Viking Venus

The 2020-launched/2021-inaugurated MS Viking Venus cruise ship is the 7th in a 10-unit series of identical vessels built for Viking Ocean Cruises. Viking OCEAN's current plans are for a fleet of 16 sisterships, all of which are Fincantieri-built and Norway-flagged.

The vessel (IMO number 9833175) is currently Norway-flagged (MMSI 257552000) and registered in Bergen.

History - construction and ownership

The 930-passenger ship Viking Venus offers destination-oriented cruising experience, with few at-sea days, long in-ports days and more exciting overnights in key spots. Onboard amenities include complimentary Wi-Fi, free shore excursions, wine and beer with no charge at dinner and lunch.

Each of the Viking Ocean ships offers many ticket price-inclusive / complimentary amenities and services, such as all shore excursions, transfers, Wi-Fi, wine and beer (at lunches and dinners), access to Nordic Spa (steam room, thalassotherapy pool, hot tub, snow room / grotto, sauna, cold plunge pool). The infinity pool (resistance swimming pool located aft on Deck 7 / at the ship's stern) is another unique and complimentary facility.

All Viking Ocean liners were built according to the latest maritime navigation regulations and equipped with latest marine safety systems, including "safe return to port". The ships also implement some of the maritime industry's latest technologies, including energy-saving hybrid engines (diesel generators and gas turbines), optimized hulls and bulbous bows for max fuel efficiency. Ship design also features the common for Viking River Cruises longships solar panels (installed on the Magradome pool cover) additionally minimizing the vessel's exhaust pollution.

Decks and Cabins

Viking Venus staterooms (465 total) include 47x Suites, 32x Penthouses and 386x Veranda/Balcony cabins in 18 grades.

All passenger cabins are balconied and offer all the industry's modern amenities and services, including King-size beds ("Viking Explorer", deluxe mattresses and linens, Cashmere blankets), en suite bathroom (heated floor, heated mirror, glass-door shower, hairdryer, premium bath products and toiletries /by Freyja, bathrobes, slippers, towel warmers), seating area (sofa, coffee table, vanity desk with chair, wardrobe, full-length mirror with mini lights), satellite phone, smart HDTV (3D, Infotainment / interactive TV system for Internet access, room service ordering, movies-on-demand, live webcams views, Viking Cruises channel for news, enrichment lectures and port talks), in-room binoculars, electronic safe box, individual air-conditioning, coffee machine, mini-bar (replenished daily with bottled water, soft drinks, snacks).

The boat has 10 decks, of which 6 are with passenger cabins.

Shipboard facilities and amenities

Viking Venus offers the following dining venues: Restaurant (dining room), buffets (Viking Deli, World Cafe), Aquavit Terrace (alfresco), speciality (Italian Grill, Chef's Table), Private Dining (2 rooms). Viking Venus deals are inclusive of shore excursions, complimentary alcohol (wine and beer at lunch and dinner) and Wi-Fi.

Viking OCEAN's Venus ship has as signature facilities two swimming pools (Main Pool and Aft Infinity Pool), a covered pool deck (with Jacuzzi, Bar & Grill), Viking Living Room (Atrium Lobby Lounge), two Cinemas, a modern wellness complex (Spa & Fitness Center, Beauty Salon), Wintergarden (poolside area), Aquavit Terrace (aft outdoor bar lounge with Infinity Pool and Hot Tub), Piano Bar Lounge (Torshavn), dedicated sports deck (deck 9/with a Walking Track and Outdoor Gym/Yoga area), Theatre Lounge & Bar, Lobby Bar, various shops and brand boutiques.

The walk-around Lanai/Promenade Deck fully encircles the boat (deck 2). The two-deck Explorer's Lounge has a huge bow-facing observation area which is a unique feature that lots of modern cruise vessels lack. Many of the ship's features reflect a boutique hotel feel.

All Viking Ocean ships have an onboard "snow room". Viking's "Snow Grotto" is a spa retreat with powdery snow falling down from the ceiling. The experience (touted beneficial to the body's blood circulation) includes heating in a sauna (steam bath), then walking into this small room fitted with benches and with dark stone walls illuminated by blue light. The snow on the floor is kept at sub-freezing temperatures. This Arctic-themed facility is part of the ship's thermal suite (within the spa complex). This relaxation area has also 1 hot tub, sauna room, heated ceramic loungers, therapeutic showers, salt-water thermal pool. Snow Grotto access is complimentary to all passengers.

Itineraries

Viking Venus itinerary program (like all Viking Ocean ships) offers destination-rich itineraries with "small ship cruise" tour programs (complimentary) and unique onboard experiences. Compared to similar class ships operated by other companies, Viking Ocean itineraries feature fewer sea days and longer port days, with many overnight port stays.

In the UK, Viking Ocean ships are homeported in London-Greenwich England.

In late-September 2020, Viking Ocean released a new departure for Viking Venus. The 29-day "Baltic Jewels and The Midnight Sun" itinerary (London-Greenwich to Stockholm Sweden) is scheduled to depart on July 22 (2021), visits 10 countries and includes 19 guided (complimentary to all passengers) shore excursions. Prices start from USD 18500 (~EUR 15830) per person for Veranda stateroom (double occupancy).

In mid-March 2021 were announced the new 8-day "England's Scenic Shores" itineraries for Viking Venus leaving roundtrip from the UK (Portsmouth and Liverpool). These were Viking Ocean's first scheduled for 2021 departures (May 22, May 29, June 5) following the COVID-related fleetwide pause in the company's passenger shipping operations. The first ex-UK cruise starts after the christening ceremony (planned for May 17) and the voyages were open for booking to UK residents only.

In May were added July-October departures (11-day roundtrips from Valletta Malta) for three VIKING OCEAN ships (Venus, Sea, Star).

• The "Malta and Adriatic Jewels" itinerary started with an overnight in Valletta and visited ports in Montenegro (Kotor) and Croatia (Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Sibenik), plus Gozo Island (Malta, Mgarr Harbour).
• The "Malta and Greek Isles Discovery" itinerary also started with an overnight in Valletta and visited ports in Greece (Kalamata, Piraeus-Athens, Santorini, Rhodes, Crete/Souda).
• The "Malta and the Western Mediterranean" itinerary starts with Valletta overnight and visited ports in Sicily (Messina), mainland-Italy (Naples, Civitavecchia-Rome, Livorno, Genoa), and Spain (Barcelona).
• Later was added the 21-day "Malta, the Adriatic and Greece". The B2B itinerary started with Valletta overnight and visited Kotor, Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar, Sibenik, Mgarr Malta, Valletta (overnight), Kalamata, Piraeus-Athens (overnight), Santorini, Rhodes, Souda Crete.

For the ex-Malta 2021 season, Viking partnered with Lufthansa (Deutsche Lufthansa AG - Germany's largest airline) to offer non-stop Transatlantic flights between New Jersey USA (Newark Liberty Airport) and Malta Airport, exclusively for Viking OCEAN customers.

All Viking OCEAN ships offer destination-rich itineraries featured with the brand's new "small ship cruise" tour and onboard experience. Compared to similar class vessels operated by other companies, Viking OCEAN's itineraries feature fewer sea days and longer port days, with a lot of overnight port stays.

The vessel (Fincantieri Ancona yard/hull number 6283) has volume 47842 GT-tons, DWT-deadweight tonnage 4912 tons, max draught 6,3 m. The powerplant is based on MAN marine diesel engines (model 12V32/9L32/44) with combined output 23,52 MW (22000 hp). The registered shipowner is VIKING OCEAN CRUISES SHIP VII, while the registered manager is VIKING OCEAN CRUISES LTD.

Among the vessel's innovative marine technologies are its energy-saving hybrid engines, top-deck solar panels, pollution-minimizing exhaust system. This ship also uses seawater as a lubricant for its propeller shaft bearings. This technology lowers the vessel's maintenance costs and also the risk of pollution. Replacing the biodegradable oils, the water is being directly discharged into the ocean.

Viking OCEAN represents a "smaller ship" travel concept. The relatively shallow draft (21 ft / 6,3 m), design (hull and superstructure) and technology allow the ship to directly access even small ports. The ship's smaller size also guarantees an easy and faster passenger embarkation/debarkation process. Another unique feature for the "affordable luxury" ocean cruising market is that regardless of cabin categories, all Viking Ocean deals are price-inclusive of the shore excursions in all ports in the cruise ship itinerary.

All passenger cabins are with private step-out verandas, and about 1/5th larger than average standard staterooms on the ocean cruising market. An interesting feature of the ship is the dining room. This venue could be transformed into an outdoor casual dining place thanks to its floor-to-ceiling sliding windows. For Viking Ocean ships' interiors were contracted SMC Design (London-based interior design company) and Rottet Studios (LA-based hotel design company).

Viking Cruises deals (on all river and ocean liners) are inclusive of shore excursions (land tours), onboard entertainment and dining (including at speciality restaurants), drinks and alcohol (beer, wine /at lunch and dinner), 24-hour room service, Wi-Fi.

In April 2018, Fincantieri contracted the Norwegian marine company Scanship to supply all the liner's cleaning systems - food waste processing, waste incineration, garbage handling, wastewater treatment plants. Scanship's wastewater purification system treats both greywater (sullage/sinks, showers, baths) and blackwater (toilets).

In February 2019, Fincantieri contracted the Canadian company Thordon Bearings Inc to provide newbuild's bearings for the propeller shaft. The ship's propeller shaft system (Thordon COMPAC) is seawater-lubricated and based on 100% grease-oil-free bearings. The innovative propeller shaft system will be also installed on all the following Viking Ocean liners (on order or under construction) with scheduled deliveries between 2021-2027. These systems are supplied and installed by Pedrotec (Thordon's authorized distributor in Italy).

For Viking Venus (yard/hull number 6283), the shipbuilder contracted De Wave Group for the ship's interior outfitting.

• De Wave Group (Genoa-based manufacturing company) specializes in newbuild cruise ships and yachts interior outfitting. The company was formed via merger of three companies - De Wave (cabins and wet units), Precetti (catering areas) and Spencer Contract (public areas).
• On Viking Venus, De Wave Group manufactured and assembled the modules for building the wellness complex (Health Centre, Spa Area) as well as the Retail Shops' walkway.

The vessel Viking Venus (7th in the "Viking Ocean" series) was launched/floated out from drydock on June 11, 2020, at Fincantieri's shipyard in Ancona Italy. The boat was officially delivered to Viking Cruises on April 15, 2021.

In early-January 2021, Viking announced that the Venus ship's Godmother will be Anne Margaret Diamond (1954-born British journalist and broadcaster). Anne Diamond is best known as the host of the popular in the UK morning TV shows - Good Morning Britain (1983-1992) and Good Morning with Anne and Nick (1992-96). She also worked for Loose Women (talk show), Daily Mail (journalist) and Since 2003 is a regular guest on the discussion TV shows "The Wright Stuff" and "Jeremy Vine". Since March 2020, Anne Diamond is a key figure on Viking.TV (Viking's online TV channel).

The boat's christening ceremony was held on May 17, 2021, coinciding with the Norwegian Constitution Day and the Maiden Voyage. The England coastal voyage (out of Portsmouth England) carried only VIP guests and no regular passengers.

• The naming ceremony was actually held at sea (In the English Channel) and featured Anne Diamond wielding a traditional Viking axe in order to cut the ribbon that sent a bottle of Norwegian Akvavit (traditional for Scandinavia distilled spirit) against the ship's hull.
• For the special event, in the Atrium's Lobby was installed an "Air Fountain" (designed by the NYC Brooklyn-based artist Daniel Wurtzel).
• During the evening festivities were played exclusively recorded concerts wit performances by Sissel Kyrkjebo (Norwegian crossover soprano and Viking Jupiter's godmother), Tor Jaran Apold (Norwegian violinist), and the Libera Choir (all-boy English vocal group).

Viking Venus' first passenger cruises (5x roundtrips from Portsmouth UK/themed "England's Scenic Shores") were scheduled for the period May 22 through June 26, 2021.

Inaugural itineraries 2021

Viking Ocean's Venus ship cruise itineraries were officially announced in late July 2019.

Next tables show all maiden voyages by destination and homeport, with lowest prices per person (in USD, Balcony Cabin rates) with double occupancy.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, the company canceled a total of 8x Viking Venus cruises scheduled between January 26 and April 19. The Maiden Voyage was rescheduled for May 3.

(CANCELED) 7-day "Inaugural Cruise" (ship relocation) from the Mediterranean to UK (from $2000 pp)

(MAIDEN VOYAGE) 7-day "England's Scenic Shores" itinerary

(inaugural Baltic cruise) 14-day from the UK to Norway (from $7000 pp)

14-day inaugural repositioning cruise from the Baltic to the Mediterranean (from $4800 pp)

12-day inaugural Mediterranean cruise (from $6000 pp)

10-day "Greek Odyssey" itinerary / inaugural Greek isles cruise roundtrip from Greece (from $4600 pp)

Godspeed!