How do you keep in touch while you are on a Viking River Cruises ship? Here is some information about staying connected via telephone and the internet.
Emergency contact information
If there is an emergency and you must be contacted while traveling, your family/friends should attempt to reach you directly by contacting the ship or hotel. The ship’s phone and fax systems operate on mobile reception and may not get good reception throughout the trip. If unsuccessful, your family/friends can call the Viking River Cruises toll free number (1-877-668-4546) during our normal business hours. (Monday-Friday 5:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m.; Saturday 6:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m; Sunday 7:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. All times are Pacific Time).
Ship phone numbers
A list of ship phone numbers can be found here.
Phoning home
If you are phoning the United States or Canada from a foreign country, the country code is 001.
International mobile phones
If you are planning to make or receive phone calls on a non-emergency basis, you should know that your cell phone may not work overseas—or it may work but run up large international roaming charges. You should contact your cell provider to see if you can make arrangements before you go.
Internet
All Viking ships have internet access. Our ships in Europe, Russia and Ukraine have free wi-fi, so you can bring your laptop and get online at any time. Alternatively, each ship has a few computers for guest use; there are desktop machines in Russia for use free of charge, and laptops in Europe that guests may rent free of charge. Guests who bring laptops to Russia may wish to bring a LAN cable for use in their stateroom; this may work a bit better than the wireless LAN in rural areas along the river.
In China, there is an internet café with desktop stations for guest use free of charge. There is no onboard wireless network in China or Southeast Asia, so you will not be able to get internet service on your personal computer while on the ship, although you may be able to do so during hotel stays. In Egypt, there are two computers on board each ship that can be used for a nominal fee based on amount of usage. The ships also offer shipwide wireless internet access for guests who bring their own computer.
Please note that shipboard service may be unreliable during certain parts of the journey. The internet connection functions via cellular service or satellite, and there may be times when reception is not possible and/or when the connection is quite slow. For this reason, we recommend only checking and sending email. We do not recommend surfing the Web or downloading large files.