With Viking’s announcement this week that it will launch two additional Longships in Europe next year, for a total of 10 newbuilds in 2013, the company will have introduced 16 river cruise ships in Europe between this year and next — more ships than most of its competitors have in their entire fleet.
As Viking continues to increase its orders of this newest class of vessel, the natural question is what the impact will be on capacity and traffic on Europe inland waterways, most notably on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers where all the Longships will be sailing.
There are several issues to consider. One is that these rivers meander through and past some of the great cities and capitals of Europe. While these cities can easily absorb the additional visitors river cruises unload (if Viking’s 16 new ships were to all dock in the same city at the same time, 3,040 passengers would be unleashed, on par with an ocean vessel), they are all centers of trade and commerce that rely on the rivers for the transport of goods. Could all these new river cruise vessels start creating a hassle for cargo ship captains trying to navigate the same routes?
The other issue to consider is the potential impact on the much smaller and quainter towns that dot the banks of Europe’s rivers. Let’s take the Austrian town of Melk, for instance, with a population of 5,200. Melk is known for its Melk Abbey, which dates to the 11th century and is a steadfast stop on Danube River cruises. It is a quiet town, which river cruise passengers often opt to saunter through on their way back to the ships after a visit to the abbey. These charming villages are highlights of European river cruises in their own right, in part because they are relatively under-the-radar.
The rivers of Europe are long and plentiful, and as Viking has indicated in the past, the company wouldn’t be building all these vessels if the space and capacity weren’t there. But the effect of this newbuild boom on the river cruise experience won’t ultimately reveal itself until the ships are built and sailing — hopefully doing their best to stay out of each other’s way and to not disrupt the lives of locals inviting them into their ports.