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In just eight years, Viking has grown from a river cruise line founded in 1997 and known for scenic itineraries on Europe’s top waterways into a major ocean cruise line with nine award-winning 930-guest ships and, more recently, an expedition cruise operator with two sleek and identical Polar-Class-6-rated vessels.
The first expedition ship in its fleet was the 378-passenger Viking Octantis (launched in early 2022). Its twin sister, Viking Polaris, debuted later that year. The ships were designed to cruise to Antarctica during its summer season (November to March) and explore the Great Lakes from May to September. In between, Octantis sails 65-night Longitudinal World Cruise itineraries as it relocates from Buenos Aires or Ushuaia to the Great Lakes (or vice versa). Summer sailings in the Canadian Arctic and Greenland are also now offered.
On Viking Octantis, guests will find the familiar Scandinavian-inspired décor (the company’s founder, Torstein Hagen, is Norwegian) and the consistently excellent service and cuisine offered on all adults-only Viking ships. Spaces loved by previous Viking passengers — such as the forward-facing Explorer’s Lounge, the aft Aquavit Terrace, Manfredi’s Italian Restaurant, and Mamsen’s for authentic Norwegian light bites — are all on Octantis. One major difference is that this ship has a much smaller indoor pool, located in the Aquavit Terrace and known as the Tepidarium. It extends outdoors, where guests can also enjoy a Frigidarium (cold pool) and Caldarium (hot pool), although one must climb between them using pool ladders.
