Fall & Winter 2024

In the period between September 11-17, Storm Boris brought torrential rains and strong winds to Central Europe. At least 24 people died as a result of the storm. Mandatory evacuations were ordered in some places along the River Danube. Heavy flooding resulted in quite a bit of devastation in cities large and small along the river … Vienna and Budapest amongst them. River traffic — both passenger and cargo — came to a halt.

During the storm, and in its aftermath, river boats and ships — such as the Viking longship we were scheduled to embark next week — had to seek safe shelter where they could because they were unable to pass under bridges along the Danube or were stranded because canal locks were inoperable.

All that has since passed. River traffic is now plying the waters of the Danube; water levels have gone down and flooding has ceased; work is ongoing to erase the ravages wrought by the storm.

But because the river cruise ships were unable to get where they were supposed to go, it became necessary to cancel some cruises, reschedule some ports, and swap ships.

Thankfully, we have not been impacted by a cancelation or rescheduling. But we will no longer be sailing the Longship Kadlin … the “Daughter of a Norse Nobleman.” Instead, on 13 October, we will be embarking the Longship Rinda …. the “Norse Goddess of the Frozen Earth.”

Rinda is a sister ship that is an exact twin of the Kadlin. Thus, as the notification email we received from Viking states, “… all other aspects of your trip, including your stateroom selection, itinerary, and any extensions you may have booked with us, will remain the same.”

Now we keep our fingers crossed that all goes smoothly once we embark upon our Danube cruise.Read more