The new Ocean Victory will sail to British Columbia and Alaska in May 2021 for the summer season, according to a statement from Victory Cruise Lines.
The new 200-guest ship is currently under construction and will add to the company’s portfolio, offering an expedition program with 20 zodiacs and dozens of kayak aboard.
The new Ocean Victory will feature 93 suites, of which, 68 will have balconies, nine with French balconies and 16 with panoramic windows. The vessel will carry a crew of 100 in 57 cabins and feature a 2-to-1 guest to crew ratio.
Victory Cruise Lines has also partnered with California Polytechnic State University to include 19 biologists, scientists and naturalists among its expedition team to deliver interactive experiences for its guests, the company said.
The new Discover Beyond Alaska Expedition Adventure Cruise include a 10-night sailing from Vancouver, B.C. to Sitka, Alaska and an 11-night sailing from Sitka, Alaska to Vancouver, B.C.. with bookings set to open October 2019.
Highlights include the Inside Passage, and the itinerary goes on with the Waterfall Coast Expedition Adventure with expert naturalist guides who will take guests exploring by ship, kayak and zodiac craft among the bays and the Misty Fjords National Monument with its greenery, granite cliffs and cascading waterfalls.
Ketchikan and Metlakatla are also featured,, including a private visit to the Tsimshian people’s Long House and dancing performance by one of the dancing groups in Alaska. The community’s art, totem poles, canoes and intricate cedar bark baskets will also be put on full display.
The vessel will also take guests to Petersburg, known as the “Little Norway,” featuring all types of fishing in Alaska, leading further to Kupreanof Island, which offers hiking and a birds-eye view of the LaConte Glacier and its ice fields.
The fjords, both Tracy Arm and Endicott Arm as well as the Sawyer or Dawes Glacier are part of the itinerary, including a Zodiac expedition craft, spotting of mountain goats, harbor seals and the harbor porpoise.
It sails further more to the Wrangell community, originally founded by Russia and its Tlingit people where guests are offered bear viewing at Anan Creek, jet boat rides on Stikine River, charter fishing and ancient petroglyph viewing. The cruise goes further travelling through “Whale Country,” which is home to the Five Finger Whale Research Center and a premier destination for viewing humpbacks, orcas and dall porpoise.
The adventure also takes guests to Sitka, which was once the Russian American Capital, known as the Paris of the Pacific, which offers galleries, bookshops as well as sea kayaking, sport fishing, whale watching and hiking.