LOS ANGELES, July 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Viking River Cruises has once<br />again been recognized by readers of the leading travel magazine Travel +<br />Leisure as one of the &quot;Top 10 Small-Ship Cruise Lines&quot; in the periodical's<br />13th annual &quot;World's Best&quot; awards. &quot;This is the fourth time Viking River<br />Cruises has appeared on this list -- and we are delighted to be the<br />highest-ranked dedicated river cruising company in the Small-Ship<br />category,&quot; said Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking River<br />Cruises.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The annual &quot;World's Best&quot; survey allows readers to recognize their<br />favorite travel providers in categories like hotels, airlines, etc.,<br />including cruise lines; the &quot;small ships&quot; category is for vessels which<br />carry fewer than 400 passengers. The poll is limited to readers that are<br />not travel industry professionals, and ratings are based on subscribers'<br />actual recent experiences with the travel vendors being considered. &quot;We<br />believe the readers of Travel + Leisure are sophisticated travelers who<br />know what they want,&quot; continued Hagen, &quot;and they know who can best provide<br />it.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The world's largest river cruise line, Viking River Cruises provides<br />its passengers with in-depth, culturally rich travel experiences along the<br />world's great rivers. The company has a 99.8% satisfaction rating for<br />having met, exceeded or far exceeded the expectations of its guests in<br />2007. &quot;Our passengers have high expectations of us,&quot; said Hagen, &quot;and we<br />work very hard every year to meet and surpass those expectations. Our<br />appearance on the Travel + Leisure 'World's Best' list means we are doing<br />just that -- which inspires us to work even harder to satisfy and delight<br />our guests.&quot;<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Viking River Cruises 2009 River Cruise Atlas(TM)<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Viking has announced its 2009 lineup of cruises and cruisetours, which<br />includes 19 itineraries, ranging from eight to 23 days in length, in<br />Europe, China, Russia and Ukraine. Viking's ships sail along the Rhine,<br />Moselle, Rhone, Saone, Seine, Main, Danube and Elbe Rivers in Europe, the<br />Neva, Svir and Volga in Russia, the Dnieper in Ukraine and the Yangtze in<br />China. Operating the world's largest fleet of 21 river cruising vessels,<br />Viking offers elegant, spacious accommodations, gourmet cuisine, excellent<br />service by English-speaking staff and local guides, and superior value for<br />passengers' travel dollars.<br /><br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; For 2009, the company has announced the launch of its new ship, Viking<br />Legend, which will join the rest of the fleet on the company's popular<br />Grand European Tour itinerary. In Russia, the company launched its fully<br />renovated Viking Surkov in May of this year; next year, Viking Kirov will<br />also be fully renovated, making these ships the very best river cruise<br />ships in Russia. Viking also offers a number of exciting new land extension<br />programs for 2009, including a tour of four Baltic capitals, a sojourn on<br />the idyllic Channel Islands, a pilgrimage to Nice and other legendary<br />destinations along the French Riviera, and 3 fascinating nights in<br />Istanbul. There are also new guest amenities, like free wireless internet<br />service on all Europe ships and expanded in-depth itinerary-specific<br />cultural enrichment experiences.