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| Photo from Viking River Cruises |
When is ordering 24 new ships, with an option for eight more within three years not a gamble? When you're talking about river ships and the demand is far-outpacing the supply, Torstein Hagen, chairman of Viking River Cruises, told Cruise Critic.
In fact, despite having just increased its ship order by 10 (two for delivery in 2013 and eight for delivery in 2014), Hagen said the river cruise company is barely keeping up with the demand. "There may not be enough [capacity] to meet the demand we have [for 2013]…We're having such phenomenal success that we took options for eight vessels in 2015. We're making sure that we have the capacity that we need."
Viking embarked on its ambitious expansion in 2012 when it launched an unprecedented six new Viking Longships. Next year, the line will launch 10 and in 2014, eight more.
"It's our consumer that is driving this increase," Richard Marnell, the line's senior vice president of marketing said. "We are practically sold out for 2013 with the exception of next year's Christmas Markets."
Continue article at: cruisecritic.com
