Following the continued success of Viking River Cruises and the launch of new ships with an incredible regularity, the cruise line has now taken its first steps into the world of ocean cruising with the launch of Viking Ocean Cruises.
The new brand was actually announced back in May but it’s only this week that the voyages have opened to UK passengers to book their place. Not only that but following the incredible demand that has already been demonstrated, even more itineraries have been added for 2015 and 2016.
The first sailing will take place in May 2015 on-board the first ship of the cruise line, the Viking Star. Sailings will be focused around Europe with ports in Scandinavia, the Baltics and the Mediterranean to enjoy. A second ship is already on order to join the fleet, and there’s the option of adding another four if the cruise line sees success.
The managing director of Viking Cruises UK, Wendy Atkin-Smith, said “The reaction from the US has been fantastic and due to the high demand we have announced additional itineraries for 2015 and 2016.
“It is testament to the Viking craftsmanship in terms of design, itinerary and customer experience that the launch has been such a success. Our state-of-the-art Viking Longships have revolutionised the river-cruise experience and we intend to [do the same] with ocean cruising.”
There’ll be some great features on-board the ships, including a stunning pool with a glass back at the stern, so you can enjoy majestic views. There will also be a beautiful spa with a Scandinavian theme.
It’ll be fascinating to see how the river cruise branch of the cruise line is affected, if it is at all. It may be that the ocean cruise line proves extremely successful and more money is poured into extending that fleet, rather than those for rivers, but even if that did happen the Viking River Cruises fleet will soon be large enough to cater for significant demand without any more expansion.
What’s going to be interesting is seeing if Viking Cruises soon dominate both markets, or if we get a new player in the river cruise market to balance this out – perhaps even from the ocean cruise lines.
By Ian Lewis
Google
