Cruise line will take guests to the Mediterranean, North Africa, Middle East and the Baltic
By
Rebecca Gibson |
Viking Ocean Cruises has added new sailing dates to existing itineraries, created four new enrichment programmes and opened booking for 2017 departures on Viking Star, Viking Sea and Viking Sky.
In 2016, the cruise line will offer a 15-day ‘Ancient Empires & Holy Lands’ voyage from Rome in Italy to Istanbul in Turkey. Guests will spend three days in Israel, making calls in Jerusalem and Haifa, and will also explore Rome in Italy and Athens in Greece.
Viking will also offer a 15-day ‘Bergen to the Bosphorus’ itinerary from Norway to Istanbul in 2016. This includes calls in the French city of Paris and Lisbon in Portugal, before visiting various Mediterranean destinations including Tunis, Tunisia; Valletta, Malta; and Athens.
“We are encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive response Viking Star has generated among our guests and travel industry partners,” said Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking Cruises. “We made a commitment to reinvent ocean cruising, and we are well on our way. By 2017 we will have two more ships designed to enable our guests to better experience their destination. We will also have four new itineraries that offer our guests more time in port and enriching, cultural experiences at a better value than our competitors.”
In 2017, Viking will offer its popular itineraries in the Mediterranean, Western Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltic. The company will also operate two new itineraries including an eight-day ‘Secrets of the Southern Mediterranean’ cruise from Rome to Barcelona, Spain. Guests will call in Tunis; Algiers, Algeria; Valletta; Sardinia, Italy; and Valencia, Spain.
Meanwhile, the 22-day ‘Barcelona, the Baltic & Beyond’ voyage takes guests through the waterways of Western Europe and the Baltic, allowing them to visit Barcelona; Lisbon, Portugal; Paris; Amsterdam in the Netherlands; and St. Petersburg, Russia.
The first of Viking’s ocean ships, the 930-passenger, all-veranda Viking Star was christened in the Norwegian city of Bergen on 17 May. Meanwhile, Viking Sea is due to debut in 2016 and Viking Sky will be delivered in 2017.