Luxury Cruise Ship Viking Orion’s Inaugural Saint Lucia Visit

On Tuesday October 26 th 2021 Saint Lucia welcomed the Luxury Cruise Ship Viking Orion on its inaugural visit to Saint Lucia. Built in 2018, the Orion features 465 cabins boasting accommodations for 930 passengers in five different types of staterooms. These include the Owner Suite, Explorer Suite, Penthouse Junior Suite, Penthouse Veranda, Deluxe Veranda, and a Veranda Stateroom.

A number of tourism officials were present at Pointe Seraphine to welcome the vessel which was represented by Captain Richard Svardmark. These included Chairman of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority Mr. Thaddeus Antoine, Senator Guibion Ferdinand, along with representatives from the Ministry of Tourism, the Saint Lucia Air and Sea Ports Authority, Invest Saint Lucia and the Saint Lucia Hospitality and Tourism Association, among others. Mr. Antoine expressed Saint Lucia’s delight in welcoming the luxury liner to the island. He spoke of not only Saint Lucia welcoming the Orion’s guests, but also the ship’s crew, having recently learnt firsthand at the FCCA’s Cruise Conference in Panama City some of the amenities crew most enjoy when in port.

The SLHTA is delighted to have the Viking Orion include Saint Lucia on its itinerary and is encouraged that with vessels such as this returning to Saint Lucia the island is poised to emerge on the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic stronger than before. The SLHTA sees the Viking Orion’s Saint Lucia stop as an ideal catalyst to invigorate the tourism industry for its cruise sector members who have borne the brunt of the pandemic’s impact for the last 20 months or so, and for the broader Saint Lucian economy as well.