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 (1800 829 138-AU / 0800 447 913-NZ) during our normal business hours. (Monday-Friday 5:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m.; Saturday-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 from a foreign country, the country code for Australia is 0061, New Zealand is 0064.
International mobile phones
If you are planning to make or receive phone calls on a non-emergency basis, you should know that your mobile phone may not work overseas.
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 for a nominal fee based on amount of time used. 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 so you will not be able to get internet service on your own computer on the ship, although you may be able to do so in hotels. 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.