Viking Gersemi

Longship Viking Gersemi boat cruises on Rhine River in Holland, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland. The longship is departing from homeports Amsterdam and Basel. This riverboat is named after Gersemi - the Goddess of Beauty. According to Norse mythology, Gersemi and Hnoss are the daughters of Freya and Odr.

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.

The boat (ENI number 7002128) is currently Germany-flagged (MMSI 211271510).

Cabins

Viking Gersemi has a total of 95 cabins (of which 9x Suite, 39x Balcony, 22x French Balconies, and 25x Porthole/with a non-opening window) in 8 cabin grades. Longship Gersemi 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. Viking Gersemi has max passenger capacity 190. All cruisers 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 Gersemi 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.

River Cruise Itineraries

The Longship Gersemi operates Viking River Cruises' new itinerary "Oberammergau, the Alps and the Rhine". The 11-day Rhine River cruisetour is between Amsterdam and Oberammergau (Bavaria, Germany). It visits 6 countries, offers 8 land tours/shore excursions and is priced from ~EUR 4,500 pp.

• (Day 1) Amsterdam Netherlands - airport-ship bus transfer, boarding and check-in, afternoon free time
• (Day 2) Kinderdijk Netherlands - after the morning arrival is organized a bus tour of the original 19 windmills (18th-century built to control flooding, and still working). Follows return to the ship for lunch and afternoon food tasting (Dutch handcrafted cheeses with jenever/liquor) and Dutch Golden Age-themed media presentation. Follows evening departure and night cruising.
• (Day 3) Cologne-Koln (North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) - morning arrival, walking tour through Old Town, free time or optional excursion to Cologne Cathedral's roof. Return to the ship for dinner or book an optional tour themed on Koln's beers (with Kolsch sampling) and brauhaus / brewery-restaurant dinner). Follows late-evening departure and night cruising.
• (Day 4) Koblenz, Braubach-Marksburg and Rudesheim (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) - organized tour of Ehrenbreitstein Fortress or optional excursions to Marksburg Castle or Koblenz (walking tour). Follows boarding the ship for lunch and scenic cruising the Middle Rhine. Late-afternoon arrival in Rudesheim (free time), ship dinner (or optional ashore dinner), after-midnight departure.
• (Day 5) Speyer (Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany) - mid-morning arrival, ship lunch, follows organized tour of the Old Town. Alternatively, after the onboard breakfast, passengers can disembark the ship for a full-day excursion of Heidelberg (inclusive of a walking tour through Old Town).
• (Day 6) Kehl-Strasbourg - the ship docks in Kehl (Germany) and after disembarkation is organized guided tour of Strasbourg (France). Alternately is offered optional wine-themed tour (into France's Alsace region), wine-themed tour (with tasting) and full-day culinary-themed excursion in Strasbourg (with food tastings / desserts, food and wine pairings). Follows evening embarkation and formal dinner (themed "Taste of Germany").
• (Day 7) Breisach - morning arrival, follows scenic Black Forest bus tour, visiting a local workshop (with cuckoo clock-making demonstration), lunch on the ship, optional afternoon excursion to Colmar (with fine arts museum visit), ship dinner and night cruising.
• (Day 8) Basel and Innsbruck - the ship docks in Basel (Switzerland), follows disembarkation and scenic bus travel to Innsbruck (Austria) with a short stop in Vaduz (Liechtenstein's capital). After crossing the Germany-Austria border is visited Feldkirch (restaurant lunch). In Innsbruck all passengers check-in to a First-Class hotel.
• (Day 9) Innsbruck - after the hotel breakfast is organized a walking tour of the Old Town, while the afternoon is free time. In the evening is offered an optional traditional folklore dinner at a local restaurant.
• (Day 10) Oberammergau is visited via scenic bus travel from Innsbruck. In Oberammergau are included overnight hotel stay and lunch and dinner at traditional Bavarian restaurants.
• (Day 11) Oberammergau - after the hotel breakfast and check-out passengers are transferred to the Munich Airport for their return flights.
• As optional packages are offered pre-cruise Amsterdam hotel (2-night stay for EUR 450 pp) and post-cruise Munich hotel (2-night stay for EUR 150 pp).

Viking Gersemi 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 cruise 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 deals rates.

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

Viking Gersemi 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 Gersemi 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.

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.

Group christening 2022

On March 16, 2022, in a joint-christening ceremony were officially named 8 riverboats - 4x in Paris (Fjorgyn, Kari, Radgrid, Skaga) and 4x in Amsterdam (Hervor, Egdir, Gymir, Gersemi), via video link.

• The four Seine River-based boats (Fjorgyn, Kari, Radgrid Skaga) are sisterships and shorter. Being of the modified Longship design (LOA length 125 m / 410 ft), they were specifically designed for Seine River navigation and homeporting at Pont de Grenelle (Paris City), to meet the dock's maximum length requirement.
• The other four boats (Hervor, Egdir, Gersemi, Gymir) are of the classic Longship design (LOA length 135 m / 440 ft).
• The group christening ceremony was attended by Torstein Hagen (Viking's Chairman) in Amsterdam, onboard Viking Kari.
• Held dockside, during each of the naming ceremonies, the godmother pronounced a speech and a blessing for the boat, followed by a bottle of Gammel Opland Aquavit (a herbs-flavored spirit distilled from grain and potatoes/by Oplandske Spritfabrik distillery's original recipe from 1872) that was traditionally smashed against the hull.

The ships' godmothers are as follows:

• Viking Gymir - Alma Deutscher (violinist, pianist, composer, conductor, daughter of Janie Deutscher)
• Viking Egdir - Helen Deutscher (violinist, pianist, vocalist, daughter of Janie Deutscher)
• Viking Radgrid - Janie Deutscher (author, educator, musician)
• Viking Hervor - Brenda Hunsberger (AAA Club Alliance's Senior VP of Travel Services)
• Viking Gersemi - Karryn Christopher (Signature Travel Network's Executive VP of Preferred Partnerships & Marketing)
• Viking Fjorgyn - Ghislaine Wood (East Anglia University's Sainsbury Centre's Deputy Director)
• Viking Skaga - Muriel Wilson (Virtuoso Ltd's Director of Event Strategy & Sponsorships)
• Viking Kari - Kari Garmann (Norwegian politician, member of Oslo City Council in 1979-87, deputy representative to Norway's Parliament from Oslo in 1985 and 1989).

Note: You can see the 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.