Viking Enters Agreement with Fincantieri for Six Additional Ocean Ships

New Options Would Bring Viking’s Ocean Fleet to 16 Ships by 2027

When I read this press release, I’m pretty sure that my face resembled the look on this little boy’s face.  What? 16 ships?

I’ve been stating for quite some time that as Viking currently dominates the river cruise market, they are now focused on the ocean cruise industry with a plan to dominate with their special brand of ocean cruising.

When Carol and I first sailed with Viking Ocean Cruises, Chairman Torstein Hagen was onboard sharing with us that he intended to build out the brand with ten ocean ships.  And now, here we are with his updated plan to have 16 ships.

At first blush, I wondered how he would fill 16 ships.  But then I remembered that there are 80,000,000 baby boomers, and it’s often quite difficult to book a stateroom now unless you get at it at least a year or more in advance.

Want to know how popular Viking is?  Our fabulous Viking rep called the other day and told me that Carol and I were pushing towards $1,000,000 in Viking bookings.  And heck, we haven’t even hit the end of the first quarter.

So, if we’re booking that many Viking ocean and river cruises, imagine the number of bookings Viking must have on their books already for the year.

Listen folks, when we book our clients with Viking, they routinely come home wanting to book again right away.  How fun is that?

Here’s the press release:

Los Angeles (March 6, 2018) – Viking^® (www.vikingcruises.com) today announced a new agreement with Fincantieri that could see the delivery of six additional ocean ships by 2027. The new understanding expands Viking’s partnership with Fincantieri, raising the company’s total ocean ship order and options to 16 – the highest-ever for a shipyard from a single owner. The agreement for the six additional ships, which will be delivered in 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027, is subject to specific conditions.

“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 Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “In our first two years of operation, we have been named the #1 Ocean Cruise Line, and this new order speaks to the positive response we have received from our guests and the industry. As we continue to expand our brand, we look forward to bringing guests to more destinations around the world and introducing them to the Viking way of exploration.”

This announcement comes just prior to the naming of Viking’s fourth ocean ship, Viking Sun^®, on March 8 in Shanghai. The ship is currently sailing Viking’s sold-out 141-day World Cruise from Miami to London, and its stop in Shanghai will mark the first time one of Viking’s ocean ships has called in China. Viking Sun will also be the first-ever cruise ship to be named in Shanghai.

Classified by Cruise Critic^® as “small ships,” Viking’s all-veranda ocean ships have a gross tonnage of 47,800 tons, have 465 staterooms and host 930 guests. Viking Sun is the newest addition to Viking’s award-winning ocean fleet, which also includes Viking Star^®, Viking Sea^® and Viking Sky^®. Viking will welcome two more sister ships in the next two years, including Viking Orion^® in June 2018. With the arrival of Viking Jupiter^® in 2019, Viking will be the largest small ship ocean cruise line. Ten additional ships are now on order for delivery starting in 2021, which will bring Viking’s ocean fleet to 16 ships by 2027.

For booking information, call Roaming Boomers Travel Services at (480) 550-1235 or use our convenient online information request (click here) and we will reach out to you.
 
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