening lectures interesting might be a different story.

[Ozjohnno]

As others have mentioned Tauck do have family holidays available under their Tauck Bridges programme. You may wish to have a look at what they offer at https://www.tauck.com.au/family-travel.aspx.

Hope this helps you in your decision making.

[H2Otstr]

Google" AMA family trips. (Link won't copy and paste).

[Peacemkr59]

I've never cruised with Viking so I can't speak for their cabins, but on our last AMA cruise on the Danube in July 2011, there were 5 children on board. Two children were pre-teens/teens and three of the children were in elementary school. Only 1 of them shared a cabin with her parents in a suite. The other families had to have two cabins with an adult in each. I can't speak for whether these children had a good time or not but I can say the were all very well behaved and they never posed a problem on out sailing!

[dijid]

Originally Posted by james'mommy

Looking to do a Viking cruise in 2014. Does the veranda suite sleep 3? It doesn't say on the website. The sitting room has a couch.

Also, is a river cruise appropriate for a child? 11 year old DS who is well traveled. TIA.

Well, my well-traveled 10yo (at the time) DS really enjoyed our Nile River cruise this past summer. So did his sisters. In fact, our tour guide gave him a special prize/award because he was able to answer so many of the questions asked during some of the tours. No special kids menu, no programs for kids needed. (My kids have always preferred real food versus chicken nuggets anyways) We lounged around the ship and read, played cards, talked to others - just like everyone else on the ship. The one "splurge" we made was a beverage package so they were able to drink sparkling water, juices and soda. That's something we've never done on a vacation before and they *loved* that little perk.

If your DS loves to travel, is at all interested in Europe (European history, culture, foreign languages or anything else) then I think it could be a very good experience. It can also be a good experience for your family to get quality time together and experience new things together. And I wouldn't worry one bit about the "dangers" others have spoken to. It's the elderly passengers who are losing their balance that are probably at greater risk of a fall than an 11yo.

Can't answer your question about the rooms, sorry.

[grand isle joe]

On the tauck ships they have rooms that sleep 3. We traveled on the Swiss Jewel and we have one child and the room was quite comfortable. Look at the Tauck Bridges tours for they are set up for family travel. It was nice for our daughter to have other kids on the ship.