Page 14 - 2021 European River Report

VIKING
A Viking Longship
What started out as a relatively
small operation it late 1990s
has Viking as the market
leader today on the European rivers by far, modest by size, just 168 guests across
with comparable ocean and expedition
programs, along with a coming U.S.
domestic river entry in 2022.
Sourcing mainly North American
passengers, Viking markets heavily,
makes the booking process easy and
provides a premium to luxury river
product.
2020 was set to be another year of
growth, with four new ships custom-built
for the Seine River, based on the popular
Viking Longship design, they were set to
66 Cruise Industry News: 2021 European River Cruise Market Report
No Stopping Hagen
navigate the eight-day itinerary.
The new four ships are relatively
84 staterooms, with many features Viking
guests are accustomed to including the
Aquavit Terrace, various staterooms
categories and even solar panels.
According to Chairman Torstein
Hagen the brand’s destination-focus has
made it a market leader.
2020’s expansion of capacity was
relatively small by Viking standards,
having welcomed seven ships to its river
fleet in 2019, including six Longships
set to cruise on the Rhine, Main and
Danube, and one ship for operation on the which have balconies, a complimentary
Douro in Portugal, where Viking operates
seasonally with four vessels.
Hagen likes to say Viking offers
guests “the thinking person’s cruise” as
an alternative to mainstream cruises.
Ship size is kept small but economically
tuned to drive returns. Itineraries include
more time in port and more overnights,
according to the company.
Design is strictly Scandinavian,
where every room is both “beautiful and
functional, quiet and filled with light.”
On the value side, cruise ticket prices
include only outside staterooms, most of
shore excursion in each port of call,