Thursday 28 May 2026 I was lucky enough to do a ship visit on the beautiful Viking Jupiter at Portsmouth. When myself and my 3 other Miles Morgan colleagues arrived, we were greeted by friendly and welcoming crew members. On the day we arrived it was a sea day for customers that were on the current cruise, so we got to see that when customers got off the ship, a member of crew is there giving out a bottle of water for each passenger whilst they are on an excursion or just having a look around the port.
This ship holds a maximum of 930 passengers on board, which is small compared to other cruise lines, so there is lots of space for Viking guests to relax, especially as it's an adults-only ship.
First thing that strikes you about the ship is that it's very light and minimalistic with a Norwegian heritage influence of décor.
We started off in the Sky Garden part of the ship, which is where the lovely swimming pool is with an extractable roof and lots of sunbeds. Next to this is where we had a coffee and started our tour of this lovely ship.
First we visited Manfredi's Italian Restaurant, which holds 130 guests and has a private dining room (which holds a minimum of 2 - 10 guests). This is included in the cost - no extra to pay, but a reservation is needed and it's only open in the evening 6-9pm. There is no limit to how many times you can dine in this restaurant.
Next, we visited the Kitchen Table, which is a cooking school. Again, this needs to be pre-booked as there are very limited spaces. This is where customers go off the ship with the Chef to source local ingredients, then come back and cook them. It's very popular with Viking guests.
We then visited the Chef's Table, which again has no reservation charge - this is a tasting experience restaurant where you have 5 courses paired up with wines (you need to either pay for the wine or have the drinks package which starts from £21 per person per day). This is a brilliant choice for our foodie guests as they rotate 14 menus! Again, there is a private dining room with no extra charge.
The Restaurant is the main restaurant and is open for breakfast and dinner on port days, then on days at sea is open for lunch. This is a very light and airy restaurant - absolutely love the blue glasses etc that have been added to it, it has a real tranquil feel. The Restaurant sits half the ship's capacity of guests and is casual dress in the day and for the evenings, evening wear as if you were going out to a nice restaurant at home.
After visiting all the restaurants, we thought we had better look at the Gym and Spa area! This is called LIV Nordic, and each piece of equipment in the gym has a clean towel and fresh bottle of water ready for the next guest, so you don't have to spend time looking for them. In the locker room there is a dryer for your swimming clothes, and in the locker itself you have a pair of sliders, a robe, and a towel for you to use. There is a plunge pool, sauna, indoor pool, jacuzzi, steam room, snow room and cold-water bucket (unfortunately none of my colleagues wanted to stand under the cold-water bucket for a photo!). In the Spa you can do the Nordic Experience if you are up to the challenge, where you go steam room, sauna and then the snow room.
Walking around the ship, the main part that you always come back to is the Atrium, which is so light and spacious with a bar situated in the corner. All the lifts on the ship are quiet and face inwards.
Next on our list was the evening entertainment, which is in The Star Theatre (where there are 2 cinemas) and TORSHAVN, which is where bands etc play and has a lovely bar area.
The Explorer's Lounge was amazing with floor-to-ceiling windows to see a great view, a bar, places to read, it also features Namsen's Kitchen which features Norwegian food - this was named after the owner's mother. There is also an upper level in the Explorers Lounge which 2 of the Viking ships, the Jupiter being one of them, has a Planetarium Theatre which is to simulate the night sky and teach astrology.
Deck 9 had mini golf, outside table tennis and skittles, an infinity pool and outside jacuzzi, then we had lunch at the World Cafe which, as it says, features food from all around the world. A great choice of salads, Thai, traditional, desserts etc - food for all different types of allergies. The ice cream was amazing with so many choices and some unusual ones.
We then came to the end of our lovely ship visit, and I would like to thank Sabrina and Viking for giving me an insight into the high quality that Viking has to offer our customers. It's great to know which customers it would suit and what great value for money they are getting on a small ship.
Dreaming of your next Viking Cruise? Speak to Emma at Miles Morgan Travel, Nailsworth. Phone: 01453 377 038 or Email: [email protected]
