Europe for Visitors Blog

ABOVE: The MS Maribelle (formerly Viking Burgundy) and its sister ship snuggle up in Tournon, France.

Cruise ships often acquire new names when they're sold to other cruise lines, but it's rare for a ship to have its name changed by an existing owner. Viking Burgundy, which we reviewed at Europe for Cruisers a few years ago, is one of those oddball anomalies: It's now called MS Maribelle, although the ship--which is still fairly new, having entered service in 2000--continues to operate, as always, on the Saône and Rhône Rivers in Southern France.

The Viking Burgundy/MS Maribelle itinerary also changes names with some frequency, but the ports of call are mostly the same from year to year: The cruise goes from Lyon to Avignon and back, with visits to Beaune, Chalon-sur-Saône, Macon, Arles, and several other towns along the way.

For an overview of the ship and its ports of call, browse through our 192-page MS Maribelle review and photo gallery. For the current itinerary (which is slightly different from the one we experienced, although it includes the same ports), see the "Southern France Serenade" pages at vikingrivercruises.com.