82.1 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Viking Adding to River Cruise Fleet

With smooth sailing indicated for the overall industry, Woodland Hills-based Viking River Cruises will build four new ships that will be launched next year – the first time since 2001 that the company has built that many vessels. The Viking Freya, Viking Idun, Viking Njord and Viking Odin are the first of Viking’s Longships that will be a new class of vessel that is marked by high-tech features. The maritime architects Yran & Storbraaten, who were the team behind the Disney Dream and the Yachts of Seabourn, are designing the new ships, which are part of the newest phase of Viking’s $250 million fleet development program. The ships will be characterized by the long and graceful design of ancient Scandinavian vessels. FOUNDED: 1997 U.S. HEADQUARTERS: Woodland Hills CORE OF BUSINESS: Operates the world’s largest fleet built specifically for river travel. Destinations: Europe, Russia, Egypt, China and Southeast Asia Awards: Conde Nast Traveler’s Gold List, Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best. According to Richard Marnell, senior vice president of marketing for Viking, the company has maintained its rate of growth in the river cruising market and outpaced that of the ocean cruise lines by 3 to 1 and the company’s steady amount of bookings for 2011 departures backs up that statistic. “We have just announced our Early Booking Discount for 2012. This growth can be attributed to a number of reasons. The overall increased interest in river cruising resulting from the desire to have a more cultural vacation experience, the influx of the ‘baby boomer’ generation as part of river cruising core demographics and travelers realizing that river cruising offers the ability to visit inland ports,’’ Marnell said. Viking was founded in 1997 by a Scandinavian and Dutch consortium that started with the purchase of four Russian ships. The company has offices in China, Russia, Germany, UK and Australia with its “on board” service facility in Basel, Switzerland. When Viking expanded into the North American market with more new ships in 2000, it also established a U.S. corporate headquarters in Woodland Hills. The majority of Viking’s cruises are in Europe – the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, France and the Czech Republic but it also offers cruises in Russia, Ukraine, China, Egypt, Vietnam and Cambodia. “Green” ship “We launched the first “green” ship in 2009, Viking Legend, which was a state-of-the-art vessel with diesel-electric hybrid engines. There will be two more ships debuting in the coming year, the Viking Prestige in Europe and what we consider the pearl of China’s Yangtze River the Viking Emerald,” said Marnell. Viking has competition in the inland waterways. Uniworld, AMAWaterways and Avalon are its direct competition, but the industry also competes with European bus tours. Marnell said what sets his company apart are the extras it offers such as all-inclusive itineraries including wine, guided tours plus port charges. There is wi-fi in the ships’ staterooms. “We also offer local bites on the sundecks, during events we call ‘A taste of….’ where we introduce our guests to the types of food locals get when they want a simple bite to eat,” Marnell said. Viking has been embracing requests for more culture and local immersion, and upgraded itineraries to feature tailor-made shore excursions as well as its Culture Curriculum program. This features a variety of activities both on board and ashore such as cooking demonstrations, musical performances and a host of lectures led by professional lecturers and university professors. Along with the four new ships slated to be delivered at the end of this year, Viking plans to continue with the fleet development program and build six additional ships in 2013 and 2014. “Despite a slowing economy, the cruise industry continues to grow in popularity in the North American market. It seems customers are ready to travel and starting prices for cruise vacations are quite affordable,” said Kate Bernier, manager, leisure agent sales for Montrose Travel Agency in Montrose. “We have found that many travelers actually feel more comfortable taking a cruise vacation versus traveling independently on a land-based vacation.” Creative itineraries Cruise lines are adding ships to their fleet and getting more creative with their itineraries, industry experts say. River cruises are now offering family themed departures. “They’ve done a phenomenal job of understanding and meeting the needs of today’s traveler. So, we would say there is an expansion in the cruise industry,” Bernier said. The non-profit Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is North America’s largest cruise industry organization and represents the interests of 26 member lines. “Our member lines have maintained full occupancy through special offers and incentives even with the economic climate in the last few years. Although this affected revenue somewhat, their strong bookings for 2010 and beyond have allowed lines to begin to increase fares back to more typical levels. In fact, no CLIA lines left the industry and there are 22 ships on order over the next two years,” said Lanie Fagan, director of communications for CLIA.

Featured Articles

Related Articles