Viking today announced it has taken delivery of the company’s newest ship for the Nile River, the Viking Sobek. The delivery ceremony took place when the new ship was presented at Massara shipyard in Cairo, Egypt. The 82-guest Viking Sobek joins the company’s growing fleet of state-of-the-art ships for the Nile River and will sail Viking’s popular 12-day Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary. 

Hosting 82 guests in 41 staterooms, the new Viking Sobek is inspired by Viking’s award-winning river and ocean ships with the elegant Scandinavian design for which Viking is known. An identical sister ship to the Viking Osiris, the Viking Aton and the Viking Hathor, the Viking Sobek features several aspects familiar to Viking guests, such as a distinctive square bow and an indoor/outdoor Aquavit Terrace. Viking plans to welcome four additional ships in the next two years, the Viking Amun and the Viking Thoth in 2025, and the Viking Sekhmet and the Viking Ptah in 2026, which along with the Viking Ra and the MS Antares will bring Viking’s fleet to 10 vessels on the Nile River.

“We are proud to welcome the Viking Sobek to our award-winning fleet. In our view, these identical sister ships are by far the most elegant vessels on the Nile,” said Torstein Hagen, Chairman and CEO of Viking. “Egypt has always been a destination of great interest among our guests, and demand for these voyages continues to be strong. With the arrival of the Viking Sobek, we look forward to introducing even more curious travellers to the country’s rich history and fascinating cultural treasures.”  

The 12-day Pharaohs & Pyramids itinerary will begin with a three night stay at a first-class hotel in Cairo, with visits to iconic sites such as the Great Pyramids of Giza, the necropolis of Sakkara, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, or the Grand Egyptian Museum. Guests then fly to Luxor, where they visit the Temples of Luxor and Karnak before boarding a Viking river ship for an eight day roundtrip cruise on the Nile River, featuring visits to the Valley of the Queens and the tomb of Tutankhamen in the Valley of the Kings, and excursions to the Temple of Khnum in Esna, the Dendera Temple complex in Qena, the temples at Abu Simbel and the High Dam in Aswan, and a visit to a colourful Nubian village, where guests can experience a traditional primary school. Finally, the journey concludes with a flight back to Cairo for a final night in the ancient city.

For guests looking to extend their journey in Egypt, Viking also offers pre and post extensions that provide privileged access to archives and exhibits. Guests on the five-day British Collections of Ancient Egypt extension begin their journey in London, where they will meet their Viking Tour Director, an expert Egyptologist, and experience privileged access to two museums, the Egyptian Collection at the British Museum and London’s Petrie Museum, which houses more than 80,000 artifacts from ancient Egypt and Sudan. In Oxford, guests will visit the Ashmolean Museum, one of the oldest in the world, and home to a varied collection of Egyptian mummies and art, and go behind the scenes at Oxford University’s Griffith Institute, where they will enjoy privileged access to see Howard Carter’s archives, which detail the discovery of Tutankhamen’s tomb. Lastly, guests will have further privileged access with an exclusive visit to Highclere Castle to view the Earl of Carnarvon’s magnificent private collection of Egyptian artifacts, as well as archives and exhibits not normally accessible to the public.

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