Viking intends to distinguish itself from other cruise lines, removing the word "Cruises" from its name and summering the Viking Octantis, its new purpose-built expedition ship meant for Antarctica and the Arctic, in the Great Lakes, with a second ship to follow in the region. Torstein Hagen, the founder and chairman of Viking, spoke with cruise editor Andrea Zelinski onboard the Octantis about the decision to add the Great Lakes and how the brand differentiates itself. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Torstein Hagen
Q: How is Viking different from other cruise lines?
A: We are taking the word "Cruise" out of our name because "cruise" has a number of bad connotations: the gigantic ships, [in] the places they visit they're unpopular; the [noisy environment] onboard, which is really not what our guests want to go for. And then there's the way [other lines] have approached the whole concept of cruising, which is very often to get the guests onboard at any price and to use that opportunity when [they] have a captive audience to sell themselves; that's totally against our philosophy. I think many of us know our guests are people who work hard, who think a lot, and they can pass their own judgment.
Q: Viking says what it is not. No casinos, no umbrella drinks, etc. How do you define what Viking is?
A: It's a mindset. It's very much a family feeling onboard the ship. Time is a real critical resource for most of us, and the older you get, the more scarce it becomes, so don't waste your time. I think people who come here come to get more out of the time we have left on Earth. We'd like to fill that time with meaningful experiences.
Q: Why did you decide to put ships on the Great Lakes?
A: I tend to say I do my market research in the mirror every morning. It's strange. Many of our colleagues would not have thought that was a good idea to be on the Great Lakes; many were surprised. [People] come to see places which they only read about before, and their interests are contrary to the huge ships that have arrived and which are unwelcome everywhere. We come here and we're welcome everywhere. It's quite nice. It's refreshing.
Q: You mentioned interest in Viking's Great Lakes itineraries extending to Chicago.
A: Yes. We need to find docking. We are working on the matter. In Navy Pier, there's some question about some dredging and so forth. ...
Chicago is both an interesting and beautiful city, and I think we'll see similar things around [the Great Lakes]. We are well sold out. It's worked out phenomenally well, I must say. There have been cruise ships on the Great Lakes before, but I don't think any of them have been anywhere near what we have in terms of [ship] standards.
Q: Why do you think bookings are going so well?
A: It's a new product for Viking, so we can market it to our existing guests. It's closer to home; people are reluctant to travel long distances. It's a natural product, I would say. I think it's been quite good. But we see very good developments in all our business. Our river business for next year is up 14% relative to 2019 at the same time. Our ocean business is up 54%.
Q: What's your message to travel agents right now, given the pandemic and current events?
A: Have faith. This is not a comet turning around. We are marketing like there's no tomorrow, and we'd like all the support we can get from travel agents.