Sea Change

The debate of quantity versus quality has had little effect on Viking Cruises’ rapid expansion. The Woodland Hills travel company continues to add to its fleet at a quick clip, and last month launched six new vessels, bringing its total ship count to 59. “Viking is the company that really opened up river cruising to the rest of the world. … It created a product that is very inclusive, offering drinks, gratuity, (complimentary) tours and Internet – which was unheard of on big ships,” said Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor-in-chief of Cruise Critic, a leading cruise review and information website owned by the Independent Traveler Inc. in Ewing, N.J. “If you think about when they started launching the long ships, at one point they were launching 16 ships a year. Being the ones with the most ships out there absolutely gave them presence on the rivers. Everyone else has been careful to moderate growth (with) one to two ships a year,” Spencer Brown added. The company’s main business is running ships on the Rhine and Danube rivers in Europe. But last year, the company decided to venture out on the high seas with the launch of ocean cruiser Viking Star. The ship was christened in Bergen, Norway, in May, with itineraries in Scandinavia and the Baltic, the Western and Eastern Mediterranean, and the Caribbean and North America. “It is our view that in the race to build bigger ships, many cruise lines have lost sight of the destinations to which they sail,” Torstein Hagen, founder and chairman of Viking, said in a statement. “With our new ocean cruises, we are applying the same principled-access excursions and onboard experiences to make destinations the true focus.” ‘Best brand’ Founded in 1997, Viking is one of the world’s largest river cruise lines with a huge presence on waterways in Europe, Russia, China, Vietnam and Cambodia. It is one of three river cruise companies to dominate the market, with competitors AmaWaterWays in Calabasas and Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection in Encino, though Ama and Uniworld are considered luxury brands by industry experts. Still, Viking outranks the two other San Fernando Valley-based cruise lines in size and vessel count, with nearly triple AmaWaterWays’ 22 ships and Uniworld’s 20. “Ama and Uniworld are more on the luxury side of things … though Viking is going to be the one with the best brand recognition,” Spencer Brown said. “Viking did what Carnival did for ocean cruises in the 1970s; it took a formal, stuffy form of travel and came out with the fun ships and turned it on its ears. I’m not comparing the two, but Viking had a similar effect – it came in and shook up the industry.” In the past decade, global cruise vacations have outpaced leisurely travel overall in popularity by 20 percent, according to the Cruise Line International Association in Washington, D.C. The association projects that 24 million passengers will set sail this year, many drawn to the itineraries and upgraded onboard experiences that cruise lines now offer. “Cruise ships are no longer just viewed as the transportation to get you from place to place – ships are truly becoming the destination. The latest ships offer unprecedented experiences and amenities for travelers, from Broadway productions and designer shops to zip-lining and bumper cars,” Lorri Christou, senior vice president of strategic marketing and communications at the association, said in an email to the Business Journal. “Another trend is the ability to stay connected at sea. … Today, most cruise ships offer a myriad of Wi-Fi, onboard texting and data options.” Viking did not respond to requests for an interview. But according to its website, the Viking Star can accommodate up to 930 passengers in 465 staterooms. The ship has two pools, a spa, curated library, theater and boutique shops. But the port cities are the main attraction for its cruises. “What Viking did was apply the river model with its more inclusive destination-rich, itinerary-intensive (offerings) and transitioned it into the ocean model,” Cruise Critic’s Spencer Brown said. Viking Star itineraries can range from 10- to 15-day cruises to 20- to 50-day voyages, depending on the destination. Similar to its river cruises, Viking’s ocean cruise packages include on-shore excursions and hosted tours. “One thing Viking does well is it does long days in port so you get a chance to experience night life or dinner off the ship,” Spencer Brown added. “In the ocean space, that is a fairly new approach in terms of value-oriented cruising. You get more for your money than you’d expect. It’s not a bargain, but you’re getting your money’s worth.” Headwinds The cruise line’s fleet expansion won’t slow any time soon. Viking will launch its second ocean ship, the Viking Sea, next month. The line’s third ship, the Viking Sky, is on order. Still, making the leap into ocean cruising has had its challenges. The company is not the biggest fish in the ocean cruise industry and must now compete against Princess Cruises in Valencia; Carnival Corp. in Southampton, England; and Disney Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Burbank media giant Walt Disney Co. When designing its first ocean ship, Viking tried to take into account building requirements, offering a more varied array of onboard entertainment and activities and maintaining its reputation of providing interesting port excursions. “When they did the shift to ocean, nobody had done that before. It’s an entirely different set of logistical challenges … (and) it’s a different experience people expect,” Spencer Brown said. “The biggest challenge is in transitioning its tours, which on the river side were really superb. Because the ships are calling at ocean coastal ports and they have different appeals, not every port is going to give you a great historic city to walk around in.” Viking’s reliance on European rivers ran into headwinds last year when sales declined after terrorist attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead. Viking reported a 58 percent drop off in bookings in November, the month of the attacks, according to travel industry publication Travel Weekly. “The cruise industry continues to flourish, but as with any industry that touches almost every corner of the world, we constantly have to be evolving to respond to external factors that may impact our business,” said the Cruise Line International Association’s Christou. Viking responded by offering discounted packages for a limited time. The decline proved temporary and the company moved forward with plans to launch ships this year. Traditionally, Vikings river vessels were intimate, accommodating up to 190 passengers in 95 staterooms. In 2012, the company began launching its longships, featuring larger suites, three decks and floor-to-ceiling windows. “Viking, like other brands, is taking advantage of increasing interest. They finally realized that they needed to create long boats offering similar accommodations as cruise ships,” said Stewart Chiron, cruise expert and founder of CruiseGuy.com in Miami. “People don’t want subpar, small closets to sleep in and horrible food. The boats, including cabins and dining, have been greatly redesigned. The destinations they visit have been improved and expanded.” Four of the six ships launched this month will be deployed along Viking’s most popular routes in Europe. The remaining two will sail the Seine River in France, and the cruise line announced that it will launch a seventh river ship this month specifically for its Douro River cruise in Portugal. “For both river and ocean cruising, when I think of Viking I think of a comfortable floating boutique hotel and about being on shore to have personal experiences,” Cruise Critic’s Spencer Brown said. “The distinctions between ocean and river are now becoming a much narrower gap and Viking has been a pioneer in helping that gap get smaller.”