Viking Gymir

The 2021-built cruise ships Viking Gymir and Viking Egdir became Viking Cruises' last Longship-class riverboats, totaling the company's fleet to 65 Longships. Most vessels from this unique series were constructed by Neptun Werft in Rostock (several by Meyer Werft in Papenburg) and delivered in the period 2012-2021.

Unlike the sisterships, Gymir and Egdir (both delivered on March 25, 2021) are with hybrid propulsion systems (a combination of 3x marine diesel engines and 2x batteries). The original Longship design is with 5 diesel engines total (including 1x emergency diesel generator and 1x auxiliary diesel).

Longship Viking Gymir boat cruises on Rhine, Main and Danube rivers in Holland, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Serbia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria. The longship is departing from homeports Amsterdam, Bucharest and Budapest.

Viking Gymir (ENI number 7002150) is currently Switzerland-flagged (MMSI number 269057765) and registered in Basel.

This riverboat is named after Gymir - in Norse mythology the father of goddess Grdr (Freyr's wife). From Old Norse, the name translates as "earthly" (gumi), "wintry" (gemla), "engulfer" (geyma). Some scholars suggest that Gymir may be a sea god similar to Aegir.

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.

Decks and Cabins

Viking Gymir staterooms (95 total, in 8 grades) include 9x Suites, 39x Balconies, 22x French Balconies, 25x Porthole (with non-opening windows). Longship Gymir 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 boat has 4 decks (3 with cabins) and 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 Gymir 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

Follows the list of Viking Gymir river cruise itineraries as themes are not yet officially announced by Viking Cruises.

Viking Gymir 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 Gymir 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 Gymir is one of the last longships (65 total) built by Neptun Werft for 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 Cruises' 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) plus 2 batteries. The engines 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, combined output 2 MW), two Schottel bow thruster (model SPJ 82RD, total power output 680 kW) and four double propellers (model Schottel-STP 200).

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, Gersemi, Gymir), 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.