BY OCEAN OR RIVER, VIKING FLEETS GROWING
Cruise line prepares a steady future with elegant, understated vessels
It was about this time six years ago that I stood on the pier in Amsterdam, on a cold and blustery Dutch day, and watched as Viking Cruises (cruise.center/ vikingsea) launched its first set of Viking Longship riverboats. The 190-passenger Viking Odin and her three sisters were total game-changers; no one company had ever designed anything like them before, and passengers were immediately taken with their charming, Scandinavianinspired decor, excellent service, and quality cuisine.
In 2013, Viking gathered us all in a ballroom at the Beverly Hilton hotel in California to unveil its newest creation: plans for a 930-guest oceangoing cruise ship known as Viking Star. It set sail on its maiden voyage in 2015 and, to this day, is the most beautiful cruise ship I’ve ever seen.
Viking now boasts a fleet of Viking Longships and oceangoing vessels. In addition to Viking Star, Viking Sea, Viking Sky and Viking Sun, the new Viking Orion is set to debut this spring, launching in the Mediterranean and slated to be christened by NASA astronaut Dr. Anna Fisher.
Now, more good news is on the horizon: Viking plans to build six additional oceangoing ships between 2024 and 2027. That’s on top of the three as-yetunnamed vessels Viking already has under construction with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri, slated for launch between 2019 and 2021.
“When we launched our first ocean ship in 2015, we set out to reinvent ocean cruising. We focus on the destination, and we do not cram our ships with gimmicks and waterslides. Our understated, elegant, award-winning ships are designed to simply enable our guests to better explore their destination,” said Viking River Cruises chairman Torstein Hagen. If you’ve read this column before, I don’t have to tell you what a huge fan I am of Viking ’s oceangoing ships. While they’re not for everyone (you won’t, for example, find a casino, rock climbing wall or other onboard distractions) they’re great for folks who want a ship that harks back to the more classic elements of cruising. There’s a focus on informative lectures and multiple live musical performances each night, not to mention excellent food.
Books line the shelves of every public room, inviting guests to learn about famous explorers, influential people and far-off destinations. As well, Nordic motifs and traditions form the personality of these wonderful ocean cruisers, which feature an incredible amount of space for each of the 930 guests on board.
So why is this a big deal? Because with each new ship that Viking introduces, the company is able to expand into new destinations and increase sailings to the most popular ones, such as its 15-day Into the Midnight Sun itinerary that sails from Bergen, Norway, to London (Greenwich), England, or reverse.
Viking obviously has a huge presence in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean, with some great transatlantic crossings linking these seasons with winters in North America (for a real adventure, hop aboard in Bergen and sail all the way to Montreal with the 15-day In the Wake of the Vikings itinerary that departs on Sept. 8 and Sept. 22).
Viking is also expanding into new areas. This winter, for instance, Viking sails its inaugural season throughout Asia, and next year, Viking Orion sails across the Pacific and into Vancouver to mark its cruise debut into Alaska. Of course, the river side of things isn’t being neglected, either. Once you spend seven days cruising down the quiet length of the Danube or the Rhine, you’ll quickly see why river cruises are one of the hottest vacations around. Most guests — myself included — are repeat river cruisers, lured by the relaxing nature of the voyage as much as the sights to be seen in the vibrant cities and small towns that line the way.
Viking has a few new rivercruise itineraries out for this year and next, including the eight-day Rhone Explorer that leaves round trip from Lyon, France; and the 10-day Holland and Belgium in Bloom that runs between Amsterdam and Antwerp on a picturesque spring tour of the Low Countries.
More ships mean more itineraries — and that, in turn, means more opportunities for folks like you and me to go exploring.
Happy cruising.
Visit portsandbows.com, sponsored by Expedia CruiseShipCenters, 1-800-707-7327, www.cruiseshipcenters.com, for daily updates on the latest cruise news, best deals and behind-the-scenes stories from the industry. You can also sign up for an email newsletter on the site for even more cruise information. Aaron Saunders may be contacted directly at portsandbowsaaron@gmail.com.