From the point where Deptford Creek in southeast London meets the River Thames, a cruise ship is starting September by setting sail on a record-breaking 33-week journey.
Passengers aboard Viking Sun have paid upwards of £66,990 for a voyage that begins and ends in Greenwich. She is due back on 30 April 2020 – though guests will have the option to remain on board until May Day.
The world’s longest continuous cruise will take up to 930 travellers to 53 countries in every continent apart from Antarctica.
The circumnavigation begins unambitiously with a journey as far as Dover, followed by Dublin and Liverpool. But later in September Viking Sun will visit Thorshavn in the Faroe Islands and two ports in Greenland.
As she is much smaller than many cruise ships, she will be able to sail upriver to many destinations off-limits to larger vessels – including Montreal in Canada and Manaus in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon.
Rather than sailing through the Panama Canal, Viking Sun will round Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. Christmas Day will be spent on board while sailing between Costa Rica and Guatemala, followed by New Year’s Eve in California.
After two days in Los Angeles, the longest stretch at sea will begin: more than a week sailing across the Pacific to Atuona in French Polynesia.
After New Zealand, Australia and Bali, Viking Sun will visit Vietnam and Cambodia before a fairly traditional journey back via India (Chennai, Cochin and Mumbai), Oman, Jordan, the Suez Canal through Egypt, Malta, Sardinia, and Malaga, before a final stop in Porto and another call in Dover.
The Italian-built ship has eight restaurants and two swimming pools.
Her sister vessel, Viking Sky, experienced serious problems in a storm off the coast of Norway in March 2019. Unable to make progress or steer, the ship was hit by extreme waves, with passengers’ belongings hurled around their cabin. Many passengers were evacuated by helicopter before tugs rescued the ship.
