Viking Cruises and Fincantieri on Monday announced that they had signed a contract for the construction of two additional ocean-going cruise ships be delivered in mid 2016 and early 2017.

The new ships will be sisters to the pair of 48,000 gt vessels ordered last year, the first of which, Viking Star, will be delivered in May 2015 and the second in winter 2016. It is estimated that the cost of the news ships will be in the $450 million range similar to their sisters. Each of the vessels is designed to carry 928 passengers.

In making the announcement, Viking chairman Torstein Hagen said "The interest in and popularity of our current ocean itineraries has been incredible, and they are selling at an unprecedented rate. This new order allows us to offer consumers in our other markets the opportunity to explore the world in ways they have never experienced before through our destination-focused itineraries,"

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
For the $$ the river ships are very basic. A lounge,dining area, and a very small lobby. The cabins are very nice.
I wonder how the new ships will be?
Frosty 4

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Frosty,

interesting question in that it was actually asked. I presume the ships will be very similar in fit and finish to their current river cruisers. Of course, the cabins will be larger and they will have a much greater number of public areas.

The product delivery itself will be Viking through and through and I am certain they will deliver service and food that is on par with their river cruisers, which is held in very high regard.

What people should not expect is an onboard product that is equivalent to Crystal, Oceania, Azamara or Seabourn - and that it what I consistently see many people drawing their comparisons to.

What they really are is a latter-day Renaissance and that's not a bad thing, it's just not luxury.

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Originally posted by Tim in Fort Lauderdale:
[...]
What people should not expect is an onboard product that is equivalent to Crystal, Oceania, Azamara or Seabourn - and that it what I consistently see many people drawing their comparisons to. [...]

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Well, I would not compare Crystal with Oceania or Seabourn with Azamara either, however, I think they will feel the competition (some of them more than others).

Are there any official news on the Crystal Cruises fleet expansion yet?

[ 01-06-2014: Message edited by: Ernst ]

I appreciate that the boats are very small (maybe 200 passengers) compared to cruise ships. However the building costs must be low in comparison, the staff must be cheap and staffing levels are much lower, entertainment costs are minimal and a lot less fuel must be consumed.

Are the port fees lower too? No pilots are required!

In some cases a River cruise costs twice the price of a premium Ocean Cruise. Are they twice as good?

Demand must out-strip the supply as Viking et. al. keep expanding their river fleet. There are few discounts and rarely many late offers.

[ 01-06-2014: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
[...]However the building costs must be low [...]

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Don't forget that many river vessels can't be operated year-round.

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

[...]the staff must be cheap[....]

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I think for e.g. European river cruises the contrary is the case. In some cases it's simply not possible to hire at the low wages that are common aboard ocean going vessels.

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
Are the port fees lower too? No pilots are required!

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I am not sure whether port fees (per passenger) are lower, but there is definitely a serious shortage on berths in some regions. Also, I have been told that it's not easy to find captains with the required license (each officers has to be a pilot himself - knowing the whole river (!) in detail is an important part of the examinations one has to pass to get a license).

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
In some cases a River cruise costs twice the price of a premium Ocean Cruise. Are they twice as good?

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
[...] Vienna and Salzburg required a bus to take to town [...]

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Well, this hardly the same - Salzburg is app. 130 km (80 miles) from Linz while the cruise terminal in Vienna is 3.5 km (2 miles) from the city center.

Calling Salzburg a cruise ship destination in line with selling Civitavecchia as Rome, Livorno as Florence or Southampton as London. However, I admit that most destinations along the Danube are essentially shut down during off-season so going to Salzburg might make sense.

[ 01-06-2014: Message edited by: Ernst ]

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
[...]We sure get a lot of booklets and advertising from Viking [...]

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
Having done a Viking Long Ships cruise(Danube Waltz) as stated they are very basic.

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Would you take another one?

IMHO they are high in pricing .

Of course when you do a lot of ocean cruises this is a new experience not having all the features