Viking Eir: 80 departures, and the health question to ask before booking
39 departures measured from Basel to Amsterdam on 25 August 2026, out of 80 in total.
There is no doctor on board
It is the least known difference between river ships and ocean ships, and it deserves saying before booking rather than after.
A transatlantic ocean ship carries a doctor and an infirmary because she can be three days from the nearest coast. A river ship does not, and is not required to, because she sails permanently between two European cities. When the need arises, the crew calls a doctor to the quay or arranges transport to the nearest hospital.
The reasoning holds. On the Rhine you are never more than a few dozen minutes from a German, Swiss or Dutch hospital, which no ocean crossing can offer. But it has to be known: anyone counting on an infirmary open at night will not find one.
What that means in practice
Bring your medication in sufficient quantity for the whole trip, plus a margin, in its original packaging and in your carry-on. A prescription printed in English helps in case of inspection or loss. And travel medical insurance is not an accessory for this clientele: it is what decides what follows if something happens on the fourth day.
Your advisor goes through that list with you before booking. Five minutes that spare weeks of complication.
The hull: a Longship, 190 berths
135 metres, 190 guests, 53 crew, 95 staterooms: 25 Standard, 22 French Balcony, 39 Veranda, 7 Veranda Suites and 2 Explorer Suites. One crew member for every 3.58 guests, a ratio belonging to the Longship class — it does not hold across the rest of Viking's river fleet, where it falls to 1.71 on the Nile.
Viking Hervor runs the same route with 84 departures, and Viking Mani with 76.
Eir, the healer
Eir is the Norse goddess of medicine, described as the best of healers. She also appears among the handmaidens of Menglöð on the mountain of Lyfjaberg, where people climbed, the texts say, to be cured of what could not be cured elsewhere.
Viking Kara offers the river's fullest calendar, with 151 departures.
Getting there from Montreal
A connection outbound to Basel, returning from Amsterdam on a direct flight.
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.
