{"id":13004,"date":"2014-03-24T12:32:39","date_gmt":"2014-03-24T18:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/?p=13004"},"modified":"2019-09-26T10:32:54","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T14:32:54","slug":"christening-viking-hemming-viking-torgil-porto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/2014\/03\/christening-viking-hemming-viking-torgil-porto\/","title":{"rendered":"Christening Viking Hemming and Viking Torgil in Porto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flying to Porto to discover the new Viking Hemming & Viking Torgil<\/h3>\n
\"Embarking<\/a>

Embarking Viking Hemming in the rain in Porto, Portugal on Friday, March 21, 2014. Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

Aaron Saunders, River Cruise Advisor<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

March 21, 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

This morning, we bid farewell to Viking River Cruises<\/b><\/a> Viking Forseti<\/a><\/i><\/b> <\/i>near Bordeaux, France<\/b>. But we\u2019re far from done with the 2014 Viking River Cruises Christening ceremonies. From the ship, we drove directly to Bordeaux\u2019s Merignac Airport<\/a> to board out flight to Porto, Portugal<\/b>. Our purpose for the trip: to witness the christening of the new, Longship-esque \u00adViking Hemming<\/a><\/b><\/i> and Viking Torgil<\/a><\/i><\/b>.<\/p>\n

\"Fuel<\/a>

Fuel up the jet – we’re off to Portugal! Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

Once again, we boarded \u201cthe jet\u201d \u2013 a private, 46-passenger BAE 146-200<\/a> operated by Cello Aviation<\/b>. It\u2019s slightly horrifying to discover how quickly you can become accustomed to this style of flying \u2013 even moreso when colleague Ralph Grizzle and I learned in conversation with the flight attendants that there are 46 bottles of Veuve Cliquot champagne on each flight \u2013 one per seat.<\/p>\n

\"It's<\/a>

It’s a Wet, Wet, Wet World: landing in Porto, Portugal. Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

We touched down at 12:30pm local time (Portugal is one hour behind most of Central Europe) and immediately boarded a brand-new, Viking-branded Volvo coach. All of our coaches have been nothing but new, but this one takes the cake: our driver informed us he drove it directly from the factory to the airport to pick us up.<\/p>\n

Within 30 minutes, we were in the heart of Porto, Portugal in the midst of a pounding rainstorm. Waiting for us was a conga line of Viking employees, each holding up bright red oversized umbrellas, waiting to take us onboard.<\/p>\n

\"Viking<\/a>

Viking Torgil at her berth on the Douro. Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

Unlike Viking\u2019s European vessels, Viking Hemming <\/i>and Viking Torgil<\/i> aren\u2019t owned by Viking, but by Douro Azul<\/b>. Viking has the ship fitted out to its specifications and charters it from Douro Azul, which in turn provides the deck and engineering Officers and staff. The hotel staff are employed by Viking.<\/p>\n

\"Welcome<\/a>

Welcome aboard! Stateroom corridors and furnishings are decidedly Scandinavian and Longship-esque, but with several pleasant differences. Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

Headed by M\u00e1rio Ferreira<\/b>, Douro Azul has been in business since 1993 when the company began operations along Portugal\u2019s Douro River with a single vessel \u2013 the 130-guest Vistadouro<\/i>. Now, 21 years later, the company has designed and constructed vessels along the Douro for every major river cruise operator, including Viking. Today, they are the largest river cruise operator in Portugal.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>

Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

You may wonder why Viking wouldn\u2019t just own and operate their own vessels here in Portugal as they do elsewhere in Europe. There are a number of reasons for this that range from flagging issues to local laws and regulations that make such an arrangement prohibitive. Viking, like every other river cruise operator, enters into charter agreements like this for their itineraries in countries like Portugal, Egypt, and even voyages along the Yangtze and Mekong rivers in Asia.<\/p>\n

Viking Hemming<\/i> and Viking Torgil<\/i> have been built from the ground up to emulate the Viking Longships, and together with Douro Azul, And emulate they have.<\/p>\n

\"My<\/a>

My stateroom, Category A number 313 aboard Viking Hemming. Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

At 262 feet in length, both vessels are smaller than the average Viking Longship, but are appropriately sized for the Douro. They also carry fewer guests \u2013 106 instead of 190. But if you\u2019ve sailed on a Viking Longships before, you\u2019re going to find a lot to love about these vessels. They\u2019re not true Longships, but they\u2019re most certainly Longship-esque<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I think it says a lot when cruise journalists \u2013 all of whom focus solely on cruising and cruise ships \u2013 blow off an afternoon of touring in Portugal to run around a four-deck vessel snapping photos.<\/p>\n

\"Category<\/a>

Category E Riverview stateroom 103 aboard Viking Heimdal measures 155 square feet. Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>

The reverse view from Category E Stateroom 103 aboard Viking Heimdal. Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Champagne<\/a>

Champagne in Category AA Veranda Suite 308. Photo \u00a9 2014 Aaron Saunders<\/p><\/div>\n

Click here to continue reading!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Our Live Voyage Report<\/i><\/b> from the <\/i>2014 Viking Longships Christening Ceremonies<\/i><\/b><\/a> continues tomorrow as spend some time exploring Porto and Viking\u2019s Rivers of Gold itinerary! Be sure to follow along on twitter by following<\/i> the hashtag #LiveVoyageReport.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flying to Porto to discover the new Viking Hemming & Viking Torgil Aaron Saunders, River Cruise Advisor March 21, 2014 This morning, we bid farewell to Viking River Cruises Viking Forseti near Bordeaux, France. But we\u2019re far from done with the 2014 Viking River Cruises Christening ceremonies. From the ship, we drove directly to Bordeaux\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":13005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25,24,232,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13004"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}