The cruise industry is doing its best to come back swinging this summer. Two luxury cruise lines joined the ever-increasing list of cruise ships that will be sailing this summer.
Seabourn Cruise Line, the ultra-luxury cruise line under the Carnival brands, announces cruises from Greece while Viking Cruise Line, the Norwegian family-owned cruise line, announced cruises from Bermuda and Iceland.
Viking Cruises
Viking Cruise Lines, will be tapping into a new market as the line announced cruises from the stunning island of Iceland. Viking Sky, one of the company’s 930 passenger vessels,will homeport in Reykjavik for 8-day round-trip itineraries.
Viking Orion will be sailing on a different itinerary and joining Royal Caribbean as it sails from Bermuda. Viking Orion will be homeported in Hamilton and sail for 8-day round-trip itineraries on what the line calls their ‘Bermuda Escape.’
The news comes after Viking had previously announced a return to cruising in the ever-growing UK market. The company’s cruises from the UK proved incredibly popular, initial sailings sold out within a week, and the cruise line has decided to add two more cruises to its ‘Englands Scenic Shores‘ program.
The line says it is actively working on a wide range of other itineraries, including cruises from Greece, Malta, and Turkey. The cruise line will be announcing these cruises as soon as government permissions have been granted.
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Torstein Hagen, the company owner, believes Viking Cruise ships will be amongst the safest places in the world with a 100% vaccination mandate, and active PCR testing for guests and crew onboard:
“We applaud the governments of the United Kingdom, Bermuda and Iceland for their collaboration and support in restarting the cruise industry safely, 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.”
Both Bermuda and Iceland sailing will start sailing in June 2021, and the cruises are already for sale on the company website.
Seabourn Ovation Will Sail The Greek Isles
Seabourn Cruise Line, the Seattle-based ultra-luxury cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation, has announced it will be offering two separate cruises from the Greek isles this summer. The cruise line plans to operate a series of sailings round-trip out of Athens (Piraeus) beginning July 3, 2021.
Seabourn cruises onboard its newest vessel, Seabourn Ovation, will be on sale from April 12 onwards. Guests have the choice of two separate itineraries, which can be booked individually, while guests can also opt for longer 14-day head-to-head voyages.
As most Cruise Lines Sailing in Europe, Seabourn will require guests to be fully vaccinated, while the line will include other measures onboard as well, including health screening questionnaires, face mask requirements, physical distancing, and capacity controls for indoor venues, as well as enhanced environmental sanitation and HVAC upgrades.
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Seabourn President Josh Leibowitz reacted to the return of a Seabourn ship to the Greek isles:
“The entire Seabourn family is truly excited to provide our award-winning travel experience aboard Seabourn Ovation starting again this July in the Greek Isles, we’re grateful to the people of Greece for welcoming Seabourn back to the Mediterranean this summer.”
The Greek Minister of Tourism, Harry Theoharis, had this to say:
“Seabourn has been visiting Greece for more than 30 years and we look forward to welcoming their ships back to our unique destinations this summer, tourism is a vital part of our economy and our plans place a priority on health and safety to help restore traveler confidence to all. We are sure that once again all your guests will have the best experiences in Greece creating memories to last a lifetime.”
It is starting to look like we will have a full summer season in Europe this summer. With ships sailing in Israel, Greece, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Iceland, there is no shortage of cruises for fans in Europe. Cruising is undoubtedly on the way back!
