A river cruise with Viking River Cruises is the best way to see Europe. Explore the best destinations in the world from an intimate perspective, spending your time being there, not getting there.

Viking River Cruises visits at least one port a day on virtually every itinerary and you can explore small villages off the beaten path that are inaccessible via an ocean cruise. Docking in the heart of town, you`ll have more time to see the cities, not just travel to the cities. You`ll experience ever changing riverside scenery as well as local nightlife when your ship overnights in port.

The Danube Explorer itinerary is offered on 2 different Viking Ships based on the sailing dates as follows:

VIKING EUROPE ?EMBARKATION DATES in 2007: November 18, December 2, 16 and 30.

VIKING SPIRIT - EMBARKATION DATES in 2007: November 18, December 2 and 16.

VIKING EUROPE

Cabins
It has 12 standard cabins and 63 deluxe cabins (total of 75). All of them are spacious outside cabins. All rooms include private bathrooms with showers and air conditioning/heat. Most ships have hotel style beds and windows that open. All ships in Western Europe have in room televisions with English language programming. Russian and Ukrainian ships have a public color television and a supply of movie videos. All ships have in room phones for calling cabin to cabin; cabin phones on European can also dial outside the ship. Hairdryers and in room safes are also provided on most ships. Onboard electricity is 220V. You will need an adapter or converter to use any small personal items such as a razor, curling iron or alarm clock.

Amenities:
The Viking Europe also offers a restaurant, lounge and bar, library, sun deck, promenade deck, souvenir shop, laundry service.

VIKING SPIRIT

Cabins
It has 12 standard cabins and 63 deluxe cabins (total of 75). All of them are spacious outside cabins. All rooms include private bathrooms with showers and air conditioning/heat. Most ships have hotel style beds and windows that open. All ships in Western Europe have in room televisions with English language programming. Russian and Ukrainian ships have a public color television and a supply of movie videos. All ships have in room phones for calling cabin to cabin; cabin phones on European can also dial outside the ship. Hairdryers and in room safes are also provided on most ships. Onboard electricity is 220V. You will need an adapter or converter to use any small personal items such as a razor, curling iron or alarm clock.

Amenities:
The Viking Spirit also offers a restaurant, lounge and bar, library, sun deck, promenade deck, souvenir shop, laundry service.

Meals:
All meals aboard are prepared by European chefs and consist of European style food adjusted for Americans. Generally, breakfast is a substantial American style buffet. Lunch offerings are generally lighter and may include soup, salad, sandwich bar and/or a pasta dish, choice of entrée and dessert. Dinner is a multi course meal with a selection of entrées.

Seating:
Open seating. No table reservations are accepted, so that you may sit wherever you like to meet new people.

Dress Code:
Dress aboard and ashore is casual, and we suggest you dress comfortably. You should bring sturdy walking shoes for sightseeing excursions. Dinner attire is evening casual: open neck shirts, slacks, dresses and sport outfits. Captain`s Welcome and Farewell Nights are dressy, but not formal.

Entertainment:
Programs are offered to further enhance your understanding and knowledge of your selected European destinations. These include lectures, demonstrations and theme dinners. With highlights featured both ashore and onboard the ship, it`s a wonderful way to enrich your adventure with an offering of cultural and historical experiences you won`t find anywhere else.

Smoking:
Smoking is not permitted anywhere inside the European and Russian ships. It is only permitted on the walk around Promenade Deck outside the lounge and on the Sun Deck. On the Ukraine ships, limited smoking is permitted in a designated public area (not the dining room).

Tipping and gratuities:
Gratuities onboard and on land are not included in your price. Tipping is a personal way to show satisfaction for good service and is always appreciated. You may tip in cash, and all tips for shipboard staff may be charged to a credit card.
In Europe, the suggested amount is $10 per passenger per day, which will be distributed among the ship`s staff, including your Cruise Manager. Additional tipping is at the passengers discretion. Your pre cruise information will include further guidelines for other service people (taxi drivers, waiters, porters, etc.) you may wish to tip as well as information on where there is no need to tip.

Laundry Service:
Laundry and pressing services are available aboard for a fee; price lists are in your cabin. We regret that clothes cannot be dry cleaned onboard. For safety reasons, we ask that passengers do not iron their clothes in the cabins.

Children:
Due to the nature of cruise itineraries, Viking River Cruises does not maintain facilities or services for children aboard vessels. On all Viking River Cruises, minors under the age of 18 must be accompanied and share a cabin with a parent, legal guardian or other responsible adult over the age of 21. We regret that we cannot accommodate children under 12 years of age, and there is a limit to the number of minors on board under the age of 18 years.

Shore Excursions:
All sightseeing tours and shore excursions are included in your cruise price unless noted as optional and sold aboard. These are noted in the itineraries, and described in full (including prices) in your Final Documents.
Some of your excursions are designed as panoramic tours or are shorter walking tours to give you an overview of a town or site. Other excursions may be more in depth or concentrate on one particular site or attraction. Included meals, including lunch, are generally served onboard ship or in a local restaurant.

Depending on the day's schedule, you may be able to choose to remain behind in a city center or at an attraction for more in depth independent exploration while the rest of the group returns to the ship or hotel. Your Tour Escort will make clear where you have this option. On some tours, coaches will let passengers off for the walking portion of the tour, returning later to collect them; passengers may not be able to remain on the coach. You are always free to forego a tour and explore on your own; ask your Viking River Cruises Escort for suggestions. There are no refunds for unused tours, meals or other portions of the program that you choose to forego.

Typical cruise day:
All cruise itineraries have been designed to give you the best possible balance of shore excursions and time cruising past riverside scenery. Depending on your cruise itinerary, you may have a tour in the morning, return to the ship for lunch, and have another tour in the afternoon. On some days, you have only one tour in the morning or afternoon and cruise for the other portion of the day. Some cruising is done during the night. Some itineraries contain one or more full days of cruising due to the exceptional quality of the river scenery and restrictions of local river authorities.