Viking Alsvin
Viking Alsvin: See Prague and the City of Lights on a cruise tour
Snapshot
The 190-passenger Viking Alsvin features two visually stunning — and dare we say romantic — cruise tours with a choice of Prague to Paris or Paris to Zurich.
Some of the innovative spaces on a Viking Longship include the indoor-outdoor Aquavit Terrace at the bow of the ship, an expansive Sun Deck and interiors that represent spacious public spaces, lots of natural light and light blonde wood accents. Viking Alsvin is a "green" ship because of energy-efficient hybrid engines, solar panels and an organic herb garden.
Longships transport guests in comfortable, understated elegance, with hotel-style beds and amenities like 26-inch flat-panel TVs and in-room refrigerators. Over the years, Viking River Cruises has received numerous awards for their itineraries and innovative ship designs and onboard programming.
Who will like sailing on Viking Alsvin
If you have an interest in exploring art, culture or history, then sailing on Viking Alsvin will make an ideal vacation, especially with the onboard educational activities available.
Where Viking Alsvin sails
Viking Alsvin offers two main itineraries during the year:
- Cities of Light, an 11-night cruise and land tour starting in Prague with stops in about a dozen charming river towns before ending in Paris.
- Paris to the Swiss Alps, an 11-night cruise and land tour from Paris to Zurich, calling on charming river towns such as Reims and Strasbourg, France, Speyer, Germany and Basel, Switzerland.
River cruising: It's about destination immersion
River cruising is about the destination probably more so than the ship. The ports of call shadow the onboard amenities; however, Viking helps guests learn about the local culture, history and highlights of the places that they visit. Don't be surprised to see local dishes on the menu or local entertainers sharing their music, dancing and stories.
Viking includes daily tours with the cruise fare, which makes the hassle of figuring out logistics less challenging. Most tours are done around lunch and then you are free to do what you choose until the ship leaves port. You'll be given a nightly briefing in the evening before dinner to get updates on the next day’s call to discuss the upcoming day’s activities, tours and logistics. Plan to attend the session to discover highlights of the upcoming town's history, art, food, music and architecture.
Also on board, you'll be invited to sip local beer and sample local fare — it sometimes seems that every day is Oktoberfest in Germany — and be treated to performances from local musicians and dancers.
Dining
Viking Alsvin has one restaurant. The atmosphere is casual yet elegant. Dinner is at a set time and you are welcome to sit with whomever you wish. When Alsvin is not scheduled to leave port until later in the evening, treat yourself to a night on the town and sample cuisine at a nearby restaurant (at your own expense, but a nice way to experience the local culture).
The cruise line’s website says this about dining options on board: “For breakfast, choose from a selection of pastries, cereals, breakfast meats, egg dishes, fresh fruit and selected cheeses. At lunch, select from the soup and sandwich bar, or from a choice of entrées and dessert. And for dinner, expect a five-course menu with regional specialties. Wherever you sail, you will find enhancements reflecting the itinerary — it is all part of experiencing the local culture."
Don’t miss: Al fresco dining aboard Viking Alsvin. One of the distinctive features on Viking Alsvin is the Aquavit Terrace, which is an outdoor space for you to watch the river while enjoying a coffee, cocktail, pint or al fresco dining. The Aquavit Terrace is equipped with grills for outdoor cooking.
Staterooms
There are 95 outside staterooms on Viking Alsvin (two Explorer Suites, seven Veranda Suites, 39 Veranda Staterooms, 22 French Balcony Staterooms and 25 Standard Staterooms). The top category on a Viking Longship is an Explorer Suite. These spacious cabins measure 445 square feet and offer 270-degree views from a wraparound veranda.
Overall cabins are average size for a river boat but there is plenty of closet space and extra storage available under the bed. The bathroom has a pocket door, which is a nice feature because that design saves space.
Entertainment & activities
River cruising is very mellow. You won't find any large production shows or comedy clubs. What you will enjoy is some light piano music played by the house musician and local entertainers who are brought onto the ship to sing, dance or tell stories from the local perspective. After dinner, cruise passengers can hang out in the lounge and have an after-dinner drink, or they can walk back into town if the ship is not leaving port until later in the evening.
To complement your onshore excursions, take part in immersive learning and enhancement activities both on board and ashore. Classes in cooking specialties such as apple strudel and Alsatian flammkuchen; traditional performances of folk music and dance or waltzes by Strauss; and tastings of local cheeses, coffees, liqueurs and other delicacies are some examples of in-depth experiences that are included as an essential part of discovering more about the places through which you cruise.
Fun facts
- Viking Longships are 443 feet long and 38 feet wide because those are the maximum dimensions possible for river ships navigating the locks on some of Europe's waterways. If they were even two inches longer or wider, they wouldn't fit in some locks.
- Viking names its ships after Norse mythology. As Wikipedia tells us: "Alsviðr (Old Norse "very quick") is one of the horses that pulls the sun, or Sol's chariot, across the sky each day. It is said that the gods fixed bellows underneath the horse's shoulders to help cool it off as it rode."
Your take
Have you cruised on Viking Alsvin? What was it like? We'd love to hear about your own experience.
Interested in a cruise on this ship?
For pricing, itinerary information and to reserve your spot on Viking Alsvin, contact a Cruiseable travel consultant by email or by calling 1-877-322-3773.
Top highlights on this ship
- Free shipwide wireless Internet service
- Observation Lounge and bar with floor-to-ceiling glass doors
- Aquavit Terrace with a revolutionary indoor/outdoor viewing area at the bow of the ship and grills for al fresco dining
- Restaurant with floor-to-ceiling windows for panoramic views
Top dining options on board
Fast facts
Overheard
“With its light Scandinavian-style interior, Viking Alsvin is a stylish, spacious vessel offering a well-organized cruise. There is a tastefully decorated restaurant, and an alternative ‘Aquavit Terrace’ for breakfast and lunch, offering good, unfussy food.”
