Viking River Cruises - Our (Very) Grand European Tour

Blog Article No. 1

Ronald J. Jack

Email Contact: ronjackbc@yahoo.ca

What is Life Without Adventure?

Finding adventure doesn’t require much effort. For a man all you have to do is shave, put on a clean shirt and step out into the sun. So easy, and yet we still hesitate.  Thirty years ago I imagined myself sailing East across the waterways of Europe, from the North Sea to the Black Sea, but the years accumulated like a thick crust of barnacles on my butt. I neglected that early promise to visit ancestral lands, and sought mostly Asian destinations.  My original conception of a river voyage across was as cabin passenger on a motorized cargo barge, sharing stops and meals with the tiny crew. A young man's fantasy, and a limiting way to travel, but in the 1980s I had no knowledge of Europe’s highly evolved river-cruise industry.

A few years back, Viking River Cruises began a saturation advertising campaign, offering highly attractive vacation packages for couples who wanted a more unique travel experience.  The TV ads rekindled a fantasy I had thought permanently buried, but still I dithered. Finally when a some Taiwanese friends invited us to join their tour group, I could not think of a single reason to decline.  They had booked through the Expedia CruiseShip Centre franchise in Metrotown, Burnaby, and we would round out a group of ten. The number 10 became very significant, and was a happy accident  that enhanced our travel experience. How and why,  will be revealed in a future Blog. 

Because of the limited number of cabins in each Viking longship, bookings are required more than a year in advance, and payment is in U.S. dollars. [That policy was recently amended for Canadians because our dollar suddenly lost 1/5 of its value.] I was under pressure to simply accept all that my friends had signed for, but promised that I was actually saving big bucks by booking so far ahead. That wasn't at all true, but I bear no grudge against the travel agent.  Viking's business model is sound, and if its prices or practices pinch here or there, insist on an explanation. It's your money.  The key point here in the Blog is not to carp about cost, but to explain how you can be smarter with your own travel plan. While enjoying our motorized longboat journey across Europe  I made a point of noting Viking's business practices and the individual performances of staff and crew. My observations will be honest and fair. By the time our vacation wrapped up, I was thrilled with the entire experience and content that I received value for every dollar.   Now, that doesn't mean I entered into the bargain blindly, because I did not.  

Here I give gentle warning: If all you want to do is critique a stranger's tour photos, this Blog Series is not for you.  My intent is an informative description of our recent trip, supported by historical insights, and plenty of photos.  My primary audience are my travel companions and friends.  I also hope to assist some of those now considering a Viking River Cruise, by discussing some issues the travel agents avoid, or perhaps don't have answers for. I am confident that reading this blog series will benefit anyone who plans to take Viking's 16-Day GRAND EUROPEAN TOUR,  and perhaps satisfy a few who have already sailed.

Genesis

This blog series takes its name from a travelogue written by Negley Farson and published in 1926.  I first encountered Farson's best-selling memoir  The Way of a Transgressor, and then sought out other works including his Sailing Across Europe  [full book text here].  Farson was a journalist and flying veteran of WW1.  He was also a romantic.  After surviving the Great War he spent three joyous years on Vancouver Island, sharing a houseboat with  a good woman who had patience with his writing habits.  In the twenties he produced two romance novels which flopped, and a salvo of short stories for the Pulp magazines, such as ADVENTURE.  It occurred to him to buy a small boat and sail with his woman across the waterways of Europe. It wasn't a unique idea, there are several books like it, but Farson had an engaging style. Today we call it creative non-fiction.  You cannot trust most names he uses or believe you are getting the literal truth when you read some of his breezy tales. He was all about the experience, and cared not a fig about verifiable personal history. As an historian I might find myself muttering a protest at Farson's more obvious fabrications, but there was one unexpected truth in his prose.  His lifetime of adventure made me feel like a sucker for sitting still.  How about you?

My ancestors immigrated to British North America in the 1830s and 1840s.  They were Irish peasants which means they, and I, share Viking DNA.  When the Norsemen invaded and colonized Ireland, their semen also colonized every Irish woman who couldn't find a bog to hide in.  Since Viking longbships once sailed all the navigable waterways of Europe, Viking men scattered their seed as far as the steppes of Russia. In the 20th Century the mighty German nation resurrected and manipulated many ancient myths, but some aspects of their martial past were verifiable, such as the contribution of the Viking people to the cultural development of Western Europe.  Maybe I was fated to return to Germano-Celtic shores. If there is such a thing as "Race Memory" and my old friend Col. Robert A Logan (also a WW1 airman) convinced me there is, my choice of  crossing Western Europe on a ultra-modern longship might be satisfying on a deep psychological level. What had I to lose?

Fortunately for us, the timing of our cruise could not have been more fortuitous. The water level in both the Rhine River and the Danube was perfect, the weather was ideal, and the river traffic moderate.  More, several of the scheduled venues had recently been upgraded or were offering unprecedented exhibitions.  (The meat and drink of future Blog articles.) As an historian, I was keen to spot reminders of the fact that 2014 was the beginning of the four-year period marking the 100th Anniversary of World War 1.   Even better, we were able to photograph active archeological excavations which are in progress at Regensburg and Cologne, within a short walk of where our Viking longship was berthed.  How cool is that !

In Europe every second person has a camera in hand, and on most

streets it's hard to avoid the touristy shot. This enterprising young fellow 

spread his box of cars on the Rijksmuseum bicycle path,  for some fast

and furious commercial shots.  Guerrilla camera work - without a permit.

Next:  Buy the Package, Enjoy the Package