The Riverboat With A Subway Located On Board

If someone asked you to describe your most exciting dine-in experience at a Subway restaurant in the United States, it would probably be hard to think of one. After all, all Subways are pretty much the same, right? Most are standalone restaurants, or connected to other businesses in a plaza, or part of a mall or airport food court. You order your Subway sandwich, you sit down to eat it, and you leave. Unless there's a really long line, you can be in and out in about 15 minutes.

But it turns out, not all Subways are the same because they weren't all built in a traditional location ... or on land. There's one that was added to a cruise ship — a riverboat, to be more specific. According to RestaurantNews.com, there were 8,000 Subway restaurants in 2011, and the riverboat location was one of them. Today, there are more than 41,000 locations worldwide (via Statista).

Now let's take a closer look at this Subway on a riverboat in Germany, shall we?

In April 2010, Subway opened its first restaurant on a cruise ship in Germany, the MS Stolzenfels, as CNN Money explains. It wasn't just a first in Germany; it was the first in the world. The 524-square-foot ship gave passengers the opportunity to sail down the Rhine River between Rüdesheim to Koblenz, with views of various castles (via Britannica), while enjoying a Subway sandwich.

Part of the Köln-Düsseldorfer (KD) Deutsch cruise line, this three-level riverboat operated daily and could accommodate 100 passengers. YouTuber Maurice Honore provided a brief tour of the ship in 2014. In his video, the dining area of the sandwich shop looks no different than a traditional Subway restaurant, with the exception of the beautiful window view, of course. He also pointed out the fact that there are more Subway restaurants in the world than McDonald's.

Mashed reached out to the cruise line to inquire about the status of the MS Stolzenfels and the Subway restaurant. A representative replied stating that the boat is still part of the fleet, but "the Subway restaurant exists no more." 

Although the sandwich chain is no longer part of the boat, the Rhine River photo above and Maurice Honore's tour make it easy to picture what it was like. A freshly made Subway sandwich on a table in front of us, and a breathtaking view of German castles in the background. Now that's an exciting dine-in experience.