<\/a>Last night, from the International Ballroom at The Beverly Hilton, Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking River Cruises and Viking Ocean Cruises, says cruises on Viking Star will cost 38 percent less than similar cruises in the ship’s competitive set. \u00a9 2013 Ralph Grizzle<\/p><\/div>\n
THE BEVERLY HILTON, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA \u2014 Perhaps the biggest surprise announced last night during the Viking Ocean Cruises’ reveal: lead-in per diems at just under $300 per person with<\/em> included WiFi<\/strong>, an\u00a0included tour in each port of call, overnight stays in embarkation and disembarkation ports,<\/strong> and complimentary beer and wine<\/strong> with lunch and dinner.<\/p>\nWhen bookings open on Friday May 17, the new Viking Star’s 15-day cruises between Bergen and Stockholm will go for $4,499 per person for\u00a0accommodations in a 270-square-foot Veranda Suite, featuring a king-sized bed, a sitting area, an expansive balcony, and \u00a0a large bathroom with a shower spacious enough to bathe in “without touching any of the walls,” says\u00a0Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking River Cruises, and, as of last night, Viking Ocean Cruises.<\/p>\n
In developing the concept for Viking’s ocean product, Hagen wanted a no-nonsense ship that delivered in seven key areas:<\/p>\n
\n- The destination will be key to the experience<\/li>\n
- Small ship, but at a great value<\/li>\n
- Designed for comfort, function and understated elegance<\/li>\n
- Great food, locally inspired<\/li>\n
- Culturally enriching shore excursions and onboard programs<\/li>\n
- No nickel and dime’ing<\/li>\n
- Don’t be everything to everybody<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There will be no casino, no charge for speciality restaurants, no formal nights \u2014 and no ties. The vessel will carry 928 passengers, all double occupancy veranda staterooms (in several categories and some suites), not family friendly but appealing to “explorers” ages 55 and up.<\/p>\n
Speaking from the same stage where the Golden Globe Awards ceremony is presented annually, Hagen displayed renderings to media and some of the nation’s top cruise sellers that showed Viking Star to be innovative \u2014 with sliding windows that open in the main dining room for al fresco<\/em> dining, a spa that features a sauna and<\/em> snow room, a forward-facing two-level Explorer’s Lounge, an infinity pool with an aft glass wall exposed to the sea, and much more.<\/p>\nViking Star begins service in 2015. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE BEVERLY HILTON, BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA \u2014 Perhaps the biggest surprise announced last night during the Viking Ocean Cruises’ reveal: lead-in per diems at just under $300 per person with included WiFi, an\u00a0included tour in each port of call, overnight stays in embarkation and disembarkation ports, and complimentary beer and wine with lunch and dinner. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[434,651],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10964"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10964\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rivercruiseadvisor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}