After sailing along through the night over 115km, we woke up this morning to the beautiful city of Regensburg, Germany on my first river cruise on Viking Atla. You know you’re not back at home when you wake up and see a castle-like building outside your window, right?
One of the best parts of a river cruise, especially Viking River Cruises, is that the ships are small enough to dock in a central area so you simply walk off the ship and go. When I peeled back the curtains and looked outside, I spotted groups of people from our ship already out and waiting to go on a tour. Now that’s dedication and commitment!
As for me, I was more about breakfast. Breakfast was limited as we had arrived late and so I had some fruit, cheese, hot cereal and copious amounts of coffee to take on the day. Unbeknownst to Karla and I, the dining room would not serve food whenever we liked so we learned to get down to breakfast before 9 am for the remainder of the cruise.
After breakfast we grabbed our cameras and quickly exited the ship to get as much time as possible in Regensburg. I’ll cover more of that in my post dedicated to the extraordinary city of Regensburg. Once we left the ship, I had to turn around and take some pics to show off the Viking Atla and to get a better view of what the exterior of the ship and balcony cabins look like.
After we spent the better part of the day in Regensburg, we returned to the ship and noticed that the Sun Deck was open. Since I hadn’t been able to view it previously, I immediately ran up to take pictures. It was my first time seeing how close the ships dock next to one another and my first time seeing another Viking ship, too.
After running around the Sun Deck, we cleaned up just in time for the VES Cocktail Party (Viking Explorer Society Party), which is for guests who have sailed with Viking previously. Lots of free flowing Aquavit and Asbach as well as other drinks, including this pretty electric blue drink. Aquavit is a flavored spirit that is principally produced in Scandinavia, where it has been produced since the 15th century. Aquavit gets its distinctive flavor from spices and herbs, and the main spice should be caraway or dill. Asbach Urbrand is a popular German brandy. Both are strong and memorable in taste.
This was my favorite part of the day because I felt like I was returning my friends onboard who welcomed me back and even laughed at my silly jokes.
After the Daily Briefing with Program Director Mario, we headed down to dinner at 7 pm. I had discussed my vegetarian requests once again with Maitre D’ Ivelin and my first course on this evening was right off the menu. It was a delicious Cream of White Asparagus soup, which was perfect with asparagus being in season. Continuing with the asparagus theme, I had pasta with asparagus. Admittedly, I ate the asparagus only because well, this girl doesn’t need more carbs. Others enjoyed the pork chop or turbot, all served with the seasonal asparagus. For dessert I took a picture of the Apple & Rhubarb cake served with vanilla ice cream that Karla ordered and of course, I ordered the cherry sorbet. Delish!
After dinner I, of course, had to look over all of my pictures and video from the day and began to prepare for our next port the following day, Passau, Germany.
What’s it like on a river cruise? It’s a relaxed, easy atmosphere that’s intimate and comfortable. Move from port to port to idyllic destinations and arrive relaxed and refreshed. That’s the Viking River Cruises way to a serene and satisfying vacation.
Up next: Join me as we spend a memorable day in Regensburg, Germany.
I was a guest of Viking River Cruises for this cruise, but as always — all opinions and photographs are my own.
One thought on “Day 3 Onboard My First Ever River Cruise | Viking Atla”
Comments are closed.