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| The Viking Peterhof is one of four ships to be re-branded by Viking River Cruises by 2012. The Peterhof will be re-named the Viking Rurik. // (c) 2011 Viking River Cruises. |
Viking River Cruises will be finishing the refurbishment of four of its Russian ships by 2012, and will be re-naming all of them in order to commemorate the line’s Viking heritage. The Viking Rurik, Viking Helgi, Viking Ingvar and Viking Truvor have all been updated, and new itineraries have been attached to them. It’s interesting to see a line embracing its history this closely, and tying the ships to their Russian heritage through the www.therealrussia.com website is an effective way to do it.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Breakaway is currently under construction in Meyer Werft in Germany, and when it finishes it will be home ported in New York City beginning in 2013. The Norwegian Breakaway will be replacing the Norwegian Pearl in this regard, and will sail 88 cruises through March 31, 2015. This is a great honor for the city of New York, as NCL was the first cruise line to home port in New York in 2003.
Celebrity Cruises partnered with the Breast Cancer Research Fund to offer a two-night cruise that sold out on Gilt City in a few hours. Voyages aboard the Celebrity Silhouette were booked for her first sailing in the United States, taking place in November, and is a culinary-focused experience. $700 from each purchased package goes directly to the BCRF, and Celebrity Cruises will donate a minimum of $50,000 to the BCRF.