We are thrilled to be able to share with you another spectacular European voyage from Viking River Cruises onboard the Viking Embla longship – one of the line’s latest vessel designs. We’ll be retracing some of our steps from our previous Viking Freya journey on the Danube River from Budapest, Hungary during last year’s Christmas Markets season, but this time our trip will reach beyond Nuremberg, Germany for a total of 15 days all the way north to Amsterdam, Netherlands in nice and toasty weather on Viking’s Grand European Tour. Although, we will definitely miss our cups of gluhwein.
The Longship
Since introduced in 2012, 16 revolutionary new longship’s have joined the Viking river fleet – currently consisting of an impressive 44 total vessels – with yet another 12 longships coming online in 2014. For certain, Viking’s incredible success and exponential growth is unprecedented, especially when you take into consideration the company’s two ocean cruise ships also being built. Next up, our vessel will be the Viking Embla, the longship that we were racing alongside during our previous Christmas Markets voyage (thus affording the opportunity to snap the photo seen in the header above).
Viking Embla‘s Airy Atrium (Copyright © Viking Cruises)
We’ve had the pleasure to sail onboard and enjoy the marvelous Viking Odin and Viking Freya from 2012, and while the Viking Embla appears from the outside to be identical to these other two, she is indeed one of a slightly different design batch – model year 2013 as it were. Such is a testament to Viking’s commitment to always innovate that subtle improvements have already been made from year to year, and we will relish pointing out the differences. And of course, our gear-head curiosity extends to the upcoming 12 longships launching in 2014. What will the future hold?
Veranda Suite Entrance and Living Room (Copyright © Viking Cruises)
What’s more, our accommodations for this river cruise will be a luxurious veranda suite – one of seven opposite a bank of spacious veranda staterooms, configured to maximize room with an ingenious offset corridor. Our 275 square-foot suite consists of a bedroom with a French balcony and a living room with a full veranda. The large bathroom with a full shower is a welcome perk as well. We will be fully illustrating the suite in our signature photos and video review to come.
The Itinerary
With all that above, we’d certainly be content staying onboard for the duration of the cruise, but the 15-day itinerary is an absolute stunner (as you can see and read below) that will take us to some incredible places under the summer sun. We will start in Budapest – one of my now all time favorite international cities, as discovered on our Christmas Markets cruise – on the Danube and sail northwest onto the Main and Rhine Rivers through to Amsterdam. We will enjoy 13 of Viking’s included expert tours across 5 countries and 9 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The Three River Route (Copyright © Viking Cruises)
We’re excited to return to favorite spots like Regensburg to enjoy their tasty sausages once more and Passau to this time hear the famous pipe organ, and we look forward to the glassblowing of Wertheim and all the many wonders listed below. And we can’t wait to enjoy it all onboard a spectacular Viking river cruise, during the beautiful summer season no less, when we can enjoy the open sun deck and al fresco Aquavit Terrace.
The Itinerary (Copyright © Viking Cruises)
We invite you to join us onboard the Viking Embla as we share with you our extensive Live Cruise Review from the Grand European Tour. For more information on the Viking Embla, visit Viking River Cruises’ website here.
Do you have any questions about the longship or itinerary? Please feel free to ask us in the comments section below, and we’ll be happy to answer you…
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