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Viking Glory christened in the Port of Turku – first passengers to board on Tuesday

Details: Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä; Category: More News More News; Published: 28 February 2022 28 February 2022

Viking Glory was ceremoniously christened today with traditional festivities in the Port of Turku. Jewellery designer Isabel Lennse from Stockholm smashed the bottle of champagne against the vessel’s shining new hull. She is the wife of Jakob Johansson, a member of Viking Line’s Board of Directors and the company’s largest shareholder.

The name Glory was chosen in a vessel-naming contest held three years ago. A total of 22,500 names were submitted from Finland, Sweden and other countries. More than 450 participants suggested the name Glory.

“I am grateful to be the godmother of this beautiful vessel. Being godmother also reinforces my family’s long-standing commitment to Viking Line. It is important to me that Viking Glory is one of the world’s most climate-smart passenger ships – the archipelago is very dear to our family,” says Isabel Lennse.

For more than a century, a bottle of champagne has been crushed against the hull of a vessel to keep it safe as it journeys across the world’s seas. Some believe the sparkling wine will placate the sea gods. This time, the sea gods will taste champagne that Essi Avellan, Master of Wine, has developed for Viking Line in partnership with the world-famous champagne house Piper-Heidsieck.

In another tradition associated with the christening of ships, Viking Line is commemorating the ship’s godmother with a piece of jewellery. Isabel Lennse received a Glory pendant made of gold designed by goldsmith Maria Karlström from the Åland-based firm Guldviva expressly for the christening. This timeless piece of Glory jewellery, with its maritime theme, is sold in silver on board Viking Glory.

In conjunction with the christening of the ship, Stefan Lindfors’ sculpture Under Ytan (‘Under the Surface’) was also unveiled. The work is part of the sculpture trilogy Havets teater (‘The Theatre of the Sea’), which is an homage to life at sea.

For Viking Line, the christening of the company’s new flagship is the happy culmination of a years-long project largely carried out under exceptional circumstances. The total price of the vessel, which was ordered in April 2017, is about 225 million euros.

“We succeeded in bringing home Viking Glory although there was also doubt in the air. This fantastic vessel exceeds all my expectations. It represents a brand-new generation of vessels and highlights the company’s origins in the archipelago in a fine way,” said Viking Line’s CEO, Jan Hanses.

Updated- Escalated crisis to likely to wipe out St Petersburg cruise season

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 February 2022 25 February 2022

“The crisis has already escalated so much that hardly any cruise line will head to St Petersburg unless the war ends soon,” said Tapio Karvonen, Senior Researcher of Maritime Studies at the University of Turku in Finland.

He referred to the deepening of the crisis since Friday, when he spoke to CruiseBusiness.com about the potential effects of Russia’s attack on Ukraine for the cruise industry in Russian ports.

On Friday, Karvonen said that cruise lines that send their ships to call at Russian ports may find themselves facing a serious PR problem given the country’s war in Ukraine ahead of the start of the cruise season in the Baltic, an academic has warned.

“There are high expectations regarding the cruise season in the Baltic this year. However, the war will reduce the numbers of passengers,” he said.

“However, it is possible that quite a few people will cancel their bookings particularly Americans,” he told CruiseBusiness.com

But the booking volumes are not the only consideration that cruise line will need to think of when they think whether or not to operate their itineraries in the Baltic and calls in St Petersburg.

“It is possible that calling at Russian ports can do serious harm to the image of cruise lines that do this, the attractions of St Petersburg are not an argument to use in marketing right now,” he said.

The risk of calls at Russian ports becoming toxic would increase should the conflict become an extended one, Karvonen said, adding that the lines need to think about the possible long term effects of operating cruises to Russian ports in the current situation.

Russia's war in Ukraine starts to affect cruise itineraries

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 25 February 2022 25 February 2022

Several cruise lines are monitoring the situation after Russia’s attack on Ukraine earlier this week, with one line already saying that it will drop scheduled calls at St Petersburg.

Atlas Ocean Voyages said on 24 February that, as a result of current regional tensions, it would adjust two late-summer 2022, Baltic itineraries. “On both the Hamburg-to-Kiel itinerary, departing August 26, 2022, and Kiel-roundtrip itineraries, departing September 7, World Navigator will drop St. Petersburg, Russia, and now call at Kotka and Mariehamn, Finland,” the company said in a statement.

The August 26 voyage includes transit of the Kiel Canal, while the September 7 departure will now also add Saaremaa, Estonia, where World Navigator will dock in the city center, adjacent to the Medieval Castle of Kuressaare, the company said.

Meanwhile, Carnival Corporation & plc group units P&O Cruises and Cunard said they would monitor the situation. “In light of the current situation evolving in Ukraine we will continue to monitor very closely and will amend itineraries as necessary following guidance. The safety and wellbeing of guests and crew is of the highest priority and we will advise guests of any changes,” they were quoted by Travel Weekly as saying.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) CEO Frank del Rio said according to the same source that the company would keep its vessels in the Baltic as scheduled, but added that it may remove St Petersburg from the list of ports of call.

“Our Baltic ships will stay in the Baltic. If we can’t go to St Petersburg there are many other ports in surrounding countries they can visit,” he was quoted by Travel Weekly as saying. The group will have about 5% of its capacity employed in the Baltic during the season that will start in May.

Photo: Throne Room, Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia

NCLH expects to have 85% of capacity in service by end of March

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 February 2022 24 February 2022

As a result of Omicron-related disruptions, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH) now expects to have 85% of its capacity operating by the end of the first quarter of 2022 with the full fleet expected to be back in operation during the early part of the second quarter of 2022, the company said in a statement.

In its report for the third quarter of 2021, the company had expected Mohave its entire fleet is service by that date.

It also expects to reach a critical inflection point during the second quarter of 2022 with net cash provided by operating activities turning positive. Based on the current booked position and trajectory, NCLH expects to have positive adjusted net income1 for the second half of 2022.

“We launched our Great Cruise Comeback in late July 2021 and in five short months, the teams at Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises have restarted operations on 75% of our capacity, safely carrying over 230,000 guests and delivering the unique vacation experiences that our award-winning cruise brands are famous for,” said Frank Del Rio, president and chief executive officer of NLCH.

“These last few months have also had their share of challenges caused by the impacts from the Delta and Omicron COVID surges, but despite these challenges which were mostly out of our control, our booked position and pricing remain strong, particularly for the second half of 2022 and into 2023, demonstrating the strong fundamental demand for our cruise offerings,” he said.

Photo: Norwegian Prima is due to enter service in the summer of this year

NCLH losses deepened both in final quarter and full year 2021

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: More News More News; Published: 24 February 2022 24 February 2022

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd (NCLH), the world’s third largest cruise shipping company, has reported a significant deepening of losses for both the final quarter and full year of 2021.

In the last three months of the year, net loss widened to $1,57 billion from $738.9 million year on, while revenues increased to $487.4 million from a mere $9.6 million.

For the full year, the company reported a net loss of $4.51 billion compared to $4.05 billion in 2020. Revenues decreased to $647.9 million from $1.28 billion, the company said in a statement.