Ninth Viking cruise ship Viking Neptune floated out at Fincantieri

Viking Ocean Cruises has marked the float out of its ninth cruise ship, Viking Neptune, ahead of her expected delivery later this year.

Viking Neptune is a sister ship to the existing eight ships in the Viking Ocean Cruises fleet, with a further nine identical vessels on order with Italian shipyard Fincantieri.

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Viking Neptune was floated out on Thursday at the Fincantieri shipyard in Ancona, Italy. She is designed to accomodate 930 guests and at 47,800 gross tons will feature the generous space to guest ratio for which the cruise line has become known.

Another nine ships (including options) are on the shipyard’s order book through 2027. Fincantieri started its partnership with Viking in 2012 with an order for two ships.

Today, the collaboration has reached a total of 20 vessels, including the order awarded to Fincantieri’s subsidiary VARD for two expedition cruise ships, Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris. That deal also includes an option for two further ships.

Viking Neptune is a direct successor to Viking Mars, which was delivered in 2021. She will vary little from her sister ships, the first of which, Viking Star, was launched in 2015.

The Viking fleet has fast become a gold standard in understated luxury, with elegant interior décor, spacious public rooms, and comfortable, charming staterooms, all of which offer private balconies.

There’s only one main restaurant, but five additional specialty dining experiences to be had in the ship’s bars and lounges, all of which are complimentary.

These include Chef’s Table, offering a selection of rotating menus reflecting different culinary cultures and tastes, Manfredi’s, an Italian eatery named after Viking Chairman and CEO Torstein Hagen’s friend, Silversea Cruises executive Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, and Kitchen Table, an interactive cooking class and demonstration in its own galley.

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There’s no casino aboard Viking Neptune or any of her sister ships, but there is a Theatre, where low-key, classy entertainment is offered, along with movies up on the pool deck.

The ship will also reportedly have musicians performing in the Living Room Lobby and the Explorers’ Lounge, while a jazz and blues band will perform in Torshavn, the closest venue the ship has to a nightclub.

Viking Neptune has been earmarked for Viking’s annual World Cruise in 2022/23, a 138-day journey from Fort Lauderdale to London, England departing on December 22, 2022.