YOUR WORLD Letters and photos from our guests

Your WORLD

We catch up with where you’ve been and what you’ve seen on your Viking cruises...and where you’re off to next

YOUR LETTERS

Dining at Highclere We have just returned home to Winchester after our most exciting start to Christmas. Courtesy of Viking Cruises, and after winning one of their competitions, my wife and I were able to enjoy a Christmas Gala Dinner with the Earl and Countess of Carnarvon at Highclere Castle. We were greeted with a choice of cocktails to enjoy with our fellow guests, many of whom had travelled from the USA for the occasion. Lord and Lady Carnarvon hosted a guided tour and we then visited the cellars to see the Egyptian display relating to a previous Lord Carnarvon’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. This was followed by a superb meal, including lobster, venison and a gin-and-tonic sorbet made with Highclere Gin.

The Earl and Countess were very knowledgeable and amiable hosts and invited us all back to the Library for coffee to finish the evening in style. Stuart and Barbara Vause

New friends We thoroughly enjoyed our recent cruise, In the Wake of the Vikings, notwithstanding the involvement of Mother Nature. After all, she is more powerful than any of us! Naturally we were disappointed at the omission of some ports but I was pleasantly surprised to receive the credits for a future cruise which I will be delighted to utilise. I told Charles, the General Manager, numerous times how fabulous each and every member of the staff was. As this is our fifth cruise, many of the supervisors were old friends. We also made new friends and have already booked four more ocean cruises. I must single out Christine in Guest Services, Gary the Executive Chef and Ramona the Beverage Manager, Kayam the Restaurant Manager, Vikesh, a restaurant supervisor who departed early for a well-deserved promotion, Mika, the Spa Manager as well as Kim and Sophia, the lovely and talented entertainers. Your hiring process truly sets the standard. Bruce F Fein

Amazing Alaska We had never been to Alaska before so wanted to learn more about the country. The cruise was all we had hoped it would be. The ship was great and even with around 900 passengers, never felt crowded.The food was great and there were two special dining experiences that we pre-booked. We also chose to have afternoon tea one day as a special treat.

Entertainment in the theatre was of a very high standard and very much to our (rather more highbrow) tastes.

The guides were informative and we learnt a lot about the country and its indigenous people. We have already booked another cruise around the bottom of South America and over to the Falklands, which will be our 12th Viking cruise. Each one has been different and brilliant. Mr and Mrs Childs

STAR LETTER I have recently returned from the Rhine Getaway cruise, sailing from Amsterdam to Basel, and it surpassed all my expectations. From the moment we set foot on board Viking Mani we could feel the welcome. The ship was bright, comfortable and clean, and all the staff were friendly and welcoming. Together with the beautiful landscape, the excursions and the entertainment, it was just perfect. All the staff were very helpful and made things easy for me (walking with a stick) but there are some who went above and beyond their duties – Ralph the Hotel Manager, Programme Director George and Kris our waiter. Thank you Viking. Erika Ruis

You could win... ...a £50 M&S gift voucher if your letter is chosen as our star letter. Email us at uk-marketing@ vikingrivercruises.com

YOUR PHOTOS #MyVikingStory

Follow us on Instagram @VikingCruises for more inspirational images

Cruise highlights Clockwise, from top left: 1. Lovely afternoon rafting on the Great River in Jamaica! PhotoHistoryGal 2. One of my Lisbon highlights. LandLopers 3. Viking Cruises food memory, eating pretzels in Strasbourg. LuxuryFred 4. Bergen waterfront. 3 out of 3 sunny days for us! Now that is lucky. worldtravel_bug 5. Sunset on the Danube. jocdgr8 6. Favourite thing about river cruises is the views when you wake up. Grab a coffee and take it in! JoesDaily 7. Budapest is a prime site for dreams. divergenttravel 8. The view of Rio de Janeiro from the top of Sugarloaf is glorious even on a rainy day! Don’t miss it! BonVoyageurs 9. Unforgettable scenes from Cologne. Zendertravel

YOUR MESSAGES

Loved our Viking Homelands trip. Our first experience of Viking Ocean Cruises. Carol Trower

Loved our West Indies Explorer trip so much last January that we booked the Caribbean to the Amazon for February this year whilst onboard! So excited! Maureen Gerke

Viking Expeditions looks wonderful – amazing regions to explore in real comfort. David Thomas

We will be on Viking Star tomorrow on the In Search of the Northern Lights cruise. Just finished packing! Pauline Smith

Doing Berlin to Prague in August. Can’t wait. This will be our 6th river cruise with Viking. David Cairns I love river cruising and am really looking forward to taking the Elegant Elbe cruise in April! Rick Griffin

We did the Viking Homelands trip with Viking last April and loved it. We also opted to take the pre-cruise extension in Iceland and the scenery and Blue Lagoon were amazing. Sheila Davies

The road above Geiranger in Norway was fun. I was happy our bus driver was negotiating the curves. My favourite port stop with Viking. Julie McCool

Hit List

Moscow should be top of everyone’s wish list! We did the Waterways of the Tsars in May and absolutely loved everything about it. Chris Purnell

This page: Viking’s expedition ship will venture into some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, featuring sweeping glaciers and icy mountains

Journey with Viking to untamed destinations as we reveal new itineraries for curious travelers EXPLORING the OUTER EDGE

If you have dreamt of stepping into the polar wilderness, you need look no further. Viking’s ultimate travel adventures are designed to take you to Antarctica, the “White Continent”, home to towering mountains, glacial plateaus and colonies of penguins, and the Arctic, where polar bears roam and Northern Lights illuminate the sky.

ese are dramatic landscapes that have drawn explorers to them throughout history. From rugged mountains that plunge into

THE ITINERARIES Antarctic Explorer This ultimate adventure takes you along the spine of the Antarctic Peninsula. Your expedition ship was designed to sail remote routes such as the legendary Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula, with its calving glaciers, crackling icebergs and unrivaled wildlife encounters.

Arctic, Greenland & the North Pole Sail from Tromsø to Svalbard into breathtaking fjords, surrounded by stunning landscapes and wildlife in abundance – including whales, reindeer and polar bears. Here you will find remote human outposts including an old whaling station, a mining settlement and the most northernmost city in the world.

glacier-carved  ords and silent icebergs, you can observe two of the world’s most remote places from the comfort of your state-of-the-art stateroom and enjoy lectures and workshops on polar studies.

Viking Residents Scientists, including naturalists, geologists, polar experts and expedition leaders, help bring the regions we visit to life, from lectures and workshops to personal experiences.

To get closer, kayaks, zodiacs and submarines will bring you to the heart of nature, on land, by sea or from the sky, depending on your activity level interests.  ere is no permanent population of humans in Antarctica, just research outposts in this environment, home to biological diversity. In contrast, in the Arctic you can see a collection of towns where native Inuits live among the marine wildlife and

ANTARCTIC EXPLORERS

It took until the 18th century for two different parties of explorers, those of British naval officer Robert F. Scott and Norwegian Roald Amundsen, to reach the South Pole within five weeks of each other. The teams went head to head, setting off in 1911, in a dramatic journey that resulted in victory for Amundsen and tragedy for Scott.

The story of the stranding and subsequent rescue of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew while attempting to traverse the continent is one of history’s great triumphs of survival. In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton set out with 27 men on Endurance, the ship that later became trapped in ice for 10 months, on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition to transverse Antarctica via the South Pole. While his mission failed, Shackleton brought all 27 of his men back alive, a feat that entrenched his leadership qualities in international Polar Exploration lore forever. To watch a video about Roald Amundsen, go online: vikingcruises.co.uk/expeditions/video/all

Clockwise, from top left: the Viking Expedition ship on a clear day in the Antarctic; a polar bear coming up above the water; famed explorer, Roald Amundsen; the Nordic Junior Suite on board; spellbinding views are on offer around the ship, even from the Spa

glacier-covered islands. Both environments o er the chance to see the most resilient creatures. After a day absorbing all on o er, the purpose-built ships have been designed with spacious and relaxing Scandinavian spaces, o ering comfortable furnishings not usually found on expedition ships. Settle in to the Aquavit Bar for an afternoon glass of wine, or visit the Explorers’ Lounge to catch a piano performance. Recharge in the Spa and enjoy the Nordic bathing ritual of alternating between hot and cold, from our sauna to our snow shower.

THE RACE TO THE NORTH POLE  ere appears to be di ering accounts as to who discovered the North Pole. On September 7, 1909, the New York Times announced to its readers that Robert E. Peary had discovered the North Pole that April. However, a week earlier, the New York Herald printed Dr. Frederick A. Cook as the discoverer of the Pole. Having returned after being left for dead in the Arctic for a year, he claimed to have reached it in April 1908. Much research has been given to working out who got there  rst, but no evidence has come to light.