Viking, which dominates the river cruise industry and is on its way to 16 Viking Ocean ships, is about to get into the small-ship expedition segment of the cruise industry with two custom-built ships due in 2022.
The ships, being built in Finland by a division of Italy’s Fincantieri shipbuilding company, will sail on cruises to the Arctic and Antarctic—and to the Great Lakes, with itineraries sailing out of the port of Milwaukee.
The two ships, Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, will each carry about 378 passengers, a bit over twice the river cruises, but only about 40% as many as the Viking Ocean ships. They are built to Polar Class 6 standards so they can safely move in icy areas. Among the innovations are a system that will see passengers board expedition craft inside the ship and then be launched through a special door.
And, in part because of the new division, Viking is changing its landing page on the Web to viking.com; it used to be vikingcruises.com. The viking.com website is just a landing page; from it buttons direct to the three types of cruises.
