Second Ship For Pearl Seas?

The new Pearl Seas Cruises, who are due to debut their first ship, the Pearl Mist (above) in June, have revealed plans for a second ship in the fleet for 2016. Sort of.

The follow-up ship will, apparently, be slightly slightly larger than the 8,700-ton, 210-passenger Mist, carrying around 245, company chief executive Charles Robertson said, although he would not say (to Seatrade Insider) where the second vessel would be built, and added that no official announcement is planned until mid-summer.

Pearl Mist is currently undergoing final outfitting at Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Mrayland, having been built at Irving Shipbuilding in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was originally due to enter service in 2009 but a dispute arose between the company and shipyard that was only settled in early 2013 with the intervention of American Cruise Lines.

Its inaugural season begins on June 25 with an 11-night cruise from Baltimore to Halifax, followed by a series of Canadian waterways and Great Lakes sailings, with Pearl Mist then moving to the Bahamas and Caribbean from spring 2015.

Meanwhile, American Cruise Lines is also constructing four ships of its own at Chesapeake Shipbuilding, two paddlewheelers to enter service in 2015 (one on the Mississippi in March and the other on the Columbia and Snake rivers later in the year), while details of the other two have yet to be disclosed. 

 

The Mississippi riverboat will have a similar capacity to the luxurious Queen of the Mississippi - which we featured in a big blog series in October 2012 - at 150 passengers, while the Columbia boat will be slightly larger, taking 175 passengers.
More info: call (in the US) 1800 981 9146 or visit www.pearlseascruises.com.

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Viking Order More Ships

By Editor Simon Veness

The new ocean-going version of Viking Cruises, which is due to make its debut in May 2015, is definitely going full steam ahead, with the announcement today of two more new ships for  2016 and '17, which will take the fledgling line to FOUR vessels in all.

 

As with the first duo, to be delivered in 2015 and early 2016, the latest pair will be built at the Italian shipyard Fincantieri, and will also be sister vessels at 47,800 tons each.

 

No price was revealed for the two extra newbuilds, but industry source Seatrade Insider estimated that the first two of the quartet are costing around $308million each.

Viking also revealed they are discussing additional high-profile joint projects with Fincantieri in other cruise areas to further enlarge the scope of their partnership.

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."

 

Shipyard chief executive Giuseppe Bono added: "Fincantieri has got its fill this year of the newbuild orders offered by the market. This again demonstrates our determination and ability to compete. We hope the next few years will provide more and greater satisfaction that we'll need to pursue with the passion and cultural openness demanded by the competitive environment."

Viking's first ship of their ambitious new foursome will be called Viking Star and will sail an inaugural season of Baltic cruises in summer 2015, re-positioning to the Mediterranean through winter 2015/16. None of the other ships have yet been named, nor destinations announced, but it is likely they will feature more of Europe in the summer months and go further afield to the Caribbean and Central America in winter.

The company also promises a highly destination-focused travel experience, with an emphasis on cultural enrichment. On the river side, Viking has already announced plans to introduce 14 more of its award-winning Viking Longships in Europe next year, making it the leading river-cruise operator by the end of 2014.

 

More info: visit www.vikingcruises.com and www.vikingrivercruises.co.uk.

 

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