Viking to resume European river cruises for vaccinated passengers only

River cruises are coming back to Europe this summer. 

This week, Viking announced that it would resume some river cruises in Portugal, France and along the Rhine River in July. However, the cruises will only be available to passengers vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Viking revealed five itineraries that will sail in July as part of its "Welcome Back" collection, including voyages on the Rhine from Amsterdam to Basel, Switzerland, as well as cruises on Portugal’s River of Gold, and the Seine and Rhône rivers. 

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Viking announced its summer itineraries in response to news that the European Union intends to ease restrictions for vaccinated travelers, the cruise line said in its announcement. 

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"It is clear that many people are eager to get back out into the world, and I would like to thank all of our destination partners for their support as we plan our return to service," Torstein Hagen, Viking’s chairman said in a statement. "We have been delighted to greet our first guests back on board in England this week—and we are looking forward to welcoming travelers back on board some of our European river vessels in July."

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Viking had previously launched its "Welcome Back" cruise series with fully-vaccinated ocean voyages in the U.K., Iceland, Bermuda and the Mediterannean. The cruise line said it is "actively working on developing" more cruises to add to the series, "with the goal of announcing further 2021 sailings as soon as possible," Viking said in its announcement.

The cruise line said it has a full health and safety program in place, which includes frequent PCR coronavirus testing of crew and passengers, other health checks, sanitization and social distancing protocols, the announcement said.