Viking Cruises has swiftly created a name for itself in the wider cruise industry. No longer does it consist solely of the Viking River Cruises brand. Now, Viking Ocean Cruises is expanding well beyond Europe, and it's not about to stop giving its competition a run for their money.
Currently, the Viking ocean fleet consists of two identical sister ships: the award-winning Viking Star and Viking Sea. By 2017, Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking Cruises, is proud to emphasize that that number will double as the Viking Sky and Viking Sun come online. In fact, this year will also mark the company's 20th anniversary as another of its two Viking Longships are launched on the river as well.
In only another two years, Viking Ocean Cruises will have six ships as the Viking Spirit will be added in 2018 and another yet-to-be-named one will be launched ahead of the original schedule in 2019. For those counting, that puts its fleet total exactly on par with other upscale lines Oceania Cruises and well ahead of the remaining upscale line Azamara Club Cruises, which only touts a pair of ships.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Viking Announces New Cruise Itineraries In Alaska, Australia, Asia and the Caribbean[/READMORE]
With six ships, which will all be newer than Oceania's or Azamara's, Viking will be poised to dramatically expand its territory, covering three times as many destinations as Azamara can while matching the Oceania deployment.
Viking's coverage map is now even more detailed.
We previously knew that the Viking Sun would be the first to break past Europe and the Caribbean on the line's first 141-day world cruise departing on December 15, 2017. We also already knew that the Viking Spirit would be the first to regularly embark between Alaska, Asia and Australia. However, we now understand exactly where the latter and those before will be going.
Interesting Viking itineraries that Azamara and Oceania should be mindful of include the Viking Spirit expanding beyond the Mediterranean in an easterly direction as the ship features not only the Holy Land with stops in Israel and Egypt but also through the Suez Canal to Jordan, Oman and India on a lengthy 21-day Passage to India route. The 16-day Across the Bay of Bengal itinerary then continues east to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
[READMORE]READ MORE: Viking Ocean Cruises Announces New Itineraries Through 2019[/READMORE]
Plus, fans of what was once known as a Circle Pacific Cruise linking Auckland all the way to Vancouver by way of tracing the Ring of Fire can now plan for specific ports. Starting in December 2018, the Viking Spirit will call on the likes of Tauranga, Napier and Wellington in New Zealand and Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia. In China and Japan in 2019, the Spirit will also visit destination such as Hong Kong, Taipei, Nagasaki, Hiroshima and Tokyo. And then finally across the way in Alaska, an 11-day circuit will head to Seward, Valdez, Icy Straight Point, Skagway, Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan.
With the means to hit all of these new destinations regularly, at least as seasons allow, Viking will best those lines that can only occasionally visit them. Even in the case of Alaska, where Oceania usually deploys its aging former-Renaissance Cruises Regatta, the newer Viking Spirit will be a much more attracted choice, especially since one shore excursions will be included per port. Only Oceania's more expensive corporate cousin Regent Seven Seas Cruises can match that feature, and while Azamara Club Cruises offers a complimentary AzAmazing Evening tour on most sailings, it has never been to Alaska.
In other words, by 2019, Viking Ocean Cruises' direct competition will have to seriously reevaluate their value propositions to stay attractive to cruisers when newer ships are available to offer more onboard and especially ashore.
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