Viking will continue restarting limited operations with a collection of sailings around Bermuda and Iceland beginning in June.
As a result of strong demand among past Viking guests in the United Kingdom, the line has also added two additional sailings of the England’s Scenic Shores itinerary the same month.
All of Viking’s new ‘Welcome Back’ voyages will be available exclusively for vaccinated guests, in accordance with local entry rules in many of the destinations that will welcome Viking ships.
Bookings for the new Bermuda, Iceland and UK voyages are now open.
For the new Bermuda Escape itinerary, Viking Orion will homeport in Hamilton for eight-day roundtrip itineraries; with the new Iceland’s Natural Beauty itinerary, Viking Sky will homeport in Reykjavik for eight-day roundtrip itineraries.
For both itineraries, the small size of Viking’s ocean ships will allow convenient access to both small and large ports in Bermuda and Iceland – and both itineraries will be available for a limited time this summer.
The company is actively working on developing Welcome Back sailings in a variety of other popular destinations, including Greece, Turkey, and Malta – with the goal of announcing further 2021 sailings as soon as government approvals are given.
“We applaud the governments of the United Kingdom, Bermuda and Iceland for their collaboration and support in restarting the cruise industry safely,” said Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking.
“No other travel company has implemented the same science-led approach that includes a vaccination requirement for all guests, plus frequent non-invasive saliva PCR testing among all guests and crew.
“Therefore, we believe there will be no safer way to travel the world than on a Viking voyage. We look forward to welcoming guests back on board—and welcoming them back to the world.”
Today’s news follows Viking’s recent announcement that it would initially restart operations with domestic sailings in England for UK residents on board Viking Venus beginning in May.
These initial sailings sold out within a week.