Thursday, February 23, 2012

Viking River Cruises Longships Update

Setting a New Standard - Viking River Cruises Longships
Viking Freya, Viking Idun, Viking Njord, and Viking Odin

About a year ago, we wrote about Viking River Cruises plans to build four new river cruise vessels debuting Spring 2012 in Europe with six more ships planned to be built by 2014. The cost of those new ships for 2012 was $120M out of a total budget of $250M for the project.

(see:  Viking River Cruises 2012 Fleet Upgrades)

Viking Freya and Viking Njord Delayed

Viking had planned to release the four ships simultaneously this March, a very ambitious endeavor. Unfortunately, two of the ships, Viking Freya and Viking Njord, will not be ready until mid-April forcing Viking to cancel several sailings.

'Tulips and Windmills'  Sailings Impacted


Five 'Tulips and Windmills' round-trip sailings from Amsterdam on Viking Freya and Viking Njord have been cancelled as follows:

Viking Freya - March 22, 31, April 9        Viking Njord - March 28, April 6

Guests impacted by the delay are being offered the chance to rebook a similar itinerary on a different ship and receive up to a 50 percent credit on a future cruise booking; or if they choose not to rebook, a full refund.

Viking Idun and Viking Odin

The remaining two longships scheduled to be released in 2012, Viking Idun and Viking Odin, will be named on March 21st as planned.   Their sister ships will not have the same splashy launch party when they emerge in mid-April, but rather will start sailing their itineraries as soon as they are completed.  UPDATE:  Viking Longboats Christened

PHOTOS (Click links below):

Introducing for 2012, the Viking Longships

Sneak Preview: 3D renderings of the new Viking Longships, debuting in Europe in 2012. Viking Freya, Viking Idun, Viking Njord and Viking Odin.

THE NEW VIKING LONGSHIPS...IN 3D! (click here)

Watch this video to learn more about the new Viking River Cruises Longships... 
(click HERE to Start Video)

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