Viking Ve Dining

The meals onboard Viking Ve are impressive, worthy of any European restaurant on dry land, and the chef's daily changing menu is informed and inspired by the place you as passing through.

There is one primary restaurant for all meals (more below) with one seating for each meal -- though you can pretty much show up at any time during the open seating and a waiter will appear to take your order.

A buffet-style selection of main courses and lighter fare is available at the indoor-outdoor Aquavit Terrace.

There are also two coffee stations flanking the two lounge entrances, offering a variety of pushbutton coffee drinks, teas, hot chocolate and cookies 24 hours a day.

Main Restaurant (Middle Deck): The main restaurant has a contemporary casual look, with white tablecloths, padded chairs and walls of windows so you can watch the riverbanks slip by while you dine. Tables are set for four, six, eight and one for 10. Five tables can be separated by a few inches for those wanting dinner for two (though not with that much privacy).

Breakfast is an ample spread, with plenty of breads and pastries, cereals, yogurt, oatmeal, a busy omelet station, trays of hot breakfast foods (mixing American staples like scrambled eggs and bacon with local sausages and the like) and a constantly rotating selection of local specialties to sample. It's typically served from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Lunch, which is from noon until 2 p.m., offers the chance to order off menu or enjoy a smaller buffet setup, which includes a soup and salad bar. The three-course lunch menu often has a featured entree, a vegetarian option, sandwiches and more.

The dining room usually opens at 7 p.m. for dinner, though some ports have two seating times (such as in Vienna, where there is an optional concert that some passengers attend). The menu offers a rotating selection of four hot and cold daily dishes, one of which is vegetarian. These tend to reflect the region or country you are sailing through at the moment, which is a nice touch. There are also three or four standards offered every day, like roasted chicken or salmon and vegetables.

Aquavit Terrace (Upper Deck): This buffet-style, self-service smorgasbord is open during all regular meal hours, offering a slightly reduced menu -- such as sandwiches at lunch -- along with a selection of the main courses being offered in the restaurant below.

(There is waiter service for drinks, and table service is available if you do not want to serve yourself.)

The Aquavit smorgasbord opens a half-hour after the downstairs restaurant, and closes 15 minutes before the evening's entertainment begins.

During lunch and dinner, red and white house wine, beer and soft drinks are served. You can also purchase a recommended wine each day, including local varietals like Riesling, to be served at dinner.

As a quick breakfast alternative, coffee and pastries are available in the ship's lounge. Two coffee and tea stations in the upper atrium are also open 24/7 and have self-service machines that can produce lattes and cappuccinos, with mini-pastries offered in the morning and locally inspired cookies in the afternoon (like bite-size Linzer tortes). There is no room service.