Viking has dominated the cruise industry, offering river, ocean and now expedition cruises, and on Friday, the line celebrated its 25th anniversary.
The special occasion comes weeks after the line secured the number-one River Line and Ocean Line accolades at the 2022 World’s Best Awards, as voted by Travel + Leisure readers. Viking became the first cruise line to win both categories in the same year.
Reflecting on the line’s remarkable history, Viking released a video, in which Chairman Torstein Hagen said, “I am proud of all we have accomplished in these last 25 years. First, we invited modern river voyages. Then, we reinvented ocean voyages with our destination-focused approach. Now, we are perfecting expedition voyages exploring all seven continents – in comfort.”
He ended the video by saying, “To every member of our extended Viking family of guests and employees: happy anniversary and thank you. These first 25 years have been very good, but we are just getting started.”
A quick look back at the last 25 years
- In 1997, Hagen bought four river cruise ships, which became the founding fleet of Viking River Cruises.
- In 2000, the company purchased a large portion of KD River Cruises, bringing its fleet total to 26, making it the largest river cruising fleet in the world.
- The same year, the line expanded into the American market.
- In 2004, Viking River Cruises started operating cruises in China, which are still some of the line’s most popular itineraries today.
- By 2007, 23 ships were in operation in Europe, Russia and China.
- In 2015, the line launched its first ocean cruise ship, Viking Star, and changed its name to Viking Cruises.
- By 2018, Viking Cruises had reached $3 billion in revenue, carrying around 444,000 passengers each year.
- In 2020, the company shortened its name once again to Viking.
- The same year, the line announced plans to launch a third subsidiary: Viking Expeditions.
- Today, Viking has 80 river ships (the majority of which are longships), nine ocean ships and one expedition ship.
So far, 2022 has been a monumental year for the line. In January, Viking debuted Viking Expeditions with the first of two expedition ships, Viking Octantis. Several months later, the line welcomed its newest ocean vessel, Viking Mars.
By the end of the month, Viking will have launched three new vessels, purpose-built for sailing the Mekong, Nile and Mississippi rivers, and by the end of 2022, the line will have welcomed its second expedition ship, Viking Polaris, and another ocean ship, Viking Neptune.
Viking’s impressive fleet of river, ocean and expedition vessels offers an exciting and varied collection of voyages, focusing on all things science, history, culture and cuisine. To find out more, please call our Voyage Consultants on 0800 008 6677.
