One of the greatest growth stories in the history of cruising continued on Thursday as Viking unveiled yet another large crop of new vessels.
The 29-year-old cruise brand officially welcomed seven new ships to its fleet during an intimate naming ceremony along the waterfront of Amsterdam, bringing its grand total to 109.
The addition of the new vessels, all designed for river cruising, puts Viking firmly in the top spot among cruise companies of the world for the title of the cruise company with the most ships.
The nearest competitor in terms of total ship count is Carnival Corporation, which currently operates 92 vessels among its eight brands after reducing its fleet size in recent years from a high of 104 ships. Carnival Corporation is the parent company of Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises and Holland America, among other major lines.
"We are very proud to celebrate our seven newest river ships, and as we approach Viking's 30th anniversary in 2027, our best years are still ahead of us," Viking CEO and president Leah Talactac said at the event, which began with pierside festivities and ended with a gala dinner at Amsterdam's historic Koepelkerk.
Viking executives and ship godparents arrive at the seven-ship christening ceremony in Amsterdam. VIKINGMore than 100 Viking executives, port officials, business partners and media were on hand for the event, which included a performance by Sissel Kyrkjebø, one of the world's leading crossover sopranos, and Norwegian violinist Tor Jaran Apold.
New ships for Europe and EgyptOnly two of the seven new vessels, the 190-passenger Viking Rota and 190-passenger Viking Haki, were physically present in Amsterdam for the naming ceremony. Both ships will sail on Europe's Rhine, Main and Danube rivers, with itineraries that often begin or end in Amsterdam.
Three of the seven new ships were located on the two rivers where they will be sailing, the Nile in Egypt and the Seine in France. Two more were at the Neptun Werft shipyard in Rostock, Germany, where they were undergoing the last stages of construction.
Related: The ultimate guide to Viking ships and itineraries
Still, the captains and godmothers (and, in a couple of cases, godfathers) of all seven vessels were present at the pierside event for the ceremony, which included video feeds from each of the vessels as, one by one, they were officially named with a smash of Norwegian aquavit against their hulls.
The use of bottles of aquavit instead of bottles of Champagne to name the vessels was a nod to Viking's Norwegian heritage. (Viking founder Torstein Hagen is Norwegian.)
All seven of the godmothers and godfathers for the ships were owners or top executives of travel advisor companies that sell Viking cruises.
Enormous growthThursday's event was just the latest milestone in what has been an extraordinary period of growth for Viking.
With the addition of the seven new river ships, Viking now operates 94 river ships around the world, as well as 13 traditional ocean ships and two expedition cruise vessels.
The captains and godparents for each of Viking's new river ships assemble on stage during a gala dinner in Amsterdam. VIKINGAs recently as 2012, the company fielded just 29 river ships and not a single ocean ship.
The recently public company, which now has more than 12,000 employees, has been one of the fastest-growing cruise companies in history and shows no signs of slowing its growth.
As Viking executives noted in a briefing for media on Thursday before the naming event, the company has 36 more river ships on order or under option for delivery by 2032 — an astounding number. It also has 17 ocean ships on order or under option for delivery by 2034.
The latter total includes two additional expedition cruise ships the company has ordered for delivery in 2030 and 2031.
The additions will further cement Viking's position as the fastest growing major cruise company in terms of number of ships.
Viking founder Torstein Hagen and CEO Leah Talactac with a display showing rods that represent each river ship added to the Viking fleet over the years. VIKINGStill, while Viking is adding ships faster than its biggest cruise company competitors, it still carries significantly fewer passengers than several of them, including industry giants Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Group, as its average ship size is considerably smaller.
Related: Why these Viking cruises may be the best way to see the Mediterranean
That said, by one other significant measure, Viking is now bigger than Carnival Corporation, which long dominated the cruise world by almost every metric from ship count and passenger capacity to profitability. As of Thursday's close, Viking's stock market capitalization, at $37.4 billion, had pulled ahead of Carnival Corporation's market capitalization by nearly a billion dollars.
Royal Caribbean Group, the parent company of Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises, currently has the biggest stock market capitalization among cruise companies with a value as of Thursday's close of nearly $75 billion.
Viking has seen enormous success since its founding 29 years ago with intimate, upscale cruises aimed at the 55-plus traveler — a segment of travelers that has more time and money for travel than younger segments of the traveling population.
Designed for the "thinking person," as founder Hagen likes to say, they are trips that revolve heavily around the destinations that the ships visit, with longer stays in ports that allow for more in-depth exploring and included tours in every port. In the case of the line's ocean ships, they also feature expert lecturers on board to explain the things passengers are seeing.
All Viking cruises, notably, are adults-only, with no children under the age of 18 allowed — something that is rare in the world of cruising. On many sailings, most passengers are retirees.
Viking ships also are particularly known for their elegant, Scandinavian-influenced design, which is modern, upscale and residential in its feel.
The seven new river ships that Viking welcomed on Thursday include four — Viking Rota, Viking Haki, Viking Halogi and Viking Sjofn — that will sail the brand's most popular itineraries along Europe's Rhine, Main and Danube rivers.
Related: The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Viking cruise ship
Two of the vessels (Viking Ptah and Viking Sekhmet) will sail the Nile.
The final ship named on Thursday, Viking Fjolvar, will sail the Seine River in France.
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