Viking Cruises is sailing in Summer 2021 in the Mediterranean with new ocean voyages for vaccinated guests beginning this summer.
Viking Venus and Viking Sea will homeport in the Maltese capital city of Valletta—a cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site—and sail two different 11-day roundtrip itineraries in the Mediterranean.
As a result of strong demand, Viking also announced it is adding more sailing dates this summer for its Welcome Back voyages around Iceland and Bermuda.
Guests on the new “Malta & Adriatic Jewels” itinerary will overnight in Valletta and then sail to Montenegro and Croatia, calling in Kotor, Dubrovnik, Split, Zadar and Šibenik, before returning to the Maltese archipelago, with a stop in Gozo and finally back to Valletta.
Guests on the new “Malta & Greek Isles Discovery” itinerary will also overnight in Valletta and then sail to Greece, calling in Kalamata, Athens, Santorini, Rhodes and Souda Bay, before returning to Valletta.
Viking Venus and Viking Sea will sail the itineraries between July and early October 2021. Delivered in April 2021, Viking Venus is Viking’s newest ocean ship and will be named in the England on May 17, 2021 by godmother and British broadcaster Anne Diamond.
News of the new Med voyages follows Viking’s recent announcements of Welcome Back ocean voyages in England, Iceland and Bermuda beginning in May 2021. The company says it is actively working on developing additional Welcome Back itineraries in a variety of other destinations, with the goal of announcing further 2021 sailings as soon as government approvals are given.
Guests who sail these new voyages will also experience Viking’s health and safety program. Grounded in scientific research, the Viking Health & Safety Program was developed in partnership with an international team of medical advisors, including Raquel C. Bono, M.D., Viking’s Chief Health Officer. Dr. Bono is a board-certified trauma surgeon and retired Vice Admiral of the United States Navy Medical Corps—and most recently led Washington State’s medical and healthcare systems response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using a full-scale laboratory installed on every Viking ocean ship, all guests and crew will receive daily quick and easy non-invasive saliva PCR tests. New air purification technology has also been installed on all Viking ships, which have always featured independent air handling units for all guest staterooms.
And additional health checks, sanitization and physical distancing measures will provide further protection for Viking guests and crew at all points of the journey. A complete overview of the Viking Health & Safety Program can be found at: www.viking.com/health-safety.