Viking Skaga Ship Tour and Review - Viking River Cruises

(Ad, press trip: This content was written as part of a collaboration with Viking Cruises, however, all opinions are my own)

Welcome to the Viking Skaga - one of Viking Cruises’ noble river ships. She takes her name from an ancient Norse myth, where the Valkyrie Skaga rode into battle and escorted the dead to Valhalla, before preparing them to fight in the epic battle of Ragnarok.

A relatively new ship, the Viking Skaga only entered the fleet in 2020. At just 410 feet and carrying 168 guests and 48 crew, she was built specifically to sail down the Seine in France, although the specific itinerary will vary depending on the time of year. I was fortunate enough to join the ship for her week long Christmas on the Seine cruise, which starts and ends in Paris, calling at Vernon, Caudebec-en-Caux, Rouen, Honflour (via an excursion) and Les Andelys along the way.

All of Viking’s Longships (yes, that is the technical term) are designed with hulls specific to the river they sail through, with stunning Scandinavian interiors. They provide a much more intimate experience than the typical ocean ship, which usually carries passengers in their thousands. It takes literally seconds to walk from one end to the other, while carrying everything that you need for a luxurious river cruise.

The ship has three public decks as well as a sun deck, with the guest cabins positioned between the centre of the ship and the aft (back). The majority of the public areas, including the Restaurant, Lounge and Aquavit Terrace, can be found towards the bow (front) of the ship. The gangway changes decks depending on the level of the river, and is much more informal than an ocean ship - just don’t forget to scan your cruise card.

As I visited during December, the ship was dressed up with gorgeous Christmas decorations including a stunning tree in the atrium area. It all felt very festive!

Here is my full tour and review of the Viking Skaga, from stern to bow, with real photos from my trip to show how it actually looks!

My Veranda Stateroom

Let’s take a look at my stateroom: 227. Located on the Middle Deck, my room was one of 35 with lovely veranda balconies. While I definitely would have gotten more use out of a balcony cabin in the summer, it was lovely to have a little space where I could get some fresh air and watch the world go by.

The room itself was spacious, modern and immaculately clean, with a river view and scrumptious queen size bed. It definitely had the feel of a luxurious hotel room, with twice daily housekeeping and underfloor heating in the bathroom.

My stateroom’s en-suite had everything that you would expect from a modern cruise ship, with a good sized shower and high quality, branded toiletries provided by Freyja.

Back in my bedroom, the powerful climate control system meant that I could easily change the temperature of my room, and the flat screen TV came programmed with plenty of on demand entertainment. Here I could also find plenty of information about the cruise, including the night’s dinner menu, which I could read from my bed. Other amenities included a large wardrobe, mini fridge, and drinking water that was refreshed each morning.

I found that the room had plenty of charging points available, with European, US and USB plug sockets available (so if you’re from the UK, remember to pack your travel adaptors). A safe and telephone are included also included as standard, and fresh fruit was delivered to my room each morning.

There are plenty of accommodations onboard the Viking Skaga to suit individual tastes and budgets, including 22 Standard Staterooms, 18 French Balcony Staterooms, 7 Veranda Suites and 2 Explorer Suites.

I adored my room, and checking out of my stateroom before disembarkation was definitely a sad moment.

I’ve included my own photos here to ensure that this post is as authentic as possible, however, they do make my stateroom look much smaller than it actually was! I found the cabin to be a really good size, and while there’s no sofa included in the Veranda Staterooms, there were plenty of comfortable places to relax elsewhere on the ship.

Each of the Veranda Staterooms on the Viking Skaga measure a total of 205 square feet, which includes the balcony.

The Restaurant

The Viking Skaga has just the one main restaurant onboard meaning that this is where passengers eat all of their meals. The dining room itself felt classy and elegant, was always spotlessly clean, with large windows overlooking the river. The menu itself was refreshed each day, with certain staples that remained available throughout the week. There were plenty of opportunities to try new things, with regional dishes inspired by each of our destinations, and even a French night where the waiters dressed up accordingly.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the restaurant at set times, and while I often enjoy the freedom that comes with dining on the larger ships, I really enjoyed having that regular routine. During our trip breakfast was served between 7 and 9am, lunch between 12 and 2pm, and dinner was available between 5:30 and 7:30pm.

Seating isn’t allocated, meaning that you could sit wherever you liked for each meal. Bear in mind that the tables were always shared, with no private tables for 2 or 4, so be ready to make friends.

As I’m slightly fussy with food and don’t eat meat or cheese of any kind, I was initially worried about whether there would be enough for me to eat each day. I needn’t have worried, however, as the head of catering met with me each morning to talk me through the menu for the day. They were easily able to adapt existing dishes into something that I liked, and on a few occasions they offered to make me something completely bespoke! In the end I thoroughly enjoyed the food, and regularly felt so full that I skipped lunch in favour of a two hour nap in my cabin.

Here are a few examples of some of the delicious meals I ate while onboard.

When on holiday breakfast is always my favourite meal of the day, and the offering onboard the Viking Skaga definitely met my expectations! Each morning a buffet was available for guests to help themselves to a range of hot food, toast, fruit, granola and delicious pastries. Shortly after choosing a table, the friendly waiting staff would serve teas, coffees and fresh juices, and take orders for a small selection of hot food including pancakes and French toast.

To my delight the buffet also included a live cooking station, where a chef would prepare fresh eggs for you while you waited. I got into the habit of eating a plain omelette with scrambled eggs and baked beans each morning, with a cup of tea, fresh apple juice, and a yummy pastry. The buffet also included options that rotated each day, but I often enjoy the comfort of having the same thing.

Dinner time was typically a two hour long affair full of eating, drinking and laughter, before we headed up to the lounge for the evening’s entertainment. Although you won’t find a late night buffet on a Viking ship, they do have a well stocked 24 hour tea and coffee station available, complete with delicious cookies. This is located on the Upper Deck, just outside the Lounge.

In conclusion, there was never a shortage of food onboard the Viking Skaga! Each meal offered a variety of high quality options, and the kitchen is capable of catering for the fussiest of eaters - just make sure you let them know of your dietary requirements.

It’s worth mentioning here how fantastic the crew were each day. We were always met with a smile, and after a few days the waiting staff quickly began to remember our names and drink preferences. There was plenty of banter and lightheartedness that I haven’t seen before on larger cruise ships, and the staff seemed genuinely happy.

The Lounge

Located on the Upper Deck, the Lounge is a bright space with large windows and plenty of comfortable seating. It’s a lovely place to relax and watch the world go by, perhaps with a drink or two from the bar. I even enjoyed a casual afternoon tea here, which I’d highly recommend trying.

Each evening before dinner the Lounge hosts a port talk, and the chef will introduce the evening menu before everyone heads down to the restaurant. After dinner guests can return to the Lounge for the evening entertainment, which changes each day. On our penultimate night the entertainment team ran a lively music quiz, which was heaps of fun and included lots of silly dancing for bonus points!

The bar staff here are extremely accommodating and can prepare pretty much any drink you’d like, although it’s worth remembering that these cost an additional fee unless you have a drinks package.

Aquavit Terrace

This additional restaurant is available on the upper deck and provides a place for guests to eat outdoors. As we were travelling in the winter, space in this restaurant was very limited and included a small indoor section of the restaurant. I believe that this opens up during good weather, and I can only imagine that this is a lovely place for dinner on a summer’s evening.

The menu in the Aquavit Terrace is exactly the same as the main restaurant, so you’re not missing out if you don’t choose to eat here. This space also opens for breakfast, where it provides an alternative space to dine and serves a variety of fresh pastries.

I personally didn’t eat here during my trip, but I did pop in to take a few photos.

The Sun Deck

Here’s another area of the ship that, I can imagine, really comes to life during the summer!

Containing a large walking track, the bridge (where the ship is controlled) and plenty of seating, the Sun Deck makes a wonderful place to relax during good weather. Although I sailed in the winter, this deck remained open for any guests who wanted to pop out for a breath of fresh air, enjoy the view, or take a stroll around the walking track.

River ships often pass under low bridges, meaning that everything on this deck is collapsable - including the bridge which descends into a space behind the bar. The deck itself is occasionally closed off for passenger safety when sailing under particularly low bridges.

The Library

Viking Cruises have a strong affinity with books and that continues onto their river ships, despite the limited space! You’ll find the library on the Upper Deck, on the same floor as the Lounge and Aquavit Terrace.

Compact to match the ship’s size, the library contains five shelves of books spanning a range of genres, including fiction and non-fiction. From poetry to Ali Smith and a range of Penguin Classics, you’re bound to find something you’d like to read here.

There’s no formal checking out system so guests are free to take books to their staterooms as they please.

The Shop and Guest Services

Located in the atrium and on the Middle Deck, a friendly member of staff can be found at the Guests Services desk 24 hours a day. They also had a large bowl of boiled sweets here, and as my room was on the Middle Deck I ate quite a few of these when passing each day!

Opposite Guest Services you will also find a small shop, which sells a variety of Viking branded products, including clothing and gifts.

That concludes my full ship tour of the Viking Skaga. I’m sure you can tell that I had a wonderful experience onboard, and highly recommend embarking on a Viking river cruise.

I will soon be sharing a full write up and review of our Christmas on the Seine sailing, including what we got up to at all of the ports. Until then, you can find out more information about the ship and her itineraries on the Viking website here.