New Viking Ocean Cruises line adds four more itineraries

Viking Ocean Cruises has been so popular in its inaugural year of sailing that it has added four new itineraries for its recently christened Viking Star and sister ships Viking Sea (debuting in April 2016) and Viking Sky (debuting in March 2017).

If the name Viking rings a bell, it is because Viking River Cruises, founded in 1997, is one of the giants of river cruising.

Viking Ocean will add the the Holy Land; Barcelona, Spain; Athens; and Bergen, Norway.

Here are the lineups:

Ancient Empires & Holy Lands: History and religion buffs can grab a slice of heaven with excursions to historic and sacred sites from Nazareth in Israel and the West Bank city of Bethlehem to the Acropolis in Athens.

The 15-day cruise on Viking Sea or Viking Sky departs from Rome or Istanbul. Prices start at $8,398 per person for a veranda stateroom. Book by July 31, and an introductory two-for-one offer reduces that cost to $4,199 a person.

Bergen to the Bosporus: Discover your Viking or Mediterranean side on a 15-day cruise from Bergen to Istanbul.

You will sail the North Sea, the Atlantic, the Strait of Gibraltar and more on the Viking Sea with stops in Lisbon and Athens. It is priced from $7,398 a person, but again, book by July 31, and the current two-for-one offer cuts the price to $3,699 a person.

For 2017, new itineraries are an eight-day Secrets of the Southern Mediterranean cruise from Rome to Barcelona and a Barcelona, the Baltic & Beyond 22-day voyage on the Viking Sky that explores Europe.

Info: Viking Ocean Cruises, (866) 984-5464 or contact a travel agent

Follow us on Twitter at @latimestravel