Viking Einar: 85 departures, and a plain list of what is not included
38 departures measured from Basel to Amsterdam on 25 August 2026, out of 85 in total.
What Viking includes
One shore excursion in every port of call. Meals on board. Beer, wine and soft drinks with lunch and dinner. Wi-Fi. Transfers between the ship and scheduled points when the air package is bought with the cruise.
What Viking does not include
Over an 8-day trip these excluded items add up: 7 nights of gratuities, 6 or 7 possible optional excursions depending on the calls, and drinks outside the 2 meals covered. The total is worth estimating before departure rather than discovering at disembarkation.
Gratuities, which remain yours and are settled at the end of the trip. Optional excursions beyond the one included in each port. Drinks outside lunch and dinner, unless a package is added. The flight, unless you buy it from Viking. Insurance. Visa fees when the itinerary calls for one.
None of these is unusual in the industry, but the gap between "almost everything included" and "everything included" has a number attached, and it is better looked at before departure than when the final statement arrives. Your advisor gives you the complete list in writing, item by item, before you sign anything.
One question worth asking every time
Does the included excursion in a given port suit your physical condition? Many are two- to three-hour walking visits, on cobbles, sometimes uphill. When one does not suit, there is almost always a lighter version or a paid alternative, but it is asked in advance, not the evening before. Viking Sigrun offers the same calls across 117 departures.
A 135-metre hull, like the other forty-nine
The ship holds 95 staterooms for 190 guests and 53 crew. The split is fixed from one Longship to the next: 25 Standard, 22 French Balcony, 39 Veranda, 7 Veranda Suites and 2 Explorer Suites.
The ratio of 3.58 guests per crew member belongs to this class. On Viking's Nile ships it falls to 1.71, and two of them carry more crew than travellers.
Viking Hervor runs the same route with 84 departures, and Viking Alruna with 68.
Einar, whose bow broke
Einar Þambarskelfir was the finest archer in Norway. At the battle of Svolder his bowstring snapped and King Olaf asked what had just broken. His answer passed into history: Norway, he said, out of your hands.
Getting there from Montreal
A connection outbound to Basel, returning from Amsterdam on a direct flight. The open-jaw ticket is planned at the time of booking.
Booking from Quebec
From a Quebec address, Viking's reservations site does not answer: it redirects to a page inviting travellers to contact an agent. On this line the agency is not a convenience, it is the route. You can check that yourself in thirty seconds.
Our Viking River Cruises advisors confirm in writing the exact fare, what is included, what is not, and the applicable conditions before any booking, in line with Quebec consumer protection rules and participation in the compensation fund for travel agency customers.
