Victory Cruise Lines has delayed the introduction of its second ship until July 27, forcing the cancellation of several previously scheduled cruises.

“We modified our summer plans to insure that we would not have any last-minute delays coming out of the remodeling of the ship which is a significant project,” Chairman Bruce Nierenberg said. “These changes insure that we will have no problem having the ship totally ready to go for her first cruise on July 27. We are disappointed to have cancelled several trips, but we will be back to all of the ports involved with future calls.”

He said the Victory II will begin its summer 2018 schedule with a nine-night voyage from Montreal to Detroit that ends on Aug. 5. The ship will then operate the remainder of the summer as planned before repositioning to Florida in mid-October.

The 202-passenger Victory II, formerly known as Saint Laurent and Cape May Light, was originally scheduled to begin operating on May 20. It is virtually identical to the company’s first ship, the Victory I, which began sailing in July 2016.

“We have communicated a change in our summer schedule for Victory II to the ports and ground operators we have business with,” Nierenberg said in an email. “Out of courtesy I also sent a personal note to the port and CVB folks who are our friends and let them know we are going to miss some calls this summer but that we will be back, including our cruises that will go to Lake Superior and the Western Great Lakes markets. We of course are communicating these changes to the travel agents and consumers who have bought any of the affected cruises from us.”

The recently announced nine-night Mexico cruises will sail from Miami to the Mexican states of Quintana Roo, Yucatan and Campeche starting Jan. 4, 2019.

For more information, visit victorycruiselines.com.