Viking Aegir

The 2012-built Longship Viking Aegir cruises on Rhine, Main and Danube rivers visiting destinations in Holland, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria. The longship departs from homeports Amsterdam, Passau, Budapest, and Bucharest.

This riverboat is named after Aegir - in Norse mythology the sea god ("Lord of the Ocean").

The boat (ENI number 7001957) is currently Switzerland-flagged (MMSI 269057408) and registered in Basel.

All Viking River Cruises Longships are fitted with solar panels (mounted aft on Sun Deck) and hybrid (diesel-electric) powerplants based on energy-efficient marine engines.

Cabins

Viking Aegir has a total of 95 staterooms (9x Suite, 39x Balcony, 22x French Balconies, and 25x Porthole/with a non-opening window) in 8 cabin grades/categories and accommodates max 190 passengers.

Longship Aegir has two aft-located Explorer Suites with wraparound balconies providing 270-degrees scenery views. The seven Veranda Suites are each with two separate/full rooms and feature a step-out balcony (accessed from the living room) and a French Balcony (in the bedroom). The 39 Veranda Staterooms are with step-out balconies.

The Longship carries 190 passengers (max capacity, served by 53 staff/crew) who are provided complimentary with modern hotel amenities and superior travel and leisure services.

Cabins Types/Categories (number, location), high to low:

• Suites - ES-Explorer (x2, deck3-aft), AA-Veranda (x7, deck 3-portside)
• Balcony Staterooms - A (x20, deck3-starboard), B (x17, deck2-starboard)
• French Balcony Staterooms (with floor-ceiling slide opening glass-door windows) - C (x5, deck3-portside-aft), D (x15, deck2-portside)
• Riverview Porthole Window / Standard Staterooms - E (x18, deck1-midship), F (x7, deck1-midship-aft).

Shipboard facilities

The Observation Bar Lounge has floor-ceiling glass doors opening onto the Aquavit Terrace. This is bow-located indoor-outdoor venue designed for relaxation and alfresco dining. The Sun Deck is served with food and beverages by Aquavit Terrace's staff and provides 360-degree unobstructed riverside views. This topship-deck features forward-sundeck with Sky Bar (outdoor seating area with 4-seat tables and deckchairs), SkyLight (glass roof cover over the Atrium), Wheelhouse (Navigation Bridge), midship-sundeck with shaded sitting (covered by a large retractable awning and encircled by a walking track), sunbathing area (with deckchairs and reclining sun loungers) and aft-sundeck with Putting Green (mini-golf), Herb Garden (organic herbal garden) and deckgames area (shuffleboard, giant outdoor chessboard).

Onboard dining options include Aegir Restaurant (dining room) and Aquavit Terrace (Lido Buffet with sliding door-windows opening onto the alfresco terrace). Other facilities include 2-deck Atrium (lobby with 24-hour Reception Desk), Library (Internet Lounge), Shop (gifts, souvenirs). Viking Cruises Longships don't have fitness/gym room, swimming pool, Jacuzzi (outdoor whirlpool), Spa/Beauty Salon, self-service laundry facilities (laundromats).

One elevator (passenger lift) connects only decks 2 and 3. All decks are interconnected via stairs - forward (Grand Staircase in the Atrium), midship and aft.

Itineraries

Follows the list of Viking Aegir river cruise itineraries as themes, officially announced by the Viking Cruises line for the inaugural 2012 season:

• "GRAND EUROPEAN TOUR" is a 14-day Rhine and Danube cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, and the reverse from Budapest to Amsterdam. The itinerary features Rhine-Main-Danube Canal passage (Germany), 5 countries to visit (Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, Holland) and 13 complimentary land tours/guided excursions. On departures from Budapest, the sailing part starts in the evening on the second day and ends in Amsterdam (with optional 2-night Amsterdam hotel package). Disembarkation in Budapest offers optional 3-night Prague hotel package (Czech Republic).
• "PASSAGE TO EASTERN EUROPE" is a 10-day Danube cruise from Budapest to Bucharest and the reverse from Bucharest to Budapest. The itinerary visits 5 countries (Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania), with 7 complimentary land tours/guided excursions. Disembarkation in Budapest includes 2 nights Budapest hotel package, with optional 2 more hotel nights in Budapest or a 3-night Prague hotel package (Czech Republic). Embarkation in Budapest includes 2-night Budapest luxury hotel package. Departures from Bucharest include 1-night Bucharest luxury hotel package, with embarkation in Giurgiu. Disembarkation in Bucharest includes 1-night Bucharest luxury hotel package, with optional 3 more days in the Danube-Black Sea region.
• "EUROPEAN SOJOURN" is a 23-day Danube and Black Sea cruise from Amsterdam to Bucharest and the reverse from Bucharest to Amsterdam. The itinerary visits 9 countries, with 19 complimentary land tours/guided excursions included in the fares. Disembarkation in Bucharest includes 1-night Bucharest luxury hotel package, with optional 3 more days in the Danube-Black Sea region. Disembarkation in Amsterdam offers an optional 2-night Amsterdam hotel package.

Viking Aegir cruise deals are inclusive of Internet (Wi-Fi), all tours/excursions, ground/bus transfers, live evening entertainment, daily lecturers/media presentations, food and wine tastings, 24-hour coffee/tea, replenished daily bottled water.

Viking River Cruises prices are per person and based on double occupancy. These are only indicative of Viking cruise rates. They might be different when you book your Viking cruisetour deals, influenced by travel agency promotions, special offers and discounts, group travel booking or last-minute deal rates.

To/from ship transfers and airport meet-and-greet services are included in the fares only when airfares are purchased through Viking Cruises (the company's Viking Air package).

Viking Aegir is one of the new generation longships of Viking Cruises. This is a patented river cruise ship design allowing bigger passenger accommodations without shrinking public areas' size and compromising vessel's general comfort.

Longship Aegir represents Viking Cruise' latest design that features energy-efficient hybrid engine technology, solar panels and interior design developed by "Yran & Storbraaten" (Norway). The patented "longship" design ("Rottet Studios", USA) allows much larger accommodations with full-size (step-out) balconies. The additional cabin space is created by 1 m (3,3 ft) off-center shifting of the deck's corridor.

The vessel's powerplant consists of two main Caterpillar marine diesel engines (model CAT32-ACERT / total power output 2 MW). These are V12 (V engine with 12 cylinders and 12 pistons driving a crankshaft). The propulsion system is based on two Caterpillar marine propulsion engines (model CAT18-ACERT) with combined output 1 MW.

The riverboat's godmother is Agapi Stassinopoulos - actress and writer, sister to "The Huffington Post" founder Arianna Huffington. The ship's christening ceremony was held in Amsterdam, Holland, setting a Guinness World Record for "Most Ships Inaugurated in One Day by One Company". On March 20, 2013, Aegir was inaugurated together with the Viking longships Atla, Bragi, Embla, Forseti, Jarl, Rinda, Skadi, Tor and Var. Four of the longships were present in Amsterdam, while the other six attended the ceremony via live satellite video link from the Neptun Werft's shipbuilding yard in Rostock, Germany.

Note: You can see CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All companies and their fleets are listed there.