*Viking Eistla docked at Niederlahnstein*

This morning, Viking Eistla is docked in Niederlahnstein, Germany, for excursions to Koblenz and Rüdeshiem.

Viking offers an included excursion to Koblenz this morning, but since we have visited there a couple of times in the past, we decide to remain on board to do a thorough photo and video shoot of the ship while most guests are ashore. Our day begins by finishing up our daily cruise blog using one of the comfortable sofas in the Lounge.

The weather is a bit more pleasant this morning and we decide to visit the ironically-named “Sun Deck”. The aft section of the Sun Deck features putting greens and shuffleboard and is surrounded with a nice walking track.

This afternoon, we remain on the Sun Deck where we enjoy the view of castles along the Middle Rhine. Program Director, Emma, narrates over the ship’s PA system and describes each of the castles we pass by.

During the narration, a waiter arrives on the Sun Deck with cups of hot, spiced tea.

Later in the afternoon, Guests are invited into the Lounge for a German Afternoon Tea. We enjoy finger sandwiches and cookies as we learn how to make Rüdesheimer coffee.

Andrea, Eistla’s Head Bar Chef, describes the recipe and technique for making Rüdesheimer Coffee.

*Andrea demonstrates how to make Rüdeshiemer Coffee*

After Andrea’s demonstration, guests are served cups of hot Rüdesheimer Coffee.

This evening, we have signed up for the optional Dinner In Rüdesheim excursion ($139/pp). We have done this (or similar) tour several years ago on another Viking River cruise and remember it being a fun evening. We decided to try it once again.

When we did the Dinner in Rüdesheim years ago, our longship was docked in Rüdeshiem, so getting to the restaurant was simply a matter of walking into town. This cruise, however, the ship is docked in Niederlahnstein, a few miles from Rüdesheim. This docking location meant that guests had to disembark Viking Eistla, walk about 400 yards and board another boat that has been chartered to deliver us to Rüdeshiem. The “day boat” also stopped on the way to pick up more guests from another Viking ship. This entire transfer took more than an hour and dramatically reduced the time that we had for enjoying the Christmas Markets before dinner.

We arrived in Rüdesheim around 6:50 and were instructed to meet at the restaurant at 7:30. That left little time for shopping at the Christmas Market.

We were able to walk around the small streets of Rüdesheim and see a few of the Christmas Market vendors. The Christmas Market here was much less crowded than the one in Cologne.

We arrived back at the designated restaurant by 7:30 for dinner.

The meal included unlimited red and white wine and light or dark beer. There was an appetizer course and a potato soup course. There was no choice in entrees, everyone received roast pork tenderloin with cabbage and mashed potatoes. For dessert, everyone received a slice of German cheesecake.

Throughout the meal, we were entertained with lively music from the musicians in the room next to us. Guests were invited to dance and enjoy the show, which many did.

After a fun dinner experience, we gathered outside the restaurant for the walk back to the Day Boat for the ride back to Viking Eistla. The Day Boat did make one stop on the way back to debark the guests from the Viking Honir.

Day 4 - Koblenz/Rüdesheim, Germany

Day 3 - Cologne, Germany