Viking Ocean Cruises has announced its new line expanding its destination-focused cruising to North America and the Caribbean with five new itineraries launching in September 2016.
As a nod to the famous Viking explorer, Leif Eriksson, who set foot on North American soil 500 years before Columbus, Viking Star will also cross the North Atlantic ? with a new itinerary that sails from Bergen to Montreal, with stops in the Shetland Islands, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland.
From Montreal, the ship will cruise the St. Lawrence River and down the coast of New England to New York, before making her way down the Eastern seaboard to San Juan, Puerto Rico, which will serve as her homeport for winter Caribbean itineraries.
The ship will return to Europe in February 2017, with a transatlantic sailing from San Juan to Barcelona.
The line's founder and chair, Torstein Hagen, said: ?We have always had a vision to reinvent ocean cruising ? to bring destinations back to the forefront of the itinerary and to build ships that are designed to help our guests better explore their destinations. We launched our ocean cruises in Europe earlier this year, and just as the Viking explorers before us, we are now looking across the Atlantic for new discoveries. Our new itineraries in North America and the Caribbean will offer our guests experiences that broaden their horizons both on and off the ship.?
As an example of prices, an 11-day West Indies Explorer roundtrip from San Juan, immerses guests in the British, French and Dutch cultures of the Lesser Antilles and leads in at ?2,990 per person. The itinerary visits the steep green hills of Tortola and Antigua and explores settlement towns on St. Lucia and Barbados, the rainforest beauty of Guadeloupe and the rich past of St. Kitts.
Sailing dates are on October 28, November 7, December 17 and December 27, 2016; and January 6, January 16, January 26, February 5 and February 15, 2017.
For more information or to book call 020-8780 7995 or visit www.vikingcruises.co.uk
