Veranda/Balcony

[Kruthrp]

My wife and I would like to go on an ocean cruise with Viking sometime in the near future.  Looking at photos of their ships, it is difficult to determine if all the verandas are private or not.  Do we need to book a Luxury Veranda in order to have a private Veranda?   Or are all verandas private? 

[rkacruiser]

17 minutes ago, Kruthrp said:

My wife and I would like to go on an ocean cruise with Viking sometime in the near future.  Looking at photos of their ships, it is difficult to determine if all the verandas are private or not.  Do we need to book a Luxury Veranda in order to have a private Veranda?   Or are all verandas private? 

 

Welcome to our community, new CC Member!  I suggest that you post your questions on the Viking Message Board.  You might be able to get answers more quickly.  

[mom says]

Here's the link :  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/689-viking-ocean/

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Kruthrp said:

My wife and I would like to go on an ocean cruise with Viking sometime in the near future.  Looking at photos of their ships, it is difficult to determine if all the verandas are private or not.  Do we need to book a Luxury Veranda in order to have a private Veranda?   Or are all verandas private? 

 

Definitely agree that you should try the Viking Ocean Board, lots of great information available and past pax willing to share their experience.

 

Regarding "Private", it will depend on your definition of private, as very few cabins at sea have what i consider as truly private balconies.

 

Every cabin has a balcony - no inside cabins. The balconies are fully covered by the deckhead of the above deck, so nobody can look down into your balcony, as is the case on some ships. Each balcony has dividers fwd & aft that are kept closed, as they assist in blocking wind and fire, in the unlikely event. However, pax in adjoining cabins can look around the dividers, which is again consistent with most ships. I'll suggest this is unlikely on Viking.

 

Fwd balconies can be observed from the Bridge Wings, but that is consistent with all ships.

 

Higher category cabins, except the suites have exactly the same balconies, just a little wider. The Owner's Suite has a totally private balcony and sauna. 

[navybankerteacher]

4 hours ago, Kruthrp said:

My wife and I would like to go on an ocean cruise with Viking sometime in the near future.  Looking at photos of their ships, it is difficult to determine if all the verandas are private or not.  Do we need to book a Luxury Veranda in order to have a private Veranda?   Or are all verandas private? 

If you mean that the veranda is solely for your use - yes, it is private.

 

If you mean that no one can see what you do on the veranda - no, it is not private.

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, Heidi13 said:

Fwd balconies can be observed from the Bridge Wings, but that is consistent with all ships.

To add to Andy's comments, all balconies are visible to the CCTV cameras mounted on the bridge wings to surveil the sides of the ship.

[CPT Trips]

21 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

To add to Andy's comments, all balconies are visible to the CCTV cameras mounted on the bridge wings to surveil the sides of the ship.

Because the wing cams can’t view aft balconies, I assume there are also surveillance cameras. 

[chengkp75]

9 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

Because the wing cams can’t view aft balconies, I assume there are also surveillance cameras. 

Yes

[Twitchly]

On 12/4/2021 at 8:17 PM, chengkp75 said:

To add to Andy's comments, all balconies are visible to the CCTV cameras mounted on the bridge wings to surveil the sides of the ship.

Is this so Viking can see if anyone is trying to scale the side of the ship and board? Or …?

[Heidi13]

27 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

Is this so Viking can see if anyone is trying to scale the side of the ship and board? Or …?

 

When in piracy prone waters, the Ship Security Plan Manual will outline the precautions enacted by the Master. Eyeballs are way better than cameras. Viking are well prepared should somebody try to board, let say it is unlikely they would reach the hull.

 

The overside CCTV cameras have a number of uses. In addition to security and investigations, primarily used in the event of jumpers, or somebody falling over - identifies where and when they went over the side.

 

They have so many cameras, you can't actively monitor each of them.

[Jim Avery]

And they certainly don’t want to see me sunbathe naked.😱

[chengkp75]

7 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

They have so many cameras, you can't actively monitor each of them

Typically, the Surveillance Office is manned 24/7, and all the camera feeds are scrolled through automatically, (one or two monitors showing 9 camera feeds simultaneously on each) so the officer may catch something as it shows up for a few seconds.  All the camera feeds are recorded for future viewing, if an incident happens.

[2MidwestCruisers]

Are the CCTV cameras mounted under the bridge bothersome to someone in, for instance, 5002 or 5003? Does the extended "wing" give extra shade to the front balconies on 5? Or a distraction to the view?

Thanks!

[Eggtuary]

Those two cabins are mentioned as ones to avoid in this helpful article:

 

https://viking-cruises-cabin-guide.blogspot.com/p/cabins-to-avioid.html?m=1

[2MidwestCruisers]

On 12/11/2021 at 11:49 PM, Eggtuary said:

Those two cabins are mentioned as ones to avoid in this helpful article:

 

https://viking-cruises-cabin-guide.blogspot.com/p/cabins-to-avioid.html?m=1

A very helpful resource! Thank you.