Tuesday, April 2, 2024

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viking cruise lines

The centerpiece of the top deck of each of Viking's ocean ships is the main pool area, which is home to a pool, hot tub and rows of lounge chairs, as well as comfortable seating areas. You'll also find musicians including pianists and guitar players performing at times in the Viking Living Room — a three-deck-high, atrium-like space at the center of the ship. Filled with comfortable seating areas and home to a bar, the Viking Living Room serves as a central meeting point for passengers throughout the day and night.

Viking Cruises Longships

Viking fares do include port taxes and fees, which can add up to hundreds of dollars per sailing. Most other lines do not include port taxes and fees in their base fares and add them later in the booking process. Viking also includes access to the thermal areas of its spa in its base fares. Such access almost always comes with an extra charge on cruise vessels. The line asks passengers to keep things "elegant casual" when heading to any of the ship's dining venues, performances or special events.

Europe

The 930-guest Viking Jupiter—the sixth Viking ocean ship—touches water for the first time during its “Float Out” in Ancona, Italy. Join Viking Chairman Torstein Hagen and Norwegian soprano Sissel Kyrkjebø, the ship’s godmother, as they celebrate this major construction milestone. VIKING OCEAN's 8-month long westbound voyage (officially named "Ultimate World Cruise") included a Transatlantic crossing (RepositionCruises.com) and passing through Suez Canal. The B2B itinerary started with Valletta overnight and visited Kotor, Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Sibenik, Mgarr Malta, Valletta (overnight), Kalamata, Piraeus-Athens (overnight), Santorini, Rhodes, Souda Crete.

Chartered ships

On any given day, you might find an expert on one of the destinations you're visiting lecturing in the theater, or a classical musician performing in the central atrium, known as The Living Room. The ships also offer some traditional entertainment, including production shows with singers and dancers. Viking's ocean ships also offer a large number of suites, many of which are quite spacious. Even the smallest cabins on Viking's ocean ships are large by cruise ship standards at 270 square feet, and the largest suites measure nearly 1,500 square feet. Viking is one of the only cruise brands in the world that offers a balcony with every cabin on every ocean ship it operates — even the least expensive, smallest cabins.

viking cruise lines

You also spend time in some of the best hotels in Cairo on each of our Egypt cruisetours. With their innovative patented design, al fresco Aquavit Terrace and understated elegance, Viking Longships provide the most rewarding way to explore Europe. For a more casual option, the Aquavit Terrace on the upper deck has light buffet breakfasts, lunches and dinners. It's a particularly charming place to eat when the weather is nice and the glass walls come down, opening the entire area up to al fresco dining.

Fun fact is that only two Viking OCEAN ships (Orion and Jupiter) have a Planetarium. Named "Explorers' Dome", this theater-like venue is circular, with capacity 26 seats, and located forward on Deck 8, facing Explorers Lounge. It uses the latest video projecting technology to show constellations and other space-related 3D videos on its domed roof. In March 2016, Viking OCEAN confirmed the order of three more ocean vessels, which was increased to four in 2017 (December). By 2023, the newbuilds (by Fincantieri Italy) expanded the fleet to 10 liners.

Classic China & the Coast

In February 2024, Viking filed with SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission USA/an independent federal government agency/1934-created) for an IPO (initial public offering/first selling shares of stock to the public) in 2024-Q2. Reportedly, after becoming a stock exchange-listed company, Viking could raise US$500+ million from potential private investors. For the IPO, the company works with the major American financial/investment institutions UBS Group AG, Wells Fargo & Co, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America.

These Cruise Lines Have The Best Customer Service In 2024 - Forbes

These Cruise Lines Have The Best Customer Service In 2024.

Posted: Sat, 24 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The itineraries are operated by three new riverboats - Viking Ra (March 2018), Viking Osiris (August 2022) and Viking Aton (September 2023). Previously, Viking Egypt operated the Nile River and Lake Nasser itineraries with two chartered ships (Steigenberger Omar El Khayam and Mayfair). The 65-day itinerary (March 2 through May 5, 2023/ship Viking Octantis) visited 29 ports (9 countries, 3 continents) departing from Buenos Aires Argentina. The other 4 longships were named via live video link with the shipbuilding shipyard in Neptun Werft (Rostock, Germany). Two of the longships (Astrild and Beyla) are specifically designed for Elbe River.

After 4 days in England, tourists arrive in Paris City to embark a Viking Longship. The roundtrip French itinerary visits Giverny (Claude Monet's farmhouse and gardens), Rouen, as well as Normandy's American Military Cemetery and the World War beaches. In mid-September 2016 was announced that TPG Capital and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board intend to make a joint investment of USD 0,5 billion in Viking Cruises. The funding helped the company's growth, particularly on the ocean cruising market, and also strengthened its balance sheet as it branched into China (since 2016). Float along the life-giving Nile River on the new, all-suite Viking Ra, enjoying comfort and style that ancient pharaohs could only have dreamed of, and witness the monuments of ancient civilizations that once flourished on the river’s banks.

The launderettes are stocked with detergent for the washing machines that, unlike on many cruise ships with launderettes, do not come with an extra cost. Viking has more ships than any other major cruise brand in the world, more than 90 in all. It also has both ocean ships and river ships — something that is unusual among major lines. The 12-day itinerary incorporates 7-day cruising on Nile River and starts with a 3-night hotel stay in Cairo and tours to iconic attractions like Grand Egyptian Museum, Great Pyramids of Giza, Mosque of Muhammad Ali.

If you are unhappy with the service you receive, you can adjust this amount before disembarking at the Explorers' Desk. (You can also increase the tip amount if so desired.) Also, a 15% gratuity is added to bills at bars and for drinks at restaurants. Note that Viking river ships do not have fitness centers, which is relatively unusual for river ships.

There's also live music at night in the Explorers' Lounge, a two-deck-high observation lounge and bar area at the very top of the ship. The Explorers' Lounge also is home to Mamsen's, the food counter serving tastes of Norway mentioned above. You'll also find live piano music in the evenings in river ship lounges. Bathrooms in Viking cabins are serene, modernist escapes with luxurious travertine-lined walls, Scandinavian-influenced wood-veneered vanities, shiny white sinks and chrome fixtures. You'll find beds topped with crisp, white duvets and Scandinavian throws, comfortable contemporary sofas and chairs in neutral tones, and light-wood desks and side tables that combine to offer a residential feel in bedroom areas.

You'll find everything from eight-day cruises in the Mediterranean to 138-day around-the-world voyages among the line's voyages. Viking also recently began sailings on the Mississippi River with a new ship specifically designed for the river and its tributaries. On board, Viking's programming revolves heavily around what the line calls "cultural enrichment" — lectures by experts on topics related to the places its ships visit, as well as cultural and culinary offerings that often have a local tie-in.

Pricing started at US$96,000 per person, inclusive of business class airfare. In 2019 the parent company created the brand "Viking Expeditions", with a newbuild fleet of two small-sized expedition vessels - Viking Octantis (2021) and Viking Polaris (2022), plus 2 more (optional) same-designed units. On December 5, 2023, the company announced a shipbuilding order for 10x Viking Longships - 8x to be deployed on the rivers Rhine-Main-Danube, and 2x in France (Seine River). The newbuilds are scheduled for deliveries in 2025 (5x units/TBN) and in 2026 (5x units/TBN). Like all Viking Longships, the 10x new riverboats are constructed in Rostock (by Neptun Werft). On 23 March 2019, Viking Sky put out a mayday call after she suffered an engine failure off the coast of Norway.

We love the reading lights built into the fabric headboards, which are in addition to the lamps on bedside tables. You won't have trouble seeing the pages of the Viking Daily activity newsletter while lying in a Viking cabin bed. If you're looking for a big open room on an ocean cruise (and are willing to pay for it), Viking offers you plenty of options. In general, it's an educated crowd, with many passengers coming from professional backgrounds or a life of running their own businesses.

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