This is a tour of cabin 3029 on Viking Octantis, which is a category DN2 cabin.
And if you stick with me for a few minutes here...
After we take a look at this cabin, I'll show you a Junior Suite...
So you can see what you get if you pick a more expensive cabin.
I've been on a lot of cruise ships with a lot of different cruise lines.
The cabins on this ship, even in the lower cabin categories like this one..
Are among the best designed cruise ship cabins I've ever seen.
And in this video, I'll show you what's so special about them.
There is a lot that the other cruise lines could learn about cabin design from Viking.
DN cabins like this one are what's known as a Deluxe Nordic Balcony cabin.
So, instead of having a traditional cruise ship balcony, where you open a door and walk out on to the balcony...
With a Nordic Balcony, the whole room becomes the balcony...
By just pushing a button and dropping down the window.
With the window lowered like this, the whole room is open to the ocean air.
You've got the sounds and the smell of the ocean coming in to the room, it's just wonderful.
Why didn't they just use a regular balcony like most cruise ships have?
Well, it's because this ship is designed for cruising in Antarctica, and other remote destinations with less than ideal weather.
You wouldn't want to sit out on a balcony in Antarctica!
Plus, the metal furniture on most cruise ship balconies is uncomfortable.
With the window open like this, you can sit on a very comfortable couch right next to the window...
Or even just relax on the bed, and enjoy having the whole room open to the ocean.
And of course, you don't have to lower the window the whole way, if it's cold outside.
You can just lower the window a little, if you want to.
On our Caribbean cruise, we had that window lowered the whole way on quite a few days...
So we could enjoy the warmth of the Caribbean air in our cabin.
Another great feature of every cabin on Viking Octantis is electric rolling shades.
You just push a button, and the shades will come down and almost completely black out the room.
In the mornings, when I wake up, I especially like just pushing one button to fill the entire room with warm sunshine.
Well, enough about the Nordic Balcony.
Let me show you some of the smart things that Viking has done in their cabin design.
First off, they've got a really unique design for this closet space on the left side of the bed.
With the doors open, it actually becomes a small walk-in closet.
You've got space to hang things on the left and right sides of the closet...
And also on the right side there are four drawers, a safe, and several shelves.
On the left side, notice the umbrella they supply you with...
You're welcome to take that ashore with you on a rainy day.
And that lower shelf is quite useful for storing things.
Note the tasteful Scandinavian wood coloring they've used.
And these drawers all have soft-close mechanisms so they don't slam shut, they just smoothly glide closed.
With all these drawers and all the closet space, you've got a fair amount of storage.
And remember, this is just a basic cabin, one of the less expensive ones.
As you get in to the higher cabin categories, you get a lot more storage space than this.
You'll see that a little later in this video.
By the couch, to the right side of the bed, there's a cabinet with more drawers and storage.
And notice that on both sides of the bed there are night stands...
Each one has a drawer and some storage space under the drawer.
And each night stand has an American power outlet, a European power outlet...
The traditional large USB connector, as well as the newer, smaller USB connector.
In the cabinetry that sits between the couch and the bed, they added a nice little touch: a globe.
Hidden inside this cabinet is a coffee maker...
And just below it, you'll find all the pods and other things you'll need for your coffee and tea.
There's also a refrigerator, stocked with drinks and treats, refreshed daily.
One of the most unusual features of the room is visible on the left side of this shot.
You're thinking that's a mirror on the left there.
But actually, we're just getting a lot of reflection on the glass of the drying closet.
This is something you really need on an Antarctica cruise...
After coming back from an expedition to visit penguins in the snow.
It's a heated closet, with a fan in it, to help dry any wet clothing you might have.
I actually found it useful in the Caribbean, too... to dry my swimsuit and beach towel.
Back over to the area with the view... the Nordic Balcony.
To the right side of that area is a desk.
For me, it was a great place to set up my computer and access the Internet...
And keep in touch with what was happening back home and in the rest of the world.
There are two sets of American and European power outlets here at the desk.
One of the European style outlets is tied up with the charger for these units here.
That's the "Quiet-Vox" system that is used on some of the shore excursions so you can hear your tour guide speaking.
Notice that there's both types of USB charging ports here on the wall.
The traditional large USB connector as well as the newer, smaller USB connector.
This is the first cruise ship where I've seen one of those new smaller charging connectors.
A very cool feature of the desk is that this lid pops open to reveal a lighted makeup mirror...
As well as some great little storage locations for jewelry or other small items.
From the bed, you can relax and watch the very large television.
The best thing about it is that Viking provides, at no additional charge, movies on demand.
If you've had a busy day ashore, you can relax in your cabin in the evening and enjoy a good movie.
On other cruise lines, this would be pay per view... but on Viking, it's all included.
Now, I've actually saved the best for last.
That door straight ahead leads out of the cabin, to the main hallway.
But that door on the right... that leads to your bathroom.
And if you've never sailed with Viking before, wait until you experience the bathroom in a Viking cabin.
It's the best of the seven different cruise lines I've sailed on.
The greatest thing about the bathroom is the heated tile floor.
When you wake up in the morning and walk in to the bathroom for the first time...
The tile floor is not cold to your feet, like it probably is at your home...
The tile floor is wonderfully warm.
Viking also heats the mirror in the bathroom, and that keeps it from fogging up when you use the shower.
By the way, if you don't want the tile floor to be warm, you can turn that off.
And you can also adjust how warm you want the floor to be.
The shower is enclosed in glass.
That's way better than cruise ship showers that use a shower curtain.
The shower head moves up and down on a rail...
Which makes it great for couples like my wife and I...
Where I am so much taller than my wife.
I can slide the shower head up much higher when I use the shower.
Another great thing about the shower is this little shelf.
I liked it as a place to set bottles of shampoo and conditioner.
But it's also great for the ladies to prop up a leg for shaving.
I also love that I don't need to bring things like shampoo and conditioner from home.
Viking supplies it, as well as body wash, and body lotion.
Really, the other cruise lines could learn a lot about how to design the perfect bathroom...
By just studying what Viking has already done with the bathrooms found on every cabin of this ship.
Ok, so now you've had a good look at what is basically the most common type of cabin on Viking Octantis.
The DN cabin category... Deluxe Nordic Balcony.
And I want you to pay close attention to the distance between the end of the bed and that wall on the left.
Let's say it's about two feet.
Now this is a more expensive cabin.
It's cabin 4027, which is a Junior Suite.
This is the cabin we stayed in during our cruise.
It's much wider than the DN category cabins, and you can really see that in this shot.
I'm going to freeze it for a minute so you can look at it carefully.
Look at how much space there is between the end of the bed and the wall on the right.
There's enough room for a bench to be placed at the foot of the bed.
And there's even more walking space... probably four feet.
And there was room to put a chest of drawers up against the wall.
Those extra drawers give you so much extra storage room!
It was perfect for me, because I travel with a lot of camera gear.
There was space for all of it, and more, in those drawers.
In a Junior Suite you also get two complete sets of closets.
You can see one next to the bed there, and to the right of it...
The window to the heated drying closet, which in this shot looks like a mirror.
The second set of closets is in the entryway area.
This is an even larger closet and storage area than the other.
Combined with the other closet by the bed, and the chest of drawers...
There's just a huge amount of storage in this cabin.
One other little thing you get in a Junior Suite is another set of power outlets and USB charging ports, this one by the couch.
That's handy to have when you're using electronics on the couch.
The other big advantage of a Junior Suite is that you get a larger bathroom.
There are double sinks instead of just one single sink.
And the shower is larger, too.
It's large enough to comfortably allow two people to shower together.
Also, the towel rack in the bathroom is heated.
That helps you to dry your wet towels.
So, come on, think about it.
How many cruise ships have you been on with heated bathroom floors, a mirror that won't fog up...
A heated towel rack in the bathroom, and a drying closet out in the room?
These are the wonderful little extra features that you get in your cabin on Viking...
That you will really miss when you sail with other cruise lines.
Overall, the Junior Suite is a fantastic upgrade from the more common DN cabin category.
There's lots more room, more storage, and a larger bathroom.
I definitely recommend a Junior Suite, if you can afford it.
I just don't recommend this particular Junior Suite we were in... cabin 4027.
It's located right next to the elevators.
Even with your cabin door closed, you will clearly hear the ding of the elevators...
Every time one of the elevators arrives on the fourth floor.
And there are four different elevators here on this part of the fourth floor.
So, don't pick cabin 4027, or any cabin right next to the elevators.
Well, I hope you've found this video useful.
A tour of the most common type of cabin on Viking Octantis, the DN category...
And then a look at what you'd get if you spent more to be in a Junior Suite.
Viking Octantis is a really great ship.
I would definitely sail on her again.
I truly enjoyed the three previous Viking Ocean ships that I've sailed on.
But the truth is, I liked this expedition ship even more.
In a moment, you'll be seeing a link on the screen to a video that you might want to watch next...
It explains what's so great about this expedition ship compared to Viking's other ships.
You should also see a link to a video about Viking's chairman, Torstein Hagen.
He was staying in a Junior Suite just down the hall from mine.
I had a chance to talk to him, and he's a really interesting guy, and I really admire him.
I'm Jim Zim. Thanks for watching!