Victory Cruise Lines is on the growth trek and announced it has acquired the sister ship to the Victory I as the Victory II will launch service in Canada/New England in May of 2018.

The Victory II’s inaugural voyage will be from Boston, Massachusetts, May 20, 2018. Victory II will begin service with a series of seven-night Canada and New England cruises starting May 20, 2018.

The itineraries between Boston/Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Halifax, Nova Scotia, will call at the most popular ports along the coast, the company said, in a prepared statement.

Cruises departing from Gloucester include Provincetown on Cape Cod, Massachusetts; Newport, Rhode Island; Plymouth, Massachusetts; Martha’s Vineyard off the coast of Cape Cod; Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine; and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia; with scenic cruising in the Cape Cod Canal. Sailings from Halifax will call at the same ports in reverse order.

The Victory II launched as the Cape Cod Light in 2001, having been built by Atlantic Marine in Florida.

Both the Victory I and II were built at a cost of $30 million each and entered service in 2001 for Delta Queen Coastal Voyages, a subsidiary of American Classic Voyages.

The ships were built to resemble the classic coastal steamers of the late 1800s and entered service with destination-oriented itineraries throughout the Great Lakes, Canadian Maritime Provinces, the East Coast and the South.

Powered by Caterpillar diesel engines, the ships had a cruising speed of 13 knots when launched. The original order saw two ships delivered and three more planned sister vessels did not materialize. 

The ship most recently served as the Sea Discoverer on a charter basis, and was used as a hotel ship on a number of projects.