Viking Celebrates Surpassing 100 Ocean, River and Expedition Cruise Ships
Viking celebrated a unique point in the cruise industry as it surpassed a total of 100 ships as the company marks its 28th year in business. Started as a niche player in the then modest river cruise business, the company has grown to encompass ocean cruising and expeditions while also operating on 21 rivers and reaching five oceans and all seven continents.
The company hosted a naming celebration for its nine newest river cruise ships in Basel, Switzerland, with the ship it designated number 100, Viking Honir, one of its patented Longships. The other vessels were at points around the world, ranging from Paris, France, to Rostock, Germany, Porto, Portugal, Vietnam, and Egypt.
The company was incorporated in August 1997 by Torstein Hagen, who was attracted to the possibilities of river cruising. (Hagen was the subject of a cover story profile in The Maritime Executive in 2018.) They would go on to modernize and popularize river cruising. A decade ago, the company expanded into ocean cruising with a fleet of small, luxury cruise ships. Today, it has a dozen ocean cruise ships, two expedition cruise ships, and a total of 89 river cruise ships. One of its cruise ships is owned in a joint venture with China Merchants.
Viking rivals Carnival Corporation in the number of ships, although Carnival is made up entirely of large, ocean cruise ships. Carnival briefly had over 100 cruise ships before downsizing during the pandemic.
Viking has built its brand by offering Scandinavian style and quiet luxury. It says the product is designed for curious travelers with interests in science, history, culture, and cuisine. It uses the marketing tagline that Viking offers experiences “For The Thinking Person.”
“Today we are proud to name our newest river ships and to honor the nine distinguished members of our extended Viking family serving as their godparents,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman and CEO of Viking. “We have always been quite a bit different from others in the travel industry—we like to be contrarian. Over the last 28 years, we have grown from four ships to more than 100—a fleet size that no other line has achieved—and we have done so because of our innovative approach. First, we modernized river voyages; then we reinvented ocean voyages and perfected the expedition experience. We look forward to continuing our leadership in experiential travel in the years to come.”
Viking Honir, which was the location for the event, is one of the Longships, designed to sail on the Rhine, Main, and Danube, accommodating 190 passengers in 95 staterooms. One of the elements of Viking’s approach has been using standardized designs for its ships. The Longship has a distinctive square bow, three decks, an indoor-outdoor terrace, and an asymmetric corridor that provides space to create suites on the ship.
The small ships include a design for 82 passengers on the Nile and 80 passengers on Southeast Asia’s Mekong River. In Europe, the company has a 106-passenger design for the Douro River in Portugal. It also has a design tailored to the limits of sailing on the Seine. The company’s ocean cruise ships are on their second design, altered by regulations, but all accommodate under 1,000 passengers per ship. It has tested hydrogen fuel cells and is currently building two cruise ships with Fincantieri that will have the most advanced hydrogen power systems to date.
Viking looks to continue to expand its operations. In August, it noted that its committed orderbook would add 27 river ships by 2028 and 10 ocean ships by 2031. The fleet will reach 112 river ships in 2028, and 23 ocean and expedition ships in 2031. Viking, which builds most of its river ships with Meyer Neptun in Rostock and ocean cruise ships with Fincantieri in Italy, also has additional options to further expand the fleet.
New Cruise Ships for Disney, Celebrity, and Royal Hit Milestones
It was a big week for the cruise industry as the flow of new ships continues to accelerate. Disney Cruise Line and Celebrity Cruises both took delivery of their next ships, while work is underway at Meyer Werft and Chantiers de l’Atlantique for the companies' next ships.
Disney took delivery of its seventh cruise ship, the Disney Destiny, with the handover from Meyer Werft taking place on October 15 in Eemshaven, the Netherlands. After final preparations, the ship cast off on October 20 and is on her delivery voyage to the United States. She will be making a stopover in Funchal, scheduled for October 25, before she proceeds to Port Everglades, Florida. Her maiden voyage is scheduled for November 20.
Registered in the Bahamas, Disney Destiny is the third LNG-fueled cruise ship for the line and the fifth delivered by Meyer. The shipyard highlights that the ship “features the most complex and innovative entertainment facilities in the cruise industry.”
She follows sister ships Disney Wish, delivered in 2022, and Disney Treasure, delivered in 2024. Each of the ships is approximately 144,000 gross tons with capacity for approximately 4,000 passengers and 1,500 crew. Disney themes each of its ships, with the Disney Destiny drawing its inspiration from the heroes and villains of the Disney, Pixar, and Marvel brands.
Work is already underway on a sister ship being built at Meyer Werft in Germany, and another ship based on the same design will be built for Oriental Land Co., operator of the Disney Tokyo Resort, and due to bring Disney cruise vacations to Japan in 2029. Disney Adventure is completing outfitting in Germany before its launch from Singapore, now scheduled for March 2026, and after that, Meyer will build three more ships for Disney using a new, smaller ship design.
Celebrity took delivery of Xcel and announced the next sister will be named Celebrity Xcite (Celebrity)
In France, Chantiers de l’Atlantique achieved what Royal Caribbean Group is calling “a trifecta of milestones.” The shipyard handed over its latest construction for Royal Caribbean Group’s Celebrity Cruises, and at the same time, the yard marked the first steel cutting for two more cruise ships. They will be built simultaneously, and both are due for handover in 2028.
Celebrity Xcel is the fifth cruise ship in Celebrity Cruises’ Edge Series. The ship registered in Malta is approximately 141,000 gross tons with accommodations for approximately 3,300 passengers. She will be departing Saint-Nazire and making a stop in Freeport, Bahamas, before proceeding to Port Everglades for her introduction in November.
Celebrity Cruises also announced details of its sixth ship of the class, reporting the vessel will be named Celebrity Xcite. The ceremonial steel cutting took place on October 23, and the cruise ship is scheduled for delivery in 20028.
At the same time, the steel cutting ceremony was also marked for the seventh cruise ship of the Oasis class of Royal Caribbean International. The company reports it will largely be a sister to the Utopia of the Seas (236,473 gross tons), which entered service in July 2024. The name of the seventh ship of the class, which will also launch in 2028, has not been revealed.
The cruise ship orderbook has filled up again after a pause following the pandemic. Seatrade Cruise calculates that there are approximately 70 ocean cruise ships on order for delivery by 2036. The new ships will add more than 180,000 lower berths to the industry, with Seatrade calculating the value of the orders at over $60 billion.
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