Victory Cruise Lines confirmed that it plans to add a 3rd ship that will sail in Alaska during the summer.
Starting in 2021, the cruise company will charter the 200-guest Ocean Victory, that will be constructed by Miami-based SunStone Ships. Ocean Victory will feature an X-bow design, expected to improve the vessel's stability and efficiency at high seas. Travelers will focus on culture, history, music, and nature education.
Victory Cruise Lines' MS Victory I and MS Victory II are older ships built twenty years ago. Currently, they are designated for voyages on the Great Lakes, to Central America, Cuba, and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
Earlier this year, American Queen Steamboat Company acquired Victory Cruise Lines.
At a Seatrade Cruise Global press conference, American Queen president John Waggoner said that the vessel will be chartered for 183 days from May through September. When Alaska season ends, Ocean Victory will be chartered to another cruise line for Antarctic exploration.
According to Waggoner, the vessel will have twenty Zodiac boats. Victory will work with California Polytechnic State University in San Obispo in order to bring aboard graduate students and marine biology professors for an enrichment program. The cruise line is now working with the founder of Global Voyages Group and veteran Alaska expert David Giersdorf, to help design its Alaska program.