Viking® (www.viking.com) has taken delivery April 15th of Viking Venus®, the company’s newest ocean ship. The delivery ceremony took place this morning when the ship was presented at Fincantieri’s shipyard in Ancona, Italy. Viking Venus will now make her way to the United Kingdom, where she will be officially named on May 17, 2021 by her ceremonial godmother, Anne Diamond, the esteemed British journalist and broadcaster. The ship will then sail spring and summer departures of the England’s Scenic Shores itinerary.
For more than a year, Anne Diamond has been a key figure on Viking’s award-winning enrichment channel, Viking.TV (www.viking.tv). Viking.TV went live in March 2020, in the early stages of the pandemic, and was conceived as a way to build community, stay connected and share positive experiences while people are staying home, rather than traveling.
Today’s news follows Viking’s recent announcement that it is restarting operations with a collection of new itineraries in England, Bermuda and Iceland beginning in May 2021. All of Viking’s new Welcome Back voyages are available exclusively for vaccinated guests, in accordance with local entry rules in many of the destinations that will welcome Viking ships—and as a complement to the Viking Health & Safety Program, which was designed to protect guests and crew even while the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is still moving forward.
Viking Venus is the newest ship in Viking’s award-winning ocean fleet of identical sister ships. Classified by Cruise Critic as “small ships,” Viking’s ocean vessels have a gross tonnage of 47,800 tons, with 465 staterooms that can host 930 guests; the ships feature all veranda staterooms, Scandinavian design, airy public spaces and abundant al fresco dining options.
