Viking to sail from Portsmouth in May

The new eight-day itinerary, called England’s Scenic Shores, will be availability exclusively for UK residents.

By Cruise Adviser Last updated Mar 29, 2021

Viking has announced that it will restart limited operations in May 2021 with three sailings along the coast of England.

The new eight-day itinerary, called England’s Scenic Shores, will sail roundtrips from Portsmouth and be availability exclusively for UK residents.

The sailings, on May 22, 29 and June 5 will be on Viking’s newest ocean ship, Viking Venus, which will be delivered in April.

Pre-registration for England’s Scenic Shores is currently open only to Viking’s past guests. All other previously scheduled Viking sailings through to May 31 2021 remain cancelled.

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“We welcome the UK government’s support for the return of safe domestic cruises as an important component in the travel industry’s recovery. In recognition of this support, and to celebrate the fact we have a British godmother – the esteemed broadcaster and journalist Anne Diamond – we have chosen to name our new ship, Viking Venus, in the UK on May 17,” said Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking.

“We are in a position to restart operations quickly and to start sailing again in May because we have kept our ships crewed during warm lay-up throughout the past 12 months. We have been implementing our additional protocols, including daily quick and easy non-invasive saliva PCR tests for our crew, for almost six months now. With our new protocol enhancements in place, we believe there will be no safer way to travel the world than on a Viking voyage and we look forward to welcoming UK guests back on board very soon.”

Viking will utilise a full-scale laboratory, which has been installed on every Viking ocean ship, with all guests and crew will receiving daily quick and easy non-invasive saliva PCR tests. New air purification technology has also been installed on all Viking ship. Additional health checks, sanitisation and physical distancing measures will provide further protection for Viking guests and crew at all points of the journey. An overview of the Viking Health & Safety Programme can be found at viking.com/health-safety.