Nordic Beauty. Great Value. Affordable Luxury.
Viking’s Longships are some of the most beautiful ships afloat. You’d be hard-pressed, in fact, to find river cruise vessels more appealing to the senses than those in Viking’s expansive fleet.
The beauty is by and large a product of Viking’s Scandinavian heritage and the design aesthetic of the Nordics. But Viking is not all about beauty.
Typically, you will get a great value on Viking. The company nearly always has special offers, including 2-for-1 fares, included or reduced airfare, or often, a combination of both.
The value proposition also extends to what the company refers to as “affordable luxury.” To give you just one example of what Viking means by “affordable luxury,” the bathroom floors in your stateroom are heated. I’ve not seen this on any other ship, ocean or river. There are little touches like the heated bathroom floors all throughout Viking’s Longships. My video shows you some of the fine touches that make for “affordable luxury” on Viking’s Longships.
Named for Norse gods and goddesses, Viking River Cruises’ Longships are among the most beautiful ships on the European rivers. Thanks to Viking’s Norwegian heritage, the company’s Longships evoke the natural beauty of the Nordics.
In the airy lobby, you’ll see plenty of natural woods and stones, with a gorgeous staircase complemented by handrailings bound in leather and flanked by forest flowers and moss-covered rocks.
The Longships embody the beauty of Scandinavia throughout, nowhere less so than in the main restaurant where windows frame the gorgeous landscapes of the rivers and where linen covered tables serve as blank canvasses for Viking’s chefs to present their beautiful culinary creations.
Because Viking’s design focus was on public spaces and accommodations, the Longships boast features that few, if any, other river cruisers can claim, notably, two-room suites and my favorite front-of-ship-space, the Aquavit Terrace.
Viking’s Longships are truly beauty on water.
While you may know Aquavit as the flavored Scandinavian spirit, on Viking’s Longships, the Aquavit Terrace is the perfect place to relax. No other river cruiser can boast such a space. The Aquavit Terrace also serves as a second restaurant for light meals as well as for special treats during the day. © 2017 Ralph Grizzle
In addition to 2-for-1 offers, and included or reduced airfare, Viking provides great value on its Longships.
Some examples: At €300 per cabin, double occupancy, the cost of Viking’s all-inclusive beverage package may seem steep at first glance, but it can be quite a value when you consider the beverages offered.
Are you a Scotch drinker? Then you may know of Highland Park Ragnvald, which goes for more than $500 a bottle on internet sites I looked at. Yet on Viking, you can enjoy as many glasses as you like of the single malt Scotch whiskey as part of your Silver Spirit Beverage Package. Without the package, a 4 cl shot of Ragnvald goes for €22.
Viking strives for quality throughout. In the main lounge, for example, service is gracious and inviting while one deck up, bartenders have the luxury of a sundeck garden to harvest herbs for their creative concoctions. A clip of mint, a sprig of basil and a little magic with a rigorous shake conspires to conjure up the perfect cocktail. The optional Silver Spirits Beverage Package, mentioned above, includes cocktails as well as spirits, wine and beer.
Another example: Viking River Cruises’ Norwegian-born chairman, Torstein Hagen, demands that his ships serve salmon from his homeland. I certainly enjoyed the Norwegian salmon served at the Aquavit Terrace one evening – as well as in the dining room during breakfast. Other items that I appreciated on the breakfast buffet: fresh berries – raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. If you’ve shopped around, you know that berries don’t come cheap. Not all river cruisers offer berries on their breakfast buffets.
Krista, one our wonderful bartenders on Viking Hlin, poured us a glass of single malt Scotch whiskey – on more than one night. Without the Silver Spirit Beverage Package, we would have paid €22 a glass. © 2017 Ralph Grizzle
Norwegian Salmon, from the Viking homelands, a staple on the Longships. © 2017 Ralph Grizzle
Viking takes the position of offering “affordable luxury.” What does that mean? Well, first let’s take a look at what “luxury” river cruisers are all about. The few companies operating at the very top tier offer included booze 24/7, generous crew-to-guest ratios, and literally everything that you can think of included. Experienced cruisers, however, might argue that they are paying for goods and services not important to them on ships at the “luxury” end of the spectrum. If you’re not a big drinker, for example, rest assured you’re paying for the guy who is big on imbibing.
Moreover, two people can cruise on Viking for up to $400 less per day than on those all-inclusive players, and that is factoring in optional excursions, gratuities and the Silver Spirit Beverage Package on Viking, which makes Viking’s an all-inclusive package. The difference is that you pay for 24/7 booze only if you want to on Viking.
Other luxury contenders: Viking is among the only river cruise companies to offer two-room suites, featuring a bedroom with a balcony that opens up on to the rivers and a living room with its own balcony. Bathrooms in all staterooms feature heated floors, representative of the style of affordable luxury river cruising that Viking provides.
Viking offers an engaging river cruise experience on ships that rival, and perhaps surpass, those of many top-tier operators – and Viking does that at prices that appeal to the discerning traveler.
Staircase, with leather handrailings, on Vking Hlin. © 2017 Ralph Grizzle
On a canal barge in Burgundy, slow is not a limitation — it is the whole point. With 54 locks between Besançon and Dijon, the barge sets its own pace, and the towpaths invite you to match it on foot or by bike. Ralph Grizzle explores what it means to move through France at exactly the right speed.
Our first excursion came early morning. But I’d been to the Saline Royale before — it’s worth every minute — so this morning I decided to stay on board as Daniele made her way along the Doubs. While the others were on tour, I enjoyed slow travel along the river and canal with just the trees, the melodies of songbirds, and Sylvie, our sailor, taking it all in with the quiet contentment of someone who has the best job — and knows it.
Along the Promenade de l’Helvétie, on the banks of the Doubs, a bronze statue commemorates a man most river cruisers have never heard of: Claude Dorothée Marquis de Jouffroy d’Abbans. In 1776, just upriver from here, at Baume-les-Dames where the Cusancin joins the Doubs, de Jouffroy ran the world’s first experiments with a steam-powered boat. The attempts were imperfect, but they led him, in 1783, to a successful voyage up the Saône in Lyon — the moment historians mark as the birth of steam navigation. France honored him a century later with that statue. There is something fitting about beginning a barge journey in the city that honors the man who made it all possible.
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