Viking is once again expanding their fleet, and they will be adding 10 more of their award-winning Longships by 2026.
Five of the ships will begin offering cruises in 2025, with the other five debuting in 2026. Eight of the ships will offer cruises on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers while the other two will sail cruises in France from Paris on the Seine River.
A keel-laying ceremony was held at the Neptun Werft shipyard in Rostock, Germany marking the official start of construction for the new Longships. The shipyard has built every Viking Longship since its debut in 2012.
“Ever since we started Viking 26 years ago, our mission has been to help our guests explore the world in comfort. We focus on the destination, and we build elegant, innovative ships,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman of Viking. “We look forward to welcoming these new Longships to our European fleet and introducing The Viking Way of exploration to even more guests in the coming years.”
Viking has grown into the world’s largest river cruise line with 80 ships in service. They have over 50% of the market share for North American travelers who take river cruises in Europe.
Viking is not only expanding their river cruises, but their fleet of ocean ships continues to grow. The cruise line recently celebrated the float-out of Viking Vela, their next new ocean cruise ship, which will also be the largest in their fleet. Last month, they also announced Viking Tonle, a new ship for the Mekong River in 2025.
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