Total Fleet Capacity Reaches 12,226 Passengers

Viking is now the proud owner of a new cruise ship in their ocean vessel category after Fincantieri officially made the delivery today in Ancona, Italy.

This new 998-passenger cruise ship, Viking Mira, is now the thirteenth with the cruise line. After operating river cruise ships for years, Viking made huge waves in the ocean cruise category when introducing Viking Star back in 2015.

Today’s ceremony was attended by Viking’s Executive Vice President, Jeff Dash, and the Senior Vice President Operations of Fincantieri, Giorgio Gomiero.

With the handover of the 54,300 gross ton vessel, Viking now has a fleet-wide capacity of 12,226.

Small Ships Viking’s Passengers Love

While some cruise lines are focused on building as big as humanly possible with ships that hold over 7,000 people on a single vessel, Viking is doing something very different. They are staying intentionally small.

To put that into perspective, you could combine all 13 of Viking’s ocean-going ships, and they would still carry fewer guests than just two of Royal Caribbean’s Icon-class mega-ships.

Doing the Math on the Viking Fleet

How does that 12,226 number break down? Viking’s growth has followed a very simple plan.

• The Original Ocean Class (11 Ships): Viking’s first 11 ocean ships are completely identical sister ships, each carrying exactly 930 passengers.

• The Newer Vela Class (2 Ships): Starting with Viking Vela in late 2024 and now continuing with the brand-new Viking Mira, these ships are slightly longer. This extra space allows for newer, more efficient propulsion technology while keeping the guest count at a still-intimate 998 passengers.

By keeping the passenger count under 1,000 per ship, Viking is making sure they can continue to dock in smaller ports around the world that the mega-ships simply can’t touch.

What’s Next?

Viking Mira is scheduled to welcome its very first revenue guests onboard on June 5, 2026, sailing a 7-day Mediterranean itinerary from Rome (Civitavecchia) to Barcelona, before heading up to Northern Europe for the summer season.

And Viking isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The cruise line already has a pipeline of future sister ships lined up at Fincantieri to offer even more sailings on newer ships.

Following Viking Vela, Viking Vesta, and the brand-new Viking Mira, the fleet will soon welcome Viking Libra (expected December 2026), Viking Astrea (expected June 2027), and Viking Lyra (expected May 2028).

Along with Viking’s 13 ocean ships, the company also operates two polar expedition vessels, Viking Octantis and Viking Polaris, which explore Antarctica and North America’s Great Lakes.

On the river side of the business, Viking currently operates 89 river ships around the world, with plans already to increase that number to 112 by 2028.