MIAMI BEACH -- Victory Cruise Lines confirmed plans to add a
third ship that will sail in Alaska in the summer.
Starting in 2021, the company will charter the 200-passenger
Ocean Victory, which will be built by Miami-based SunStone Ships. The Ocean
Victory will have an X-bow design, said to improve a ship's efficiency and
stability at high seas. Cruises will focus on history, culture, nature
education and music.
The line's Victory I and II are older ships built 20 years
ago. They are currently designated for cruises on the Great Lakes, to Central America and to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
American Queen Steamboat
Co. acquired Victory earlier this year.
American Queen president John Waggoner said at a Seatrade
Cruise Global press conference here that the ship will be chartered for 183
days between May and September. "We're currently working on our
itineraries for that," said Waggoner, who expects to have them by July.
He said that the ship would be chartered to another line for
Antarctic exploration when Alaska season ends.
Waggoner said the ship will have 20 Zodiac boats. He said Victory
would work with California Polytechnic State University in San Obispo to bring
aboard marine biology professors and graduate students for an enrichment
program. He also said Victory is working with David Giersdorf, founder of
Global Voyages Group and a veteran Alaska expert, to help design its Alaska
program.
Correction: Victory Cruise Lines does not sail to Cuba.