Viking Ocean Cruises, no stranger to newbuild deliveries, with more ships on order than any other cruise line (except MSC), has taken delivery of its sixth ocean-going cruise vessel, Viking Jupiter.
Viking Jupiter was delivered to the cruise line at the Fincantieri shipyard in Alcona, Italy. Fincantieri started its partnership with Viking in 2012, according to a statement, helping Viking enter the ocean market starting with the Viking Star in 2015.
Viking Jupiter is almost identical to the five cruise ships already in the Viking fleet.
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Viking Star was built in Marghera while Viking Sea, Viking Sky, Viking Sun and Viking Orion were all built at the Ancona yard, like Viking Jupiter.
She is almost identical to her five sister ships, carrying 930-passengers and offering amenities like a main pool and an aft infinity pool, and a huge spa with a free-to-use thermal suite that features a sauna and snow grotto.
All her staterooms feature balconies, and shore excursions, Wi-Fi, and beer and wine at lunch and dinner are all included in the cruise fare, along with her four specialty restaurants (the Chef’s Table, the Kitchen Table, Manfredi’s Italian and Mamsen’s Norwegian Deli).
Viking Jupiter will sail destination-intensive one to two-week cruises through 2019 in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe (from Athens, Barcelona and Copenhagen), the British Isles and Europe (from London, Bergen and Stockholm) and South America (from Buenos Aires).
The aft infinity pool is a defining feature of Viking Jupiter and her sister ships.
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Her maiden cruise, an 8-night cruise from Athens to Rome, departs February 16th, 2019.
The ship will be christened in June 2019, in Oslo, Norway and when she repositions to South America later in the year (with a 22-night trans-Atlantic voyage departing November 13th, 2019), it will mark the first time a Viking Ocean Cruises ship has sailed in the region.
With six ships now in operating, and plans for a total of 2016 by the middle of the next decade, Viking Ocean Cruises is rapidly adding new destinations and embarkation ports to its line-up.
During Seatrade Middle East Cruise Forum, the cruise line indicated it was considering Dubai as a departure port after 2020. In 2019, the cruise line will sail from South Africa for the first time aboard Viking Sun.
Viking Ocean Cruises is the ocean going arm of Viking Cruises, which also includes the popular river cruise line, Viking River Cruises.
In addition to the 10 new ships on order with Fincantieri, for delivery between 2021 and 2027, Viking also has also ordered two “special” ships from Fincantieri subsidiary Vard, for delivery in 2021 and 2022. The two ships are widely expected to be LNG-powered expedition ships.
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