Viking River Wins 'World's Best' Award!

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Viking River Cruises Honored With Travel + Leisure's Prestigious 2004
'World's Best' Award

Top-Ranked River Cruise Line Also Recognized by CruiseReport.com

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 9
Viking River Cruises, the world leader in river cruising, announced
today that it debuted on Travel & Leisure magazine's "Top 10 Small
Ship Cruise Lines" in the August 2004 "World's Best" Awards issue.

"World's Best" Awards are compiled from nearly 450,000 Travel &
Leisure subscribers who rated recent travel experiences based on
value, food, service, accommodations, destinations and activities.
Viking River Cruises debuted on the awards list as the highest-ranked
river cruise line.

"Travel & Leisure readers are some of the most experienced consumers
in the travel industry and we're thrilled to by this honor," said
Viking River Cruises President Jeff Dash. "We strive to create a
high-quality, culturally focused experience for our passengers -- and
to receive this kind of response from the readers of Travel & Leisure
is extremely gratifying."

In addition to receiving "World's Best" from Travel & Leisure, Viking
River Cruises was also named "Best River Cruise" by top cruising
website CruiseReport.com in its recently announced "Best at Sea"
awards. The website noted that "Viking River Cruises is not only the
largest river cruise company in the world, but in our opinion they are
the best. River cruising is all about getting up-close and personal
with the destination and Viking River Cruises staff does an excellent
job of immersing its guests into the local culture of the regions to
which they sail." CruiseReport.com's awards are granted by the
experienced editorial staff, based on in-depth reviews. To learn more
about the "Best at Sea" awards, visit CruiseReport.com.

About Viking River Cruises

Viking River Cruises, the world leader in river cruising, offers
quality service, gourmet cuisine and comfortable scenic cruising along
Europe, Russia and China's majestic rivers. This year, the company was
honored as the top river cruise line on Conde Nast Traveler's "Gold
List" and Travel & Leisure's "World's Best" Awards as well as being
named "Best River Cruise" by CruiseReport.com. Since its 1997
inception, the company has grown to a fleet of 25 vessels, and
provides a unique, affordable vacation to experienced travelers with
an interest in geography, culture and history. For additional
information, contact your travel professional.