After taking the train from Nuremberg to Erlangen, the time had come to make my way onto Viking Atla for my first river cruise.
We made our way to the red awning of the Viking Atla docked at Am Hafen 17 in Erlangen and from there the crew quickly took our bags and escorted us onto the ship.
Unlike ocean cruising, a river cruise is smaller and more intimate and I noticed this the second I boarded Viking Atla. This longship consists of a mere four decks total and as such, I only needed to concern myself with the Middle, Upper, and Sun decks. The Main deck has cabins, but since mine wasn’t on the Main deck, I only had to worry about the Middle deck for dining and the reception/lobby area and if I wanted to catch some sun — you guessed it, I could go to the Sun deck.
The centerpiece of the ship is the wide open and impressive atrium style lobby. I only needed to climb these stairs and go down the hall on the Upper deck to make my way to cabin 321 and settle in. No long lines, no crowds to avoid, and like that — I could relax and enjoy the beginning of my Romantic Danube cruise. This was definitely a first for me as I was able to board the ship and get to my cabin in literally less than two minutes!
Next up we’ll take a look at my balcony cabin onboard Viking Atla.
I was a guest of Viking River Cruises for this cruise, but as always — all opinions and photographs are my own.