Viking Star will sail first voyage on 11 April and will be christened on 17 May in Bergen
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Viking Ocean Cruises took delivery of its first ocean cruise ship at Fincantieri’s Marghera yard in Italy on 28 March.
Viking Star, which entered the final outfitting stages in February after successfully completing sea trials, was presented to the cruise line’s founder and chairman Torstein Hagen. Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, also attended the ceremony.
“This has been a remarkable journey and I am grateful to everyone at Viking and Fincantieri who has worked tirelessly to turn our vision into reality,” said Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking Cruises. “With Viking Star’s maiden voyage and christening now within sight, we are ready to bring our destination-focused experiences to ocean cruising.”
Viking Star will embark on her first cruise on 11 April, sailing from Istanbul in Turkey to various Mediterranean ports and into the Atlantic to Norway. The ship will be christened by Bergen’s mayor Trude Drevland on 17 May, which is also Norwegian Constitution Day.
Viking Star is the first of three Viking cruise ships on order at Fincantieri. Construction work has already begun on her sister ships Viking Sky and Viking Sea, which are both scheduled for delivery in spring 2016.
Featuring modern, Scandinavian-inspired interiors designed by London-based SMC Design and Los Angeles-based Rottet Studios, the 14-deck ships will feature five stateroom categories; a pool with retractable dome, a glass-backed infinity pool cantilevered off the stern; a two-deck Explorers’ Lounge at the bow; the Wintergarden; and a spa with a sauna and a traditional ‘snow grotto’.
Engineered to a small scale, the ships will be able to directly access most ports, providing an easy and efficient embarkation and debarkation process. They all feature energy-efficient hybrid engines, hydro-dynamically optimised streamlined hulls and bows for maximum fuel efficiency. In addition, onboard solar panels and equipment that minimises exhaust pollution will enable the vessels to meet strict environmental regulations.
All three ships will sail in Scandinavia and the Baltic, as well as the Western and Eastern Mediterranean.