New viking cruise ship

Viking took delivery of the 930-passenger Viking Venus from Fincantieri’s Ancona, shipyard.

The Venus is the seventh in a series of up to 16 identical ocean ships the line ordered from Fincantieri.

“Many of us have stayed close to home for months, so this is an important milestone as we begin to get back out into the world again,” said Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking, in a statement.

The ship will go to the U.K. where it will officially be named on May 17 by godmother Anne Diamond, the British journalist and broadcaster. The Venus will launch domestic sailings for U.K. residents only on May 22.

Viking recently said it would also restart cruise operations this spring and summer in Bermuda and Iceland, beginning in May, for vaccinated adults.

Viking also has two expedition ships on order, the 378-passenger Viking Octantis, scheduled for delivery in early 2022, and the Viking Polaris, slated to debut in summer 2022.