Travel + Leisure Readers Name Viking River Cruises #1 River Cruise Line

LOS ANGELES, July 8, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sailing high on a year of impressive accolades, Viking River Cruises® (www.vikingrivercruises.com) has once again been named the #1 River Cruise Line by readers of Travel + Leisure. The results of the annual Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards are based on a survey that asked readers to cast votes for the very best in cruising on the following characteristics: cabins/facilities, restaurants/food, service, itineraries/destinations, excursions/activities and value. The full results of the awards can be found at http://www.travelandleisure.com/worlds-best. This is the eleventh consecutive year that Viking has appeared on the World's Best Awards list, and this year the company earned a score of 93.92 – higher than any other river or ocean cruise line.

"We are delighted to be named the top river cruise line and would like to thank our guests and the readers of Travel + Leisure for this great honor," said Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking Cruises. "As the river cruise market continues to grow, we will never lose sight of the Viking Way of travel – we offer our guests the 'thinking man's cruise,' not the 'drinking man's cruise.' We provide enriching experiences for our guests in every destination, and we do it at a great value."     

"The Viking Way" of travel is small ship cruises that focus on the destination, that provide authentic cultural touch points along the way and that offer a wide variety of choice for many different budgets and individual travel preferences. Every Viking itinerary covers a destination's most famous sights and landmarks, but guests are also offered opportunities to go beyond the iconic and expected – a "Local Life" experience, such as a home-hosted visit; a "Working World" experience, such as a factory visit; and a Privileged Access experience, such as an exclusive, behind-the-scenes museum tour.

As a response to increased traveler demand for Viking's destination-focused cruises, the company expanded its river offerings in 2015 with the launch of new award-winning Viking Longships® and new European itineraries. Since entering the North American market in 2000, Viking has continued to set industry standards with best-in-class river cruise ships, award-winning service, outstanding quality and all-inclusive itineraries offered at a competitive price.

In early 2015, Viking officially expanded into the ocean cruise market and with the launch of its first ocean ship, the 930-passenger Viking Star® – marking the arrival of the travel industry's first entirely new cruise line in a decade. In June, Viking "floated out" its second ship, Viking Sea® at Fincantieri's Ancona shipyard. Viking Sea is set to launch in early 2016, and the company's third ship on order, Viking Sky®, is currently under construction for debut in early 2017. All three ships will sail popular routes in Scandinavia and the Baltic; and the Western and Eastern Mediterranean.

Booking Details

From now through July 31, 2015, Viking is offering U.S. residents an Early Booking Discount with 2-for-1 pricing on cruise departures and savings of up to $2,000 per couple on international air.

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About Viking Cruises
Viking Cruises offers destination-centric river and ocean cruising designed for experienced travelers with an interest in geography, culture and history. Featuring onboard cultural enrichment and included shore excursions, Viking's journeys are competitively priced for genuine value. As the world's leading river cruise line, since its 1997 inception the company has grown to a fleet of 60 river vessels (in 2015) offering scenic cruising along the rivers of Europe, Russia, Egypt, China, and Southeast Asia. Debuting its maiden season of ocean cruising in 2015, the sophisticated state-of-the-art Viking Star will host 930 guests on itineraries in Scandinavia and the Baltic; the Western and Eastern Mediterranean; and the British Isles. Two additional ocean ships, Viking Sea and Viking Sky, are also on order. Viking has been honored multiple times in Travel + Leisure's "World's Best" Awards and Condé Nast Traveler's "Gold List" as well as recognized by the editors of Cruise Critic as "Best River Cruise Line," with the entire Viking Longships® fleet being named "Best New River Ships" in the website's Editors' Picks Awards. The travel trade has ranked Viking as the "Best River Cruise Line" by Travel Weekly, Recommend and Travel Agent magazines, "Best Cruise Line for Luxury River Cruises" at the Luxury Travel Advisor Awards of Excellence and as "Best Overall Cruise Line for River Cruising," "Best New River Cruise Ship" and for the sixth consecutive year, "Best River Cruise Line for Travel Agent Support" in the 2014 TravelAge West's WAVE Awards. For additional information, contact Viking Cruises at 1 855 8-VIKING (1 855 884 5464) or visit www.vikingcruises.com. To join the Viking Cruises community online, visit www.facebook.com/vikingcruises, www.facebook.com/vikingoceancruises and www.facebook.com/vikingrivercruises.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Ian Jeffries
Edelman for Viking Cruises
[email protected]

SOURCE Viking Cruises

Related Links

http://www.vikingrivercruises.com