This Blog is for New to Cruise and the well Traveled , on this site we will publish information about Cruise and Holiday information, with some insider stories in the travel press.
Fincantieri has delivered the new Viking Venus to Viking ahead of the ship's debut in the UK in May.
The 930-guest ship was delivered on Thursday in Ancona.
It's the seventh in a series of up to 16 930-guest ships being built for the Torstein Hagen-led cruise company.
The Viking Star was delivered in 2015 and was quickly followed by the Viking Sea, Sky, Sun, Orion and Jupiter, with another nine ships set to follow, plus two 378-guest expedition ships from Fincantieri-owned VARD.
Viking commits to expansion despite coronavirus cruise shutdown
Viking is extending its reach on rivers in North America with its first custom-built vessel despite the current shutdown of operations due to coronavirus.
The company is to deploy new ship Viking Mississippi from August 2022 between New Orleans and St Paul.
The 386-passenger ship is being purpose-built for the Mississippi with five decks including a plunge pool.
The move honours a commitment Viking chairman Torstein Hagen made to past passengers to launch a Mississippi venture by early April.
Scheduled ports of call cover seven US states – Louisiana (Baton Rouge, Darrow, New Orleans and St. Francisville); Mississippi (Natchez and Vicksburg); Tennessee (Memphis); Missouri (Hannibal, St. Louis); Iowa (Burlington, Dubuque and Davenport); Wisconsin (La Crosse) and Minnesota (Red Wing, St Paul).
Itineraries will be between eight and 15 days in duration.
Hagen said: “At a time where many of us are at home, looking for inspiration to travel in the future, I am pleased to introduce a new, modern way to explore this great river.
“We invented the concept of modern river cruising when we got our start 23 years ago – first on the rivers of Russia and then in Europe.
“Since then, many people have come to appreciate the unique exploration that comes with river cruising, but currently there are very few options to do so on American rivers.
“Our guests are curious travellers, and they continue to tell us that the Mississippi is the river they most want to sail with us. No other waterway has played such an important role in America’s history, commerce and culture.”
The latest development follows the January unveiling of Viking Adventures with 378-passenger expedition ship, Viking Octantis, launching in January 2022 on voyages to Antarctica and then North America’s Great Lakes.
A second expedition vessel, Viking Polaris, will debut in August 2022, sailing to Antarctica and the Arctic.
Viking Cruises Kicks Off 20th Anniversary Celebration
PHOTO: Viking Cruises founder and chairman Torstein Hagen in front of a Viking Longship under construction. (photo courtesy of Viking Cruises)
Viking Cruises is celebrating its 20th anniversary of operation this year, and a new video showcases its founder and chairman Torstein Hagen reminiscing about the company’s humble beginnings and great success since.
“Twenty years ago, river cruising was unknown to most North American travelers, and today we are proud that Viking is a household name. We have spent more than $1 billion marketing the concept of destination-focused cruising,” said Hagen, in a press release.
“We lead the river cruise industry, and with our ocean cruises, we have transported the intimacy of a river cruise onto the open seas. With the arrival of our sixth ocean ship in 2019, we will be the largest small ship ocean cruise line, and we look forward to introducing even more guests to the Viking way of travel.”
Altogether, Viking Cruises now consists of two brands: Viking River Cruises and Viking Ocean Cruises. The journey began with the former and just four riverboats in Russia but that has now accumulated into a fleet of acclaimed Viking Longships, another two of which were just launched this March.
The company’s first three ocean ships have been equally applauded since coming online in 2015. Now, another five 930-guest sister-ships are scheduled, with options for an additional two.
By 2019, Viking will become the largest small ship ocean cruise line.
Above Video. Celebrating 20 Years of Exploration ~ 20th Anniversary ~ Viking Cruises
Viking differentiators include more intimate vessels on the world’s rivers and oceans, along with more overall time spent and overnight calls in destinations. Cultural enrichment also focuses on Local Life, Working World and Privileged Access experiences.
Viking’s unique river and ocean value proposition features a free shore excursion in every port, onboard meals and all port charges and government taxes. Also included in the cruise fare are beer and wine at lunch and dinner; always available coffee, tea and bottled water; and unlimited Wi-Fi internet access.
Ocean ship guests additionally get complimentary alternative restaurant dining, self-service laundry, LivNordic Spa thermal suite access and 24-hour room service.
Viking, one of the most interesting stories in cruising, just got more interesting
Viking Cruises quietly turned an important corner last week - one that signals the company may be on the cusp of significant growth.
The transition came through a vehicle called MISA Investments Ltd., which received a $500 million equity infusion from TPG Capital and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board.
Few in the cruise world recognize MISA Investments as the parent company of Viking Cruises. I know I didn't. But after the deal, 17% of MISA will be owned by Canada's retirement plan and TPG.
The significance of that is that until now, Viking has been a privately held company, financed primarily by European banks. The new financing represents Viking's first institutional equity.
There's only so far private money can take a cruise line. With the notable exception of MSC Cruises, big cruise companies turn big when they gain access to other people's money.
The latest example of that was Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings. It became publicly-held in 2013, but before it went public it benefitted from private equity interest as well.
And TPG Capital was one of two funds (along with Apollo Group) to put money into Norwegian. Their dollars paid off debt and financed new ships at Norwegian, which led to higher cash flows, taking the company to its long-anticipated public offering.
Now TPG could be setting the stage for something similar at Viking.
"Having been a long-time investor in the cruise industry, we see Viking as a market innovator that has reimagined how people explore the world, with an iconic brand and strong product offering that has significant growth potential," said Paul Hackwell, principal at TPG, in announcing the investment.
Hackwell said he looked forward to working with Viking CEO Torstein Hagen to expand, "both in products offered and regions served."
TPG once held north of 10% of NCLH, but it has harvested its gains and now holds about 5 million shares, or 2.3% according to a 2016 proxy statement
For his part, Hagen said the new equity "will give us great opportunities to grow further, particularly in destination-focused ocean cruising as well as cruising in Europe for Chinese consumers."
In short, one of the most interesting stories in cruising just got more interesting.
Viking Cruises christened its first new ship in Bergen, Norway, in a ceremony that attracted thousands on the nation’s Constitution Day.
The May 17 christening marks the formal debut of the 930-passenger Viking Star, which has been sailing with passengers since early April.
“We believe the arrival of Viking Star signals a new era in destination-focused cruising, and I could not be more proud that she will call my favorite city in the world home,” said Viking Chairman Torstein Hagen, who got his start in the cruise business four decades ago in Bergen.
The city’s mayor, Trude Drevland, served as ceremonial godmother and offered a blessing of good fortune and safe sailing for the 47,800-gross-ton ship.
Viking Sky ship launch postponed until spring 2017
By Hollie-Rae Merrick
Viking Ocean Cruises has announced the launch of its third ocean ship, Viking Sky, will be postponed until spring 2017, but remains adamant the delay will not affect its ambitious expansion plans.
The cruise line’s first ocean ship, Viking Star, has completed her maiden voyage and is due to be christened in Bergen on May 17. A further two ships, Viking Sea and Viking Sky, were both due to begin sailing in 2016, with a fourth ship currently under construction.
But speaking onboard Viking Star, company chairman Torstein Hagen (pictured) said delays with the building of Holland America ship Koningsdam at the Italian shipyard Fincantieri had had a knock-on effect on the construction of one of Viking’s new vessels.
The third ship, which was due to launch next summer, will now be delayed until spring 2017, with any passengers who had already booked sailings given the option to transfer over to Viking Sea. Hagen confirmed that all three ships would share a similar design, following the pattern of the 930-passenger ‘Venice class’ ship Viking Star.
UK managing director Wendy Atkin-Smith dismissed worries that this could dampen the line’s plans for expansion. She said: “Hardly any of her sailings were on sale yet, because our 2016 offering is not for the full year yet.
“We will have some passengers booked on to the ship, but they will be transferred over. There’s as much damage limitation as possible.
“As far as I know, the Koningsdam ship that was being built is taking longer than predicted so it’s impacted on us. Everything depends on other factors, but it’s not going to affect the expansion plans at all.”
Hagen previously revealed hopes to grow the line’s fleet substantially to more than 100 Longships and 10 ocean ships – a significant increase from its current fleet of 63 river vessels and one ocean ship – within the next five years.
All in the family: Viking ocean ship resembles its river sisters
Like the river ships, Viking Star has a simple but impressively wide grand staircase that dominates a central atrium. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
ABOARD THE VIKING STAR — Anyone who has traveled the rivers of Europe on Viking River Cruises would be curious about how company’s new ocean-going vessel stacks up.
It is easy to see the family resemblance between the two types of Viking ships.
Viking’s standard Longship vessels have white exteriors and spare, contemporary interiors designed with a Northern European sensibility that is comfortable, clean and unfussy.
Viking Star, which left Istanbul on Sunday on the first leg of a 50-night cruise to Stockholm, has much the same look and feel although displayed on a much larger canvas.
Where Viking’s river ships have two-and-a-half decks of passenger cabins, the ocean ship has six, giving it the capacity to carry 930 passengers, up from 190 on a river vessel.
The Star has 10 decks overall, giving it more and bigger public rooms than the river ships, and many extras such as a theater, two cinemas, a spa, a gym and a two pools, none of which are part of the Viking river brand.
But the look and feel of the two types of ships conform to the tastes of Viking Cruises Chairman Torstein Hagen, who has built the Viking brand into a powerhouse in river cruising.
Viking Star’s look bears the same Scandinavian modern influence seen in the river ships. The colors are muted and neutral, with blues and browns predominating. Tans, beiges, taupes and off-white shades are also in evidence.
Guests can sample a variety of regional specialties at the World Cafe. Photo Credit: Tom Stieghorst
Cabins and public spaces are trimmed in a blonde wood, with touches of leather such as the covering for the staircase handrails. Chandeliers and light fixtures are modern, but not aggressively so.
Art pieces on the ship are also contemporary, but in a way that doesn’t make them stand apart from the overall design. Some have Viking references, such as the staircase landing’s centerpieces based on tapestries depicting the Norman invasion of England in 1053.
Like the river ships, Viking Star has a simple but impressively wide grand staircase that dominates a central atrium. The one on Viking Star sets off a very large LED screen that offers changing images, such as one of the spiral decorative prow of an medieval Viking Longship.
There are decorative horizontal racks of light wood that surround the elevators on each deck.
The main public spaces on Deck 7 of the ship benefit from a lot of glass that give them an airy and spacious feel, similar to the feel of the Longship atrium that is partly roofed in glass.
Viking Star’s main restaurant has comfortable, upholstered chairs and the neutral colors that are also reminiscent of the dining area on the river ships. The ship’s buffet restaurant has an indoor/outdoor capacity with an Aquavit Terrace that accommodates al fresco dining.
As on the river ships, the tile floors in the bathrooms on Viking Star are heated. The patterns in the stone surfaces decorating the bathroom are barely discernable. The basins are rectangular and white, and the fixtures are squared-off and contemporary.
One of the few elaborate touches is a sort of corded webbing that covers the windows along the exterior of the atrium. There is also a filigree screen here and there, such as the one that forms the backing for the stage by the main pool on Deck 7.
All in all, the Viking Star is a more spacious and expanded version of the design formula that has worked well for Viking Cruises for the past 20 years on the inland waterways of Europe.
Today the Fincantieri shipyard in Marghera saw the launching of the "Viking Star", the first of three cruise ships that Fincantieri is currently building for Viking Ocean Cruises. The ship will now move into the fitting-out stage, leading to its scheduled delivery in the spring of 2015. Fincantieri has already started work on the "Viking Sea" and the "Viking Sky", the second and third ships in the series, which will be respectively delivered at the Marghera shipyard in the spring of 2016 and at the Ancona shipyard during the summer of the same year.
Attending the ceremony for the shipowner was Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking Cruises, while Fincantieri was represented, among others, by Antonio Quintano, the yard manager.
"Viking Star", like its two sister ships, will be positioned in the small cruise ship segment. In fact, with a gross tonnage of about 47,800 tons, it will have 465 cabins with accommodation for 930 passengers. The ship has been designed by SMC Design of London, while Rottet Studio in Los Angeles has been engaged to design its interior, where every attention will be paid to style and elegance.
The construction of this series of ships is evidence of the solid business relationship between Viking and Fincantieri.
ONBOARD THE VIKING HEIMDAL — Viking River Cruises is christening 18 ships in four days — and 18 ships means 18 godmothers, including seven representing the travel industry.
Nine ships were named Monday in Amsterdam, and seven were christened on Tuesday: three in Avignon and four in Rostock, Germany.
“I think it’s quite a week for some of us,” Viking Cruises Chairman Torstein Hagen said at the start of the ceremony in Avignon, where he was flanked onstage on the top deck of the Heimdal by seven godmothers and the captains of their ships.
A giant screen behind them displayed video of the four ships in Germany, and as the godmothers blessed their vessels by pressing red buttons on either side of the stage, mechanical arms holding bottles of Veuve Cliquot swung down and smashed them against each ship (windy conditions at the yard in Germany caused a little trouble with two of the bottles, but the bottles broke without incident under sunny skies in Avignon).
In the audience on the Heimdal were godmothers for seven of the nine Viking ships named in Amsterdam: Vicky Garcia, COO of Cruise Planners; Sarah Henshall, vice president of travel and branch operations for AAA Carolinas; Kathryn Mazza-Burney, executive vice president of Travelsavers; Geraldine Ree, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Expedia CruiseShipCenters; Anne Morgan Scully, president of McCabe World Travel; Pam Young, vice president of industry relations for Travel Leaders Franchise Group; and Hanh Haley, the partner of Travel Leaders Group Chairman Michael Batt. Two ships, the Viking Hemming and the Viking Torgil, will be christened in Portugal on Friday.
The total includes 14 of Viking's 190-passenger Longships delivered this year. Two delivered last year are being christened this week, as well. The two ships sailing in Portugal are 106-passenger vessels built to operate on the Duoro River.
The ship introductions means that Viking will operate 52 vessels in 2014.
The Fincantieri shipyard in Italy said it has received an order from Viking Cruises for two more ocean-going ships similar to the Viking Star, which is scheduled to debut in 2015.
The 928-passenger ships, scheduled for delivery in mid-2016 and 2017, brings the number of Viking ocean ships on order to four.
“The interest in and popularity of our current ocean itineraries has been incredible, and they are selling at an unprecedented rate,” said Viking Chairman Torstein Hagen. "This new order allows us to offer consumers in our other markets the opportunity to explore the world in ways they have never experienced before through our destination-focused itineraries.”
Neither party disclosed the price for the ships.
In a statement, Fincantieri said the order deepens its relationship with Viking, which also is a leading river cruise operator. It said the two companies are discussing additional high profile joint projects in other cruise segments.
Viking Star, the first vessel in Viking’s ocean fleet, was ordered in May and will sail in the Baltic and Mediterranean seas in the summer of 2015. It is being marketed mainly to Americans over 55 as a destination-oriented line that will spend an average of 12 hours in port each day.
Viking Cruises Reveals Details of New Ocean Cruise Line
How would you feel about a cruise line that offered free shore excursions, complimentary ship-wide Wi-Fi and overnight stays in ports of call? One with a small ship (less than 1,000 passenger) ambience, where wine and beer at lunch and dinner were served liberally -- and without charge -- and with all verandah cabins that were 20 percent larger than the norm?
Oh, and one other twist: We're not talking not about a super-luxury cruise with fares priced in the stratosphere. This one comes with a strong value-for-money price point.
Welcome to the new Viking Cruises. At a gala launch event Thursday night in Beverly Hills, California, Torstein Hagen, the visionary founder of Viking River Cruises, the world's largest and fastest growing river line, told the assembled travel agents, journalists and past passengers the company would launch its ocean-oriented cruise line in May 2015.
It has placed an order with Fincantieri's Marghera shipyard for two 48,000-ton, 928-passenger ships. The first, Viking Star, will debut in May 2015. The as-yet unnamed second will launch a year later, and Viking has “conditional orders and options for four more additional ocean vessels.”
In its maiden season, Viking Star will spend spring, summer and fall trawling the waters of northern Europe's Baltic and fjords, and the Mediterranean. Winter itineraries haven't been announced.
With the addition of the ocean line, Viking is undergoing a modest name change. The company will be called Viking Cruises (www.vikingcruises.com), and its two cruise segments will be characterized as Viking Rivers and Viking Oceans respectively. Viking is the first cruise line since Disney Cruise Line to begin its life with purpose-built newbuilds.
In designing the new ships, Viking has incorporated the best elements of riverboats –- for which the line has been on a record-setting new-build tear, debuting 28 of its new Longships designs between 2012 and 2014. That includes the company's popular Aquavit Terrace, an alfresco dining venue, and plenty of outdoor space on the sundeck and beyond. All have the same design sensibility: spare Scandinavian decor that's comfortable, airy and light.
Viking Star's blend of fresh, contemporary features with some retro touches will resonate with fans of ocean cruising. Such features harken to Hagen's stint at defunct-but-fondly-remembered Royal Viking Line, an upscale brand. Looking toward the new, Star features a main pool (with magradome roof that opens and closes) with a fire pit, a Nordic-influenced spa with a snow room and sauna and revolutionary technology that allows for the windows in the ship's main restaurant to open to the elements in good weather. All cabins come with verandahs. The smallest is 270 square feet, a good deal roomier than the average.
Ship traditionalists will also appreciate Viking Star's walk-around promenade deck that fully encircles the vessel. Its Explorer's Lounge, an airy two-deck top-of-the-ship venue, offers an observation area -- a feature that many of today's newest cruise ships lacks.
Many travel agents attending Thursday's event compared Viking's offerings and price points to lines that at Cruise Critic we call luxury lite (elements of upmarket travel, such as cozy ships that can offer far-ranging itineraries along with superb service and cuisine but at a moderate price point). Those most mentioned were Oceania Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises and Windstar Cruises. But Hagen last night said Viking would distinguish itself with elements that included destination-focused cruising, locally sourced cuisine, an understated and comfortable but elegant onboard ambience, immersion-oriented touring and enrichment and this one: “No nickel-and-dimeing.”
Viking Cruises' ocean arm officially goes on sale in North America today. Plans to reveal Viking Star and its fleetmates are anticipated to roll out in the U.K. and Australia later this year.
