Newly launched vessels will sail on the Danube, Main, Rhine and Seine rivers in Europe
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Viking River Cruises simultaneously christened six new Viking Longships during a ceremony in Amsterdam, Netherlands on 1 March.
The newly launched vessels included Viking Vilhjalm, Viking Alruna, Viking Egil and Viking Tialfi – all of which will sail on the Rhine, Main and Danube – and Viking Kadlin and Viking Rolf, which will operate on the Seine in France.
The 190-passenger longships feature a range of stateroom and suite accommodation and an all-weather, indoor and outdoor Aquavit Terrace with retractable floor-to-ceiling glass doors. The vessels also have solar panels and energy-efficient hybrid engines to improve sustainability and reduce vibrations.
All six godmothers were representatives from travel agencies that have supported Viking River Cruises’ growth. They included Beryl Gibson, joint owner of Northumbria Travel Limited; Beth Butzlaff, managing director of cruise sales for Virtuoso; Jennifer Gasser, vice president of supplier relations and product operations for World Travel Holdings; and Sinead O’Connell, director of industry relations for Vacation.com.
Later this month, Viking will add a seventh new ship, Viking Osfrid, on Portugal’s Duoro River. This will bring the line’s total European river fleet to almost 60 vessels.