June 30, 2020

We thought our Boating Industry Canada News Week Digest readers would be interested to learn that Viking Line ships have announced their return to service.

M/S Mariella and M/S Cinderella will return to service on 2 July. M/S Mariella will sail the Helsinki–Tallinn route from 2 July until 9 August. M/S Cinderella will return to sail the Stockholm–Mariehamn route as well as special cruises from Stockholm to Visby. With these additions, all of Viking Line’s vessels will have returned to passenger service.

As of 2 July, all seven of Viking Line’s vessels will be back in use for passenger traffic. M/S Amorella and M/S Viking Grace will sail the Turku–Åland–Stockholm route, M/S Gabriella the Helsinki–Åland route and M/S Rosella the Mariehamn–Kapellskär route. M/S Cinderella will sail the Stockholm–Mariehamn route as well as special cruises between Stockholm and Visby during August and September.

M/S Mariella will supplement the normal service of M/S Viking XPRS between Helsinki and Tallinn with four additional daily departures from the beginning of July until 9 August. This means that, this summer, Viking Line will have more departures on the Helsinki–Tallinn route than ever before. Passengers can set off from Helsinki on the early morning ship to Tallinn and return home on the evening departure, thereby reserving the bulk of the day to enjoy in Tallinn. This also ensures that our route tourists will have an abundant number of departure options.

The number of passengers is on the rise and the summer weather has increased the demand for travel as expected.

‘It is such a joy to see people returning to our ships. Our passengers have expressed their satisfaction with our range of timetable options. Holidays in the surrounding countries remain very popular and we believe that this will be a busy summer’, says Kaj Takolander, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Viking Line.

When the pandemic hit this spring, temporarily limiting people’s possibility to travel, Viking Line used its ships to help ensure Finland’s security of supply by transporting essential goods. 

‘The past few months have been highly active in terms of freight traffic. We believe that passenger traffic will start to pick up rapidly now as well. We have gone to great lengths to ensure that cruise travel is as safe as possible for everyone. For example, our Pre-order service is clearly rising in popularity. It enables customers to order their onboard purchases in advance to be delivered safely either directly to their car or to the ship’s pick-up location. Additionally, passengers also have the possibility to take advantage of our convenient Room Service and order, for example, lunch to be delivered to their own cabin’, explains Takolander.

All Viking Line ships are continuing to ensure passenger safety in accordance with systematic and strict standards. The number of passengers on all cruises is currently more limited and thorough measures are being carried out as a means of safeguarding hygiene aboard our vessels. This past spring, the distinguished classification company Det Norske Veritas Germanischer Lloyd (DNV GL) verified all Viking Line ships and terminals in accordance with their My Care methodology. This proves that Viking Line has the certified ability to manage and prevent the risk of infections such as COVID-19. Viking Line is the first shipping company in the world to have received this recognition from DNV GL.