By
Rebecca Gibson |
Viking River Cruises is to launch 12 river vessels and introduce two new European river itineraries in 2015.
Ten of the twelve vessels on order are Viking Longships, which first debuted in 2012, which will bring the line’s total number of longships to 40. In March 2014, Viking Cruises broke its own Guinness World Record for the ‘Most ships inaugurated in one day by one company’ by christening 16 ships in three countries in 24 hours.
The 190-passenger longships have a patented layout that allows for two Explorer Suites – the largest river cruise suites in Europe – as well as seven, two-room Veranda Suites with a full-size veranda in the lounge area and a French balcony in the bedroom. The ships also have 39 Veranda Staterooms with full-size verandas and 22 French Balcony Staterooms. They also feature onboard solar panels; organic herb gardens; energy-efficient, vibration-reducing hybrid engines; and all-weather indoor/outdoor Aquavit Terraces with retractable floor-to-ceiling glass doors to facilitate al fresco dining.
Bringing Viking’s total fleet up to 64 vessels, the two other newbuilds will be designed specifically to operate on Germany’s Elbe River. Sister ships Viking Astrild and Viking Beyla will be smaller than the Viking Longships and will feature customised hulls and energy-efficient, hybrid engines specially designed to navigate the Elbe River. Accommodating 98 guests in 49 staterooms, the Scandinavian-themed ships will offer an Aquavit Terrace, a wide variety of stateroom choices, onboard solar panels and an organic herb garden.
The ships will double the capacity on Viking’s ten-day ‘Elegant Elbe’ cruisetours, which include hotel stays in Berlin and Prague and includes calls to six UNESCO World Heritage sites in places such as Magdeburg, Wittenberg and Dresden.
“When we started this company 17 years ago, we had two cell phones and no money, but we knew there was an opportunity to do things differently,” said Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking Cruises. “By focusing on an audience of like-minded travellers and designing ships and itineraries that help them to better explore their destinations, we are proud that river cruising is now the fastest-growing segment of travel.”
In addition, Viking will introduce two new itineraries on the Rhine in 2015.
Passengers sailing on the eight-day ‘Legends of the Rhine’ voyage between Amsterdam and Frankfurt, Germany, will cruise through the Middle Rhine Valley and call at destinations such as Cologne, Remagen and Nijmegen.
Meanwhile, guests travelling on the ‘Rhine Rapsody’ cruisetour will spend ten days sailing along the Rhine, Main and Moselle Rivers. The ships will call at Paris and Strasbourg in France; Trier, Rüdesheim and Cochem in Germany; and Basel, Switzerland.
Viking will also launch the 930-passenger Viking Star, its first ocean ship, in early 2015.